Spirit of the Sea Witch

by Tara West

  “The goddess stone told me.”

  Eris tensed, let out a screech, then dove into the water, disappearing in its depths.

  Alec’s innards quaked with fear when she resurfaced, pulling herself up with a snarl. When she turned to them, he nearly vomited. Her eyes glowed an unnatural aqua, like the color of snake moss in the sunlight.

  “Foolish stone!” she shrieked at the ceiling, her voice shrill. “You ruined my surprise!”

  Alec hunched when the hanging spikes trembled above his head. Should they fall, their sharp points would surely pierce his flesh.

  Eris motioned to Alec and Khashka. “Throw them over the cliff to Naamaku.”

  Great goddess!

  Khashka slumped against Alec. “What have I done?”

  “No!” Mari screamed, appearing, the stone pulsing in her hands.

  Eris hit the spirit with a bright bolt, knocking her back and twisting a rope of energy around her. “The chalice!” she hollered, and Patchwork Captain rushed over with the open goblet. Mari shrieked when Eris dragged the soul toward her using the magic rope and laughed. “Think a mere stone could take on a goddess?” She tossed Mari into the chalice and slammed the lid shut. Holding her prizes in her hands, she laughed maniacally, bolts of electricity dancing around her.

  Alec’s tenuous grasp on hope slipped away. Mari’s spirit was to be banished, lost to him forever. He wanted nothing more than to let Eris banish him, too.

  The sea witch turned her ghoulish gaze on Alec and Khashka.

  “What are you waiting for?” she sneered to her soldiers. “Naamaku needs to be fed.”

  * * *

  The sun relentlessly beat down on them while Alec trudged back across the treacherous terrain with a heavy heart. What a fool he’d been to leave the safety of the dwarves to go after Ryne. Now everyone he loved was about to die, and Eris had a goddess stone and would soon have human legs. Her increased power meant trouble not only for Madhea, but for the rest of humanity as well—perhaps even Dianna and the people of the Shifting Sands. But what made Alec’s soul weep was knowing that Mari’s sweet soul would be banished forever. She had not asked for any of this. She’d been an innocent when Eris took her body, and she was an innocent still. Had Khashka been able to retrieve her body, she might have lived a long, happy life. Perhaps Alec would have courted her, for she had a gentle spirit in her beautiful smile. How could the Elements have designed a goddess to be such a heartless monster?

  Alec’s battered feet left a trail of blood across the hot black stones, and his strength faltered many times. He tripped, skinning his knees and bringing Khashka down with him. The old man didn’t complain. Alec barely flinched when Eris’s menacing soldiers swore and struck them with whips. Soon it would all be over. Markus, Des, and Dianna would lose a brother, and the world would lose hope. The thought of never seeing his family again made him sway on his feet. Heartbroken and exhausted, he struggled to keep his eyes open while slipping in and out of awareness. He feared dying a miserable death on this cursed island.

  Alec stumbled when a soldier applied a whip across his back.

  Do not give up, son. The wind that whispered in his ear sounded too much like Rowlen.

  Visions swam before Alec’s eyes. Were they illusions, or did he see the shadow of his father’s ghost?

  “I have no strength left to fight, Father,” he murmured, staring blankly at the backs of two burly soldiers. True, there were only four, two leading and two behind, but they might as well have been twenty. Alec had not the will to take on one soldier.

  I will be your strength.

  Alec stilled, held up by some invisible force that then moved him forward, as if he was being carried on the wind.

  “Thank you, Father,” Alec whispered, a lone tear sliding down his cheek. Whatever monster Rowlen had been when he was alive had died when Alec drove that blade into his back. “I know ’twas not your fault.”

  A shadow flickered before him. Do you forgive me?

  “Aye, Father.” Alec blinked back more tears. “I forgive you, though there is nothing to forgive. Do you forgive me for killing you?”

  You didn’t kill me. You freed me from the monster. I will do what I can to free you, too.

  Alec stumbled when he heard a roar in the distance. “I hope so, Father.”

  * * *

  The soldiers led them up a steep hill toward the edge of a cliff that overlooked the black-sand beach where they’d first landed. The sirens’ laughs below were punctured by the earth-shattering roar of the dragon. Gorpat was still sleeping on the beach. She and Grim were surrounded by about a dozen soldiers, who were debating the best way to get the giant back in the water.

