Descending (The Rising Series)

by Kelly, Holly

  “Yes.” Gretchen stepped close and whispered, “I have to warn you, Andre can’t be compelled.”

  “Why not? Who is he?”

  “He’s an oracle.”

  Kyros’s eyes widened as he looked at the rugged old man. “Did he say anything important?”

  “Oh yeah. I don’t know what in the heck she was talking about, but I’ve a feeling it’s extremely important.”

  “She?”

  “The goddess that spoke through him.”

  “Do you know which goddess it was?”

  “I’ve no idea.”

  Kyros shook his head. “Normally, I’m supposed to kill those who discover our identity, but I doubt his patron goddess would be happy with me killing her oracle.”

  “You couldn’t kill him anyway. He’s the one taking us to Aella.”

  “Having an oracle for a guide is a good thing.”

  “I hope so.” Gretchen looked at the gathering clouds and wondered.

  The wind whipped around and skipped over the waves as they climbed into the boat. Below deck, Gretchen found a cushioned seat next to Sara.

  “Do you think we’re headed in the right direction?” Gretchen asked her, remembering what the oracle had said—that Sara would lead them.

  Sara was frowning at her husband when she gave a dismissive answer. “I sure hope so.”

  Gretchen wondered if she should mention the oracle’s words. No. He never said she had to solicit Sara’s help. Besides, knowing Sara like Gretchen did, Sara would freak at what the oracle said.

  “Are you as nervous as I am?” Sara whispered to Gretchen.

  “Probably.”

  “Just look at them. Shouldn’t they be a little more somber and less like a child the night before Christmas? I mean, they look excited at the prospect of killing.”

  Xanthus had guns and other weapons lain out across a table. He and the other Dagonians were deep in conversation. Xanthus described in detail how to operate each weapon. Gretchen only half listened. She already knew how to shoot; she was more concerned with who she might have to shoot.

  “I guess they enjoy their work,” Gretchen shrugged.

  “Doesn’t it bother you?”

  “Their behavior?”

  Sara nodded.

  “Not really. What I see are men who are excited about new weapons and are anxious to learn how to use them. It makes me feel more confident that they will be able to save my baby brother or sister.”

  Sara raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a point.”

  “Besides, you know your husband. Have you ever met a person with a more protective nature?”

  “No, I haven’t.” Sara sighed. “I think I’m just scared about what we’ll find ahead. I really don’t want to see more innocent people hurt.”

  “I don’t either. And I’m sure Kyros and Xanthus are concerned as well. They just know how to compartmentalize it.”

  Sara nodded and Gretchen wondered if she should tell her about the prophesy. She looked her best friend up and down. Her hair laid limp again her head, and purple shadows darkened her drooping eyes. She looked exhausted. Now was not the time.

  “Why don’t you get some sleep?” Gretchen asked. “There may not be a chance to rest once we reach our destination.”

  “All right, but wake me before we get there.”

  “Sure.”

  Sara lay down across the cushioned bench. Gretchen caught Xanthus watching his wife with concern in his eyes. It was easy to see how much he loved Sara. Gretchen cracked a smile. Sara had had such a hard life. It was a thrill to see her find happiness.

  Sara’s breathing deepened within minutes. Gretchen searched and found a small spiral notebook and pencil. She wanted to write down what the oracle said before she forgot. She was a whiz when it came to remembering words, which was why she’d done so well in school. But even her memory wasn’t infallible. She only had so much time before her mind muddled the words or forgot some of them completely.

  The pencil scratched across the surface, giving her a clearer view of what the oracle said. The part about Sara leading them to Aella was easy enough to comprehend, though unbelievable. But the rest, about Sara’s mom, about finding the daughters that join corners… Gretchen had no idea what that meant. Perhaps the others would know. But right now, Gretchen felt that this was not the time to bring this up. Their first responsibility was to kill Aella. The rest would have to wait.

  Sara jolted up like she’d heard a shot, and Gretchen jumped in surprise. Sara’s hands grabbed the cushion, crushing it in her grasp.

