Revel

by Maurissa Guibord

  I kicked and punched at him but Mikos was changing. The muscles of his back writhed beneath my fingers as his form changed. A low black-spiked wing emerged from the center of his spine, stretching and bristling out.

  His skin felt harder. It deflected my blows like raindrops bouncing off pavement.

  “Help!”

  “Delia!” As if he were bursting free from some unseen restraint, Sean charged toward us. He swung at Mikos and I heard the wet, dull crack as his fist struck the demigod’s jaw.

  Mikos never tried to evade the blow and didn’t even flinch when it struck. Sean staggered back, clutching his hand, but then lurched toward us again. Mikos, with a muttered oath of annoyance, reached one hand out, almost gently, and placed it on Sean’s chest.

  And pushed.

  Sean flew backward. His head snapped forward as if a cannonball had struck his chest. His limp body arced up through the air and slammed down, driving into the sand ten feet away. And then he didn’t move.

  “No!” I screamed. But Mikos was moving relentlessly into the water. And I was going with him.

  My limbs thrashed and I scratched, trying to get some purchase, some leverage to pry myself loose. “No one is forced,” I gasped. Mikos’s skin felt as hard and slick as glass. “No one is forced,” I repeated wildly, stupidly, as if the words themselves could protect me.

  I caught a glimpse of people gathered around Sean. A sickening fear froze me as I imagined him dying there. I went limp. A mindless, helpless thing.

  Then the water touched me.

  It slipped over my feet first, as they dangled down from Mikos’s hold. A wave splashed up over my hips as he carried me deeper. The lights of the beach were receding and I saw only the black night and the cold stars overhead. But I felt the water all around me. A sense of calm came over me. And strength.

  “Mikos. Put me down,” I said in a low voice.

  Mikos cocked his head and glanced back, as if he’d heard something odd behind him. Then he shrugged and waded deeper into the water.

  He was making fun of me.

  Fury filled my lungs. “Put me down!” I shouted.

  Mikos staggered, a look of astonishment contorting his face. Somehow I’d startled him with my voice. Even after the way I’d acted, did he expect meek compliance? He stared down at me, his silvery eyes looking wide and almost goofy. His grip around my waist and legs drooped and for a moment I thought he was going to release me. He shook his head, as if trying to clear it, then resumed his grip on me and started walking again.

  I took the deepest breath I could and screamed.

  It was something obscene. And something Mikos had apparently never been called before, hard as that was to believe.

  Mikos let out a high-pitched shriek and dropped me in the water. He still had a grip on a piece of my tunic, and I felt the delicate fabric tear as I tumbled away from him, going under the surface for a second. When I stood up, Mikos was doubled over with his hands to his ears.

  I didn’t wait to see what he’d do next. I just ran, splashing through the water toward the cluster of people around Sean.

  Reilly was there, helping him to sit up. I heard Sean’s breath come in harsh, labored wheezes. But he was alive. Thank God.

  I turned just as Mikos emerged from the water behind me, his body hunched over. He clutched his head in both hands and staggered onto the sand as if disoriented, making no motion to come toward us.

  “Delia!” Zuzu ran toward me across the sand. “Are you okay? What happened to Sean?”

  Reilly stood up beside Sean’s hunched form. “Shark Boy over there pushed him,” he said, nodding at Mikos. “I’d say he’s got three or four broken ribs.”

  The tall First One who stood by Zuzu edged her aside roughly and snarled at Reilly. “Watch your tongue, Lander, or I’ll cut it out.”

  Behind the First One, I saw Zuzu’s eyes go really wide. She blinked once, twice, and then yelled, “You leave him the hell alone! You big jerk.”

  A shocked silence followed her words. I think Zuzu was as shocked as anyone else, and she scuttled closer to Reilly, who put his arm around her.

  Mikos twisted toward us and he lowered his hands, staring at them with a look of disbelief.

  “Lander witch!” he said hoarsely. “What have you done to me?”

  I stared at him. What had I done?

  Crimson blood flowed from both of Mikos’s ears, spilling down the smooth, gleaming contours of his skin and onto the sand.

