Goddess of the Sea gs-1

by P. C. Cast

  "I guess I don't blame her for staying away, especially after Andras hit her with that rock," CC said.

  "She never stays away from Undine for long. I am certain she is there,"—Dylan gestured out to sea—"awaiting the return of her princess."

  "I'm sure you're right," CC said, trying not to worry.

  The water around them became choppier and the sound of the waves crashing against the beach told her that they were near the monastery even before Dylan changed direction and swam slowly to the shore.

  "You can stand now," Dylan said.

  CC put her feet against the sandy bottom, but she kept her arms wrapped around the merman.

  "The sky lightens," he said and kissed the top of her head.

  "I wish it wouldn't," CC spoke into his chest.

  Dylan cupped her face in his hands. "Then this last day would not pass. Remember, my love, with its passing comes the night."

  "And that's when I'll come to you… forever," she finished for him.

  Their kiss was a sweet promise. Before she began walking away from him she linked her fingers through his and said, "Tell me once more how long you would wait for me."

  "For an eternity, Christine. I would wait for you for an eternity."

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. Reluctantly, he released her and she turned to the beach.

  The lightening of the sky was becoming more pronounced and her discarded chemise was easy to find. She was shaking the sand from it when a sharp voice cut across the beach.

  "Behold the whore!"

  Chapter 29

  The abbot stepped triumphantly from the cover of the trees that grew in dwarflike tufts at the base of the cliff. Several confused-looking monks milled nervously there, too. Andras stood beside the abbot, so close that in the dim light their bodies appeared to be joined. The knight's face was a pale disk broken only by his eyes, which were bright silver slits of hatred, and he was dragging with him a weeping Isabel.

  "They broke into your room," Isabel sobbed. "We could not stop them. They said they must have proof that you were within."

  Andras's voice echoed with Sarpedon's demonic amplification. "I knew the whore was with her lover. I knew it! Take her." His command was like ice, and one of the squires leapt to obey him.

  CC felt as if their appearance had turned her to stone. She held the chemise to her chest, trying to cover her nakedness. She wanted to run back into the sea, but her feet would not obey her. The squire quickly covered the few yards that separated them and grabbed her arm, purposely digging his fingers into her delicate flesh.

  "Maybe we will have a little fun before they burn you." he sneered, his eyes ravishing CC's naked body. The foul cloud of his rotting breath made her gag.

  "Touch her again and you will not leave this island alive," Dylan's voice carried across the waves with such force that CC saw the squire cringe—then he stared openmouthed at the sight of the merman.

  Dylan had raised himself well out of the water, so that his powerful tail seemed to glisten and ripple as if he was on fire.

  "The demon!" Abbot William's voice held an edge of hysteria. "The witch has a demon lover!"

  "Kill it!" Sir Andras barked the order, and almost instantly the chilling sound of an arrow whistled from the other squire's position behind them on the beach.

  As the arrow flew toward the water, CC felt a rush of power within her, and her body unfroze. The squire who held her arm was still gazing slack-jawed at the merman, and it was with surprising ease that CC rammed her knee into his groin and wrenched her arm from his grasp. Spinning around she ran for the waterline.

  "Stop her, you fool!" Andras yelled.

  "Quickly, Christine!" Dylan called, dodging another arrow.

  She could hear the sounds of the squire as he grunted and scrambled to his feet behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Andras sprinting across the sand, longbow held forward and eyes flashing as he took aim at Dylan. As the arrow twanged free, CC reached the water. Thrusting her arms over her head as if she was an Olympic diver, she leapt forward, calling the power of her mermaid body alive. The delicious heat of transformation sizzled down her body, and she hit the water flying. CC's sleek mermaid form skimmed just below the surface, and then with one stroke of her tail she swam up, angling herself at Dylan's body. She broke through the waves like she had been shot from a cannon.

  And the arrow meant for Dylan sliced neatly through the muscle of her left shoulder blade. The pain was white hot, and she crumbled forward into her lover's arms. Dylan's agonized cry was echoed on the shore. Through a haze of pain Christine looked back to the beach.

  Andras was standing unnaturally still and straight. His mouth was stretched impossibly wide by a horrible shriek of rage.

  "No!" The voice no longer made any pretense of belonging to the knight. "Not her! You were not to harm her! "

  Andras fell to his knees, his body writhing grotesquely like there were hundreds of worms beneath his skin. Then, with a ripping sound a liquid cloud of darkness vomited from his mouth. It shimmered and pooled in hideous wetness and seemed to crawl toward the surf. When it touched the water the darkness shifted and reformed, drawing substance from the saltwater. With a roar, Sarpedon rose, fully formed and glistening with power.

