Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3)

by Eric T Knight

  “You hurt my friend!” Aislin screamed. She reached again for the sea and a new wave appeared. Within this one could be seen hundreds of creatures, scales glittering in the sunlight, mouths gaping with long teeth. The wave crashed down onto the zhoulin. The toothy creatures swarmed over it, teeth flashing. Dozens of wounds appeared on the zhoulin’s hide.

  But it was not enough. The zhoulin’s hide was too tough and the wounds were only superficial. The zhoulin continued walking toward Aislin. As it came, it unwound the seaweed from its torso.

  Aislin realized too late that the seaweed was actually a net, and before she could run, the zhoulin cast it over her.

  As the net settled over her she gasped. It was like a cloud had moved in front of the sun. The day seemed to grow very dark. Sounds became oddly muted.

  And she could no longer reach the sea.

  She was completely cut off from it. She could sense it there, beyond the net, but she couldn’t touch it.

  The net tightened around her. It was as cold as ice and she began shivering uncontrollably. She fell onto her side.

  From the edge of her vision she saw Randel go running at the zhoulin, his sword upraised. A moment later there was a single cry from him, suddenly cut off.

  Liv appeared, pulling on the seaweed net, trying to free Aislin from it, but it was wrapped tightly around her.

  The sun was blotted out as the zhoulin loomed over Aislin. With one huge hand it casually slapped Liv aside as if she were no more than a gnat. The zhoulin grabbed the net and picked Aislin up. She dangled from its huge fist, the net so tight she couldn’t struggle, could barely breathe. She could see Treylen lying on the ground unmoving. A few feet from him lay the still form of Randel. Were they dead? Had the zhoulin killed her friends?

  There was movement and suddenly Liv ran up to Randel. She picked up his sword and turned to face the zhoulin.

  “Leave my friend alone!” she shouted. She ran at the creature and swung the blade at its leg—

  The zhoulin simply ignored her. Her blow glanced off its tough hide without leaving a mark. Liv swung again and again, but it was pointless.

  “They wait for you,” the zhoulin said, and began walking back toward the sea.

  Aislin fought madly, trying to get through the barrier blocking her from the sea, but it was hopeless. She had no idea what she was doing and even if she could reach it, what good would it do anyway? What good was mere water, or creatures conjured from water, against such a powerful being? It was too strong, too elemental.

  She needed more than water. She needed Seaforce, the raw energy within the Sea. She should have listened to Treylen when he tried to teach her how to use it. He must have used Seaforce when he attacked the zhoulin. He’d managed to slow the creature somewhat, but he hadn’t been strong enough to stop it. Maybe she could have.

  If only she’d listened to him.

  If only she could somehow escape this net. It was the net that was blocking her from the sea. If she could get out of it, she could fight back and this time she would use Seaforce.

  The zhoulin walked back into the sea. Aislin was hanging upside down and a wave splashed against her face. The touch of the water seemed to clear her thoughts and in her mind she heard Ya’Shi’s voice, something he’d said before:

  You don’t just control the Sea. You are the Sea.

  Suddenly his words made sense. She knew why she was so at home in the sea, why she never grew cold or tired while in it. Because she was the Sea.

  Realization and occurrence happened nearly simultaneously.

  Aislin felt herself lose form for a moment and as she did, she slipped away, pouring through the holes in the net like water and into the sea.

  The Sea!

  The zhoulin stopped and looked down in confusion at the suddenly-empty net it was carrying.

  Aislin knew she was safe in the water. The zhoulin couldn’t touch her now. She could stay in this form until it left.

  But she was angry. It had hurt her friends, maybe even killed them. It needed to pay for that.

  Aislin reformed her body and stood up.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” she said.

  She didn’t know what to do. She only knew that she was angry and afraid and she wanted to hurt this thing standing before her.

  Blindly she reached into the Sea, but this time she didn’t reach for the water, she reached for the power.

  Seaforce flooded her, swelling her until she felt huge, as tall as a mountain, looking down on the tiny form of the zhoulin.