  CHAPTER 21

  “You’ll die for this, Lander,” Mikos said to me. “Blood for blood.” His eyes were liquid mercury, shimmering with hate. He dropped his hands from his ears and straightened to his full, impressive height. But his former elegance was gone. Lips curled back and fists clenched, he looked like a bully who’d just been given a taste of his own medicine.

  The First One that Zuzu had insulted was sputtering his outrage.

  Mikos snapped at him, “Quiet, Darius. You will have your satisfaction as well.”

  We found ourselves gathered in two knots facing each other by the flickering lights of the bonfires and torches. Mikos and the other First Ones against me, Zuzu, Reilly and Sean. The rest of the islanders formed a deep circle of onlookers around us.

  I held my torn dress, trying to cover myself.

  “The Accord is broken!” Mikos shouted, addressing the crowd. “This Lander girl has defied the custom of Revel and injured a First One.”

  A stunned silence answered him. But it didn’t last long, as Mayor Ed pushed his way through to the front.

  “I knew she’d be trouble,” he shouted in a nervous, tinny voice. “She’s a traitor. Sent here to ruin everything.”

  “Silence!”

  Everyone turned to see the source of the deep voice that boomed the command. Jax emerged from the water. Fists clenched, he ran as if he meant to plow us all down. His fin splayed from his back and his eyes glowed searingly blue against the darkness. He looked like some kind of alien armored assault vehicle.

  “What’s happened?” he demanded, slowing down as he strode to me. His eyes flashed briefly over the condition of my clothes, and his mouth pressed in a tight line.

  “The little human did something to me,” Mikos shouted in a voice that was too loud. Like he’d been standing too close to the speakers at a heavy metal concert. He cupped his hands over his bloody ears. “She screamed at me and—”

  “I wasn’t asking you,” said Jax, with a dismissive glance at Mikos over his shoulder. He turned back to me. “Are you all right?” He kept looking at my dress and frowning.

  “I—I’m okay. I don’t know what happened.”

  Jax narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Try to know.”

  “I told him to put me down,” I said, glaring at Mikos, “and he wouldn’t. Then we were in the water. I got mad and screamed. Then it looked like he had a seizure or something.”

  “A seizure,” repeated Jax. He seemed furious, but I couldn’t tell if it was at me or Mikos or both of us. “You came here tonight of your own free will. Surely you knew what would happen.”

  “No one is forced,” I whispered. “That’s what Gran told me.”

  Mikos snorted.

  At the sound, Jax turned and looked fully at his brother for a long moment. I don’t know what Mikos saw in Jax’s face, but his gray eyes widened and he took a step back as if he’d been pushed.

  “She’s right,” said Jax. His eyes returned to fix on me. In them I saw the reflected lights from the fires making kaleidoscope flames in his eyes.

  His voice lower, he said, “In the days of our ancestors, no human woman would ever be forced. Revel was a celebration. First Ones and humans consorted if they chose to, not because they were forced to. The old ways have become perverted.” He turned a disdainful glance on Mikos and the rest of the First Ones. “Twisted.”

  Mikos’s arrogant sneer returned. “This is no concern of yours, Jax. You’ve made your contempt for our traditions clear enough
. No one even considers you part of this clan anymore. This girl has broken the first article of the Accord. No Lander shall willfully harm a First One,” he said, then added with obvious satisfaction, “on pain of death.”

  “I’m surprised that you’d care to admit harm from such a tiny foe, Mikos,” Jax said. He tilted his head to regard me. “From such a—” He broke off, frowning. “What was it you called her again?”

  “Little oyster,” I said, shooting a dark look at Mikos.

  “Ah yes,” said Jax. “Little oyster.” It was hard to tell, but there might have been a softening in the hard line of his mouth. I couldn’t tell for sure if Jax was amused, but several people behind us were. There was a muffled titter of laughter.

  “She used some hidden device, some trick to deafen me,” shouted Mikos in his still-too-loud voice.

  “Beg pardon, uh, sirs,” said Ed Barney, breaking his silence and ducking his head in a fawning way toward the tall forms standing before him. “This girl ain’t one of us. We shouldn’t be blamed for what she did. We never wanted her here.”