  Grim paced circles on top of his child’s belly. Somehow he’d gotten hold of his axe, and he was threatening to cut off the bollocks of any soldier who drew near. How Alec wished he could break free of his chains and save his friends, but he’d failed them all.

  “Shoot him with a dart!” Patchwork Captain called to them, his one pink eye fading to a milky white and then back to pink.

  “We would, captain,” another soldier responded, “but we are out.”

  “Why doesn’t he shoot him with a spear?” a soldier grumbled, sweat darkening his matted locks.

  The captain laughed, his pale pink spots turning a dark crimson. “You know Naamaku likes to kill her food.” He tossed a leather sack to the other soldiers.

  They hollered and hooted, pulling out several darts and tubes. Grim deflected three darts with his hatchet before one finally struck his arm. The dwarf quickly jerked it out, tossing it to the ground with a curse, then his eyes rolled back, and he fell on his daughter’s chest. Eris’s soldiers dragged him off the giant and up the hill.

  Gorpat let out a shuddering breath. “Dada,” she mumbled.

  “Hurry, before the beast wakes!” Patchwork Captain called down.

  This was Alec’s one and only chance to warn Gorpat. He groaned while lifting his arms weighted heavily with rusty chains, then cupped his hands around his cracked lips, and despite a parched mouth managed to holler, “Watch out, Gorpat! Eris’s soldiers have your father!”

  The captain spun on Alec with a roar, both eyes turning as black as coal. “Silence!” He raised his whip as if to strike, then stumbled back as a gust of wind hit him in the face. “Help!” he cried, tripping backward.

  Alec sighed. “Thank you, Father.”

  The captain would have fallen off the edge of the cliff if two soldiers hadn’t caught him at the last moment.

  “What in Elements happened?” a soldier asked Patchwork Captain.

  The captain pointed at Alec. “Earth speaker.”

  The captain advanced on him, and Alec stepped back, then stumbled over his chains and fell on his arse, taking Khashka down with him.

  They all turned at the blood-curdling screams coming from the beach below. Alec stumbled to his feet and watched with fascination and horror as Gorpat tossed soldiers into the sea, right into the leviathan’s open maw. When she grabbed the two soldiers who were hauling Grim up the hill, they begged and pleaded to no avail. She tossed them as if she was skipping rocks, skimming across the surface before the dragon snapped them in two.

  The captain and his three soldiers ran to a cannon positioned between blocks on the edge of the cliff. The gears made loud grinding noises as they turned the barrel toward the giant’s back.

  “Behind you!” Alec screamed.

  Gorpat spun around and plucked two of the soldiers from the cannon, tossing them like pebbles into the sea. Two hungry sirens grabbed one soldier, shredding his flesh from his bones in a matter of seconds. The leviathan took the other.

  The captain and the last remaining soldier abandoned the cannon and sprinted down the hill, emerging with a sleeping Grim in their arms.

  “No!” Alec yelled. Despite the fatigue which had turned his bones to clay, he summoned strength from deep within and stumbled to his feet, swaying while yanking on Khashka’s c
hains. “Get up, old man.” No sooner had Khashka stood than Alec was yanking him toward Grim’s captors. They stumbled into a run, but they were no match for the burly soldiers, whose long legs were double Alec’s stride.

  The soldiers released Grim over the side of the cliff as Alec and Khashka came upon them. Alec ran into the captain full force, butting his backside with his head and sending him careening over the edge. Khashka kicked the legs of the other soldier. The man spun around in horror, grabbing for Alec’s chains, but a sudden wind pushed him back. He slid down the cliff face and fell on a rock below, dying instantly. Sirens made quick work of him, leaving behind nothing but bones. Grim floated in the current, face-down beside them. If Grim didn’t drown, surely he’d be eaten.

  As the leviathan dove for Grim, Gorpat raced into the water, latching onto the monster’s tail. The sirens shrieked and swam away when the monsters fought, the leviathan pulling Gorpat farther from her father.

  Do not go in the water, the wind whispered in Alec’s ear.

  “Sorry, Father.” Alec heaved a groan, then jerked on Khashka’s chain. “I hope you’re a good swimmer.”

