Mage’s Legacy: Cursed Seas

by hamilton, rebecca

  “But—”

  “I said stay here.” She stood and walked toward the monster, the berry resting on the center of her palm. “Hello.” Kerina’s voice, pitched low, soothed and calmed. “I have something I think you’ll enjoy.”

  Teyú stared at her, the hackles on its seven necks slowly flattening. The curled upper lips relaxed.

  Gabriel held his breath as one of the monster’s heads, its mouth large enough to swallow Kerina in a single gulp, nuzzled her palm and then with surprising delicacy, picked up the fruit. Its gigantic jaws chomped down. Its head bobbed as it swallowed.

  Then the massive mouth tugged back in a grin.

  The other six heads bent toward Kerina.

  Gabriel made a strangled sound in his throat. Fear clenched like a fist around his heart, but Kerina only laughed as she dug in the pouch.

  “I might have enough for each of you.” Without any apparent fear, she popped dried dates into each of the large mouths hovering over her. With her other hand, she gestured to Gabriel, waving him forward.

  He swallowed hard. Hell, if she was brave enough to face down a seven-headed monster that could fling fire from its fourteen eyes while armed only with fruit, perhaps he could muster up the courage to stand beside her.

  Teyú’s many eyes narrowed on him as he approached, but the embers did not flare into flame.

  “This is my friend, Gabriel.” Kerina stroked a large, furry snout. “And we need to get past you, so do you think you could scoot a little to the side?”

  Gabriel’s jaw dropped as Teyú’s massive lizard legs lumbered sideways, the awkward motion clearing a path just narrow enough to squeeze through.

  “Thank you.” Kerina smiled, and with a last pat for the huge head, she reached for Gabriel’s hand and led him past Teyú. The monster turned one of its heads to watch them walk past.

  Gabriel kept a tight grip on his spear as they squeezed past the muscular lizard body covered with golden scales. He did not breathe easily until they were well past the monster.

  “How did you—” He shook his head. Magic, of course.

  Kerina glanced back over her shoulder. “Didn’t you see the heap of food?”

  Food? Gabriel had seen nothing but burned corpses. Kerina took his chin and turned his head toward a large pile heaped in the corner of the cave.

  “It’s fruit,” she told him. “Some fresh, most of it rotting. I could smell it from the outside of the cave. Your monster eats fruits.”

  “It also has seven heads and eyes that shoot out fire.” Gabriel felt he had to point out the obvious, if only to balance out Kerina’s nonchalant dismissal of Teyú.

  “And it loves sweet dates.” Kerina chuckled.

  Gabriel did not miss the fact that the sound wobbled. Kerina wasn’t without fear, but she did not allow it to cripple her vision, her instincts, or her magic. He took her hand and squeezed it. Their eyes met, and he inclined his head to her—a clan chief’s acknowledgment of a greater power.

  He stepped ahead of her, probing the ground with the wooden end of his spear, and tried to kick away large debris. The reach of sunlight faded the deeper they went into the cave.

  “We’re going to need some light to see by,” he muttered. “I’ll light a torch.”

  “No, not that way,” Kerina said. “Wait just a minute.” She knelt down and took several things from her pouch, apparently navigating simply by touch and smell. She mixed several ingredients in a small, low-rimmed bowl. Within moments, a pale blue glow flared up, providing enough light to see, but not to wreck what little night vision he had gained.

  More magic.

  “I’ll hold it,” she said. “That way you have your spear arm free, just in case.”

  She raised the bowl. The blue glow spilled over its rim, lighting the way.

  She suddenly shuddered, and then he did as well. They were stepping on bones. Desiccated corpses sprawled along the cave walls, some reaching forward, some reaching back. All of them trapped in place, as if between two equally terrible monsters.

  Kerina raised her head and breathed deeply. “Do you smell that?”

  Death. All around him, he smelled only death.

  “Something smells alive.” She let go of his hand and hurried forward.

