Despitethat, the days passed quickly, andIfound most nightsIbarely had time to shove dinner in my face before collapsing into bed.Irarely saw the king, mostly when he would stand on the upper deck and observe the comings and goings of the ship, but occasionally in my dreams.Theywere the kind of dreams thatImostly tried to forget in the morning, except for a select few thatItucked away, saving those for nights when sleep didn’t claim me, andIhad to bring my hands between my legs to help get me there.Ialways felt disgusting after, but it seemed the clear skies and salty breeze wiped me clear of my sins every morning.
Ihad found great peace in the simple routine of our voyage, and even thoughIhad found my door unlocked every morning,Ihadn’t moved to take advantage of it.Butthe sea and sky grew colder as we traveled north, andIknew that this respite wouldn’t last much longer.Iknew our voyage was drawing to a close when the seas grew so rough and choppy that it became too difficult for us to easily stand on the deck, let alone train.
Aftertwo days of this, and more trips to the ship's railing to expel the contents of my stomach thanIcared to count,Iremembered whyIhated sailing.Buton the third day, whileAvlyngently held my hair back asIheaved my breakfast to the fish, they whispered, “Look,Princess.”
Thesea around us was shrouded in mist, andIcould barely see one hundred feet beyond the railing of the ship.Butthere, rising out of the ocean like a great leviathan of legend, a shape emerged from the mist.Aswe drew closer,Icould see it was a giant rock.Itsface dark grey like the waters below, cut away by years of dancing with the ocean.Butthis island wasn’t soft and rounded like the boulder back home.Here, they were at war, the ocean taking everything it could while the rock dug itself in.Evenas we sailed by,Iheard a great lightning-like crack as a huge slab broke loose and crashed into the sea below.
Moreand more of the rocks and islands rose up from the sea, towering higher than the mast of our ship.Westayed a cautionary distance away, butIcould still see the wreckage of enough ships for an age strewn about their bases.
“TheSeaofSpirits,”Avlynwhispered it almost like a prayer.
“Morelike theSeaofPissedOffMotherfuckingGhosts,” one of the soldiers nearby glibbed, soft chuckling all around.TheSeaofSpiritswas the last piece of the ocean we needed to cross before reaching theDragonKingdomand was the most treacherous.Theentire ocean was littered with small islands and rocks like we were seeing now, many hidden beneath the waves.Onlyone narrow passage existed that allowed any to travel to theBayofDragonsand the capital city ofXyr.Thepassage was only navigable to the most skilled sailors, and it made theDragonKingdomnearly impossible to breach.
Theislands seemed to be closing in around us whenIheard a soft gasp behind me.Lookingup,Isaw him looming out at us.Agreat statue beyond proportion.Thefigure was of a man in ancient garb, holding a dragon’s egg out before him, forever frozen in granite stone.Hestuck out from the seafloor at an acute angle and leaned against one of the islands.Halfof his head and face were missing, and the lower portion of him was covered in barnacles, clinging to him like corrupted jewels.Theoutstretched hand holding the egg aloft was so high that our entire ship passed underneath it.
“TheGateofKingBeher,”Avlynmade the sign against evil with their hands, “we enterApollyon’sPassnow.”Ilifted my eyes to follow the dragon's egg as it passed over the ship, turning my body to follow its path.Asit faded into the mist behind the stern of the ship, my eyes shifted to the upper deck, where the king stood, his eyes still trailing off after the statue.
Islowly climbed the stairs to the upper deck, joining him at the back railing of the ship.“Hewas your ancestor?”
Hedidn’t look at me, but answered, “Yes, my great-great grandfather, actually.”
“Didyou know him?”
“No, even the fae are not immortal and he had faded from this world before my time.”Evento me, the time scale of which theCoringusfamily had ruled was beyond imagining, ruling since the beginning of the first age.Infact,Abraxas’ father,Amaros, had ruledover fifteen hundred years before, well beforeAbraxashad killed him.Maybebringing up family history wasn’t the best idea.
Seemingready to change the subject, he said, “Theseislands were once a great land, the first true fae kingdom, but their hubris brought about their destruction.”Hechuckled then, “Wellthat, and the massive volcanic eruption that destroyed it all.”
“Ah,IseeKingTourGuidehas made a reappearance.”Hepinched his nose bridge with his thumb and forefinger, an expression of exasperationIwas really coming to enjoy.
