Lady of the Sea: The Aureate Chronicles, Book One

by Heather Zwygart

  Chapter 17

  Our arrival to the island is marked by clouds of steam, much like my night with Ethan at the hot pools. There’s so much of it; I can’t see more than half a league ahead of me. The island proves itself as mysterious as the song that calls to me from its shores.

  “What are we looking for here, princess?” Kai asks, his normal charming self. The song, apparently, didn’t move him in any way.

  “It’s princess now, huh?” I say in annoyance.

  “Yeah, it kind of suits you. Don’t you think so too, Ethan?”

  “Don’t try to involve me in your petty arguments,” begins Ethan, holding up a warning finger at Kai. “You two need to work out your differences. In fact, what better place to do just that than on a secluded island.” His outstretched hand waves to encompass the whole of the island.

  “What are you saying,” Kai asks, one eyebrow quirking up.

  “I’m saying there’s something here I’ve been wanting to check out for some time. You guys go on ahead, and I’ll catch up with you two later.” Ethan says this with a grin on his face, and I feel the urge to pick up one of the stones at my feet and throw it at him. What does he think he’s doing? I can’t look for Sol Fyre with Kai breathing down my back.

  “Ethan—” I begin, sending him a warning look.

  “No, really. It won’t be more than a half hour. You won’t even miss me,” he says before I can finish.

  “Very subtle, Ethan,” Kai says. Then, looking at me, “After you… princess.”

  I stomp ahead through the steam clouds with no idea where I’m going. At times, I could swear the song’s volume increases, but then I think I’m just imagining it. The firestone, too, in my pendant securely fastened around my neck, appears to have changed. Brighter perhaps? I can’t account for it. If Kai notices it, he doesn’t comment on it.

  “Wait up, princess,” Kai calls behind me.

  I turn on him, surprising even myself. “Stop! I’ve had enough of you teasing me one moment and then ignoring me the next. What is it that you so dislike about me?” The words flow out of me. I can’t seem to stop. “You can’t put me in a box? You don’t know where I come from, who my people are? Does that make you uncomfortable, Kai? It must be hard to imagine a person like me who doesn’t have any family or claim to their name. I’m a nobody.” Feeling drained, I ask, “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “I didn’t know I had that effect on you.”

  “Oh, do be quiet! I resent being called a liar. At every turn, you lie in wait as if in preparation to catch me in some elaborate scheme. If I lie, it’s because I must.”

  “So, you admit you are lying?”

  “That’s not at all what I’m—”

  Kai puts his hands up in the air as if he’s trying to tame a wild beast. “Look, I don’t think you’re a nobody, and I could care less who your family is. I don’t know where you got off thinking I’m someone with high standing in my tribe. I’m an orphan, much like you, from the sound of it.”

  “But Ethan said your father was… Never mind, it doesn’t matter. If we can just both promise to be civil until this is over,” I mumble, turning away.

  I continue to walk toward the center of the island. I feel like Kai’s admission may be the closest thing to an apology I’m ever likely to receive. I take a couple of calming breaths and prepare for any further aggression on his part. Kai takes two long strides and catches up to me. “If you have something more pressing to do, I really don’t think I’m in need of your presence. It’s not like I’m going to swim away.” Choosing to ignore my comment, Kai, instead, answers my question about his parentage

  “They’re my adopted parents. While raising orphaned children is not all that uncommon among my people, I still would have liked to have known who my birth parents were.”

  “What do you suppose happened to them?” I ask, trying not to sound overly interested.

  “I couldn’t say. My mother tells a rather strange tale when it comes to my discovery. As the story goes, I was wrapped in a bundle of seaweed in the shallows where the women bring their young to swim. She swears I had gills and could swim like a fish from a very young age.

  Some believed I was one of the taniwha. Some tolerated me, but most feared and reviled me. Still do,” Kai says.

  “What of your parents? They must be proud of what you have achieved?”

  “My mother is kind to me in her own way. My father is sterile, causing my mother to remain childless. She believes I was a gift from the sea. And my father… he’s a proud man. It has been difficult to have a son who is strongly distrusted by so many.”

