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"What did you see?" he asked and closed the lid of the box with a snap.
"Enough to do a scrying. I will tell you after I'm done. I need to hold on to this feeling while I can," Ella explained. The rage that had been coursing through the Formorian was still inside of her, so she focused on it and began to walk along the shore.
Mananan followed her, giving her space to find what she needed. The high tide had brought up stones and shells and beaten pieces of sea glass. Ella let the magic inside of her guide her hand to each piece that she gathered. She didn't question her choices, not anymore. Her intuition knew what it was doing; she only needed to let it work. When she had enough pieces, she drew a circle in the sand and placed the map of the United Kingdom in the center of it.
"This might take a while. I'm not actually sure how long I'm going to go out for until after it's happened," she warned Mananan.
Mananan sat down on the sand opposite her, his blue eyes calm. "I'm not going anywhere. I will watch over you for as long as I need to. I will bring you back if the magic drags you down too much. Finding the altars is important, but I won't risk your mental well-being for it."
"If you think it's for the best," she said. She wasn't going to argue with him. The power was on her, and she didn't want to break it by having too much conversation.
She focused instead on the map, rolling the shells’ soft glass and the stones between her hands. She closed her eyes and settled into the sensations that she'd had while touching the talisman. She could feel the mage in her mind, like a ripple on still water. She let her magic wash over her, let it fill her entire body as the flotsam of the sea warmed in her hands. Her magic wasn't the kind that needed words; it only needed her to focus and to release it.
Where are you?She sent the question through her and into the items in her hands, infusing them with her power. She held the objects over the map and asked the question again and again until it became a chant.
The vision hit her, and she was dragged under the sea. Floating through the gray blue waters was a body, its dead flesh carved with strange runes. The victim's feet were tied to a net of rope that had been filled with rocks and bones. The head twisted towards her, the fear still in his wide white eyes, the dead man's mouth hanging slack in a silent scream.
Ella started to scream, and she dropped the objects in her hands like they had burned her. The vision refused to let her go. It felt like water was filling her lungs, her feet bound in rope and her body burning as salt water seeped into the deep cuts in her flesh. She struggled as the depths closed around her. When her lungs finally gave out and she breathed in water, the world exploded in dark magic.
Suddenly the vision broke; warmth surrounded her, and Ella was slowly dragged back to her body.
Soft lips were moving against hers in a gentle embrace, and silence flooded her mind as her gift focused on the physical touch. Ella's fingers curled into the soft fabric of Mananan's shirt, and she opened her mouth a little more for him. He tasted strangely sweet, and Ella recognized it as the flavor she woke up with in her mouth after the night of the kraken attack.
She pulled back with a soft gasp, heat rising all the way from her toes to her cheeks. It had been a long time since she had been kissed. He placed his hands on her cheeks.
"Are you back in there, little nymph?" he asked, his voice a husky rumble.
"I am here," she said, feeling a little shaky. Ella didn't let him go, his warmth and touch grounded her, and she wanted to rub herself all over him just to feel safe. "What happened?"
"You went still. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head, and then it was like you started to drown. I apologize for taking liberties, but I didn’t know what else to do in order to override the magic and bring you back," Mananan told her. He dropped his hands from her face.
Ella kept her grip on him and looked down at the map. The stones and shells had formed a small cluster in the middle of St. George's Channel. The magic had worked.
"I was drowning, Mananan. I mean, I saw a man drowning and felt his pain. He had his feet anchored to a net full of ropes and bones. He was naked and carved with runes. He was floating vertically in the water. I could feel his pain in the moment he died. It released such power..." Ella rubbed her face with her hands, trying to get some feeling back into her cheeks. Her whole body felt numb now that the magic had left her.
"It must be one of their altars. I had wondered how they would create them underneath the water." Mananan took his phone from his pocket, shot some photos of the map, and sent them with a message. "I will get Bayn to help me look for it tonight." His eyes grew troubled once more as he looked at her. "Will you be okay? I can get Freya or someone to come and keep you company if you wish it."
Ella let go of his shirt even though a part of her was desperate to hold on. "I will be all right, Mananan. This isn't the first time I have scryed for something. I wish I could have found all three of them for you. I promise I will be able to try again after I have rested."
"Not tonight, you won't," he replied. He marked on the map where the stones were before folding it up. "You have done enough for one day."
Ella knew there was no point in arguing with him. He would just shut her down, and the truth was she didn't have a drop of magic left inside of her. Bayn appeared on the beach with two swords strapped to his back.
"A good night for hunting, uncle," he greeted with a sharp smile on his face. "Good job, Ella. I'm in the mood for a fight."
"Me too," Mananan replied, a feral glint in his eyes.
He walked into the water and called out something in a language that she didn't know. It sounded like Gaelic, but she couldn't understand any of the words.
The water shivered and bubbled just offshore. Before Ella could ask what was happening, a copper boat rose from the surface. It looked like it could hold about six people, and it had two oars on each side. A memory of Deidra telling her a story of a magical, self-navigating boat tingled in the back of her mind.
"Holy shit, theSguaba Tuinneis real too?" she asked, her eyes going wide.
"Of course it's real," Bayn said and splashed through the waves to climb in.
Mananan went to follow, but Ella grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Be careful, won't you?" she said, suddenly worried about letting him go.
