Salt Storm: The Salted Series: Episodes #31-35

by Galvin, Aaron

  A lost key. Lenny thought, glancing in Tom’s direction. Like Pop said all along.

  If the behemoth Selkie had any secret knowledge, however, Tom Weaver kept it hidden well. His face remained a mask of sternness in lieu of Yusuf’s answers.

  “What’s this magic treasure supposed to do?” Lenny asked. “This power it’s supposed to have?”

  Tom Weaver frowned at Lenny’s question, but he made no move to rebuff him as Yusuf continued shaking upon the floor. “Well?” Tom nudged their Orc prisoner. “What of it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Yusuf. “No one does.”

  Lenny cocked an eyebrow. “Someone does. If not, then why go all through this trouble?” His thoughts turned to all the Selkie dead outside and the one laid to rest in the Ancient City of Song. “Why keep searching?”

  “I don’t know,” said Yusuf. “Please, believe me. I only know what I heard.”

  Lenny started forward, bringing the tip of his blade to touch beneath Yusuf’s chin even as Tom Weaver kept his hold of the Orc’s hair. “Then, tell me,” Lenny shouted. “Tell me why!”

  “Dolan . . .” said Tom.

  Lenny ignored him. “Why?” He demanded of Yusuf, the tip of his blade digging into the Orc’s skin enough to bleed him. “Why are all these Selkies here? Why do you Orcs keep killing us, huh?”

  Tom Weaver yanked him back easily enough, tossing Lenny aside to skitter across the floor. “Easy, Dolan.” He said when Lenny wheeled around as if meaning to come charging back once he regained his footing. “He can’t tell you anything if he’s dead.”

  Yusuf fell shivering to the floor then. “Please . . .” he wept. “I-I don’t know much else. The others said there were too many rebellions lately. Too many runners . . .” Yusuf glanced between Lenny and Tom, pleading in his eyes. “The king didn’t want another Selkie Strife.”

  “Yeah?” Tom snorted. “Well, the Merrow king is gonna get one. Especially when the rest of the group we busted outta Røyrkval finds out about this operation you have going here. Now that they’ve got another taste of victory in their mouths, you Orcs and your Merrow king are gonna have your hands chock full of Selkie rebellions.”

  Yusuf shook his head. “My people don’t like the king either.” His voice shook. “I think it’s why they’re rallying to the Blackfin instead. He says we’ve been serving the Merrows too long and that Darius is weak. The Blackfin and his Violovar have been promising change for our people. To make the Salt safer and protect us from the Nomads. He says we’ll stop serving Merrows too, and that he would have us Orcs to rule the Salt.”

  Lenny sneered. “The Blackfin to rule the Salt, you mean. For some reason, I don’t see him as the sort for sharing the crown, if you know what I mean. And if he’s such a big tough guy ready to take on the crown, why bother picking on slaves, huh?”

  “I-I think he is afraid your kind, sir,” said Yusuf. “The Merrow king too.”

  Tom and Lenny shared a look. “That don’t make no sense,” said Lenny. “What’s the Merrow king and the Blackfin got to fear from Selkies?”

  “I don’t know,” said Yusuf. “But I heard some of our other soldiers arguing about it. They said all the Selkies they interrogated confessed to running and rebellion because they knew, sir . . . the Selkie runners knew something was wrong . . . that something is wrong, sir.”

  The hairs on the back of Lenny’s neck raised at the conviction in Yusuf’s voice.

  “The other soldiers claimed the Selkies knew something terrible was coming,” said Yusuf, trembling as he spoke. “Something awful . . . and that the Selkie runners feared whatever comes next more than they feared the threat of dying down here.”

  16

  KELLEN

  Kellen had lost count of the days he and the other Sancul had swum since leaving Garrett Weaver and the Nomad horde behind. In the eternal dark and deep of the Abyss, time seemed of little consequence or reality. Throughout their swim to the Cavern of Somnus, Kellen saw little of note and had less conversation with any in his party.

  Twice he had attempted to speak with Black Keerie again over the lie he had told; that he had slain Garrett Weaver in his life before. Both times she had rejected his advances, swimming off with nothing more than a disgusted and doubting look of his intent.