  “You know, Kai,” I say, “from what I saw, your fellow tribesmen do not at all fear and dislike you.”

  “I’ve worked very hard to make them forget their aversion toward me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “My father has always provided for my well-being, and when I decided I wanted to be a Guardian and learn how to protect my people from beings such as the taniwha, he didn’t stop me, even when it became evident that the rift between me and the other villagers only grew wider with every lesson. Still, I’ve lived a completely transparent life, proving time and again my humanness.”

  “Could it be you are, in fact, part taniwha as you call them?” I’m almost hopeful. Would that it were true and he might accept me for what I am. I could tell him everything. What things I could learn from him. I’ve read of it, the offspring of human and Mer, but never have I known one to exist in anything but legend.

  Kai spits at the ground. His next words surprise me, as does his heated delivery of them.

  “You don’t realize the insult you have inflicted on me just now. You’re ignorant of our ways, so I’ll forgive you this once, but never dare suggest I’m one of them again.”

  My heart plummets. “I don’t understand. They can’t be all—”

  “They kill and destroy everything in their path. They have no thought for anything but death and destruction. Worse than this, they walk the earth as something they’re not.”

  “Cannot the same be said of you or I?” I insist. “There are many humans who do the same perhaps to hide their insecurities or take on a new identity in order to shed the burden of other’s expectations. Not all of it is bad.”

  “I have nothing to hide. What you see it what you get,” Kai states matter-of-factly. If possible, he appears to have grown a little taller.

  “Oh, you’re a gem,” I quip.

  With little warning, save for the clearing of steam clouds, we arrive at the edge of a lake, small albeit haunting, in appearance. The water, bright green in color, bubbles like Kai’s meal of mussels did on that evening beneath the stars, and smells strongly of sulfur.

  Stranger than this is the silence. I can no longer hear the melody that has been relentless in calling me here. I take a step forward, my foot an inch away from breaking the surface when I feel Kai’s hand lock around my arm and none too gently haul me backwards.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Kai asks, alarm in his voice.

  “I need to… there is something down there…”

  “Nothing down there is worth giving your life for. That water is acidic and hotter than melting flint. He haurangi koe, wahine?

  “E kore ahau haurangi!” I yell back. “I just wasn’t thinking,” I mumble, head down in humiliation.

  “What did you just say?”

  “I wasn’t thinking,” I repeat.

  “Before that.”

  “I’m not crazy?” Too late, I realize my blunder. I had spoken in his native tongue. Maybe he didn’t notice.

  In that same instant, a geyser sputters and surges up into the air surprising us both. Once again Kai is pulling at me, urging me to run in the opposite direction of the raining spray. Few droplets reach us and only cause minimal damage. I notice a few welts along Kai’s neck and arms, but he seems otherwise unharmed. He’s still holding my hand when Ethan finds us.

 
“Nearly got you two! It erupts like that all the time. What were you thinking, bringing her so close?”

  “Ethan! You’re back,” I say with a start. “How long have you been standing there?” Ethan glances down at our entwined hands. I quickly pull my hand out of Kai’s and clasp it behind my back. “It was my fault, Ethan. I was overcome by curiosity and Kai didn’t have time to persuade me otherwise,” I say, looking over at Kai, who holds my gaze a second longer than is comfortable. Over the curve of Kai’s shoulder, I notice something shimmering in the sunlight on the opposite shore.

  “Ahem,” Ethan coughs, breaking my focus. I give a start and then, ignoring them both, walk toward the other side of the lake. “Where’s she going?” I hear Ethan ask.

  I pass over rocks and streams along the edge of the lake and come close to losing my footing and slipping in twice before I arrive at a large boulder where I’m sure I saw the flash of light. Vaguely, I hear Ethan and Kai calling out cries of warning. All sound is muffled and time seems to have stopped altogether.

