by Apryl Baker
Her brow furrowed, and she went to stare out the cabin’s window. She wasn’t sure herself of all the ramifications of leaving her home, but the one thing she feared the most was losing her ability to shift into a Dragon. Her uncles had told her if she left the island, if she left her home, her family, then it would bring about serious repercussions. She’d scoffed and laughed at the time, but now she had to wonder, were they right?
When she’d shifted into her natural form earlier during the fight, it had been easy, like a river pouring down a waterfall. The problem came when she shifted back. It had taken almost everything she’d had not to collapse. That had never happened to her before. Shifting was like breathing. One didn’t think about it; one just did it. She’d had to concentrate on shifting, something that had never happened before either.
It scared her. Enough so she was even considering asking the captain to allow her to leave and return to her island. She’d escaped the island to explore her human half, to understand their ways, not to lose the only part of herself that mattered. Being a Dragon was who she was. Half-human or not, she was at heart a Dragon.
The question had nagged away at her as she lay resting through the night, regaining her strength. Her family would be furious, of course, but that she’d deal with. They never could stay angry with her for long.
The sound of the door opening made her turn, eager for a reprieve from this small space. Instead of Stephen, she found Lukas instead. He looked tired. They’d been up most of the night preparing to set sail. His dark hair was disheveled, and he ran a hand through it. He glanced at her, shock and surprise warring within his expression. Had he forgotten he put her here?
“Ah, Lukas, good morning to you.”
A sigh rumbled out of him. “Ryder, good morning to you as well. Have you broken your fast yet?”
“No. I was waiting on that captain to escort me.”
“He’s not a captain here,” Lukas corrected her. “There is only one captain, and that’s Emerald.”
Her brow arched at the venom in his tone, and she cocked her head. He seemed very upset, but she couldn’t fathom why. “Then what should I call him?”
“Stephen. Call him Stephen.” Lukas made his way to the desk and settled behind it. “We will be leaving within the hour. Once we enter the Crucible, I am not sure of the conditions. I’ve advised everyone to eat early and be ready. You should, as well.”
“I promised your captain I wouldn’t go anywhere unescorted.” A simple concession at the time, but in hindsight, not the best decision. It meant being trapped in a suffocating cabin all day. She was used to being out in the open, not this claustrophobic little box.
“It’s necessary.” She turned her head to look at him. Sympathy shone in his eyes. “I know it’s not easy, but the crew doesn’t trust you as of yet. Emerald doesn’t trust you.”
“Have I not done my part?” she grouched. “Did I not fight for your lives against that creature?”
Lukas rubbed his temples. “Did you do that for the crew or for yourself? That is the question they are all asking. If you want their trust, Ryder, it will take time and patience.”
“Are all humans so difficult?” Was this what she expected to look forward to everywhere she went? No one had ever questioned her motives before, selfish or not. It didn’t sit well with her.
“Yes, we are.” Laughter laced his words. “Be patient, little Dragon. The others will come around.”
“Why do you trust me when they do not?”
He studied her as she waited for his answer. “I’ve asked myself that same question repeatedly, and the answer is I don’t know.”
Yet another oddity about the man. Ryder truly did not understand him.
“Come, let’s get you fed. We must be underway soon, and I can’t have you starving. The crew might think you’d eat them if they heard your belly growling like that.”
Ryder flushed. Her stomach was making a fuss. Head down, she followed Lukas out of his cabin and toward the galley. So many questions jumped around in her head. She’d study him a little more and then start trying to piece together the mystery that was Lukas.
***
The morning breeze danced through her hair. Valeria’s knuckles whitened where she gripped the wheel. Could she really do this? Could she risk the lives of everyone by going into the Crucible? Madame had always called her selfish. She felt selfish, but Valeria needed to know where she came from.
Would she be so willing to jump into the unknown if it were a member of her crew and not herself? This crew had proven time and time again they were her family. She loved them like a family, but a part of her remained empty, longing for something. Family. Everyone had it. Some were born into family. Some families, like her pirate crew, were made. Family made up the bits and pieces of a person, defined them, to a degree.
Looking out over the blue water behind the barrier of the spell, Valeria knew that she would help her family do whatever was within her power to do for them. She would brave the unknown, walk through the darkest bowels of hell for them. She could ask this of them because she would do the same for each of them.
The crew waited for her orders. She took several deep breaths. The opening of the Crucible stood just to the left of Dendali’s Curse. It had opened sometime in the night right after the Kraken’s attack. The inky black opening into the water had them all on edge. No one could see into it the mouth of the abyss. What horrors awaited?
Closing her eyes, she straightened her spine before handing the wheel over to Jacoby. She turned and looked down into the faces of her crew, her family. Some of them might not survive the journey. She knew it, they knew it. Yet they stood there, waiting. Fear, anticipation, dread—a mixture of emotions played over the faces looking up at her, waiting for her to lead them on their next adventure.
Lukas stood to her right and Tobias on her left. Stephen stood amongst the crew, but she felt his eyes on her. What Stephen thought mattered to her more than anyone else. She hoped at the end of this he could stare at her without judgment.