  The zhoulin’s confusion lasted only a moment, then it once again threw the net over her.

  The merest twitch of the power filling her and the net exploded into fragments.

  “Now I’m going to hurt you,” Aislin said.

  She threw out her hands and released everything within in a wild, chaotic burst. Power exploded outwards in every direction. The zhoulin was thrown backwards as if it were made of straw.

  With the power gone, Aislin suddenly felt weak and she went to her knees, blackness crowding her vision.

  But she was still angry and she fought her weakness back, got to her feet and walked to where the zhoulin lay on its back in shallow water, the waves lapping against it.

  Aislin stood looking down at it. It was badly wounded. There were deep gashes in a number of places and much of its hide was scorched. Yellow-green blood was leaking into the sea.

  But it was still alive.

  Aislin began to once again gather Seaforce. This time she would make sure it was dead.

  But then she noticed something peculiar in the creature’s eyes, something she didn’t expect, something that stunned her.

  The zhoulin did not look like a creature on the verge of death, fighting to stay alive. Instead it looked like it was welcoming death. There was an almost peaceful look in its eyes. Its mouth opened.

  “Kill me,” it said.

  Aislin blinked, unable to figure out what to make of this strange turn of events. The power she had gathered flickered slightly.

  “Why?” she asked it.

  “I want…to be free.” Blood came from its mouth as it spoke.

  Aislin fell back a step. The power flickered more and began to leach back into the sea.

  “No,” the zhoulin rasped when it noticed what was happening. “Kill me…or I will try again to kidnap you.”

  “Why?” Aislin asked again.

  “No choice. The Lementh’koy control me. Look closely.” The zhoulin gestured.

  Aislin looked. At first she saw nothing, then it was like her vision shimmered and something new came into view.

  It looked like a massive chain, but a chain whose links were made of ephemeral green-black bands of power. The chain came out to sea and disappeared into the zhoulin’s torso.

  “Thousands…of years enslaved,” the zhoulin rasped weakly. “Kill me. Set me free.”

  All at once Aislin knew what to do.

  “I have a better idea,” she said. She walked to the ephemeral chain, summoned Seaforce to her until her hands glowed too brightly to look at, then took hold of the chain.

  With a mighty wrench she broke the chain. When she did it disappeared. She turned back to the zhoulin.

  “You’re free now.”

  The zhoulin looked at where the chain had been, then stared up at her in disbelief. It sat up. “After so long,” it said in its broken voice. “I have forgotten…”

  It turned to Aislin. “Thank you,” it said. One huge hand settled gently on top of her head. “I am Gaz, and this is my past.”

  At the touch Aislin felt the zhoulin’s memories flood into her. But they were not memories of enslavement. They were memories from a time before. She saw Gaz with others of its own kind, only much smaller, and realized a moment later that they must be Gaz’s children.

  “You’re a mother,” she said in awe.

  “I was,” Gaz said sadly, “but that was long ago. They are all dead now, along with the rest of my
people. We were enslaved during the war between Stone and Sea. Golgath used us to kill. He told us when the war was over he would free us, but he didn’t. Instead we remained his slaves, the assassins dispatched to kill his enemies.”

  “I’m sorry,” Aislin said. There was nothing else she could say.

  “I am too.”

  “I’m sorry I hurt you,” Aislin said. “Will you live?”

  “I might,” Gaz replied. “We are not easy to kill.” She began changing back then. Arms became pectoral fins. Legs receded and were replaced by a powerful tail. Her head elongated. With a last look at Aislin, she slid into the water and swam away.

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  Aislin waded out of the sea, still struggling to process what had just happened. Randel was sitting up, holding his head. Treylen was still lying motionless on the sand.

  Liv came running toward her. She had a long scratch on her face, but otherwise seemed to be okay. “You got away!” Liv exclaimed, throwing her arms around Aislin. “I thought you were gone for sure.”

  “How is Treylen?” Aislin asked. “Is he…?”

  “I don’t know,” Liv replied. Together they hurried over to the old man. Aislin crouched down beside him and shook his shoulder.