  Under a rock, displayed in a colorful, bright glow, sits the pearl whose very presence means light and life for my people. Sol Fyre, the very soul of our existence, and everything that’s right in this world. I pick up the gem and place it in the palm of my hand, careful to contain my excitement, lest I drop it. It remains silent, neither humming with ready power nor singing with otherworldly allure, and this alarms me. How could something so vibrant be so cold and still?

  “Ava, what did you find?” Ethan calls nearly reaching the spot where I stand. I quickly press the pearl into the folds of my gown and turn to face them.

  “I thought this might come in handy,” I say, pointing to the dense growth of puce-colored algae on the lake’s exterior, “but upon further inspection, I don’t believe I’ll have any use for it after all.” Ethan gives me a peculiar look, his eyes searching mine for some hidden truth. Kai just shakes his head in disbelief.

  “Let’s not delay here longer than we have to. Don’t want a repeat of what happened last time and with nowhere to go this time around,” Kai says.

  “I agree completely,” I say, sounding overly cheerful even to myself.

  With the euphoria of having found the pearl washing over me, I feel like a flying fish on the breeze, fins out, salt-water spray enveloping me, endless ocean at my fingertips. I can go anywhere I want to go. I can be anything I want to be. I can go home.

  Both Kai and Ethan are watching me. Ethan knows what I’ve found is no small thing and is bound to be curious. Kai… well I’ll tell him everything on the way back. It will feel good to get it off my chest. He’ll see that we aren’t all bad.

  “I hate to be the lāunga, complainer, of the group. If we don’t leave now, we’ll still be out on open water by the time it gets dark,” Kai says. “And I don’t relish the thought of staying here overnight.” Ethan and I both nod in agreement and start running back toward the canoe. “What? No smart remarks from you,” Kai says, coming alongside Ethan and giving him a friendly jab in the shoulder.

  “Not today, mate. For once, I agree with you,” says Ethan as we enter the canoe.

  “Hey, what’s that you got there?” Kai asks Ethan.

  “Oh yeah, almost forgot! I found this buried sitting on top of layers of silt over by one of the hot springs.” Ethan holds up a spearhead made from the same greenstone that Kai displayed earlier.

  “That couldn’t have been what you were looking for,” Kai remarks.

  “No, but lucky find, right? Probably wouldn’t have thought to pick it up if it hadn’t been for our earlier chat.”

  “Pounamu,” I say, getting a feel for the word as it rolls over my tongue.

  “Then what was it you were looking for?” Kai asks, unrelenting.

  Ethan waves his hand in dismissal, pretending to be too busy as he picks up his oar and shoves off the black sand beach.

  Not even the darkening sky can cloud my mood. Kai’s disapproval and surly behavior have no effect on me. Ethan’s sighs and looks of impatience slide off my shoulders like rivulets over a waterfall.

  I should leave right now, return to Sol immediately, but I feel like I owe Ethan and Kai an explanation. Besides, the journey to Sol is a long one, and while I’m elated, this adventure has taken its toll on my strength. A small sigh passes my lips. What a relief to be done with it all. That’s when I see it.

  Chapter 18

  The dark outline of one, which has haunted my dreams since that day in the kelp forest, passes under the canoe. It’s there and gone, leaving behind only ripples that are swallowed up by the strokes of Kai’s paddle.

  It could have been a trick of the eye. I will it to be only that as I glance over the side of the canoe. The truth rises from the depths with eyes that glow white as lightening and hair dark as ebony, waiting to blot out the light.

  I catch Kai’s attention, peering straight into his golden brown eyes, eyes that remind me of earth and sun. “The taniwha,” I mouth and glimpse the moment of understanding cross his face just as a large THUMP reverberates through the canoe’s wooden planks. I hear a resounding CRACK. I haven’t a moment to lose.

  The decision is a surprisingly easy one to make. This is not their battle, these boys, whose friendship has changed my view of humans. If I stay, the Ael will undoubtedly drag both of them to their deaths.

  “Please don’t follow me,” I plead gently to Kai. “It’s me they want.” I don’t have time to make the same entreaty of Ethan, who has taken to moving from side to side behind me, hoping to catch a glimpse of our attackers no doubt. I make a dive for the water.