  Erebus too would not allow him to swim nearer to Hypnos either. For every time that Kellen approached the sickly Sancul, the gaze and outstretched tentacles of Erebus warned Kellen to keep his distance.

  For all the others’ guardianship of Kellen, even Nyx and Kanaloa had turned silent as they swam with relentless pursuit to return Hypnos to his wife and children. For all their haste, the Sancul were slowed by seizing fits that overtook Hypnos all along the way. To Kellen’s mind, each seizure lasted longer than the last for every time they halted in wait for the fits to end.

  For every time they were brought to a halt, the sickly Sancul racked back and forth.

  What’s going on in there, Hypnos? Kellen wondered when the eyes of Hypnos widened and blazed with light, his mouth opening and closing in repeated and muted succession like one tormented yet unable to give voice to his screams. What is Moros doing to you?

  For a panicked moment, Kellen considered divulging the truth to Erebus and Kanaloa – that he had met and spoken with both Moros and Hypnos in the dream-like world that one, or either, of the Sancul brothers had pulled him into several times over.

  The fit overtaking Hypnos ended near as quickly as it had come about. The sickly Sancul’s body faltered and slumped back into his father’s grasp in further, unconscious exhaustion.

  Erebus used his tentacles to better position his son. He’s getting worse. Erebus frowned at Kanaloa. We’re going too fast. My son needs to rest.

  Aye, that he does, said Kanaloa. But not here. We are near enough to the Cavern of Somnus now. We must press on. And faster still.

  Erebus glared at Kellen like one faulting another for the decisions chose. When Kellen said nothing and did not glance away, however, Erebus turned back to Kanaloa. And what if my son does not reach the cavern, or his lady wife? He demanded. All our haste will be for naught.

  It will be for naught if Hypnos dies here in the open too, said Kanaloa. For here we can truly do little and less to aid his suffering.

  Nyx swam over to join her husband and their withered son. What would you endure to reach my side, husband? To see me again? She asked of him, attempting to cheer him further with a smile. What lengths would you go?

  The love I bear you, wife, is not the same as that once shared between Hypnos and his own.

  True, said Nyx. And yet I hold no doubt that Pasithee will aid us and him all the same. She cheered Erebus somewhat with a light touch upon his cheek. Hypnos will fight on, husband. Though I ever favored Moros more, I never doubted that Hypnos was given more of your stubborn strength than mine.

  Kellen swam by in careful watch as Nyx touched the brow of Hypnos then, her features softening, if only for an instant. To his mind, the lady of darkness hardened herself against such expression for Hypnos no sooner than her fingers brushed against his skin. She pulled away as quickly as she had reached for him, questions living in her eyes.

  What just happened? Kellen wondered when Nyx turned her studious gaze on him next. Fear flooded through him, the warmth he often saw in her eyes turning to icy doubt. But, as she had done with Hypnos, Nyx suppressed such emotion quickly.

  Kellen’s brow furrowed. What did you see, Nyx? Did Hypnos show you something too? Despite the Salt flowing through him, Kellen’s throat parched as another, darker thought occurred to him. Or did Moros speak to you?

  For all of the questions and doubts plaguing him, each were stolen and replaced with still more when Nyx looked up and past him, over his shoulder to the water behind. Kellen spun to see what she did, then cowered at the sight swimming toward them.

  Despite all the creatures and the Sancul wizardry he had witnessed beneath the Salt, Kellen had yet to meet anything like the monst
rous side-winder that burst through the shadowed and Salted depths with blazing speed. Like an eel of gargantuan proportion, its face appeared more reptilian and with appendages tapered held tight against its either side to not create any drag in the water.

  Like a deer frozen by oncoming headlights, Kellen found himself unable to move either. What is that thing? He wondered, even as his mind produced an answer from his youth.

  Dragon, a memory of childhood whispered. An underwater dragon.

  Like the snakes he had discovered hiding in the wood piles of his family farm and chased off thereafter, Kellen’s gaze tracked with the side-winding creature’s body and tail maneuvering back and forth in S-shaped movements to propel it onward. The Salt dragon also had a fork-shaped tongue and slitted, greenish eyes that glowed with bioluminescent light.

  Unlike when he was a child, Kellen had no shovel to lop off the head of the oncoming serpent. Not that a shovel would do for the mammoth beast. Nor any sword or axe either. As the underwater dragon came within a hundred yards of them, Kellen imagined that even the strength and size of Erebus would be tested against the mythic creature.