  “Treylen. Wake up. Tell me you’re okay.” He didn’t respond and Aislin felt something she’d never felt before, the fear that someone she loved was dead. It hit her with unexpected strength. Her eyes filled with tears. She bent and pressed her face into his neck. “Don’t be dead,” she sobbed. “Please don’t be dead.” Distantly she could hear Liv crying.

  But then Treylen moved. He groaned and his eyes opened. “Aislin, you’re crying.”

  “You’re okay!” she exclaimed, the relief that flooded through her so powerful she thought it would sweep her away.

  “I’m not sure I’d go that far,” he said weakly. “Help me sit up.”

  The girls grabbed his hands and pulled him up into a sitting position. He moaned in pain. He looked terribly pale and blood was still leaking slowly from his ears and mouth. “I think I broke a couple of ribs there,” he said. Wincing, he looked around. “It’s gone,” he said wonderingly. He looked at Aislin. “You used Seaforce.” Aislin nodded. “Did you kill it?”

  “No,” she said. “I let her go.”

  He frowned. “But that’s not possible. The zhoulin don’t stop. Once they are given a task they carry it out unless they are killed.”

  “You don’t understand. I let her go. I freed Gaz. Then she went away.”

  “Gaz? The zhoulin told you her name?”

  Aislin nodded. “She told me she was a slave. So I let her go.”

  The old man shook his head slowly. “Truly you are an amazing child, Aislin.” Randel came walking up then, holding his head as if it were a fragile vase that might break at any second. Treylen looked up at him. “I hope you can ride, because you’re going to need to go to the city and get me a carriage. The macht will want to know about this, and I’m afraid there is no way I can make it to the castle on my own.”

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  Aislin was just getting out of the macht’s personal carriage in front of the palace when Netra came running up and swept her up in her arms. “Thank the Mother you’re okay,” she whispered in Aislin’s ear. For once Aislin didn’t fight her. She even went so far as to hug her mother back. And it felt surprisingly good. Thinking Treylen was dead had done something to her. She’d seen how easily someone she cared about could be taken from her forever, and she’d had a glimpse of how painful that would be.

  Netra set her down a minute later. By then Bonnie had arrived and was busy squeezing Liv in her arms and crooning something to her. Finally Liv said, “I think that’s quite enough, Mommy. Don’t you?”

  Bonnie set her down and Liv straightened her dress. “I was never in any real danger. The creature wasn’t after me, you know.”

  “The things you say, child,” Bonnie said, her voice a mixture of exasperation and relief.

  There was the sound of hooves and Rome galloped through the gates of the castle, Brecken close behind him. He jumped off his horse, picked up Liv and pressed her to him.

  “Again?” Liv cried out, her voice muffled by Rome’s bulk. “I just went through this already.”

  A few minutes later they were in the map room, sitting around the big table. Quyloc had joined them, along with the FirstMother. Bonnie had taken Liv, who was protesting mightily, away.

  Rome turned to Netra. “You said you encountered one of these creatures before?”

  “Shorn and I did, in a cavern beneath the buried city of Kaetria,” Netra said. “It had been sent by Golgath to kill us, but Ya’Shi intervened.”

  “But today it was sent to kidnap Aislin,” Quyloc said. “The question is why?”

  “To answer that, we need to know who sent it,” Treylen said. Netra had already done some healing on him and his color was better, but he still looked like a man who had seen death close up. He picked up the glass of rum Rome had poured for him and took a drink.

  “The zhoulin serve Golgath, but Golgath is gone, devoured by the ingerlings during the war,” Quyloc said. “So who is commanding it now?”

  “Gaz isn’t an ‘it,’ she’s a ‘she’,” Aislin said softly.

  Netra turned to her. “What did you say?”

  “Don’t call her ‘it.’ She’s a mother.”

  “You spoke to the creature?” Quyloc said, leaning forward and fixing Aislin with his penetrating gaze. It made Aislin uncomfortable, having him look at her like that, but she knew there was no getting out of it now.

