The dark sensation in her mind retreated, and Mareen felt immediate relief. Unfortunately, the renewed clarity of her thoughts allowed her to process where she actually was again, what she could see.
She was surrounded by tentacles, waving around like a sea of veiny, crimson fingers. The tentacle that had sucker punched her floated around her body, caressing her face before it languidly pulled away. She shuddered. Huge, nightmarish creatures swam in the distance, lazily traveling through the deep, no doubt waiting for orders from their master, the Deepwater Rose.
Mareen couldn’t see any natural light filtering through the water; she was deep. The crushing pressure she’d first felt probably would have killed a normal person. She had a feeling that the Rose had known exactly what she could tolerate and had acted to make her uncomfortable, but not kill her. The thought had a twisted sort of logic.
Mareen looked down, and immediately regretted it. Deep below her, a tear seemed to exist in reality itself. Water rushed in one side and out the other, creating a current that stirred the tentacles. Her mind struggled to understand what she was actually witnessing, but she knew something enormous, something utterly unknowable and awful, existed beyond the rent. The longer she looked, the more she thought she could see details, might be able to discern a massive eye staring back at her, an eye devoid of any recognizable emotion, devoid of pity, and large as the horizon—
She tore her gaze away and forced herself not to vomit. Mareen gritted her teeth and looked directly ahead at the sea of tentacles, not focusing on any one. The changes she was experiencing, the warmth from breathing in the surrounding water continued in her body, and she found she could speak after a fashion. She screamed into the water, and the shrieks had meaning.
“I’ve come. You offer power. I want to know what kind of power you can give me, and what the price will be.”
YOU AMUSE ME, WOUNDED BIRD. WOUNDED BIRDS LAND IN THE WATER. DO THEY ESCAPE, OR DO THE TENTACLES PULL THEM DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS? WHERE ARE YOU, WOUNDED BIRD? ARE YOU FLYING?
Mareen’s fear felt so thick, she could barely continue to breath. When she remembered she was breathing some sort of fetid water in the Deepwater Rose’s lair, she almost tried holding her breath, maybe indefinitely. Then again, she wasn’t ready to give up on life, yet. She thought about what Henry would say in this situation and replied, “You obviously want something from me! If you just wanted someone to feed to your pets, you could have gone through a lot less trouble than finding me.”
WELL REASONED. POWERS ARE MOVING, POWERS LONG DORMANT. I CAN SEE SOME FROM HERE, BUT NOT ALL. I WISH TO ROAM THIS WORLD.
“You still have not said what I get out of this, if I even agree!” shrieked Mareen. The style of speech she was compelled to use was disturbing and hurt her throat.
YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE YOUR DECISION BY COMING HERE, DROWNING LITTLE BIRD.
“I haven’t decided to do anything but have a discussion!”
YOU SPEAK OF PRICE. WHAT CAN YOU GIVE THAT I CANNOT JUST TAKE?
“My cooperation! You would not have promised gifts to come here if you didn’t need something. I don’t care if I die, at least not enough to beg. Just tell me what you want.”
The surrounding tentacles pulsed, and Mareen got the feeling the Rose wanted to retort, but thought better of it. She could only imagine what complex, alien calculations it did while choosing responses to their conversation. Finally, the voice spoke again. I OFFER POWER.
“What kind?”
POWER TO SHAKE HISTORY. POWER TO DESTROY NATIONS. POWER TO REND YOUR ENEMIES. POWER TO KEEP ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR.
“Nothing is free. What do you want in return?”
I WISH TO WITNESS THE COMING CLASHES. IT IS AMUSING TO ME. I WILL PUT PART OF MYSELF IN YOU AND YOU WILL CARRY ME OUTSIDE THIS LAKE. MY SIGHT WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM THIS. YOU WILL BE MY AGENT.
“What if I say no?”
YOU MAY NOT REFUSE.
“I can always refuse. I have Body school magic. I can end my own life whenever I want!”
YOUR THREATS ARE AS TINY AS YOU ARE.
“You are a rotting liar!” Despite the situation she was in, Mareen’s temper flared. “You are probably an Old One. That means you are limited, most of you locked away. This is probably why you need my help in the first place. If I kill myself, you get to sit down here in your rotting lake, missing out on all the action that you know is coming!”
There was a slight pause. I COULD FIND ANOTHER. YOU WERE JUST CLOSEST.