  “That’s not true,” said Sean. He looked at me. “She’s one of us.” His voice was hoarse and he held a hand to his battered chest. “She belongs here.”

  Ed Barney shook a finger at him. “Don’t get yourself mixed up in this, Sean. Or go soft on this girl. You know we’re all depending on you.”

  “Shut up, Ed,” said Gran, who’d now joined the circle. She stood behind me and put her big hands on my shoulders.

  “This is not the way Revel is supposed to go,” said Zuzu miserably. Her makeup was smeared and her pine wreath was dangling from the side of her head. She put her head on Reilly’s shoulder.

  “There will be war between us,” Mikos said. As if to echo his intent, the waves behind him began to surge higher, crashing on the sand with such pounding force that the sand trembled and shifted under my feet.

  This galvanized the crowd, and people began backing away, surging up the dunes. They ran, sinking into steep shelves of sand and fumbling through the thickets of sea grass and briars. Whatever punishment the First Ones were planning, nobody wanted to be here to see it.

  Mayor Ed wasn’t going to be left behind, and I saw him pushing people out of his way. Soon everyone had gone, leaving only my friends and Gran and me to face the First Ones.

  “Put your hands down, Mikos!” Jax shouted to his brother. “You know as well as I that this is for the Council to decide.”

  “Maybe,” said Mikos with a snarl. “That doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun in the meantime.”

  “Stop it!” I shouted. “Mayor Barney was right. I’m not one of you. I tried to go along, to fit in. I wanted you to accept me.”

  Sean spoke up. “Don’t say that, Delia. We do accept you. You belong here with us.”

  Be quiet. Go along. Fit in.

  How I wanted to, but I just couldn’t.

  “No, Sean, listen to me. This is my fault,” I went on, “all of it. Maybe I never should have come here. But it’s too late now.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “My father was a First One,” I said in a loud, clear voice. “And so am I.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Jax’s breath seemed to come in labored gasps as his eyes traveled slowly down my body. His eyes flared in the firelight and he muttered something under his breath that might have been a prayer or a curse.

  “No,” said Sean. He stared at me, then turned his face away. As if I’d struck him.

  “Yes,” I said, feeling weary.

  Zuzu lowered the hand she’d clapped to her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Things have been happening to me,” I said, to no one in particular. I guess they all had a right to know my change of status.

  Yeah, to amphibian.

  “Ever since I first touched the water here, I’ve been changing. My eyesight, my breathing, are better. My swimming. I’m turning into something else.”

  “You’re Aitros,” said Jax. There was something triumphant in his expression. “You were born of Revel, Delia. It’s only because you’ve been kept from these waters that your true nature hasn’t emerged.”

  My true nature? The thought scared me. I remembered Ben Deare’s words, the portent he’d read in the bones about a monster. Hadn’t Zuzu said that sometimes the children of First Ones came out … wrong?

  Monster. Maybe that was what I was.

  As if he could read my thoughts, Jax interrupted them. “You’re one of us,” he said, stepping closer. “Father Poseidon. I should have known. And there is something else—”

  “One of us?” interrupted Mikos. His eyes roamed over me with contempt. “Hardly.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not one of you either. Any of you.” I glanced toward Sean. He said nothing, only stared at the sand. “I don’t know what I am.” With shaking fingers I tried to put my dress back in order. Behind me, Gran came to my rescue and helped, knotting the torn portion together.

  “As far as I’m concerned, this changes nothing,” said Mikos. “Perhaps she is the dried-up spawn of some distant Revel. It’s for the Council to decide her fate. But I will have retribution.” He strode to the water and dove in like a spear, followed by the other First Ones.

  It felt like every bit of strength had drained out of me now. I was so tired. “What do you think they’ll do?” I asked Jax.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Mikos values his pride more than almost anything. But the Council will judge fairly. No one can call you a Lander anymore. So how can you be subject to the same rules as a Lander?”