  He shook his head. How was it they never seemed to see, smell, or sense the same thing? Was it because she was a mage? He followed her as the narrow passageway expanded outward into a cavern so large he could not see its opposite side. He stepped forward, then stopped as his feet sank into something soft. Gabriel cursed under his breath. “Mud.”

  “It’s not just mud, Gabriel,” Kerina murmured, lifting up the bowl of light. “It’s a swamp, and it stretches all the way to the other end.”

  “There’s got to be a way across.” He probed at the ground with the wooden haft of his spear.

  “It’s amazing. Look at all those trees and flowers. I’ve never seen anything like them. It’s an entire ecosystem—perfectly contained in a cave. But how is that even possible?”

  If she did not know, he was certain he did not either. He took the bowl from her and walked along the edge of the swamp. “This looks like a footpath.”

  She peered around his shoulder. “The stones look stable enough.”

  Gabriel stiffened as he visually traced the path that vanished into darkness. Where was the second of Tua’s monstrous children? No way to know unless he went ahead.

  “Here, hold this.” He passed the bowl back to Kerina. If the situation went to hell, she would still have enough light to find her way out of the swamp.

  He stepped onto the first stone. It was slick and layered with mud, but did not wobble beneath his feet. It was also scarcely wide enough to stand on. His foot nudged against a tiny pebble, and it toppled off the stone and into the mud. For a moment, it rested on the featureless surface, then it vanished with a loud squelch. The small ripple it left behind—the only evidence that it had ever existed—smoothed out, and only the swamp—the all-encompassing, all-consuming swamp—remained.

  Gabriel and Kerina exchanged a glance.

  Don’t fall off the path.

  Kerina’s natural balance was better than his, but the several weeks he had spent moving on land instead of water had taught him how to shift his weight quickly and easily. They crossed the stone path without much difficulty, though each small sound caused him to stop and look around. The snap of a leafy branch. The small plop of tumbling stones—

  A deafening squawk—part-scream, part-howl—drove him to his knees.

  Terror shuddered down his spine. Kerina crouched behind him, her hands pressed against her ears.

  On the far side of the cavern, darkness undulated, the shadows pulling back to reveal a parrot’s head—more massive than a boulder—and a hooked beak larger than a great white shark’s jaws. Its feathers were bright crimson red, like freshly spilled blood. Mbói Tu’i, the second of Tua’s children, opened its beak. Its red, forked tongue darted out, tasting the air.

  The monster hissed and rose into the air—but not on wings. Its serpent’s body uncoiled and poised to attack. Its head lunged down toward Kerina. Gabriel shot to his feet and stabbed out with his spear. The tip pierced Mbói’s head, and the monster recoiled. Its hideous squawk rang across the cavern. Its forked tongue quivered as if in rage.

  “Keep him occupied!” Kerina shouted. She squatted on a tiny stone, digging through her pouch of magical ingredients.

  Mbói lunged again. Gabriel braced himself, teeth gritted. A fraction of a second before the monster would have struck Kerina, he plunged his spear into Mbói’s head and pushed hard with his legs. Momentum vaulted him into the air. He somersaulted, twisting in mid-air over the haft of his spear to land behind it—on top of Mbói’s feathered head.

  The serpent-bird reared back, thrashing wildly. It was all Gabriel could do to grip his spear and hang on. Mbói churned through the swamp, splattering mud across the cavern. Its panicked flailing brought it close to Kerina.
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  “Cover your nose and mouth!” Kerina shouted.

  No time to ask why.

  And he had seen enough of her power to obey her, without question.

  He clamped his hand over his nose and mouth as Kerina, her nose and mouth concealed behind a cloth she had wrapped around her face, flung a yellowish powder into Mbói’s head.

  The creature yanked back with such force that Gabriel was almost thrown off. It gyrated, as if trying to escape from something invisible. Its squawks escalated into raw terror. It spun, twisted, coiled and uncoiled, suddenly stiffened, and then wilted, its serpentine body crumpling onto the swamp. The impact thudded through Gabriel. For a moment, he remained on the feathered head, breathing heavily, his head still spinning from the vicious jolting. He straightened slowly and looked around.

