Stone Heart (The Cursed Seas Collection)

by Pauline Creeden

  That was a change from normal. “Me, neither.”

  Slowly he sat up, and I sat up with him.

  “We are going to have to battle the monsters, if they aren’t nocturnal.” He stared at his hands as if the dire reality of our situation was only just occurring to him. “Even if it were just one or two monsters, the odds are not in our favor.”

  He was right. All of the monsters we’d faced had been difficult, and we had almost died from a few. “Did you see what kind of monsters they were?” I asked softly.

  “Creatures from the deep,” he said. “I saw at least one oiline.”

  Great. “How are we going to fight them? We can barely defeat one oiline. We ran from an oiline, and almost died in a cave. We have nowhere to hide here.”

  He turned so his back faced me and leaned against my shoulder. “Let me think.”

  I turned slightly, letting us lean back to back. No matter how hard I racked my brain, no plan would come to my mind. I never was the most intelligent of the sirens. And here on land, I’d never come up with a plan. It made me wonder why a siren was even needed for this journey. Couldn’t Kane have done the whole thing himself? He could have. He was smart enough, brave enough, and strong enough. I’d only slowed him down on this journey by almost dying over and over again.

  I was useless. And I couldn’t think of a single thing to help us through what we were about to do now, either.

  Tears stung the backs of my eyes. “Why did I even need to come?”

  “What?” Kane asked.

  My throat tightened. “You could have done this whole thing by yourself. You don’t need me. I’m useless.”

  He turned around and wrapped his arms around me. “What are you talking about?”

  “We’re about to face our certain death in order to try to put this stone where it belongs and heal the land. They said that both a siren and a mage needed to do this together. But I haven’t done anything but drag you down. We have no hope.”

  He huffed a laugh. “That’s exactly what you did, siren. You gave me hope.”

  I blinked the tears that had welled in my eyes. “What? What do you mean?”

  “Do you really think the elders could have ever convinced me to actually go find the stone? Even if some other siren had appeared, I don’t think he or she could ever have convinced me. I’d have quit before this journey even started. I’d have rather lived in exile.” He took a long slow breath. “If it hadn’t been for crazy, unpredictable you, I wouldn’t have had hope for a future beyond getting the stone. You motivate me. You make me want to make the world better for you and for our children.”

  My heart warmed in my chest, and I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

  “We’re going to make it through this. Have faith.”

  “Faith in what? You already said you don’t believe in the gods.”

  “Maybe not, but I’m starting to believe in fate now. If the sirens had sent someone other than you, Ivy, I would have probably died. Without question, the other siren and I would have failed. It was fate that brought you and me together. I’m starting to believe in that much. Maybe there aren’t any gods the way the mages say there are, but I have to believe that you and I were meant to be here in this place right now. I have to believe that we found the stone because we’re meant to put it back and heal the lands. I have to believe that we will succeed and that the dreams you and I have created together will become a reality. You’ve given me hope, now you need to have a little faith, okay?”

  He squeezed me tighter and just held me while I nodded against him. I could do that. I could at least have faith in him. I took a long deep breath and then pulled back to look at him. The first golden rays of sunlight played in his hair. I nodded to him. No matter what happened, I would have faith in Kane.

  “Let’s go,” he said and started to his feet.

  I followed him up and helped him take down the shelter. The air around us had already begun heating up even though the sun hadn’t even yet made it over the horizon. After he packed the netting and fabric into the pack, he slung it over his shoulder. Instead of putting his staff on his back with the pack, he continued to hold it. Then he took my hand and squeezed it.

  I smiled up at him and set my shoulders. Then we both started back in the direction of the monsters.

  “We’ll need to approach cautiously, in case they see us this time.”

  How would they miss us in the wide-open desert? I nodded my agreement and pulled the canteen from his back. We’d been walking a half hour, and the sun was glaring off the sand and cooking us. We both took a drink of water before replacing the canteen.

  Kane’s hand gripped mine harder and my eyes darted to his. He pulled me toward the ground again, and I followed his line of sight. At least a dozen creatures prowled around a specific area. Though they gathered in one spot, they didn’t attack each other. My blood ran cold. For a while we lay in the sand on our elbows and watched them. Tirelessly they circled about.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked Kane finally.

  “Let’s try to circle around.” He scowled.

  I wiped sweat from my brow. The hot sand cooked my skin below while the sun beat down on us from above. We got to our feet, staying crouched, and made the long journey to circle around them. It seemed impossible, since there was no cover. If they looked our way, they would spot us immediately. We got halfway around and stopped at the sight of the stone slab they protected. That had to be the place. That had to be where we needed to return the stone. It was a rectangular stone slab, but otherwise there didn’t seem to be any markings.

  “That’s it,” Kane whispered. “I can feel the magic from it.”

  “Could you make something explode in the opposite direction, giving us a distraction, to sneak in and put the stone down?” Did I really just come up with a plan?

  “I could cause a distraction,” he said, but the way he said it made me worry.

  “It would have to be a big distraction, so that it pulled all of the monsters away. Or at least most of them. I don’t think I can defeat more than one. Together, we could probably defeat two.” I was rambling, but the fear clawing at my chest caused me to do that.