  “So,” said Zuzu, looking around at the shambles of the celebration. The beach was nearly deserted and scattered with overturned tables, discarded plates and cups. “That’s it? It’s over?” She looked lost.

  “Yeah,” said Reilly. “It’s over. C’mon, princess, why don’t we help Sean get back home. Here’s your tiara.” He held out the circlet of pine that had fallen from her hair.

  Zuzu took the small wreath, looked at it for a moment, then shrugged and tossed it into the sand. “I’m kind of glad.” Then she tucked herself under Sean’s shoulder, supporting him. “Revel kind of sucked, didn’t it?”

  “Totally sucked,” agreed Reilly. “But your dress is great.”

  “Wait for me,” I said, moving to take Sean’s other side.

  “No,” said Sean, finally lifting his head to look me in the eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough for tonight?” He nodded to Jax. “Looks like you’re on their side now.”

  His face stopped me more than his words. There was a coldness, a wariness there that I’d never seen before. Like I was his enemy and he’d just discovered it.

  “C’mon, Sean,” said Reilly. He braced Sean’s arm on the opposite side of Zuzu.

  “Well,” Zuzu said. “I’ll say one thing for you, Delia. You know how to clear out a party.”

  The three of them made their way across the sand without another word. Perfect. It wasn’t enough that I was changing into some kind of a freak. The only friends I had were turning their backs on me.

  Gran still stood behind me and now reached a hand out to pat my shoulder. “C’mon. We’ll go home now.”

  Jax turned sharply to the water. “What was that?”

  I listened and thought I could hear a faint hissing. I followed the line of his gaze. A tiny yellow light bobbed in the water. I stared as it came closer.

  “What is it?” I asked. It looked like some leftover part of the Revel celebration. A floating candle, maybe.

  I heard Jax’s shout at the same instant I saw a dark form lurch out of the water.

  “Icer!”

  CHAPTER 23

  The creature stood on hind legs, dragging a short, thick tail on the sand behind it.

  The Icer was enormous, maybe eight feet high, with a head like some grotesque deep-sea fish. A protuberant lower jaw jutted forward with curved fangs that interlaced the set from above. Warty g
rowths on pendulous stalks protruded from its head, and on one of these a tentacle-like blob of tissue glowed bright yellow.

  That was the light I’d seen in the water. A lure.

  I let out a faint cry of disgust. At the sound the Icer’s head twisted in my direction. Flat, milky eyes stared at me. It charged.

  Long arms reached out with claws swiping the air like scythes. I staggered backward and crashed into Gran. With one strong movement she grabbed my shoulders and flung me aside just as the Icer reached us.

  I fell to the sand hearing Gran cry out from deep in her throat. I looked up and saw the thing on top of my grandmother. It was worrying at her head with a horrible digging, pecking movement. It was feeding on her.

  Jax pulled the Icer off Gran and smashed a fist into the creature’s head. The impact made a wet, explosive thud and the Icer spun away with a sibilant hiss. It turned back, jaws gaping, and sank its teeth into Jax’s shoulder.

  Jax grimaced and fell to one knee before the Icer wrenched upward, pulling him off the ground.

  I ran to my grandmother’s still form.

  “Oh my God!”

  Her right eye was a pulpy mess and her face was covered in blood. But she was still breathing. Her limbs trembled. “Get away,” she croaked, the words bubbling through the blood seeping into her mouth.

  A few feet away the Icer still held Jax in its jaws. It shook him, then dropped him and lurched toward us again.

  Kneeling next to Gran, I watched it shamble closer. I was frozen in place, fascinated by the horror of it. The thing was a walking nightmare. Its gray skin had an almost gelatinous, transparent quality. Blood vessels were visible, coursing and pulsing beneath its surface. It wasn’t moving as fast as before.

  “Delia!” shouted Jax. “It can’t see much. Get up. Quietly. Don’t make a sound. Go close to the fire! The light and the heat will repel it.”

  At the sound of Jax’s voice, the thing wheeled around and lurched toward him again.

  “C’mon, Gran,” I said. “We have to get up. C’mon,” I said. But she lay limp, barely breathing. She couldn’t move. And it was coming back.