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Then, a spear flew from the water, landing on the Orca’s flank. It fell into the depths of the whirlpool, not leaving a scratch on the whale’s skin, but more spears followed, thrown by selkies suddenly surrounding Macey.
While they didn’t harm the whale, they certainly enraged it, and it flung its tail up and down, struggling against the hold the air had on it. More fire rained down on it, setting some of the spears alight. The first fiery spear embedded itself in the Orca’s back. It wasn’t deep, but it was more than they’d managed before.
The selkies and Flint seemed to coordinate their attacks, with the wraith setting the spears on fire just before they hit the whale.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot through the air, blinding Macey momentarily. Amber!
She looked up through the murky sea, just about to make out the beithir flying above the wide opening of the whirlpool. Someone was sitting on her back, presumably Izban.
Icicles rained from the sky; the mage’s doing. And just when Macey thought that everybody was fighting the Orca, a spear-shaped lance of pressed together sand rose from the depths, embedding itself in the Orca’s soft belly.
It roared in pain, writhing in fury.
Black dots were dancing before Macey’s eyes. Her magic was about to run out, but it wasn’t enough yet. She needed to keep up the whirlpool. The Orca wasn’t defeated yet; they needed more time.
Breathing became difficult, but she didn’t stop pouring every single drop of magic into the column.
Her vision faded, the spots turning into a dark screen. Her mind became foggy and with a final breath, she expelled her last bit of magic, before letting herself drift off into the blackness.
Something pushed her back just before she lost consciousness; a shockwave of sort. She smiled. Hopefully, the Orca had been defeated.
Thirteen
“Macey,” Jared called, shaking her gently as she roused from sleep. Or exhaustion. Realistically, that option did seem more likely.
“Mmm?” Maybe if she didn’t move much, he’d get into bed with her. Or one of the others would. If they wrapped her up in their arms, then rest would be all the sweeter. There was something about the comfort only her men could bring.
“We need you to wake up,” he said. “We need to move, but can’t until you’re awake.”
“Mm-what?” she murmured, but opened her eyes all the same. Not that it helped. They were still sticky from sleep and refusing to focus properly.
“We’re by the side of the ocean and we need you to wake up so you can finish shifting,” Cam said, his words surprisingly calm given the situation she’d found them in.
“Oh,” she muttered, glancing down at herself and discovering she was still partially shifted. Luckily for her, the lower half of her body was still submerged in water, so she hadn’t dried out.
With a single thought, she shifted completely back to human, leaving her naked and shivering with exertion.
“What happened?” she asked, looking up at the men surrounding her. Each of them wore a concerned expression. Except for Rónán, who wasn’t even looking at her, but over her shoulder with a disgusted grimace tugging at his lips.
“We defeated it,” he said, lifting his hand and pointing in the direction he was staring.
Macey shuffled in her spot on the floor to try and work out what he was getting at, before gagging slightly.
The Orca was dead alright. But it didn’t look anything like she expected a dead orca to. Instead, it’s inky black skin was leaking off it’s body and pooling into the sea. It reminded Macey a little of the oil slicks she’d seen on TV during her stay on earth. Even just the images left her feeling sticky and slimy in a way she hadn’t expected. It was like she felt the oil itself throughout her whole body. And this time wasn’t any different. She could sense the sea crying out to her, even as it took away the odd substance.
“Why is it doing that?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Rónán answered. “I suspect its evil is being reabsorbed by the sea.”
“But that’s not a good thing, is it?” She hated just how unsure she sounded, but had to admit the whole conversation was a little bit weird. Then again, most of the conversations she had with her men could be deemed a little weird. Unless it was about waffles. That wasn’t weird in the slightest. Everyone in the world should have regular conversations about waffles. It just made sense.
“Yes and no,” Rónán replied. “For the immediate area, probably not. But in
the grand scheme of things…this evil is just like the food chain. Orcas are at the top, plankton are at the bottom.” He shrugged as if that were all there was to it.
“But if orcas are at the top anyway, then why did we bother defeating this one?” It all made no sense to her.
“This one wasn’t a real orca,” Flint pointed out. “Any real animal would have at least been injured by my flames the first time.”