  “I’ll distract them all. You’ll have to run as fast as you can and return the stone.”

  “Kane.” I put all of my feelings into that one word. All of my worries. All of my love. All of my hope. This was the only way that we were going to be able to do this, but I needed him to be safe. I needed him to survive.

  He smiled and pulled me into a hug. “We’re going to finish this, Ivy. We’re going to set everything right.”

  “Then start our life together?” I mumbled against his shirt. My arms latched around him, and I didn’t know if I could let him go.

  “We’ve already started our life together,” he whispered.

  I pulled back to look up into his eyes.

  He rested his hand against my cheek and smiled. “I love you, Ivy.”

  “I love you, too, Kane.”

  He kissed me and pulled me closer. I fell into him, losing myself to the kiss.

  He stepped back from me, trailing his fingertips along my cheek as he moved away, and then set the stone in my palm. “Be ready to run.”

  “You’re faster, shouldn’t I distract them? And how do I know where to put the stone? Is there a hole or slot or something?”

  He smirked. “Just be ready, Ivy.”

  I nodded, watching him go with a sense of foreboding.

  He walked slowly, using his staff as a walking stick, and made his way back to where we had started.

  I squatted down, wiping the sweat from my face and neck with my hand. The monsters shuffled around aimlessly, their eyes downcast and their movements slow. It was almost like they were in a trance. They weren’t even looking our direction. They didn’t seem to notice we were even there.

  I stretched my leg muscles, preparing for my sprint. The stone throbbed like a beating heart in my hand, and gave
off a light glow, even covered in the piece of cloth.

  I watched Kane’s progress, my heart stinging as the distance grew, and the danger he faced came closer. He said he could distract them, but what was he going to do? Would he throw something and make it explode, leading them away from both of us?

  Kane stopped, and I had to squint to see him so far away. He shifted his stance, spreading his legs to shoulder-width, raised his staff, and released a huge torrent of fire up into the sky.

  The creatures’ roars deafened me. I threw my hands over my ears. As one, they raced towards Kane. And he sprinted in the opposite direction.

  This was his plan? Shoot fire to attract them and use himself as bait? That idiot!

  Once the last monster moved away from the slab, I sprinted from my spot, gripping the stone tightly in my hand as I ran. The sand was tricky to run in, but my legs were more toned and muscular than when I’d started this mission. I glanced to my left, checking on Kane. The monsters were almost on top of him. Any moment, one of them would get him.

  I pushed every ounce of strength and speed into my legs, praying to whoever or whatever might listen to help me get the stone in place before the monsters caught him.

  The monster closest to me, turned, as if sensing me, and raced back towards the slab.

  Crap.

  Kane’s agony-filled scream made me stumble, and my heart twisted in pain. Panic clutched my throat as I regained my footing and ran as hard as I could. No. No, I couldn’t lose him! Not when we were so close. Tears stung the backs of my eyes and blurred my vision.

  “Please. Please.” My lungs burned as I mouthed the words.

  I skidded onto the stone slab, blinked away my tears, and searched for a spot to put the stone. Sand littered the slab, making it hard to see if there were any symbols to help me. A rumbling growl grew as it came toward me. My heart beat against my chest so hard, I thought it might break my ribs. I searched harder, faster, but still couldn’t find any obvious holes or places to put it. Where? Where was I supposed to put it?

  Animalistic cries of pain filled the air. Kane must be fighting them. Good, he wasn’t dead. I could save him. I just had to find the place to put the freaking stone.

  I peered back. A dog-like creature with tentacles around its neck, bounded toward me. They reached out toward me. I only had seconds before it would reach me.

  I brushed the sand off of the slab, searching for something. Anything.

  Kane screamed again, and my eyes burned with unshed tears.

  I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look back at the monster again. I couldn’t take my eyes from this slab.

  I swiped a hand across the surface of the slab to my left and a symbol appeared. As I continued the swipe, another symbol appeared and another. Finally, the series of markings led to a recessed spot. That had to be it. A tentacle snatched my heel and a green ooze burned as it touched my bare skin. I screamed in pain, drew my knife, and cut into the tentacle.

  Kane screamed again, but his voice was cut off and then there was silence.

  Chapter Seventeen

  No. No. No.

  Kane couldn’t be dead.

  No.

  I threw my body towards the recessed spot I’d found and thrust the stone into it. The dogquid’s tentacle bit into my calf and tossed me away from the slab. I slid across the hot sand. It burned against my skin and filled my mouth and ears.

  Nothing had happened. Why hadn’t anything happened?

  I spit the sand from my mouth and spun my head around and looked for Kane.

  He lay unmoving on the ground, and the other creatures headed for me.

  Dead.

  He was dead.

  No.

  My heart shattered. I’d been taught the heart was a muscle, but in that moment, it felt like it was made of glass, as it fractured into tiny pieces.

  “Kane!” I screamed, tears sliding down my face.

  The ground beneath me shook.

  Was it a sand monster?

  What was it now?

  I closed my eyes and wailed. Let them take me. Let them kill me. Kane was gone. I’d put the stone back, and it hadn’t worked.

