Page 63 of The Song of the Void

The ocean felt like home. Dark, frigid water. Pressure. Air bubbles rising from the deep, far below. Currents that pulled schools of silver-scaled mackerel towards us, chased by blue marlins. They were too engaged in their hunt to talk to, so I followed a reedy, high-pitched song until we came across a blue whale and her calf. I played with the calf and got some directions to a nearby landmass from the adult whale, while Reiven gaped at the majestic size of her.

The second time I had to kiss him, he didn’t escalate it again, but he did tenderly free a piece of seaweed from my billowing hair.

I had nearly forgotten, but Humans find it difficult to move in the open ocean, even with the protection of a Siren. I literally swam circles around him while he labored to make any headway.

“Spirits, could you be any slower?” I teased, zooming ahead.

“You think this is easy for me?”

“I know, I know. I’ll take pity on you, my poor Human friend.” I swam back to him and grabbed his hands, pulling him through the deep blue at a much faster pace with the strength of my tail and the help of the current.

“Oh, hasn’t it been five hours by now?”

It had only been half that since I kissed him last.

“You’re right.” I brushed my lips against his. Waves of pleasant emotions rippled across my skin at the quiet smile he gave me. His clothing floated loosely off his frame. We just stared at each other in silence, so I hurried to say something, anything. “Um, s-so how are you doing here in the ocean? Since you’re afraid of it and all.”

“I’m not afraid of the ocean, but I’m definitely not a fan of the odd pressure. Makes me feel weak.” He snickered at my eye-roll. “You look truly at home, though. It’s a nice change.”

He asked me to tell him more about the Abyssal Deep as we continued to travel alongside a glittering school of tuna, past hordes of pale moon jellies and violet man o’ wars. Just talking about it had me so excited that I practically put on a water acrobatics show for him while he panted and dragged himself after me.

“There are several entrances to the Abyssal Deep, natural trenches cut into what appears to be the sea floor that lead even further below. The underside of the trenches are covered in glowing corals and sponges that light up the Deep, sort of like a curtain of stars permanently above us. It’s beautiful…You should come see it when this is all over.”

He wouldn’t be welcome; he was a Human, after all. But maybe I could convince my people to allow him and Ash to visit, just once.

A giant manta ray leisurely glided above us, and I swam in its shadow with my arms outstretched as the temperature of the water warmed. Sardines rushed past, a writhing mass of sterling scales that brushed against my skin, and some of them weaved in and out of my hair. The surrounding water brightened until it was a blanket of clear blue. The sea floor grew closer, covered in yellow and red and green corals, peachy anemones, and purple sea urchins. So much life.

My heart sang with the silent current as I left Rei to swim amongst the seahorses, blue tangs, and spotted groupers. Something amongst the coral reef below caught my eye. Tangled in a patch of weaving kelp, an algae-covered silver metal disc about the size and thickness of a carriage wheel glinted in the dappled sunlight. I freed it from the seaweed and showed Rei.

“It’s a Sirensteel machine! Look.” A tap to its center prompted six metal legs to shoot out of the base, wriggling in my grip like a crab stuck on its back. “These guys are used to clean the walls of our caves. They crawl and there’s a hole in the bottom that sucks up the algae.”

“Did a Siren build that? It looks complicated.”

I laughed. “Sirensteel responds to our voices. We sing the metal into the shape and use we desire. It's actually quite easy to turn a bit of metal into something intricate—or even something that moves on its own.”

These were really the simplest creations of our kind, but it was still a jolt to see one outside the Abyssal Deep. A Siren must have discarded it, and it had been carried by the current until it got stuck in the seaweed.

I set it free on the current once again, and we continued forward in the shallow water, soon surfacing to swim to the nearby island. Warm air hit my lungs, then came the sensation of the ocean swirling around my tail, pulling it apart scale by scale until I was left with the surface-dweller legs and clothing I had before. It wasn’t as uncomfortable a process as I remembered. Rei dragged himself ashore with a groan, flopping onto his back in the golden sand while I hesitated up to my thighs in water. The storm had long given way to a perfect cerulean sky and the warmth of the surface-dweller sun that beat down on my shoulders. Sunlight glimmered across the waves. The salty tang of the air blended with the earthy smell of the plentiful vegetation that covered most of the island. Palms stretched into the sky, tall grasses and shrubs flourishing in the near distance.

It took a great deal of effort to force myself out of the water to kneel at Reiven’s side on the grainy, hot beach. When he sat up, no amount of brushing at his back would get all the sand off him.

He threw me a grin. “This place is nice. The perfect island for me to relax in the shade with a strong alcoholic concoction in my hand and a pretty Siren on my lap.”

“Reiven, we have to figure out how to survive here until we get saved. Unless you’d rather wither away to nothing being lazy.”

“I do prefer being lazy, so let’s see if Ash can find us before I wither away.” Reiven touched his earring and spoke quietly. “Hey, we made it to an island.” He paused. “I don’t know where we are, Ash. This island feels pretty damn uncharted to me. Er, I think we swam—west, maybe?” He squinted up at the location of the sun, then out across the ocean, and nodded as though he were confident. “Nice. Tell Lyneca that Zephra says she’s a gem.”

At my cocked head, Rei explained that apparently Lyneca and Captain Larsel knew of a few islands around their current location, so they’d follow their direction and hope they happened upon us. “And he said that we should build a bonfire so they can keep their eyes peeled for a smoke signal. He signed off with ‘Y’all better not die of dehydration, or I’ll have to bring you back to life so I can kill you myself.’ Ha, I think he’s still pissed at us.”

I shrugged and resolved to give Ashkade the most suffocatingly tight hug of his life when I saw him. I hopped to my feet, far more energetic than my companion, and helped him up. “We should start by exploring. Keep your eyes peeled for fruit trees, berry bushes, clean water, and any animals we need to worry about.”

He moaned in protest. “Are you sure we can’t just relax? We’ve earned a vacation.”

Keep whining. I’m about to put your lazy ass to work.

A realization hit me that he hadn’t genuinely needled me in a long while, so I threw out an opportunity for him. “Is this the part where you complain for hours about being stuck on an island alone with a Siren?”

Surprise crossed his face, but it shifted into a smirk as he gently lifted my chin with his finger. “Oh, I don’t know…I think I could do a lot worse than being stuck with you.” He brushed his thumb against my cheek so briefly it might have been a mistake before pushing past me.