“It’s been a long journey to get here.” Her eyes drifted over the ship, the repairs hurried, and they were barely able to fly, but fly they would. She took a few steps so she could gaze down upon her crew. “I know you are afraid. I’m afraid as well, mates. We have lost many of our friends, but they will not have died a useless death. We will honor them by braving the unknown, with daring and courage. We will reap our riches from the glory of this adventure.”
A cheer went up from the crew, and she grinned, letting false confidence shine through. They had to believe in her, in their ability to survive, if they had any hope of pulling this off.
“Man y’er posts, me hearties!” she shouted and walked over to the helm, checking her settings for the thousandth time. Jacoby gave her control of the helm, and she grasped the wooden wheel. Every ship she knew of had a metal wheel, except for hers, The Emerald Queen. It paid homage to those who came before, to the graveyard of ships buried under the poisonous waters of DeCadia.
Valeria let the feel of the wood calm her like it always did. She closed her eyes and listened to the activity behind her, felt the wind on her face. She freed herself of doubts and hesitancies. She was The Emerald Queen, most feared pirate of all DeCadia. She would do this.
When she opened her eyes, she felt fire and steel settle in her belly. Without another thought, she turned the wheel, bringing them about face, and then lowered the ship until it was only inches above the obsidian depths. Her ship wasn’t designed for water travel, but it was lightweight and could handle the stress of being this low to the ground. She’d designed it like that for the ability to hide closer to the water.
All along, she’d been preparing for this without even realizing it. Laughter bubbled up. This was what she’d been made for, what she’d designed her ship and her crew for. It was time.
A hush settled over the ship as she guided it toward the entrance of the Crucible. The darkness ate the ship inch by in
ch. Muttering sounded behind her, but she kept her focus on the Crucible. A shudder ran through her when the darkness encompassed her and she passed through it. It was the strangest feeling, like her stomach had been on a three-day binge, yet her brain and nerve endings jumped to life, sparking something hidden deep inside her. A slow burn started on her shoulder where the birthmark lay then spread slowly through every inch of her. Her hand shook as a strange force built inside of her. What was happening?
“Easy.” Tobias laid his hands on her shoulders. “It’s your magic. It’s trying to light the cavern, but it doesn’t know how. Relax, and I will do this. Just don’t fight me.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Valeria gasped. She felt it, his magic, invading her body like some conquering army. It hurt, and her own magic rose to meet the threat. It clashed, and they both grunted.
“Relax.” The words were clipped, his voice pained.
“How?” Relax? Easier said than done when two foreign entities had control of your body. How was she supposed to relax?
“Close your eyes, Valeria. Think of open air, of the sky, of all the things you love about flying, anything but this. Think of something beautiful.”
Valeria did as she was told. She ignored the sensations swamping her and instead focused on the feel of the wood beneath her feet, letting herself remember the day she first lifted The Emerald Queen into the air. The ship was unlike any other in the sky. Even her builder had been impressed. The feel of the steam engine powering up, bringing the ship to life, caressed her memory. The feel of muggy heat beating at her while the breeze only fanned the flames as they rose into the sky, bending with the wind. She remembered how she’d felt in that moment, exhilarated and scared. Very much like she did now.
“Open your eyes.”
She opened them and nearly let go of the wheel. The cavern was no longer a pit of dark imagination, but a cave that seemed to have no end in sight. Green fire blazed from the torches that lined the walls as far as the eye could see. The flames were unlike any she’d ever seen. They burned steadily, never flickering. The color gave the enormous cavity an ominous effect. She wasn’t sure it was much better than the darkness. The stillness unnerved her.
“We can still turn back.” Tobias let go of her shoulders. “This journey will not be easy for any of us, Valeria. It’s not too late to reconsider.”
“I can’t.”
A sigh rumbled out of him. “I know.”
Valeria frowned. Fear resided in Tobias’s eyes, a fear that ran so deep she wasn’t sure he even knew how much it affected him. Whatever happened to him in Atlantis haunted him. So why was he helping her?
“Captain?”
Jacoby’s voice startled her. She worked hard to keep her composure. Now was not the time to show any kind of fear. “Yes, Jake?”
“Do you want me to take over now?”
She was hesitant to give the ship up. What if they ran across something he couldn’t navigate? She laughed to herself when the thought crossed her mind. He was as skilled as she at the helm. Her being at the helm instead of him was semantics. She nodded and stepped back. “Just keep us moving forward, Jake. We’ll need to check the maps and adjust our course as needed.”
“Why would you check the maps, girl?”
She shot a confused look at Tobias. “You did say they were maps to Atlantis. I’m assuming we’ll need them to…”
Tobias shook his head, stopping her sentence before she got any further. “No, girl. They aren’t maps to Atlantis; they are maps of Atlantis and its surrounding islands.”
“Jake, take the wheel.” Her tone was clipped, but unease had her nerves beginning to fray. She needed to speak with Tobias away from prying ears. Had she endangered them for no reason? If they couldn’t navigate the Crucible, all would be lost.
