by Chant, Zoe
Trent turned toward them when Euan opened the door, looking about the same as Delilah felt.
“Fuck,” he repeated. “What the hell are we going to do?”
“Delilah has an idea,” Euan said, his voice low and even. “But I’m going to need you to get right up close to that thing – even if it means risking getting swiped by its tail.”
“Right. Okay.” Trent nodded. “Can do.”
He steered the ferry on a slight angle, aiming to come up around the side of the monster. It was climbing fast, and Delilah, realizing what Euan meant to do, knew their window of opportunity was closing quickly.
“Come on, Delilah.”
Euan took her hand again, urging her out the door to the walkway by the bridge. The wind whipped past her, and there was salty spray on her face from where the ferry was churning up the ocean.
“I need you to trust me for this,” Euan said, looking into her eyes.
Delilah returned his gaze unflinchingly. “Of course I do.”
Euan nodded, raising his hand to run it gently over her cheek. “I know you do.” He swallowed. “I’m going to shift in a moment, and then I need you to climb on my back, okay? We’re going to jump across.”
He didn’t need to say it – Delilah had already guessed what his plans were anyway.
We’re going to jump from the ferry – right onto that monster’s back.
She gave him a quick, sharp nod. She didn’t need to say any more. She knew he understood.
Euan took a moment longer to look into her eyes, and then stepped back. In the next moment, he was shifting. It was the same as it had been the first time she’d seen it back on the yacht – a quick, subtle shift, almost liquid. And then, instead of Euan’s human form standing before her, there was the marsupial lion he’d told her was his shifted form – not as big as the lions you’d see in Africa, and of course he didn’t have a mane. But he was still powerfully built, thick with muscle, his dewclaws curving cruelly where they sprouted from his front paws.
A formidable, dangerous predator.
But I know he’d never hurt me, Delilah thought as she gazed upon him. She knew all the strength and beauty she saw in his shifted form would only ever be used to protect.
She knew she didn’t have the time to waste contemplating him, though – they had to be ready when the right moment came. Reaching out, she took hold of the scruffy tuft of hair that covered the back of his neck and shoulders, and pulled herself up onto Euan’s back.
She leaned down over his neck, the way she’d been taught to when she’d let Jenny talk her into doing horse riding classes. Sure, Delilah had fallen off or screamed in terror every time she’d taken a jump… but that didn’t mean it had to happen this time too, right?!
Well, I might scream in terror a little bit, Delilah thought, feeling Euan’s muscles tense as he readied himself to spring, as the ferry pulled up alongside the thick, snaking tail that still trailed in the water.
In the end, Delilah didn’t have time to scream – before she realized he’d fully readied himself, Euan had sprung forward, propelling them through the air with his powerfully muscled body.
Delilah gasped as the air rushed past her face, and then grunted a little as they landed with a thud.
She held on tight as Euan scrabbled against the monster’s scales, his long, curved claws seeking purchase against the monster’s armor. She couldn’t do anything more than try to keep her balanced as Euan snarled, his feet slipping and sliding over the monster’s hide – until finally he managed to hook his dewclaws into the gaps between two armored plates, securing them. Euan took a moment to collect his hind legs beneath him, and then they bounded up the monster’s back, between the jagged, protruding ridges that ran up the length of its spine.
Up close, Delilah could see its body was slippery with algae and kelp, and knobbled with barnacles. And it reeked.
Well, several centuries at the bottom of Sydney Harbour probably wouldn’t do anyone’s personal hygiene a lot of good, Delilah reasoned. She wanted to hold her nose, but right now, she couldn’t afford to loosen her grip even a little on Euan’s short, coarse fur – not only was the water monster incredibly hard for him to maintain his grip on even with his sharp, deadly claws, the monster was still climbing, its body swaying dangerously as it made it way up the largest sail of the Opera House.
Somewhere beneath her, Delilah could hear the sound of steel rending, and ceramic tiles tearing off and crashing to the ground a hundred meters below them.
Don’t look down, Delilah told herself, trying to take a deep breath through the seawater stench of the creature’s hide. Just hold on, and trust in Euan.
And she did trust Euan. She knew that no matter what, he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her. She knew this must be even harder for him than it was for her – he was the one climbing up a slippery monster’s back, after all, while also carrying her entire body weight – but she knew he wouldn’t falter.
Euan’s progress slowed, and their path evened out somewhat. Delilah chanced opening her eyes and raising her head a little, and –
Whoa.
Even in this situation, it was hard not to marvel at the sight laid out before her. She was sitting on a marsupial lion, which was sitting on top of a massive water monster, which was sitting on top of the Sydney Opera House. The view of the city spread out below her, a million pinpricks of light amidst the darkness of the evening, was enough to take her breath away.
And it’ll all be gone if this doesn’t work.
She realized quickly that Euan had stopped right atop the monster’s broad, flat head – its forehead, maybe, the space between its terrifying yellow eyes. There were still massive, jagged spines sticking up from its plated armor and it was still slippery as hell, but there was enough space for her to slide off Euan’s back and stand.
