Syrena’s wicked cackle echoed through her mind.
For a heartbeat, Esmyra’s strength wavered, her divine energy leaking out, threatening to leave her vulnerable mid-attack.
“Fuck. You.” Esmyra gritted her teeth, her talons digging into the serpent’s scales. She wrenched the bond tight with her mind, slamming the wall between them back down as her own power pushed back.
The sea responded, thrashing against the shore with renewed force.
Every moment of suffering, every betrayal, every battle had honed her into the weapon she was. She wouldn’t let Syrena touch her power, mind, or will ever again.
Esmyra snapped her focus, drawing her sister’s siphoning energy back into herself. The flowing, silver tattoos surged brightly as she reclaimed what was hers. And once she reached the end, a spark of Syrena’s essence flickered through her veins.
Her body jolted. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Naerysa’s power was vast, radiant in a way that contrasted with her own. She could feel the currents of the surface coursing through her. It was hotter, brighter, more controlled than the depth’s chaotic pull she was used to.
Her vision blurred for a moment as the two forces mingled inside her. The violent tides surging beneath the reflective surface, and she could feel her power growing stronger, sharper, morealive.
But it also felt like it was sabotaging her from within; a thrill of power that bordered on pain, demanding control.
The moment the stolen brilliance settled in her veins, Esmyra screamed as her hands shot out, the air itself seeming to convulse around her. Torrents of raw, pulsing energy exploded from her fingertips, arcs of lightning lacing with crashing waves and storming winds.
Ships quaked under the force of her assault. Masts splintered, and sails caught fire from being struck by lightning as waves slammed over decks. The Maerinys soldiers screamed as tidal walls surged over them, twisting ships, tearing them from one another.
She could sense her sister’s presence, still clawing, still trying to reclaim what Esmyra had taken, but she shoved it down. Her eyes glowed a blinding silver, the air around her singing with the intensity of her power.
From beneath the waves, sirens surged like dark shadows, their sleek, sinuous forms cutting through the water. Their eyes glinted with malice as they breached the surface to strike.
Levaia twisted, massive jaws snapping at them viciously. The sirens were getting ripped apart mid-leap, their once haunting songs turning into screams as their bodies were tossed into the churning sea.And still more kept coming. They were relentless, trying to break through her defenses.
Chaos reigned. Ships collided, splintered, and burned. Bellowing screams of terror echoed over the waters, mingling with the roar of the serpent and the crackle of power.
And above it all, Esmyra became unstoppable—the fury of the sea.
Levaia tore through the water, her tail whipping with such force that entire clusters of sirens were catapulted into frothing spray. More of their songs turned to shrieks as the serpent’s gaping jaws closed around them, crushing bone and shredding flesh before tossing the broken bodies into the blood-stained waves.
Esmyra crawled up her beast’s neck, heaving herself up with the horns. She stood tall on Levaia’s crown, her silver hair whipping wildly in the winds, eyes burning like the storm itself.
From her perch atop the sea-dragon’s head, Esmyra looked down at the shoreline. Soldiers who had charged so fearlessly only moments ago were faltering now, retreating as the sea itself betrayed them.
She felt their terror, and it tasted sweeter than the bloodlust consuming her. Her chest swelled with something dangerously close to exhilaration.
“There’s nowhere for them to go when the sea doesn’t forgive,” Kaelypso hissed.
A laugh nearly broke from Esmyra’s throat. It was dark, cruel, and even a little victorious.
And then she leapt.
Air rushed around her as she fell, but her descent was slow, deliberately instilling their fear. Her body was suspended in the air as lightning curled around her arms, flickering bright against the red sky.
Spears arced through the air as Esmyra floated downward in a perfect calm, her gaze locked on the castle in the distance. She didn’t even flinch as her magic answered for her, vaporizing the weapons before they neared her flesh.
As her bare feet touched the sea, her power thrummed with every breath. Ripples spread outward as she began to walk, each stridedeliberate, commanding the flashes of light above. The ocean rose around her, waves cresting high only to bow down in submission and parting to clear her path.
And now, Esmyra Kaelypso Aeress Blackwood would be a harbinger of ruin.
Her lips curved into the faintest, merciless smile as her mind echoed with every betrayal, every shard of velsinyte, every whispered lie ever fed to her.
And with each step across the sea, vengeance itself drew closer to the shore.