Mareen noted that the Deepwater Rose had not denied being an Old One. She was still assuming it couldn’t lie. That didn’t mean it couldn’t omit things or stretch the truth, though. “Then find another!” she replied. “But it took a long time for me to get out here. You also called me. I bet you can’t just call any ‘Bonded, and even if you could, who would be crazy or desperate enough to come?”
The tentacles around her waved in agitation, swirling the current, and Mareen snarled. She screamed, “You have to bargain with me unless you want to wait for another! You may be vast, but events may happen fast, and you will enjoy the show, rotting away in your rotting lake.” Mareen inwardly smiled. After she knew what the Rose wanted her for, she knew how to haggle.
After all, she’d spent time with Uluula, learning from one of the best. Maybe she’d get through this after all.
The tentacles continued to wave and the enormous, disturbing creatures half-seen in the distance seemed agitated. Finally, the voice said, WE WILL BARGAIN. I OFFER POWER IN EXCHANGE FOR YOU TO BE MY EMISSARY TO THE WORLD. YOU NEED NOT DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN LIVE YOUR LIFE.
Mareen narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want you spying on me or my privacy.”
PETTY CREATURE, I CARE NOT FOR YOU OR YOUR EXISTENCE. I WISH TO WITNESS THE COMING STRUGGLES. YOU ARE A CONVENIENCE THAT IS ALL. YOUR LIFE IS OF NO INTEREST TO ME.
“So you basically want, no, you need me to boost your sight in order to view the show better. In exchange you will grant me power. That actually doesn’t seem too bad,” Mareen mused aloud into the depths.
BARGAIN STRUCK
“Wait, I never said I agreed! We were—”
WORDS HAVE POWER. WORDS CAN MEAN MANY THINGS IN MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND WAYS OF THINKING. I HAVE SIFTED YOUR PRIMITIVE SPEECH THROUGH MULTIPLE FILTERS IN ORDER TO BEST UNDERSTAND YOUR MEANING. The voice didn’t actually have any emotional inflection, but Mareen was sure she could hear a smug undertone.
“You rotting—!”
Mareen’s protest was cut off as a small, pulsing tentacle reared up in front of her, sinuously writhing back and forth. Then, with a flurry of bubbles, it lashed out and a sharp tip pricked Mareen’s chest below the collarbone, then jerked back before she could even react. Her body immediately felt hot. Hot and strange.
YOU WILL CARRY MY WILL IN YOUR BODY. I DO NOT WISH FOR YOU TO DIE, BUT AS YOU SAY, MY POWER IS LIMITED AS I AM NOW. WHEN I ESCAPE MY PRISON, I WILL MAKE YOUR END SWIFT AND PAINLESS.
OUR PACT IS STRUCK. YOU ARE THE VESSEL OF MY CONSCIOUSNESS ON LUDUS. WITH THE NEW POWER I HAVE BESTOWED, YOUR WOMB HAS CEASED TO FUNCTION. YOU WILL NEVER BEAR CHILDREN.
Mareen’s heart sunk. No, no, no, no, no. “You never said anything about that!” she screamed.
YOU NEVER ASKED.
“You rotting—”
WELCOME TO EXISTENCE AS A NEW MAREEN JACOBS, BLOOD MAGE.
A handful of smaller tentacles swarmed up, immobilizing her. She thrashed around but even with her enhanced strength, she was helpless. The tentacles around her started glowing red. Mareen wordlessly shrieked, venting her sorrow and rage. She should have known better than to deal with the Deepwater Rose after Henry and Jason failed to get the upper hand on Dolos.
Her reason, her senses were still reeling when the surrounding tentacles erupted with a flash of light. In an instant, Mareen was no longer underwater and she experienced the same disorienting sensation of travel she’d felt before.
Uninhibited Explanation
Mareen hung
her head as she trudged along. She was dripping, listless, and utterly defeated. The tears had stopped coming a while ago, and she’d stopped crying. Now she was just numb.
After the Deepwater Rose had deposited her on a stretch of beach some distance away from the Delvers LLC camp, she’d started heading back to camp. She was not even paying attention to the world around her.
It wasn’t like she could be in danger. There wouldn’t be any monsters nearby with the Deepwater Rose’s agents and influence around.