  Kellen remained frozen at Nyx’s side, but Black Keerie and Kanaloa swam out to meet the oncoming beast.

  Kanaloa raised a hand in welcome just as the creature came upon him with its jaws opened wide. Hail, Phobetor!

  Kellen winced then, expecting to see both Black Keerie and the eldest of Sancul swallowed whole. Yet no sooner than the beast reached them, the visage of it fell away like a hooded, costumed mask to reveal the true wearer within for another of the Sancul race. The leathery, eel-like skin trailed behind the Sancul stranger like a mystic cloak of bluish dark to flutter in the speed of his wake.

  Like the other Sancul that Kellen had come to know, his mind warned him to not be deceived by the appearance of the newcomer. Though the dragon-turned-Sancul wore the handsome face of a youth not much older than Kellen himself, no small part of him imagined that the stranger was as ancient as the other Sancul he had traveled alongside.

  The newcomer’s skin was pale as snow, his face and body reminiscent of a lean-muscled warrior. His silver hair had been tied in a top knot, his bare arms and chest covered in tattooed runes and they intertwining with scars beyond counting.

  Phobetor! Kanaloa named the Sancul stranger once more, opening his arms in welcome of the embrace to follow. How do you fare?

  Better for your arrival, Great Grandfather, said Phobetor, flashing a smile that Kellen envied and loathed for the added handsomeness both afforded the newcomer to their party.

  Aye, Phobetor continued, turning from Kanaloa to take up the left hand of the she-squid beside him. Phobetor brought her willing hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. And much better for seeing you again, Black Keerie. No doubt my sister will say the same.

  Black Keerie grinned back at him. And where is your sweet sister? she asked. Where is Phantasos?

  Gone to wake The Thousand Sons of Somnus, said he. Aye, and all the Sisters of Shadow too.

  Black Keerie laughed. No doubt the thousand sons prefer your sister coming to them rather than you, eh?

  Phobetor’s smile widened then, to the point Kellen wondered if it would break the Sancul stranger’s face and reveal another hidden one within. No doubt, he said to Black Keerie’s claim. My sister and I both set out to wake the others. Mother sent us to rally them all the moment she heard the Salt cry out with my father’s voice. It would seem she felt you all drawing near. Phobetor’s smile died as he turned away from Black Keerie and Kanaloa to look on Kellen once more. Uncle . . . his brow furrowed as if he were pained by the sight before him and the uttered title.

  Before Kellen could react, Phobetor had swam the distance between them.

  Kellen’s body clenched beneath the Sancul’s icy grip upon his arms and the marbled gaze Phobetor studied him with.

  Uncle! He cried once more. Can it really be you?

  Nyx came to join them, tapping her grandson on the shoulder, warding Phobetor away. Aye, your uncle has returned, Phobetor, she said, looking off and away toward Erebus instead as he and Hypnos were the last to join their party. You see, husband? Your grandson recognized his lost uncle at the very first sight. Phobetor holds no doubt.

  Phobetor agreed, nodding for every lingering moment of looking upon Kellen. To speak elsewise would be a lie, for this is my uncle returned, true enough. His head cocked to the side, inspecting Kellen further. But why will you not speak to me? Has it been so long, Uncle, that you have forgotten your favorite nephew?

  Kellen shuddered. No . . . he lied, even as he sought to give the Sancul the lie he requested. Hello . . . He wrestled with the name, not quite remembering the pronunciation. Kellen also did not wish to make an error with the Sancul expectations of him. Hello, nephew.

  Phobetor’s smile came on again. Oh, Uncle, said he, taking him by the hand and kissing the back of it as he had done for Black Keerie also. Forgive me for doubting my brother’s claim. Aye, for not swimming to your side the moment that Morpheus felt your presence returned and strengthening.

  Kanaloa swam over to join them. And where is Morpheus? Where is your brother, Phobetor? Gone with your sister to wake the others?

  A shadow passed over the face of the younger Sancul. No, said Phobetor. I should have thought to find my good brother with you and yours. He frowned. Much as it pains me to say, Morpheus were the first of us to feel such stirrings of your spirit returned, Uncle. He looked to Kellen with questions in his eyes before searching the faces of the others also. Truly, Morpheus is not with you, then? You have not seen my brother?