  Where was she?

  His heart skipped a beat. “Kerina!”

  He raced across the curving path Mbói’s scaled body shaped over the swamp, back to the stone path Kerina had stood on. He had to leap from the tip of Mbói’s tail to land on a stone. His legs wobbled. His arms windmilled as he struggled to regain his balance. He managed to stabilize himself and ran over the slick rocks to where he had last seen her.

  “Kerina!”

  “I’m here…” Her quiet voice sounded resigned, but it also held a quirk of laughter.

  Her pouch of ingredients rested unscathed on one of the stones. Kerina’s arms were wrapped around the stone on which she had stood. Her head was propped up above the mud but the rest of her had vanished into the swamp.

  He grimaced as he gripped her arms and pulled hard.

  “Watch your feet. Don’t kick my pouch into the mud,” she warned him.

  His relief at finding her alive and still feisty made him snap back. “Only you would worry about your magical ingredients when you’re inches from getting sucked under.”

  “Considering how those ingredients saved both our lives, you could be a bit more grateful.” She winced as the mud gave her up—slowly, reluctantly.

  Gabriel’s side ached, his muscles stretching around his bandaged wound, as he pulled her back onto the stone. He drew her upright, then stared at her, drawing in what felt like his first deep, clean breath of air in a long time. He reached out and gently brushed away a streak of mud from her cheek.

  She jerked like a startled dolphin, as innocently wide-eyed as that beautiful creature. Damn it. He hadn’t meant to frighten her.

  “I’m sorry.” He held up his hands. “You had mud on your face.”

  Her lips twitched.

  It occurred to him then that she was almost entirely covered in mud from her neck down.

  Her smile broadened into a grin, then exploded into laughter.

  And then he was laughing with her, the ache in his side scarcely noticeable.

  The moment of hilarity soon passed as realization sank back in. They had bested two of Tua’s children. Another five awaited them—and then Tua himself.

  Kerina knelt to gather her pouch and magical implements. “When the mud dries, it’ll flake off. Mostly.” As she rose, she shrugged, the motion as graceful as a dream. Her gaze shifted past his shoulder toward the far side of the cavern and fixed on a pale red glow in the distance. Mbói’s serpentine body curved a path toward it.

  “The first portal…”

  Chapter 10

  As they stepped closer to inspect the glowing portal, Gabriel reached out, as if to touch it, but Kerina grabbed his arm to stop him.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  Gabriel froze, then shook his head and looked to her.

  “It’s beautiful,” he said. “And it pulls you in.”

  Kerina nodded. “It is mesmerizing, but I don’t trust it.”

  After stepping around Gabriel, she continued closer to the portal herself, but remained careful not to get too close. The nearer she got to the portal, the stronger the pull, almost as if it was drawing in her soul. It created an ache in her chest and a burning sensation on her skin, the darkness acting like some kind of demonic vacuum.

  “I think it’s a trap,” she said. “If it does lead anywhere, then it’s not somewhere we’d want to go. I’m not even sure we’d survive the way through.”

  “Then we should find another way,” Gabriel said. He stepped closer, as if coming to retrieve her, but she held back her hand to indicate he should stop there.

  “One moment…” She narrowed her eyes, trying to see through the glowing veil of the portal, and that’s when she realized it didn’t seem to actually go anywhere at all. It was more like a fungus growing on the stone of the cave.

  Her gaze trailed down, following the thickening of the fungal substance until reaching a patch of mushrooms on the ground that seemed to be the source. She crouched down and reached her hand out behind her. “Hand me my pouch.”

  Moments later, her pouch was in hand. Gabriel didn’t question her. Didn’t doubt her. Didn’t demand explanations. He didn’t see her as inferior, the way everyone else who met her did.

  She shoved down the emotions to explore later, though, because this portal could be dangerous if not neutralized. At some point, these mushrooms must have been exposed to radiation. Who knew how long ago—or how recent—but if they inhaled the phosphorescence, and they already had, there could be—

  Something wet trickled above her lip, and slowly she raised her hand, already knowing what it would be. She wiped it with her finger and brought her hand away from her face to confirm. Blood. Spontaneous bleeding, tingling skin… This was not good.