She was drowning in her own thoughts, reeling from the events of the past few minutes, so it took a moment to realize when her life was threatened yet again. A blade tapped her shoulder, and a sharp edge barely touched her throat. The edge was so sharp, she bled a little, cut despite her orb-granted toughness. Of course, she was being suppressed, too.
The moment the blade had kissed her throat, she’d also felt the telltale sensation of a Mo’hali Hero’s negation field. Her skin crawled like she was covered in insects, and she felt weak. The energy in her body receded, and the difference between how she normally felt nowadays versus closer to an average Terran woman again was profound.
From behind her, she heard Bezzi-ibbi’s voice. “Stop, Mareen. We must talk.” The young Jaguar Clan heir was speaking in English, and his words were terse.
Mareen stilled, not daring to move a muscle. How much does he know? One thing was sure, the Hero had her at a huge disadvantage. Bezzi-ibbi was still young, but Mareen had no illusion about the danger she was in. The Mo’hali boy had killed at least one person that she knew of, and probably more. What’s more, his sense of honor was unshakable.
However, despite being suppressed by the Hero field, Mareen realized she still had access to her body and water magic, which both felt stronger now than before her pact with the Deepwater Rose. She also had her new blood magic. The power roiled around, coiling behind her soul, feeding off of her endurance.
She was not exactly helpless, but she was also technically in the wrong, and Bezzi-ibbi was a friend. It bothered her that she’d had to suppress an urge to lash out at the young Hero with her magic. Where had that come from? She said, “You want to talk? I have a blade to my throat. Talk.”
Bezzi-ibbi chuckled, the sound harsh. “We are not in current danger, but you left watch to disappear with monsters. Smell different now. You are my Clan brother’s wife, so I will give you respect, ‘Benefit of the doubt’ as Henry says. I was not sure what to do, so we will see Jason. He is chief of this group. His watch is next anyway.”
Mareen paused and thought about it. The more she considered the idea of talking to Jason, the more it appealed to her. “Alright, let’s go. But can you take the sword off of my neck? It feels like it’s curving around, even.”
She could feel Bezzi-ibbi grinning behind her when he answered, “My mother always said a wise hunter will not give away advantages because the prey seems won. I will loosen the blade, but we will go like this.”
“Fine.” Part of Mareen wanted to be frustrated with the way she was being treated, but a larger part of herself felt shame for leaving her watch post, and deeper shame for being so effortlessly played by the Rose. “Let’s go, but I would appreciate it if you don’t accidentally cut my throat.”
Bezz-ibbi growled in mirth. “Mate of Henry-ibbi,” he said, stating it as a fact.
…
Mareen stood before Jason’s tent and was beginning to feel some anxiety. She still had a blade around her throat, Bezzi-ibbi behind her. “Can you take the sword away so I can get Jason?” she whispered.
“Use your foot,” said the young Mo’hali. His shoulders shifted, and the sharp edge of his silvery, hooked sword came so close, Mareen imagined she could feel the blade.
“Don’t shrug. You just about sliced me open.”
Bezzi-ibbi grunted an apology as Mareen stood in the dark, trying to figure out which wooden tag was Jason’s. Long ago, Uluula had gotten tired of being woken up whenever someone wanted her husband. She’d come up with a system where a string was tied to both their legs, terminating with a little wooden tag placed outside the tent. Each tag had one of their names carved in big, block letters. This system allowed someone to wake either of them individually.
Eventually, Mareen figured out which tag was Jason’s and tugged it with her foot a few times. She backtracked slowly, allowing Bezzi-ibbi to move with her, and waited.
In a few minutes, Jason came crawling out of his tent, yawning under the dim light of the stars. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and softly asked, “Is it time for my watch already?” Then he saw Mareen standing there with Bezzi-ibbi’s glittering, silver blade on her neck. The tall, rangy man blinked. He shut his eyes, took in a large breath and fished around in his tent behind him, pulling out Breeze and buckling it around his waist.
“Okay, this is new. I’m assuming you want to have a chat somewhere else?”
“That would probably be best,” Mareen responded, her voice low and terse.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but are you going to follow me, Mareen? Bezzi-ibbi?”
“Yes.”
““Okay. Bezzi-ibbi, you can let Mareen free and sheath your blade. Let’s go.”