Or – as she decided she’d be safer doing – crouch, using her hands to distribute her weight more evenly. The creature swayed as it climbed, still making the same low, terrifying growl as before. The sound set Delilah’s teeth on edge, her bones feeling like they were scraping against each other as she tried to hold on.
Euan was still in his lion form, clearly waiting to find out what she needed from him. But the truth was, Delilah didn’t know. What should she do now? How did you go about controlling a massive water monster with your mind?
I will not allow this!
A sudden enraged shriek from above made Delilah’s head shoot up.
There, hovering above her, was an alicorn – from the sound of the voice, it was Lev.
It took her a moment to realize she’d heard his voice inside her head, without him needing to speak aloud, but she supposed that alicorns’ psychic powers would naturally extend to telepathy.
He must’ve got past Hector and Rhys, she thought, staring at him as he began to swoop down toward her.
You will not interfere! I will be this beast’s master, and no one else!!
She wasn’t sure if she could get out of his way – she could barely maintain her balance at all. As quickly as she could she tried to scuttle sideways, but before she could get very far a shadow flew past her, crashing into the alicorn’s side.
“Euan!”
Of course it had been Euan – he had leapt at Lev’s speeding form at the last moment, knocking him off course and sending him spiraling out of sight. Delilah could hear his enraged whinny from somewhere below, as Euan landed heavily further down the monster’s snout, his claws scrabbling and then finding purchase on its tough hide.
I have to figure this out – now, Delilah decided. She didn’t have any more time. She wasn’t really sure what the Sydney Opera House was made out of (she’d never been that good at staying awake in civics class), but she was pretty sure it hadn’t been designed with this kind of thing in mind.
Okay. To knock out Alisa, I had to touch her. I had to put my hands on her head…
It sounded stupid. Alisa had, at least most of the time, been h
uman-looking.
But it’s the only thing I can think of, Delilah decided. Gritting her teeth, she placed the flat of her palm down on the slickness of the monster’s skin, feeling the thick bone of its skull beneath its armor plates.
Well, here goes nothing.
Breathing out slowly, she concentrated.
She tried to remember what she’d done with Euan, when she’d led herself back through her memories of her dream. She focused her energy, seeking out something, anything, she thought she could use.
What is happening? What is this place? Why have I been called here?!
Delilah’s eyes almost flew open in surprise as the voice rose up in her head, deep and sonorous but clearly frightened. But she forced them to remain closed.
I do not know this place. I do not understand. Who called me? Why did they do it? Why was it so painful to be awakened in this way?
She was hearing the monster’s thoughts, Delilah realized. By focusing so strongly, she’d found a way to communicate with it – or at least, to hear what was going through its mind.
It’s in pain.
The realization made her gasp. Pain and confusion suddenly overwhelmed her, as if the monster’s own thoughts and sensations had become her own. Her body shook with it, her breath heaving.
Somewhere beyond herself, she could hear the sounds of a fight going on – angry neighing and whinnying, snarling, and the sound of bodies thudding into each other. But she knew she couldn’t get distracted. She had to focus.
I’m sorry you’re in pain, she tried to tell the monster as soon as she could get a handle on her own mind again. I didn’t want this to happen to you.
It was true – now that she’d felt the monster’s pain for herself, Delilah couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for it, even if it was destroying one of the most significant architectural accomplishments of the twentieth century.
She tried to imagine what it must be like – to have slept peacefully for centuries, for millennia, maybe even for millions of years, only to be awoken suddenly and painfully by evil alicorns intent on using you for their own ends, and to find a world nothing like the one you had left, full of smells and sounds and things that were frightening and bewildering.
She was pretty sure climbing the Sydney Opera House was the least she’d do. She didn’t even like getting up early for work.
I’m sorry, she told it again. You should never have been woken. I know you’re frightened and angry, but you need to go back to sleep.
It was the only thing she could think of to tell it. The monster – she felt bad even calling it a monster now – clearly didn’t want to be awake. It wanted to be snoozing in the nice, comfy hole it had found for itself.
I know it’s frightening, but this isn’t your time anymore, Delilah told it. It isn’t your place. Maybe one day it will be again. But not right now. You can go back to sleep, and wake up again when the time is right.
Delilah waited, wondering what the creature would make of this. Everything still felt clouded with confusion, anger, pain. But slowly but surely, she felt them receding, as the creature began to understand her words.
Not my time?
I don’t know how long you’ve been sleeping, but things have changed, she said. Sleep some more. You shouldn’t have been woken, and not like this.
The creature’s mind seemed to calm, receding from hers.
Sleep…
Delilah wasn’t sure if she should say anything more. She held her breath, waiting.
I wanted to sleep… I was so tired…
Beneath her, the creature’s body began to rock again – but the motion was different this time. Its movements were slower. It was walking backwards, climbing down from the sail of the Opera House.
The water… the water is where I wanted to be.
You can go back there, Delilah told it. No one will ever bother you again, I promise. You can stay where you were, hidden. Sleep now. Sleep as long as you want.