  “Sara? What’s wrong?” Gretchen rushed to her side.

  Xanthus was there a second later. “Sara, what is it, baby?” He took her head in his hands, trying to get her to look at him.

  Sara’s eyes looked strange. Not strange like the oracle. These were still Sara’s eyes, but they seemed to be taking in a scene that no one else could see. Color drained from her face.

  “We have to change course.” Her voice came out in a whisper.

  “Why? What do you see?”

  “We have to save them.”

  “Save whom?”

  “They’re lost. They’re dying.”

  “Did Aella do this?”

  “Yes, much too long ago. It’s been over a week. They’ll die.”

  Sara blinked. The vision seemed to disappear from her vision, and she looked at her husband.

  “We have to save them, Xanthus.”

  “Who are they?”

  “They’re a family. Lost at sea. And they’re dying. The smallest, a little girl, will die first, but the others won’t be far behind. It’s going to take us far off course, but we have to save them.”

  “Of course,” Xanthus said, turning to Kyros. “I’ll tell the captain we’re changing course.” He turned back to Sara. “Can you lead us to them?”

  She nodded.

  Gretchen’s heart clenched when she realized, Sara was now deciding their course. The oracle’s words were coming true.

  Xanthus and Sara made their way up to the bridge. Gretchen stayed behind. The bridge was barely big enough for two more.

  Two hours later, Xanthus finally came down below. “I’m just getting Sara a coke. She could use some caffeine.” He pulled a bottle from the fridge and turned to leave.

  “Xanthus, I need to talk to you.”

  He must have heard the worry in her voice. He turned a sympathetic look on his face. “Don’t worry about Sara. She’s stronger than you think.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to talk about. I need you to know what the oracle said about Sara.”

  Harsh worry lines flashed as Xanthus’s jaw tensed. He looked terrified.

  “Stop jumping to the wrong conclusions.” Gretchen rushed to ease his fear. “He didn’t say anything bad was going to happen to her.” She pulled out the notebook and handed it to him. “Here, I wrote down every word that was spoken.”

  His brows pinched together as he read, and then his eyes widened in confusion. “Sara should be the one to lead us to Aella?”

  “Yes, and do you understand the other part?”

  “Some. We’ll discuss it when Aella is dead.” With that said, he was gone.

  Several hours later, Gretchen stepped up to the bridge. She’d told the others she wanted some air, but what she really wanted was to talk to the oracle.

  Andre squinted at the sea. Gretchen followed his eyes. At first, all she could see was a flock of seagulls fluttering across the sky. Then she saw what he was looking at—a bump on the horizon.

  “What is that?”

  “I believe that is what we’re searching for.”

  Minutes later, they pulled up alongside the raft. We’re too late. The sight sickened her. A father, mother, and a little girl lay in the life raft—the child wrapped in the mother’s arms, the mother wrapped in the father’s. Their matted hair barely moved in the breeze. Their lips were cracked and caked in dried blood. Their skin was burned severely and flaking off
their faces. Then a weak cough—it came from the little girl. The mother’s arms tightened around the child.

  “Are they alive?” Gretchen gasped, tears streaming down her face.

  “Barely,” Kyros answered as he rushed to get a hook to pull the raft next to the boat.

  Pallas eased over the side and into the raft. The mother’s eyes shot open when Pallas pulled the girl from her arms. “It’s okay; we’re here to help.” The woman let her daughter go as a sob escaped her chest. The father jerked awake with a start. He too began to sob as words poured from his mouth. He was speaking a foreign language—one Gretchen was not familiar with. It was similar to German. Perhaps Dutch? And it sounded like the words of a prayer.

  Minutes later, Straton was attending to them. Water seemed the best cure for their condition—both internally and in wet cloths draped over their blistered skin. He made sure not to give them too much to drink at a time. Gretchen was amazed how intuitive Straton was. He’d likely never treated dehydration before, but he seemed to know exactly what to do. The change in the family was no less than miraculous. The little girl chattered on and pointed to the large men standing around her. The parents looked stunned, but hopeful.