Bezzi-ibbi immediately removed the sword from around her neck, the curve in the blade straightening by his will before he withdrew it. Mareen turned to regard the Mo’hali boy. He didn’t look apologetic or sheepish in the slightest. He grinned at her, showing all his teeth. Mareen shook her head. Mo’hali people were harder to understand than Henry was, sometimes.
“Why did you tell Bezzi-ibbi to let me go?” she asked Jason, keeping her voice quiet. “You must have known he had me under guard.”
“True,” Jason said. He didn’t sound sleepy anymore at all. “But I don’t know if he is in the right or not.”
Bezzi-ibbi loped forward, pulling abreast of them. He was continuing to speak English, stating, “Jason-ibbi does not fear any of us.”
“That isn’t a very nice way to put it,” said Jason, a bit lamely.
Mareen thought briefly and concluded that Bezzi-ibbi was probably right. Jason had even fought a High Priestess of Dolos. He and Henry both were legends in the making. They could not be judged the same way as normal people, not that orb-Bonded were usually considered ‘normal’. Even now after receiving the Deepwater Rose’s dark gift, she would probably never be a true match for either of them.
Jason sighed. “I hate asking for favors,” he muttered. Then a bit louder, he turned to the sky and loudly whispered, “Keeja, could you watch the camp for a little bit, please? If there is any danger, just wake everyone up.”
Keeja floated down in the darkness and smiled. “You’re lucky I was nearby.”
“Yeah, sure. I bet you just happened to be close, awake, and watching. It’s quite a coincidence and I am sure has nothing to do with all this interesting stuff going on.” Jason snorted. “I have watch with Uluula next, but I’m going to let her sleep for now, I think.”
“Fine, fine. But you owe me a small favor.” Keeja smiled.
“I guess I can’t get around it. You’re still keeping the other high priestess up there, right?” Jason asked, pointing upwards.
“Philana? Yes, she is still keeping her distance.”
“Good. Okay, let’s go you two.” Jason gestured at Mareen and Bezzi-ibbi, then began heading towards the lake.
The three of them walked along the beach, hugging the edge of the cliff the sheltered their camp. After a time, Jason came to a stop and turned, asking, “Okay, so what is going on?”
Mareen felt numerous conflicting emotions, flashing at once, all fighting for her attention. Finally, she remembered her friendship with Jason way back when they’d first met, recalling his blunt advice to her about Henry. Mareen was tired of deceptions, weary of keeping everything bottled up inside. Ultimately, she decided to be honest with Jason, and as soon as the first words fell off her tongue, it was like she’d released a flood. She told Jason everything tha
t had happened, from losing her baby to trying to bargain with the Deepwater Rose.
After the words stopped, Jason rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and slouched. “Holy shit, that’s heavy,” he said. “Let me think about this.”
While her friend was lost in thought, Mareen felt oddly exposed, but also free. She felt like she’d been carrying a weight for a long time that she had finally been able to finally drop.
Jason cleared his throat a few minutes later. He crossed his arms and looked seriously at Mareen and Bezzi-ibbi. “For now, we are going to just take things day by day. But...I hate to say it like this, but I have an order for both of you. Mareen, I’m sorry, but this may be harder for you.”
“What?” she asked.
“You are not allowed to tell anyone else about any of this, but especially not Henry. If Henry finds out what happened to you, any of it, he’d probably actually try to go to war with an Old One, the lake, hell, all of Ludus. I don’t want to lie to a friend, and I don’t think you should lie to your husband, but...please don’t tell Henry if you can avoid it. I think he might give everything up, use anything, even us, in order to protect or avenge you, Mareen.”
Mareen didn’t know exactly how to react to that. It bothered her that she was being asked to not tell her husband things, but she had to admit there was some logic to what Jason was saying.
Bezzi-ibbi nodded. “Henry-ibbi would start a war for his mate, Mareen.”
Jason shook his head. “That’s the problem. I have a pretty good idea we’re already heading towards a war as it is. We really don’t need another one, especially one we can’t win. What do you say, Mareen?”
The dusky-skinned woman bit her lip. “I will not agree to lie to my husband. However, I will consider what you’ve said.”
“I guess that’s the best we can hope for,” said Jason. “I mean what I said, though. Everything is going to get be crazy on Ludus really soon. When that happens, we need Henry working with us, not off trying to pick fights with interstellar tentacle monster god things.”
Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital Page 27