“Youhave labeled yourself as a poor student.Iwas merely sharing some of my scholarship in history with you, trying to fill in the gaps in your education.”
“Idon’t think it counts as scholarship if you were there to live through it.”Iflashed him my most winning smile.Isaw laughter dancing behind his viridian eyes, and that brought me more pleasure thanIcared to examine.
“Careful, young one, these waters are treacherous, and it would be all too easy for you to accidentally fall in here.”Therewas no threat in his voice, andIsaw his trademark smirk start to spread, when suddenly the boat rocked antagonistically.Ifelt my feet leave the floorboards as the boat dropped out from under me.Suddenly, the king had one arm beneath mine, and another behind my back, preventing me from dropping over the railing.Whenthe boat steadied, our bodies were pressed together in a way that was all too similar to our encounter atLordBolon’smansion.Ishoved out of his arms.
“Ididn’t think you were going to make good on your threat so quickly.”
Hisface hardened again, “Youshould go below deck, it seems the seas are riled today.”
“Isthat an order?”Beforehe could answer, another wave crashed into the side of the boat, slamming me over to my side, and assaulting me with seawater.Mystomach heaved urgently. “Nevermind,I’llgo.”
Iclung to the stair railing asImade my way back to the main deck and inside.Iclosed the cabin door, and pressed my back into it, sliding down to the floor.Icould just hear the shouting of the soldiers and sailors over the crashing of the waves.Idropped my head between my knees, willing my stomach to cling to whatever remained of my breakfast.Butjust as soon as it had started, it was over and the boat stopped rolling.
Iremained there for a few more moments.Butthe silence of the empty cabins pressed in upon me.Darkthoughts crept out of the recesses of my mind, thoughts of a great pressure squeezing the life from me, of my brother laid across the feet ofEmperorHadeon, of blood— blood that stained my hands and my heart.
Butthen the ship jolted again, and it felt much more…solid.Notlike a crashing wave, but as if we had hit something else.Anothergreat crash, followed by more erratic shouts from the deck, then a distinctive scream.Irose up, unsteady on my feet, butIleaned against the door frame and pulled the cabin door open.
Icouldn’t make sense of whatIsaw.Soldiersand sailors gathered around what looked like a collapsed mast, slashing it with swords and spears.Butthen the mast rolled of its own volition, andIsaw the underside was covered in massive disks, each accompanied by a vicious hook larger than my arm.No, not disks, but suckers.Andnot a mast, but a giant writhing tentacle.AsIwatched, a smaller tentacle reached over the side of the ship and grabbed a soldier around his waist.Hescreamed as he was pulled overboard, into the depths below.
IsawKaleos, sword raised, land a solid blow on the main arm, and a great howl echoed within the water below the ship.Fromthe opposite side, another tentacle reached up and slammed itself down, crushing his legs beneath it.Withoutthinking,Iran out onto the deck.Kaleoswas half trapped under the tentacle, trying to free himself, still hacking at the creature.Hedidn’t see the other tentacle about to slam down on his head.Iran and kicked it away with all my strength.
ThenIreached out my hand and planted my feet in the crack between two boards.Igrasped his forearm and heaved, but he barely moved.Then, the creature seemed to sense my interference, as another, smaller tentacle snaked over the deck, and wrapped itself around my leg.
Ilost my grip on the deck and slid intoKaleos.Butas the tentacle on my leg began to pull me away,Kaleosraised his sword to cut it.
“Wait!”Ilet it pull on me but gripped ontoKaleoseven harder.Isaw my plan dawn on him, and he gave me the smallest nod and gripped down on me with his fingers.Itfelt like my leg was going to be pulled out of its socket, butIsawKaleosbegin to slide out from under the beast.Igripped into his arm tighter, but we slipped, so only our fingers held.Hereached for his sword to free me, but it was too late, as our fingers released.Butinstead of sailing overboard,Iflopped to the deck.
Iturned, and the king stood behind me, where his sword had cut my leg free.Ikicked off the tentacle that still clung to me, and sick, circular welts decorated my leg.Kaleoshad freed himself and jumped up to re-engage.Ijumped to do the same, not thinking too hard about howIintended to fight a creatureIcould barely comprehend.Butthen, an arm crashed around my chest.