  “I am,” the old man said, gaping at the scene below. “This is the least I can do for the dwarf after the fool I’ve been.”

  Together they jumped off the cliff. They screamed all the way down and hit the water feet first. Alec instinctively curled into a fetal position, sinking past long tendrils of seaweed while flaming arrows of pain shot up his heels. Great goddess! The water’s surface had been as unyielding as a block of ice. He opened his eyes, struggling to swim to the top, but Khashka was motionless below him, sinking like a stone and pulling them both toward a watery grave.

  Alec shook the old man’s shoulder, then saw they were falling into the open jowls of a carnivus. He shook the old man harder. The plant reared up and swallowed Khashka, its jagged teeth snapping the chains that bound Alec to the old man.

  He had no time to mourn Khashka as he swam away from the monster plant’s reach to the surface.

  The waters around him were in turmoil, and he nearly slammed against a crop of sharp-edged rocks as he made for Grim. The dwarf had flipped on his back and appeared to be slipping in and out of consciousness. He grabbed Grim’s hand and tugged him toward the beach while Gorpat and the dragon fought.

  The leviathan turned on Gorpat, biting the giant’s arm. She let out a wail and slammed him against the side of the cliff. He landed in the water, creating such a large wave, it sent Alec and Grim into the middle of the lagoon. Another wave pushed them under. The dwarf thrashed wildly against the current. Alec was kicking toward the surface when he saw rows of snapping carnivus teeth within striking distance of his feet.

  Alec hauled Grim against him, then swore when he saw a trio of pretty female heads bobbling close to shore. He wouldn’t stand a chance against the sirens.

  “Come clossser,” they hissed, crooking long fingers at Alec. A wave splashed over his head, filling his ears with water just as they broke into song, thank the Elements, for they were far enough away that their seductive music was muffled and indecipherable.

  His options were to swim back out into the ocean, where no doubt carnivus plants would be waiting for their next meal, risk trying to get past the voracious sirens, or swim toward the cliff where Gorpat fought the leviathan. He spied a shallow cave in the cliff face. If he could get around the monsters, they could wait out the battle.

  “My pearl needs help,” Grim sputtered.

  “Are you awake now?”

  “Aye,” Grim said. “Take me to my pearl. I cannot swim fast enough with these stubby legs.”

  Alec held Grim’s hand and kicked off toward the cliff. “I doubt there is much we can do against a dragon.”

  Grim spit out a mouthful of water. “Never underestimate a father’s determination.”

  They fought wave after wave, swimming through and under them until they reached the cliff. Gorpat was losing strength. Though she held the serpent in a headlock, he’d managed to puncture her arm with sharp fangs, her flesh around the wounds sizzling like frying bacon.

  “I’m coming, my pearl!” Grim cried, hopping up on a jagged boulder with surprising speed. He soared to the cliff wall with a grunt, then began the ascent up the side as if he was part goat.

  Breathless and fatigued beyond imagining, Alec slumped on a large rock, his dangling chains rattling as he watched the dwarf climb ever higher until he was above the serpent. Grim lifted a boulder over his head and hurled it at the leviathan’s mouth. It bounced off one of the beast’s teeth, cracking it in two before tumbling into the ocean. The leviathan released his hold on Gorpat. The dwarf made a quick retreat up the side of the cliff, barely avoiding the serpent’s strike. The leviathan cried out again as another tooth broke off.

  A loud rush of water startled Alec. The lagoon appeared to be draining at an alarming rate, the water rushing out to sea. Carnivus tipped on their sides, fish flopped in pockets of water, and sirens disappeared.

  What was happening?

  Gorpat released the leviathan, clutching her sore arm as the water drained down to her knees. When the dragon chased after the current, Gorpat scooped up Grim and Alec, smashing carnivus plants while trudging to shore. She fell on the black sand with a deep boom, Alec and Grim tumbling out of her hands.

  “My baby pearl!” Grim wailed. “You are injured.”

  Alec’s chest tightened with panic at the number of bloody and festering gashes covering the giant’s body. The skin around the wounds was turning gray, and Alec worried the giant would succumb to the venom.

  Gorpat fell on her back, staring up at the sky. “Gorpat save Dada.”