  Not for many years now, said Kanaloa. Did he not say to where he went?

  Phobetor shook his silvered head. In truth, we did not think to ask. We thought that he had swam to you in seeking confirmation of our uncle’s return.

  While Kellen thought the others seemed as puzzled as he with the news relayed, Erebus scoffed at such words. Ah, Phobetor, it would seem that you know your brother nearly as well as the one who sired you, then. Erebus used one of his mammoth tentacles to bring forth Hypnos at his side, then cast a disapproving look at his grandson, Phobetor. Aye, child, for I see that you do not rejoice half so much that we have brought your father with us as well.

  Phobetor released his hold over Kellen then, bowing away like a scorned dog before darting over to swim under the stony stare of Erebus and the one huddled beneath his protection. Hello, Father. Phobetor sent one of his tentacles to reach for Hypnos and lure him closer. For whatever his intentions, however, Hypnos would not be stirred from clinging to his father’s side.

  Frowning, Phobetor looked to Erebus. I see his mind is still maimed. The affliction still holds him.

  You do have eyes, then, said Erebus. And I half hoped to convince myself that you children and your mother might be blind for all these years of ignoring your father’s infirmity. Now, I understand your estrangement from him for a worser lot of uncaring, spoiled whelps instead. No doubt your wiser brother, Morpheus, fled before you all attempted to riddle him with the same contempt as I see within you now.

  Kellen cocked an eyebrow at the sight of Phobetor’s lip curling at the slight.

  Erebus was no better, not bothering to hide the disdained look he showed his grandson in return.

  Peace, Erebus, said Kanaloa. It has been too long since our family ties were ripped asunder and we were rejoined. Aye, much too long.

  Not long enough, apparently, Kellen thought to himself when Black Keerie swam over to pull Phobetor away and out of striking distance of Erebus’s tentacles.

  Kanaloa sighed. Hear me, my family, for all the circumstance and all that we have suffered, let us have peace between us now. He straightened as he motioned in Kellen’s direction. The wounds separating us and our kind must needs be healed over. With our favored one’s return, we have the chance to make all things new and right once more for our family and the world.

  Phobetor cheered at that, his vocalness rewarded with
another angered look from Erebus. Unlike before, Phobetor shook off the disapproval. Come, then. One and all. My mother awaits us and more. Even now, she labors at such a feast the like our folk have not seen since the last war. He nodded at Kellen. And all to celebrate your return, Uncle.

  Kellen was about to thank him for the words when a flurried current shook him off balance; Nyx had whisked away from him. Kellen spread his tentacles wide to sustain him in the wake of her leaving, then turned his head to track her movement. He found the lady of darkness at her monstrous husband’s side, the pair of them tending to Hypnos again with their tentacles.

  Thrashing and seizing against their combined strength, Hypnos’s mouth again opened and closed in what Kellen imagined as a muted show of the fit coursing through his withered frame. Hypnos vomited some smattered bits of white froth to float into the above. Still more clung to his lips as he trembled back and forth. Unlike the fits that Kellen had seen Hypnos endure before, the newest seizing lingered on with no signs of slowing.

  Nyx’s head snapped toward Kanaloa. Father!

  Phobetor too appeared riddled with questions. What is happening to my father?

  The sickness, said Kanaloa. Whatever this affliction within him, I think it means to claim our Hypnos in full soon enough.

  Donning the hood of his cloak, Phobetor swam forward to aid them. Grandfather! He shouted at Erebus. Come! Allow me carry my father and you all to my mother quickly. It may be that she has one of her potions to help soothe my father now, until we learn what further ailment weakens him.

  Erebus looked to his sickly son, then to Nyx with concern living in his brow and gaze. After a moment’s deliberation, he nodded to his grandson, then gathered a still-convulsing Hypnos closer to him.

  Phobetor drew the hood of his cloak then, the Sancul’s body morphing into that of the eel-like dragon once more. His form lengthened and widened in equal measure, stretching around the other Sancul like a constrictor with its prey. Where Kellen drew back at the surrounding wall of flesh, he witnessed the other Sancul latch onto the dragon with their tentacles.