It’s for a long time that we swim like this.
At some point, I swear I can see the bottom without much transition; it’s concerning at first, thinking something from below was rising to us. Glancing up, I can see the waves above are no longer big swells but the smaller, collapsing ones with white peaks.
My heart thrums in my chest, my attention focusing. Breathing deeply, I ready myself for all the pain that will come, for the endurance I must call forth.
The depth of the oceans thins even more until the shoreline is upon us. My siren releases her rope, flipping in the water and moving like a snake to put her face in mine. “Walk out onto the shore, and the gills will be removed as soon as they touch air. The water from your lungs will spill out. Magic will remove it, so do not worry. It will be very uncomfortable, but temporary. You will not feel the effects of being cold once on land, either. This protection will last until your clothes are dry.”
“Understood.”
The discomfort means very little to me, not when Jane has faced so much. Not when Anya was tortured before dying.
The siren guides me until my feet touch the ocean floor, my leather boots walking over pressed sand. My head peaks through the waves, the salty ocean still filling my lungs. As soon as I intake the air, water pours from the gills, and I hurry forward to try and reach the beach. Saltwater drains from my mouth, nearly vomiting at one point until I gasp for air that feels just as cleanas when my lungs filled with saltwater, choking and spitting out the last remnants of the ocean.
I stare up at the looming, craggy cliffs, and then higher still is the castle above, the ocean waves pushing against my body.
I can feel Jane.
Nearly laughing, I knew I’d fucking find a way into this land. That humor is quickly replaced by a growl as I trudge toward the shore, periodically glancing over my shoulders. Whatever moonlight breaks through barely touches the heads of the other men that surface.
The clouds rumble.
I near the man closest to me, pointing toward an alcove as water drains out of my vambraces. “We make for there once we all drain our armor. No speaking unless to spread the word.”
Water drips off of me like I’m a creature of the ocean, and nothing about this peninsula feels like a threat. They really don’t know, do they? We swiftly remove our armor once we’re able, clearing out any fluids that will weigh us down, reattaching it just as quickly, as practiced.
I don’t focus on what time has passed, only knowing that Jane is so fucking close and I won’t mess this up by rushing. And as soon as we’re out of here, if I’m still with her, we’re removing that fucking ruby in her skin. It’s just like with Ritter, where I can tell it’shim, but there’s no color to the aura, no crevices that emotions are hidden within. My mask only allows me to sense general emotions, not the complexities of Jane.
With as much love…
My teeth grind as there’s so much worship for Misery here that it nearly drowns her out.
They picked the wrong god to obsess over.
Basilisk approaches my side, running a hand over his wet hair. “I want you to stay close to Ritter in this,” I say. “He’s not inhis prime, and I want Jane to see her father after this is all done. Ensure he doesn’t get killed.”
“Babysitting the Scorpion,” he comments, tilting his head side to side to get the water out. “What a task.”
I motion for everyone to get closer, a wall of men surrounding me. Once we’re all accounted for, I say, “We spare only children, possibly families that want nothing to do with us. Anyone with a red robe is to be killed under any circumstances necessary. Any person wearing armor is to be killed. And if you see Blackwell or Jesper, we want themalive.” I take a small pause, to ensure they hear me. “We might just be the very thing that stops Misery from ruiningus all. Don’t forget that.” Clinking spreads as shoulders bump together in unison. “It’s time to fucking ruin these people.”
A quiet hum of approval spreads through the four dozen that are here. As we discussed, I move first, striding along the rocky wall as we form a line. Rounding an edge, the small outpost with a giant bell on one of Liam’s maps is far ahead, a bell that is no doubt to be rung if anything peculiar is spotted. A fire burns inside the building; a few braziers are lit around the surface of the stairs.The image of nearly fifty men rising out of the ocean’s water is pretty fucking abnormal, and yet everything is silent; calm—save for the irritable clouds. I can feel a man is in that outpost, but his attention is extremely bare.
I turn behind me, searching for Bones’s energy before motioning for him to come closer. “I’ll go alone. Come if I call the signal or shout for your name.”
“Can-fucking-do,” he says, the pent-up rage finally singing smoothly inside him like the serenade of death. He’s almost giddy at this.
I commit and move forward as quickly as possible, while staying low, pausing periodically to sense the man out; blank, again. Once I’m upon the stairs, I peer up, tilting my head tothe side. I know I’m visible with the firelight, so I need to move quickly.
Placing a foot on the stairs to gauge the noise it makes, it creaks just enough that I bolt up, skipping steps, barging in as the guard is on his feet with a bottle of liquor in his lap. Pure terror seizes him, and I’m sure the mask I wear nearly makes him shit his pants.
He stumbles for the bell, but I unsheathe Jane’s dagger and hold it at his throat as my other hand clasps over his mouth. “Answer a question, and I’ll consider making this less painful.”
He doesn’t move.
“Where are the fire mages located?”
He tries to speak through my hand, and I gently lift my fingers as he shakily stammers out, “Inland. Near the outer battlements. There’s a tall statue?—”
“Where are they fromhere?”