  I hear Kai call after me. I allow myself one last glance toward the surface, catching a glimpse of a struggle. Ethan appears to be trying to hold Kai back. For their sake, I hope he’s successful. Where I must go, they cannot follow. I let the momentum of my dive take me deeper and deeper.

  When I’m sure they can no longer see me, I begin to tear at my dress. It holds me captive like a fisher’s net and I feel the heat of panic numbing my limbs and slowing my thoughts. My fisted right hand, firmly holding the precious pearl, doesn’t help. I cannot see signs of the Ael anywhere in the murky water, but I know they’re near. I kick, expecting human legs and nearly cry with relief when I feel the powerful up-thrust of my tail.

  I swim back toward White Island, or Whakaari, as Kai called it. As I get closer, it becomes increasingly clearer that I’ve been here before. In fact, this is all a little too familiar. The chase, the warm water rising from subterranean cracks on the ocean floor.

  In that moment, I recognize Whakaari for what it is, the very same island I fled to during my last encounter with the Ael. Had the Ael planned this? Was this some cruel joke? How had they discovered my presence among the islanders?

  When, at last, I feel I’m far enough from the canoe, I surface, removing the last remaining strips of the gown. Storm clouds blot out the sun’s remaining light. A chill breeze disturbs the waves and send my senses reeling. I feel exposed up here, unable to see what lies in wait for me below. I dive under again, taking the salty water in through my gills and, with it, a clarity of mind.

  After I lost my sister, I thought nothing would ever matter to me as much as she did. When you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear. What I didn’t expect was Cian. Cian who came into my life and put back the pieces. Cian, who even now lies dying or—dare I even consider it—dead. And then I met Ethan and Kai.

  Ethan, who I could trust with my secrets. And Kai, who I would trust with my life. And I brought them nothing but trouble and turmoil. What had I gotten them into?

  Something blindsides me from the left! I feel a radiating sting of sharp nails slice across my shoulder sending me into a spin. I frantically search the dark water for the culprit catching a glimpse of a serpentine tail before it slips into the shadows. I make a dash for cover.

  The island is surrounded by rocks, I remember this from when I was twelve, hiding and alone in an eel burrow, but before I’
m able to gain speed, my attacker hits me from the right this time!

  I can feel the pearl as it’s jarred free from my hand. It’s bright opulence is a beacon in the dark. If the Ael didn’t know of the pearl’s existence before, they did now. I make a desperate grab for it but I’m disoriented from the blow and my hand comes back empty. This can’t be happening!

  I tell myself I’m not that small fry anymore, powerless to save her sister. The Ael are able to perceive things in the dark above and beyond what I’m able to. I can’t let this discourage me. I dart back and forth sifting through the sand for the pearl.

  I turn and come to a sudden stop at the sight of one of the Ael just ahead of me, floating with earie calm. The pearl is encased in black netting, hanging loosely around her neck.

  “Looking for this,” she says in a silvery voice, startling me at first, but upon further inspection, not completely out of sorts with her appearance. Her eyes angle upward ever so slightly with long dark lashes that make strange shadows over the whites of her pupils. Her nose is straight and narrow, alluding to lips that are thin and red as blood from a fresh kill. I don’t care to give this too much thought.

  Her skin is paler than mine, almost transparent, edged in short barbs. It’s a haunting beauty, a facade for what lies in wait just below the surface. Cunning and dangerous, this very demon now holds Sol Fyre, her webbed hand wrapped around the pearl in a gentle caress.

  I dart forward feeling rage at this creature, who, while not personally responsible for my sister’s death, is one of them! An Ael, the very persona of darkness. Responsible for death and destruction both here and on land. What did they want with the pearl?

  Something grabs at my hair jerking my head back. Cool, pale hands grasp my arms on either side in a vice-like grip, nails digging into my skin, and effectively holding me hostage.

  “Avelessa, is it?” the one with the pearl asks. “Meet my sisters, Sharpy and Gulp.”