  There was nothing left for me to do.

  There was no reason for me to continue. Faith? Hope? Did any of that matter? What if Kane and I were fated to die?

  I opened my eyes and swiped at the tears. My gaze fixed on Kane’s body. If only I could touch him one more time before I died.

  I had failed. I’d failed Kane. I’d failed the mages. I’d failed the sirens. Everyone would die. The monsters wouldn’t stop. Maybe the next person they sent out would finish things. Or maybe this really was a fool’s quest. Maybe the stone didn’t heal our world but destroyed it instead. Had I just caused the destruction of our region? Of our world?

  Why had I ever thought I could accomplish something like this?

  I was just a screw up. A prankster. An idiot with her head in the clouds.

  My mother would die. My father was probably already dead. And Kane was dead.

  Failure.

  Loser.

  Alone.

  Without Kane, I was utterly alone.

  A blue light exploded from the stone and spread in a shock wave. The light hit the dogquid, and the creature exploded into black mist and then disappeared. Blue light enveloped me, and the magic thrummed through my body before continuing on. The other monsters tried to run away, but it hit them, too. They all disappeared, leaving Kane and I alone on the desert floor. And the shock wave continued across the deadlands until it moved out of my sight.

  I stood, cried out in pain when I put pressure on the leg the dogquid’s tentacle had bit into, and limped my way towards Kane.

  Tears blinded me as I walked, but I didn’t need to see. I knew I headed in the right direction. The sand shook beneath my feet, and I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand to see what was going on. Beneath the sand, green plants shot up. The desert was becoming a grassland.

  My eyes darted to Kane, who was already surrounded by grass.

  I limped to him, dropped to my knees, and then fell face-first onto his chest. “Kane!” I wailed and clutched him. Why? Why did he have to die? Why hadn’t the stone reacted faster? Why hadn’t I found the spot earlier? This was my fault. I had killed Kane.

  My tears soaked his shirt. I sat up and stroked his face. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Kane.”

  “Because you got tears on my shirt?” he asked.

  His eyes opened, and I screamed.

  “You-you’re dead!”

  He chuckled. “Almost, but no, not dead.”

  I fell onto him, kissing him, and trying to press myself into him. He wrapped his arms around me, sat up, and cradled me in his lap.

  “I’m alive, Ivy. It’s okay. You did it. You saved our lands,” he whispered as he hugged me.

  I sobbed and buried my face against his chest again. This time in a mixture of relief and release of all of my worry and fear. I pressed my ear against his chest. I’d wanted to hear his heart beat, to confirm it for myself, but I couldn’t hear past my own sobs. And Kane just held me. For a long time, we stayed there, in the grass, Kane holding me while I bawled. And eventually my tears ended, and I pulled back from him.

  “We did it,” I whispered and wiped the tears from my cheeks, a smile starting to form.

  He nodded, smiling wide. “We did.”

  “How did you survive the monsters?” I asked, looking up at him.

  He shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe it, but your dad showed up. He distracted them and got them to go after him right when I thought they were going to tear me apart.”

  My eyes widened. “No way.”

  He shrugged. “I guess everyone’s allowed to have a change of heart.”

  My heart squeezed at the thought. We looked around at the flourishing lands, and the full realization made me collapse against Kane.

  “Ivy?” he asked, concern lacing his tone.

  “I’m jus
t so exhausted. And in pain.”

  “Where?” he asked, turning my torso to try to find the wound.

  I pointed at my leg. “A dogquid bit me.”

  He scowled. “Dog…the thing with weird tentacles on its neck?”

  I nodded.

  He threw back his head and laughed, the sound made even louder by the silence surrounding us. His laughter didn’t stop, and soon I laughed with him. When he finally stopped, we both collapsed in the grass and looked up to the sky. Somehow the sun didn’t feel as bright or as hot in these deadlands... or rather grasslands. We both lay there, just breathing everything in. Then Kane sat up. “I need to disinfect your wound.”

  I closed my eyes. So tired. “Can't you just heal it?”

  “I used up all my magic. I won’t have anything else until we get some real rest and food.”

  I pushed my elbow over my eyes to block out the sun. “So what do we do now?”

  I heard him rummaging through the pack. “We head back to my home.”

  “Won’t they know that we accomplished our goal?” I asked then hissed as disinfectant burned against my leg.

  “Most likely, but I’d like to see their faces when we show up, alive.” I could virtually hear his smirk.

  Most, if not all, of them likely thought we were dead. Not that I cared. I had to admit it would be nice to see my mom, though I doubted she would be sober when I arrived.

  “Do you think my dad survived?” I asked softly.

  He tugged against the bandage as he tied it off on my leg. “Your dad survived this long. I doubt a group of bumbling pirates will be the ones to take him down.”

  “He’s going to be mad that we did it.”

  Kane picked me up and I let the arm slip from my eyes as my gaze met his. He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. “I doubt he’ll be mad at you. He may be upset his plan was foiled, but he won’t be mad at you.”

  “Good,” I said as I collapsed into his arms. I really didn’t have the strength to be sitting up and now that he was done with bandaging my leg, sleep pulled at me hard.