  Kyros strolled over to Gretchen. “We’re going to have to leave the ship and swim on from here. Land is in the opposite direction from where we are headed.”

  Gretchen nodded. “How long will it take us to swim there?”

  He frowned, his brows pinching together. “Too long.”

  Gretchen didn’t argue. No one did. It was pointless. Andre needed to get the family to civilization, and they needed to go after Aella. Everyone else must have thought the same. No one else protested the decision to swim the long journey.

  “Shouldn’t Straton stay?” Sara asked.

  “No,” Xanthus said. “We may need him.”

  “Perhaps you and Sara should return with the others,” Kyros said to Gretchen.

  She clenched her fists. “Not a chance. I have to come.”

  Kyros sighed and pulled her into his arms. “I know. But you have to realize how dangerous this journey is.”

  “I’m not going back,” she said.

  “Everywhere Aella goes, death follows. I don’t know if I could survive losing you,” he whispered.

  Gretchen sighed and answered. “You won’t have to. My mother’s only power is in her voice. I’m immune.”

  “I know, but we aren’t.”

  “Actually,” Xanthus spoke up, lifting his hand in the air. Pressed in his fingers, he held a small, grey ball. “As long as we keep wax in our ears, we are.” He looked around to the others. “We can’t chance hearing the mermaid’s voice without a buffer.”

  Gretchen looked at the grey balls in Kyros’s hand. “That doesn’t look like wax.”

  “It’s ambergris,” Xanthus said.

  “What’s ambergris?”

  “A waxy substance found in the intestines of sperm whales.”

  “Ew. I’m glad I don’t have to put whale guts in my ears.”

  Kyros smiled. “Whale guts save lives,” he said, putting the waxy balls in a pouch strapped to his chest.

  Gretchen returned his smile. “Right.”

  The Dagonians took position around the mermaids as they swam. They traveled through the blue-tinted water, hugging the sea floor on their way. Darkness descended soon after they left. The Dagonians each had a lighted necklace—an orb on the end of a chain. Strangely, Kyros had two. The orbs cast a green glow on everything surrounding them—the sea floor, small fish, and floating speckles of plankton.

  Gretchen’s muscles burned trying to keep up with the Dagonians. Each of them was about two feet longer than she was. That extra length really made a difference.

  They swam in silence for a couple of hours—Xanthus held Sara against his chest and swam with her in his arms. She appeared to be sleeping. Good, she needed her rest.

  Kyros swam alongside Gretchen and raised an eyebrow. He’d better not offer to carry me. It was one thing for Sara to need help—she’d only learned to swim recently. Gretchen didn’t need a ride; she was perfectly capable of swimming on her own.

  Xanthus pointed into the distance. A rocky cliff rose from the sea floor towering above. As they neared, Drakōn and Amar shot off ahead, swimming toward the stone face. They disappeared inside a jagged, black shadow nestled in grey stone. It had to be a cave.

  Moments later, five tiger sharks raced out of the entrance and disappeared into the inky sea. They entered the now-empty cave, and everyone hovered inside. Pulling the wax from their ears, Drakōn asked, “Why are we stopping?”

  “I want everyone well rested when we confront Aella,” Xanthus said.

  “Are you kidding?” Drakōn asked. “When you trained us, you had us going full speed for a full day and then we battled through the night. We’ve been traveling at half speed for only two hours.”

  “Not all of us are trained warriors,” Xanthus said.

  “The females should have stayed behind,” Drakōn said.

  “We females may be the only thing standing between you warriors and death,” Gretchen said.

  Drakōn gave her a hard look. “You mermaids…”

  Kyros swam to face Drakōn and snarled, “Watch what you say, Drakōn.”

  Drakōn backed away. His narrowed eyes darted between Kyros and Xanthus.

  “That’s enough pointless arguing,” Xanthus said. “I want everyone to get some rest.”

  Kyros returned to Gretchen, took her hand, and led her through a tunnel. They soon came to a rounded hollow that looked just big enough for the two of them.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Gretchen said. “Drakōn’s been through enough already.”