He nodded and swapped places with her. Valeria motioned Lukas to join her and Tobias as they walked a little away from Jacoby and Marm. She hadn’t even noticed the tiny woman behind her helmsman.
“If those maps aren’t a map through the Crucible, then how do we get through it? What can we expect?” She wasted no time the minute they were out of earshot. “This place, how far until we see daylight?”
Tobias ran a hand through his hair. “It isn’t as easy as that, girl. The Crucible is different for all of us. It might take us a day or a year to cross it.”
“I don’t understand.”
Tobias turned to stare out in the distance. “The Crucible is designed to test the worthiness of those entering Atlantis. It tests us all. There are three tests, one of bravery, one of courage, and one of truth.”
“Aren’t bravery and courage the same thing?” Lukas sounded as confused as she felt.
“No.” Tobias shook his head. “Anyone can be brave. People do it every day when they face down the bully in the school yard or save a person from certain death. Courage is the true mettle of a person. It’s more about looking inward and coming to terms with truths you normally wouldn’t want to ever face.”
Lukas stroked his jaw, thoughtful. “I guess I can see your point a little, but it still sounds the same to me. Good thing it’s you, Capt’n, and not me having to do these trials.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Tobias’s words wiped the grin from Lukas’ face. “These trials may or may not be focused upon Valeria.”
“But she is the one who requested entry.” Lukas frowned and shifted. “The two of you are the only ones with Atlantian blood.”
“We are not the only ones entering Atlantis, though.” Tobias swept his hand out toward the crew. “The trials look into our hearts, and each test is designed to judge the worthiness of those who doubt themselves. They could focus on any of us. If that person is found lacking, then we all perish.”
Valeria had not expected this. She’d thought she would be the one to face them all, not her crew. Love them, she did, but she was also very aware of their shortcomings. What had she just gotten them into?
“Then we will face each test as they come.” Lukas sounded sure, and it bolstered her confidence. Leave it to Luk to find the right words. “I trust this crew with my life.”
“As do I.” Valeria nodded her approval.
Tobias smiled, but it reeked of sadness. “We shall see.
Chapter Four
Tobias had allowed a few hours to pass since their entrance into the cavern marking the beginning of the Crucible. Fear was giving way to order, anxiety dissolving into dangerous thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, Tobias could leverage his position with Val. If she was gifted enough, perhaps she could…no, the idea was preposterous. Even if she forgave him for what he had done in the past, she had expressed no desire in overthrowing a king, much less leading a nation.
Floorboards creaked under his booted feet, and his dark robe rustled in the breeze as Tobias crossed The Emerald Queen’s deck. Dangerous ideas were poking at his thoughts, but it would all mean nothing if she could not channel the power that was her birthright.
“Full sail ahead,” he heard Val say to the muscled helmsman who turned her ship’s wheel with practiced ease.
An elderly woman stood quietly beside the man as Val addressed her. “Any questions you have, Jacoby can answer. If you’re half as good as Stephen says you are, then you are a welcome addition to the crew. I’m sure we’ll have need of your skills at the helm of the ship before we reach Atlantis.”
“I’m here to do whatever is needed to make sure we all arrive safely,” the woman said.
Her answer seemed to please Val. The ship’s captain opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it. Instead of words, she took in Tobias with a sideways glance. “There you are, old man. I thought with a younger body you’d be moving faster, but apparently that’s not how it works.”
Tobias dipped his head in her direction, biting back a sarcastic reply. “I’m here now. We are underway, in the cavern of the Crucible. You’re not worried about the first trial?”
Val shrugged
and motioned Tobias to follow her up to the stern’s platform just behind the ship’s helm. “It was time to get underway. The crew was getting restless. Besides, I have you to tell me of the trials we’re going to face.”
Tobias followed her up the stairs onto the platform. From this point, Tobias could see the wheel below and the deck spread out before him. The wind caressed his face. The sea spread out in front and behind him, lit only by the green torches that lined the cavern walls.
“You’ve had a busy morning, girl. You’ve discovered the birthmark on your back is more than an intricate coincidence and managed to successfully enter the Crucible.” Tobias leaned against the railing.
“Yes.” Val crossed her arms over her chest. “Without your help, I might add.”
“Well, I was very near dying at the time and couldn’t tell you much about your birthmark. Besides, you discovered the truth of it on your own. My time is better spent telling you what we are up against and teaching you to hone the magic that courses through your veins.”
Val’s eyebrow raised. “Yeah, about that. I know I’m healing faster now, but what else do you think I’m capable of?”
And that was the question. Even Tobias was eager to find out exactly how far Val would be able to progress. Instead of showing his impatience, he veiled his excitement at the question. “It all depends on you. Magic to one degree or another flows through every Atlantian. Their capacity to wield it depends on their own natural ability as well as their competence to learn and work at their skill. I’ve seen Atlantians with all the potential in the world waste away, while others with the slightest glimmer of natural ability work day and night and channel their magic into truly extraordinary things.”
“You’re telling me a lot without really saying anything.” Val let out a heavy breath. “Basically, I have potential, but we don’t really know until I try.”