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Finn
We didn’t have to wait long. But I was glad I was the one who offered to go in with her. Liana had her Grace of fire to keep her warm, but if she knew how to properly harness her Grace of ice, she would find the cold wouldn’t bother her at all. She had more ice and cold within her than there could ever be in the sea. She would be with me for her next training session, and I would teach her how.
Within ten minutes we could see them coming in the distance. Their translucent skin glowed blueish silver in the moonlight, like the squids we used to jig off the docks as young children. Writhing, shimmering things.
Kade was right, they were a little… off-putting, but their beauty was greater than their strangeness.
Liana stiffened as they drew near. It was a small group of maybe six or seven. One lead the others in a triangle-like formation until they were mere yards away from where we stood.
I heard Alaric notch an arrow, and Liana spun to glare at him, “Idiot,” she hissed at him, “Put that away.”
I bit back a laugh.
The Wraiths were a strange—but peaceful creature. Truly, we had nothing to fear from them. Though many folk blamed them for any and all deaths that happened at sea. I supposed it was easier to have something to blame than never knowing why a loved one sailed off and never returned.
Liana swallowed, watching the Wraiths as they raised themselves up closer to the surface, she glanced at me and I saw the anxiety in the set of her jaw and the widening of her eyes. “It’s alright, we’ve only come to ask a favor. If they refuse, we’ll find another way.”
She nodded, catching her bottom lip between her teeth.
The leading Wraith raised its head from the water. Slitted black eyes looked from Liana to me and back again. The creature’s hair was wild undulating silver and its small, sharp-angled face glowed silvery blue.
“I have come to ask something of you,” Liana began, her hands clasped tightly at her front and her shoulders set.
….what will the Queen of Night ask of us…The Wraith asked.
I jolted at the intrusion in my mind. The words scraped along the inside of my skull. I gritted my teeth against the feeling.
Liana stumbled, tripping over her words, “We must—we are seeking to know if…”
“It’s possible there is a fleet of ships, either docked on the eastern shores of Emeris, or bound for Meloran. Those ships would be carrying men and Fae and their aim is to end Morgana’s line and take the throne of night.”
Liana mouthedthank youto me once I’d finished, some tension in her shoulders abated.
…the Mad King…
“Yes,” Liana said. “We must find him. We must know how many fighting soldiers he has in his army.”
…What you ask of us…
“I ask that you find them.”
The Wriaths eyes narrowed to tiny slits, and it made a hissing sound through its thin lips.…kill them?...
The other Wraiths behind the first one raised their heads from the water too, hissing and swaying back and forth.
“Liana,” Alaric warned.
Tiernan’s falcon screeched.
“It’s fine,” she called back to Alaric, but her resolve was weakening.
I drew on my Grace, coaxing it out from the center of my being in case I should have need of it. I took her hand, trying to lend her some of my strength.
“No,” she said to the creatures as she turned back to face them, “I would not ask that of you.”
…we help you. We help the queen…
“You will search the seas?” I asked the Wraith, ensuring the primitive creature understood our request, “And you will tell us what you find?”