  “I did. She showed me the chain that held her. Except it wasn’t a chain, not a normal one anyway. It only looked like one. I broke it and set her free.”

  “Did she tell you why she tried to kidnap you?” Netra asked. “Or who sent her?”

  “She said the Lementh’koy sent her, but I don’t know why.”

  “Who are the Lementh’koy?” Rome asked. “Are they like the Lementh’kal?”

  “I can answer that,” Treylen said. “They are kin to the Lementh’kal, members of the same race. Eons ago Golgath, most powerful of the Sea Shapers, saw how far humans were spreading and became concerned about it. Foreseeing a time when war between the Shapers of Sea and Stone would break out, Golgath realized that he needed to have a race of sentient beings who worshipped him as the humans worshipped some of the Shapers of Stone. Thus were the Lementh created by Golgath’s hand. Though they are creatures of Life as we are, they are infused with Seaforce, and so fundamentally different.

  “After the great wars between the Shapers of Stone and Sea, a schism appeared between the Lementh. Some, after witnessing the horror and futility of war, vowed never to be part of one again. They took the name Lementh’kal and dedicated themselves to the pursuit of enlightenment. Those who remained in service to their god called themselves the Lementh’koy.”

  “Which still doesn’t tell us why they tried to kidnap Aislin,” Quyloc said. He fixed Aislin once again with his penetrating gaze. “What do they want with you?”

  Aislin shrank down into her chair, conscious that everyone was looking at her. She wanted to stare at the floor, but for some reason Quyloc’s gaze held her. It felt like he was looking into her, seeing all her secrets. Suddenly it was all too much.

  “There’s a secret room under the tower with a glowing red thing in it,” she blurted out. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell, but I didn’t want the Devourers to find out about it. They already killed the masters to get it.”

  Everyone at the table stared at her in shocked silence. Quyloc broke the silence first.

  “You went into the cave at the foot of the cliffs and climbed the stairs, didn’t you?”

  Aislin nodded.

  “You’re talking about the stairs under the tower that lead down to your old secret room,” Rome said. “I forgot that those go all the way down to the sea.”

  “This glowing red thing,” Quyloc said. “Where, exactly,
did you find it?”

  “I don’t know for sure. I was trying to go all the way to the top, but the vine was blocking the stairs and when I went back down I saw this red glow. There’s a crack in the rock and I went into it.” Then she told them the rest of it. It took a while because Quyloc kept interrupting her to ask her questions. He wanted to know every detail, every little thing she’d seen.

  “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Netra asked when she was done.

  “Because it’s supposed to stay hidden. If the Devourers find it, something bad is going to happen.”

  “The Abyss,” Quyloc said. “That must be where the Devourers come from. They’re trying to get the glowing thing, whatever it is. That’s why they were trying to break out of the Pente Akka. It’s not our world they want, it’s what’s hidden here.”

  “Who are these masters?” Rome asked.

  “I don’t know,” Quyloc said. “We may never know. But for some reason they hid this artifact on our world and now the Devourers know it’s here. This must be the danger Ya’Shi was talking about.”

  Aislin knew that’s exactly what Ya’Shi was talking about, but she said nothing. Later maybe she would tell her mother about the strange talk she had with Ya’Shi and the Ancient One, but not now.

  “So the Lementh’koy must be working for the Devourers,” Rome said.

  “It would seem that way,” Quyloc replied. He looked at Aislin again. “You said there is a recessed area on the front of the doors to the circular room. Can you show me how big it is, how long and how wide?”

  “It’s about this wide,” she said, holding her hands about six inches apart, “and about this long.” She held her hands as far apart as she could. “Maybe longer. My arms aren’t long enough.”

  “I could be wrong,” Quyloc said, “but I think I know what was in that recessed area. I think it was the crystal that the ronhym went to get, when we were holed up in the castle, trying to keep the Children out. That explains why the doors were open when Aislin found the room. The crystal must have been put there to seal the doors and keep the Devourers from getting the artifact.”

  “But now, because of what we did, it’s vulnerable,” Rome said. “Does this mean what I think it does?”