“Do not wait to stab and kill anything that comes for you.” I said sternly.
She nodded, taking it within her grasp and thrusting it forward. “Die!”
Holding back my laughter, I grinned encouragingly. “Very good. Except make sure your power comes from here and here.” I placed my hand against her narrow torso front to back. “Your arms are your guide. But true power comes from your core. Try again.”
She thrusted one more time, her lips pressed into a concentrated line.
I nodded and rose. “Much better, now it’s my turn.” Arms raised I tilted my head back, shadows swirled and then draped over me, melding into a belt of black throwing knives that cinched around my waist.
Riella frowned at them. “What happened to the other shadows? The ones that could change on their own without you?”
I smiled. “You noticed that—'' I glanced up at the ever watchful dragon and then back to her. “They were sent on another task for me. We will have to make do with these for now.”
Tiny features scrunched further into lines of worry. “Will they come back?”
For a moment, Emon’s stubbornly fierce golden eyes flashed before me. “Yes—they will come back.”
Determinedly, she nodded, trading the hardened grip on her scale for my own hand. Setting the spear at her side, she faced the golden gates. “I’m ready.”
I stared. Goddess help me. I did not deserve this kind of trust from such a little miracle. I was the monster in this story.
“Behind every monster was once a beautiful creature worth loving, one day you will realize this, cousin of mine, and learn to accept both sides of your nature. Keep my seaflower safe.”
Shen’s voice was a gentle whisper in my mind and when I looked to see if he was still there, I peered back at nothing but an endless ocean and a white wall that pierced both ocean and skies.
“He is gone.” Riella sniffed.
My heart ached for her and I squeezed her tiny webbed hand. “I have no doubt you will meet your dragon again, little one.” Blowing out a breath of bubbles, I looked back at the haunted city and the memories of my past. “Are you still ready for this?”
Riella blew out her own sigh of bubbles. “I am ready. I made a promise to Shen.”
I blinked down at her, watching those swirling eyes stare out at the city as if she were prepared for battle. For the briefest of moments, it was as if I was staring down at my own young self.
Chapter 27
“Doyouknow?”Riellaasked, breaking the eerie silence around us. Her hand had been steadily squeezing mine since we started.
I gazed around me wearily, pulling shadows away from side streets I didn’t recognize. “Know what?”
“What actually caused Atlantis to fall? All Shen Shen ever tells me is that it was from greed.” Riella whispered.
“Stay back.” Pushing her behind me, I hissed at the bright green toad-horse creature, slightly larger than Riella, charging us from the darkness. Bulbous black eyes clouded by a thick film blinked once before swerving quickly into a new crevice of darkness.
My lip curled in distaste. “Kelpies.” I tugged Riella forward. “We better get moving into the main palace. He will be back with some friends if we don’t hurry along.” I refrained from telling her that Kira was quite capable of finding us through creatures of thewater. Most water fae could communicate with the beasts of the sea.
The faeling giggled nervously. “They are so funny looking don’t you think?”
I looked down at her anxious face. “They are.” I said, smiling faintly. “Their eyes are much too large for their body, like bubbles that need to be popped.”
I felt her small frame relax next to me as she smiled eagerly. “Exactly! I have always thought that too.”
I gave her hand a small squeeze and then nodded to an alcove beside the main palace doors. “There ahead. That side entrance will take us deep into the palace where the water portals should be. We will be less exposed taking that route.”
Pulling Riella along, we ducked into the shadowy alcove of the side entrance. The siren song of Atlantis was stronger here and if we were not careful we could easily become trapped within the golden maze of her palace walls.
Except my long stays as a child here were exactly what we needed to get through the perfectly preserved hallways. My eyes trailed over the ostentatious wealth, barely tarnished by the ghostly waters of the sea, with disgust. The water fae’s greedy nature was something I never truly understood.
“It’s a dead end!” Riella gasped.