  She dug into her pouch and felt around until her fingertips grazed the familiar sacred clay. She wasn’t sure if she had enough of it. If Anja were here, she would imbue it with magic, and it would certainly get the job done. But Kerina was no mage.

  She poured some of the powder into her palm and sprinkled it over the mushrooms. The glow of the mushrooms dimmed on contact, but it didn’t stop the phosphorescence altogether. Then Kerina emptied the rest of the clay powder into her hand and, standing, blew it like dust to cover the rest of the “portal.” The glow subsided nearly in a blink, leaving behind only the scales of the fungus on the cave wall and a much softer glow of mushrooms on the ground.

  Spinning around with a smile, she faced Gabriel. “I guess it wasn’t a trap after all. Just the after-effects of radiation.”

  But Gabriel didn’t seem to be looking at her; he seemed to be looking through her. His mouth opened, and he made a wheezing sound before his eyes rolled back in his head. Kerina could sense what was happening before it happened, but even as she darted to get closer to him, his legs were already giving way. She barely caught him to soften his fall.

  There was a lot of moisture in the caves. It should have been enough for him without the wet rag. But something about that phosphorescence had affected him. She dug through her pouch again and retrieved a small bottle of water. After adding a few drops of aloe, she tipped some against his lips.

  He coughed, then blinked before sitting up and reaching for his spear which he had dropped in his fall, Kerina ripped a piece of cloth from her shirt and dumped more of the aloe water on the rag. The aloe would help heal the burns of the poisoned air he had inhaled before she’d been able to neutralize everything. She took a deep breath against the rag herself before handing it to him to put over his own mouth.

  “I feel useless,” he muttered from behind the rag.

  Kerina smiled warmly as she lifted her bowl of light once more. “You’re fine. You’re just out of your element. If it makes you feel better, you breathe better on land than I would underwater.”

  Gabriel chucked, the smile reaching his eyes even though she could not see his mouth behind the rag. She came up behind him and tied the rag on like a bandana in front of his face, covering only his nose and mouth, and then helped him as he got back to his feet.

  “We should keep going,” she said.

  He nodded, taking the lead as they continued deeper into the cave. “Thanks for sa
ving me. Again.”

  She tried not to look at him. Truthfully, he was the one who had saved her by taking her off that island; but it really didn’t matter who saved who if the world was going to end. A lot of time had passed since he first came to her, and she wasn’t sure if they could really get the stone and return it to his home before it was too late.

  The cave narrowed the deeper they went in, then curved into a tunnel before opening up again. Here, they could walk side by side instead of one behind the other.

  “You must have had an interesting life,” Gabriel said, as though to fill the silence that had settled between them. It was hard not to smile at the way his words muffled behind the wet rag.

  “I guess that’s one way to put it,” she said, “but, I mean, you’re a siren. You live in the ocean. That’s much more interesting.”

  Gabriel’s expression turned a little sad. “We’ve talked about that already,” he said. “I want to know more about you.”

  Kerina gulped. She didn’t want to tell him more about herself. She didn’t want to tell him the truth...and she didn’t want to lie. Silence had been her friend.

  “Like where you came from,” he said. “What you did before you saved the world. That sort of thing.”

  She walked faster, even though she could not escape the situation. Gabriel kept stride. Trapped with no way out of the discussion, she started talking.

  “Actually, I was an outcast in my village,” she said.

  “I find that hard to believe,” he said.

  She smiled sadly at that. It was the most true thing she’d told him yet.

  “Well, I was,” she insisted. Then she raised her bowl of light closer to her face and pointed to the birthmark around her eye. “Might have had something to do with this. My village had a low tolerance for...imperfections.”

  Gabriel took her hand and stopped walking, forcing her to stop beside him. His finger ran along the front of her cheekbone, grazing over the birthmark, and he shook his head.

  “Then they’re fools,” he said, “because I think it makes you even more beautiful.”