  “What you said was true. Drakōn would be dead right now if it weren’t for you. He owes you his life.” Kyros pulled off the leather belts crossed over his chest, taking a metal hook out of his belt. It had a long, sharp spike on one end, which he slammed into the rocky wall. The spike drove deep into the stone.

  “What’s that for?” Gretchen asked.

  “Do you want to wake up lost in these caves?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Well, then you’ll need an anchor.”

  He wound a long, leather strap through the hook and looped Gretchen in the other end. “This is a bit wide, I’ll—” she began to say.

  Kyros cinched it up, until it was hugging her waist.

  “Better?” he asked, smiling.

  She nodded. “Where are you going to sleep?”

  “I’m not going to sleep yet. Xanthus wants me on guard duty.”

  “But after?” She frowned, not wanting to be left alone.

  “I’ll come back here.” His eyes softened as he moved in close. He chuckled softly. “Funny… you look a mess. Your eyes are shadowed, you hair is tangled, and yet… you’re the most beautiful creature in the sea.”

  Gretchen reached up and tried to untangle her hair. Kyros caught her hand and brought it to his lips. Her breath caught as he kissed each of her knuckles, then he lightly kissed her injured palm and continued to nibble his way up her arm. Goose bumps broke out across her body.

  “You taste amazing,” he mumbled against her skin.

  “I do?” Her voice cracked.

  He pulled away—a hint of a smile on his face. “Yes.”

  She moved closer. He seemed to know what she wanted and leaned in to taste her lips, wrapping her in his arms. Gretchen was surrounded by him, his body, his heat, his scent, his taste… Everything about him intoxicated her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned. His mouth moved against hers. Her body came alive in his arms. If she died at this very moment, she wouldn’t know it. This was heaven.

  He growled as he pulled away—much too soon. “I have to go.”

  She nodded. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him again.

  Reaching behind his neck, he unhitched his necklace. “Here, so you won’t be left in the dark.” His finger
s brushed her neck as he hooked it around her.

  “Why do you have two?”

  He fingered the necklace she wore. “This one belonged to my twin sister.”

  “What happened to her?”

  He sighed, sadness shadowing his face. “She died, a long time ago.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Get some sleep. I’ll be back in a few hours,” he answered, brushing his lips over hers. A swish of his tail and he was gone.

  Sometime in the night, she awoke in his arms. Smiling, she pressed her head against his chest and once again fell into a dreamless sleep.

  The morning came too soon. Though no longer sleepy, Gretchen was physically exhausted. Kyros brought her breakfast—an assortment of fish, speared like a kabob.

  She ate heartily and finished just in time for them to leave. Though the swim was arduous, this travel was easier than her experiences hiking. On her last hiking trip, they’d gone over rough mountainous terrain, and had to ration water to make sure it lasted the two days they’d allotted. Here, she didn’t have to worry about the rocky floor, and they had plenty of water.

  “Do you see that?” Pallas asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  She looked ahead and saw a faint glow in the distance.

  “Could that be whirling?” Straton asked.

  Kyros narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think so.”

  “What’s whirling?” Gretchen asked.

  “It’s a kind of plankton that gives off bioluminescent light,” Kyros said.

  They continued to move forward, but Gretchen could feel the tension in the water. The light ahead continued to grow as they approached. The water brushed over her body and seemed to cool as they approached the illumination. Something snagged at her hair, and she shook it off.

  The glow that once seemed like a haze of light in the distance began to show a line on the horizon. The light appeared to originate from the other side of a drop off. Kyros jerked to a stop.

  “What’s wrong?” Gretchen asked.

  The others began shouting. Then she heard an ear-piercing wail.

  Kyros looked behind them. “Oh great gods,” he breathed.

  Gretchen followed his eyes and whooped in a gasp. A giant jellyfish had wrapped its tentacles around Straton. He thrashed his limbs. It took only a moment for his movements to cease. Gretchen had no idea the venom worked so fast. Drakōn raced toward Straton and sliced the creature’s tentacles with his sword.