Yes… I want that…
Delilah’s eyes flew open as she realized she was sliding over the slippery surface of the creature’s hide. Its spines and the barnacles that had latched onto it cut into the skin of her palms as she tried to find something to grab onto, but it was no good. The creature was slithering back the way it had come, receding into the waters of the harbor – but she was about to fall right off its head, and down onto the granite below.
Delilah scrabbled desperately, but it was no good.
Euan – where is –
The last she’d seen of him, he’d been leaping at Lev, trying to keep the alicorn away from her. But they were a hundred meters off the ground, and alicorns could fly. Euan couldn’t.
“Euan!” she cried out, more in fear for his safety than anything else. But just then, she slipped the last little way off the creature’s head, and began tumbling toward the earth below –
– Only for a strong hand to reach out and grab her wrist at the last possible moment. Delilah’s shoulder jerked painfully in its socket, but right now, she just didn’t care.
Looking down at her was Euan, his face straining as he hauled her back up onto the creature’s head, putting his arm around her to secure her to his chest.
“Euan, how did you –” she started to ask, before she cut herself off with a gasp. Euan’s other hand was wrapped around one of the creature’s razor-sharp spines, using it to anchor the two of them to its head. Blood seeped out from between his fingers, but he didn’t let go. He couldn’t, or they’d both slip off and be smashed on the granite below.
Euan, Euan –
Delilah wanted to kiss him – she wanted to hold him and never let him go. She was shaking with fear and exhaustion, but she knew things weren’t over yet.
Sleep. I will sleep.
She could hear the creature’s voice in her head, softer now, like an echo.
It slithered down from the quay, slipping back into the water it had come from. The last thing Delilah heard before it submerged itself entirely, leaving them floating in the water, was a soft, gentle, Thank you.
Delilah shivered, feeling her exhaustion right down to her bones as Euan held her up, treading water.
“Delilah.” His voice when he spoke a moment later was awed. “You did it. I don’t know how, but…”
“Neither do I,” Delilah admitted. “I just know… I don’t know. I don’t think it wanted to be here. I don’t think it was evil. It was just… confused.”
“If I were an ancient water monster, I can’t say I’d be thrilled at having been woken up by the likes of Lev and Alisa either,” Euan said after a moment. “Especially if the first thing they did was try to control me.”
“No. I suppose I can understand why it was angry, in a way,” Delilah said. She shivered. The heat had gone out of the day with the setting of the sun, and the water of the harbor was freezing. And besides which –
“Where did Lev go?” she asked, looking around.
“I don’t know,” Euan said cautiously. “He got caught a good one when the monster flicked its tail and sent him crashing down somewhere I couldn’t see. I waited for him to come back, but he never –”
Euan’s words were cut off by a sudden commotion of splashing and gasping – and a moment later, they saw a sodden, silver-haired head break the surface of the water.
Lev…? Delilah wondered, staring at it.
“Help me!” the head in the water cried, as a pair of arms flailed around next to it.
Yeah, that kind of sounds like Lev, Delilah thought.
“Help me! I can’t swim! Please – please! I’ll give you anything – anything –!”
Euan honestly didn’t look too inclined to help him, and Delilah didn’t think she had the strength, even if she’d wanted to.
But a moment later, the decision was taken out of their hands as a pair of rubber floatation rings splashed down into the water beside them.
“Geeze, I thought you guys were goners for sure,” Trent called out from th
e lifeboat that was now pulling up alongside them. Euan helped Delilah to a floatation ring, which Trent quickly began pulling back to the boat. “Give a man a heart attack, why don’t you.”
“Sorry,” Delilah said as he pulled her onto the boat, her teeth chattering. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Hey, I think after what you just did, you’ve earned the right to do pretty much whatever the fuck you want for at least the next ten years,” Trent said. He stared out to the still-rippling water the creature had disappeared into. “What the hell even was that thing?”
“I don’t know,” Delilah said. She swallowed. “Whatever it was, it was old. And… I felt sorry for it.”
It was true. What must it be like, to find the world you once knew was now a completely different place? Delilah shuddered.
“Maybe it was Harold Holt. He got swept here all the way from Portsea,” Trent said. “This is just what fifty years absorbing the chemicals in the harbor does to you.”
Delilah laughed – she couldn’t help it. After everything that had happened, all she wanted to do was, somehow, try to see the light side of the situation.
“Where are the others?” Euan asked as he hauled himself onto the lifeboat.
“Back at the ferry,” Trent said. He started the motor of the lifeboat, steering it away.
Euan glanced back over his shoulder. “What about Lev?”
“Oh, he’ll be taken care of,” Trent said vaguely. He glanced at them sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be mysterious. There’s just someone back at the ferry you’ll probably want to meet.”
Chapter 18
Euan looked down at his hand.
The deep laceration he’d received from holding onto the creature’s spine as it had sunk back down into the depths of the harbor was already beginning to heal, even though it had been freely bleeding just a few moments ago.
My shifter healing is back.