Or a…tether. A tether to an ancient life she had no memory of.
A flicker of awareness surged through her, and she looked down.
Red runes, tattered black breeches, and an old shirt, sea-worn and frayed, was all she wore, her black hair billowing in the wind.
Maybe the beast recognized something inside of her. Or maybe she recognized someone.
Esmyra sucked in a sharp breath, and the sea stirred against her skin as her body shifted, her pirate guise melting away. Her silver hair flowed like ribbons as her eyes cast a subtle silvery-blue light, matching that of the beast’s.
Their gazes locked once more, and Esmyra straightened her stance as she stood several yards from the serpent.
“My Levaia.” The word slipped past her lips, but when it reached her ears, she knew it wasn’t her who said it. It was Kaelypso.
It tilted its giant head to the side and made an odd sound. It was low and resonant, like an echo or a deep, approving purr. Then it moved toward her, slithering forward as its massive form carved through the water.
Esmyra didn’t flinch, but instead lifted herchin and stepped forward, bare feet sinking into the silt. A strange calm washed over her, realizing that what she felt was recognition, from both of them.
This enormous, fearsome creatureknewher.
Esmyra’s legs merged and morphed into her siren’s tail, and she dove beneath the waves, meeting the serpent halfway. Under the water, she could make out its true size, its long serpentine body extending far beyond her sight.
The beast was brilliant. It was magnificent. And it was…hers.
“Ours,” Kaelypso corrected.
To Esmyra’s own surprise, she let out a soft laugh. It was then she recalled all she’d read about the sea dragon of legends; of a monster of Kaelypso’s creation whom sailors feared even to this day. The creature hadn’t been spotted in centuries, and now she knew why—Levaia had been guarding Maerinys.
The dragon watched as she glided toward it, its eyes shining like orbs when she looked up and broke the surface. Its jaw fell open, revealing several rows of giant flesh-shredding teeth; its head tilted to the side in curiosity.
Esmyra mimicked the movements, taking in the view. When her hand lifted, the creature lowered its head as water sluiced off its scaled crown. A soft, purring noise echoed from its throat, and Esmyra smiled softly before laying her palm between its vibrant eyes.
Warmth flooded her the moment she brushed the roughness of its scales.
A hum ravaged her body and soul. And for the first time in what felt like months, her heart didn’t ache. There was a sudden sense of belonging, reclaiming what was hers.
Esmyra kept her hand pressed gently to the serpent’s brow, her thumb stroking the cool scales. “Did you sense who I was that day in the trench?” Her voice cracked halfway through the words. “Did you sense Kaelypso? Is that why you swam up from the depths?”
The beast said nothing.Of course,it said nothing. It didn’t have a voice, at least not one she could understand, anyway.
She dropped her hand, the water swirling around her waist.
“I’m talking to a monster like it’s a person,” she muttered to herself, blowing out a breath to get a piece of hair out of her face.
The dragon’s purr suddenly deepened, and a flash of razor-like pearlescent teeth shone in the moonlight as it lifted its lips.
“I’m sorry.” Esmyra smirked. “You don’t like being called a monster, do you?”
The rumbling growl settled.
“Me either,” she said with a quiet laugh.
Esmyra’s gaze lifted again to the stars above, noting how Levaia appeared when she had begged for a sign. A sign that she was on the right path.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Not to the serpent, but to the stars. To her father who sent her the sign she begged for even from the afterlife.
“Levaia will always protect us,” Kaelypso said. “My only battle lost is the one where she wasn’t at my side.”
Esmyra wondered if that was why the gods demanded they meet in Maerinys’s castle tower when they ambushed the sea goddesses. Kaelypso would’ve been far from Levaia’s reach, and she’d guarded the kingdom ever since. Had the serpent believed Kaelypso to be stuck down there as Naerysa was?