  He climbed up her dripping hair. “Yes, you did, my pearl.” Tears flowed down his ruddy cheeks as he planted a kiss on the tip of her flat nose. “You shall always be Dada’s heroine.”

  She smiled at that, then lifted a bloody hand. “Dragon hurt Gorpat.” When she turned her hand over, Alec cringed at her three missing fingernails. “Gorpat no like dragon.”

  Grim patted her cheek. “Me neither.”

  Alec surveyed the lagoon, fearing ’twas no coincidence it was nearly drained. Hundreds of upturned carnivus plants, ranging from smaller than Alec’s foot to as large as Gorpat’s head, made sickening wheezing sounds while struggling for breath. Two sirens, surrounded by mounds of human remains, flopped in shallow puddles, calling out for Alec to save them. Their shrill screams made Alec wish Eris’s soldiers hadn’t taken his bow and arrows. One rather large carnivus caught Alec’s eye, for it had a familiar chain hanging from a spiked tooth.

  Alec raced through the marshy lagoon, dodging the razor-sharp teeth of smaller plants. He cautiously stepped up to the monster plant, which heaved and shuddered, its mouth falling open with a final wheeze. He tugged hard on the chain, pulling with all his might until Khashka slid off the monster’s gray tongue.

  With a groan, he heaved the old man onto his shoulders, stumbling through the muck as he carried him to the beach. Grim helped him get Khashka off his back.

  Alec fell beside Khashka and turned him on his side, knocking water from his lungs.

  “No, like this.” Grim pushed Alec aside and pumped the old man’s chest, stopping to blow air into his mouth. The dwarf felt the vein on Khashka’s neck, then placed an ear to his chest. “He’s barely breathing.”

  “Ahhhlec,” Khashka whispered before a stream of blood poured from his mouth.

  Alec leaned over him. “What is it?”

  “Mari. Save her.”

  How he wished he could save the pretty spirit from banishment, but he was no match for the sea goddess. Khashka heaved a shuddering breath, and his mouth dropped open.

  Grim shut the man’s eyes. When he bowed his head, Alec joined him in reciting a prayer for Khashka’s soul.

  The afternoon sun had fallen midway toward the horizon, as they carried Khashka to the top of the hill, laying him beside the cannon and covering him in a tarp they’d found in t
he soldiers’ supplies. Gorpat was leaning against the side of the hill when they descended, her snake bites, oozing blood and puss, far worse. Alec feared the giant would soon succumb to her wounds.

  “Dragons, Dada!” Gorpat hollered, pointing to two winged silhouettes circling overhead.

  “Elements save us! More bloody dragons!” Grim squinted at the darkening sky.

  Alec’s heart plummeted, then raced when he noticed one of the dragon’s iridescent wings looked all too familiar. A woman leaned over the dragon’s neck, her long blonde hair flowing behind her, reminding Alec of the ethereal scrolls picturing Madhea in flight. She wildly waved her hands, then both dragons nose-dived right for them.

  When Grim grabbed his hatchet, grumbling, Alec placed a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “It’s okay.” A deep, rich burst of belly laughter sprung from him for the first time in what felt like many moons. “We’re saved.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Brother, you are alive!” Dianna jumped off Lydra and leaped into her brother’s arms.

  He flinched and drew back. “Sister? What are you doing here?”

  “We’ve come to save you.” She shuddered when she saw his shredded feet. Oh, heavenly Elements! Her poor brother. What torture he must have endured.

  And defeat the sea witch. Tan’yi’na added.

  She touched Alec’s cuts and bruises, effortlessly healing them, then looked around. How had the marshy lagoon been drained of water? Was Madhea’s power strengthening? The setting sun glared through the clouds, making it hard for her to see how far this drought stretched. Behind her a mountain marred by rivers of lava loomed, smoking and spitting ash and radiating heat over the entire island.

  “You’ve come to battle Eris?” A dwarf with ruddy cheeks, slapping an axe in his palm, leaned against the leg of a giant sleeping girl. “Are you mad?”

  “Perhaps.” She shrugged.

  “I didn’t know your magic was so strong.” Alec flexed his fingers, then looked at the smooth soles of his feet.

  “Neither did I.” She chuckled. “I seemed to have discovered a deep well of magic.”