  He faced the humans, swollen with anger and disdain.

  "Puny creatures. You dare to harm a child of Lir! Know that your fate has been sealed."

  Sarpedon swirled one massive hand into the water next to him until it boiled and seethed with activity. In horror, the humans watched as a many-tentacled monster erupted from the sea. It engulfed the shrieking body of a monk who had drifted too close to the sea, and in one motion snapped his spine and hurled his lifeless body against the cliff. Then it turned its awful attention to the knight. Preparing for battle, Sir Andras planted his feet and brandished his sword. Shouting, his squires scrambled to reach his side.

  Suddenly, a wall of flesh obscured CC's view of the battle, and Sarpedon towered above them.

  "The game is ended, Undine. It is time you took your rightful place as my mate." Sarpedon's voice was deceptively calm.

  CC felt light-headed. Dylan still held her within his arms, and CC noted with detached curiosity that the water surrounding them was tainted scarlet. That must be my blood, the thought played slowly through her mind and she struggled against the urge to close her eyes and sink beneath the waves.

  "Stay away from her, Sarpedon," Dylan spoke with iron in his voice. He shifted his grip on CC so that he placed his body protectively between Sarpedon and the mermaid.

  Sarpedon's laugher was a roar. "Does the son of a human believe he can stand against the power of the gods?"

  Blinking to clear the bright spots from her vision, CC forced herself to move to Dylan's side.

  "He and I stand together against you, Sarpedon. And when Lir gets here tonight he will stand with us, too." CC's voice surprised her by sounding strong and clear.

  Sarpedon's lip curled in a sneer. "Oh, I seem to remember there was a message sent to our father. Tragic that the little dolphin messenger met with such an untimely end,before she could relay the Earth goddess's request. But, no matter. I was gracious enough to answer for our father. So you see that I stand ready to render judgment in his stead."

  A tremor of fear passed through CC. "No. You can't."

  The enormous merman moved closer to them. "You have been wrong about many things, Undine. And you are wrong yet again."

  A scream from the beach interrupted them. Sarpedon turned, laughing evilly as the creature he had called to the surface squeezed the life out of the squire who had grabbed CC.

  "See how I punish those who would do you harm?" Sarpedon said.

  "Make it stop," CC cried. Her voice was hoarse with emotion.

  Sarpedon's eyes widened in surprise. "But they would have killed you. Why would you ask to spare them?"

  "Because to use your power like this is wrong."

  "It is ju
stice," Sarpedon scoffed.

  "It's not justice—it's vengeance. Vengeance meted out by a creature bloated with his own imagined importance. You are a disgusting toad. I loathe you, and I will never belong to you."

  Sarpedon seemed to swell with rage. "Never is a very long time. Perhaps you will change your mind when you see your pathetic human friend in my grasp." The merman shouted a command in a garbled language that CC was shocked to realize she could understand.

  "Kill the old one!”

  Instantly the sea monster snaked out a tentacle around Isabel's neck, but the amulet of the goddess sparked and glowed, causing the creature's grip to falter. As the old woman tried to scramble out of reach, Sarpedon shouted another command, and the monster wrapped a tentacle around her ankle. Isabel lost her balance and fell hard onto the sand. The creature began to pull her toward the water.

  "No!" CC screamed.

  "Never, you said!" Sarpedon bellowed. "We shall see how long never is as you watch your lover and your friend die!"

  Sarpedon closed his hand around a froth of wave and instantly it solidified into the foam-colored blade of a stiletto. The huge merman lunged forward and CC struggled painfully not to slide under the surface as Dylan lost his protective hold on her and surged forward to meet the giant. The two mermen met with a sound that cracked and reverberated like thunder.

  "Undine!" Isabel's voice was a sob of terror. The sea creature appeared to be toying with the old woman as it slowly pulled her to the edge of the water where its beak-shaped head glistened with daggerlike teeth. The remaining squire and Sir Andras sent arrow after arrow into its pulsating body, but the creature seemed impervious to their weapons.

  The sound of wailing came from the cliff, and CC glanced up. Lynelle, Bronwyn and Gwenyth were clinging to each other and crying with terror. Around them milled several of the monks. Some of them were on their knees praying, but most of them stood in impotent silence. There was no sign of Abbot William.

  Dylan hissed in pain, and CC's eyes snapped back to her lover as Sarpedon's blade sliced a trail down the muscles of his chest.

  "That is just a taste of what is to come, son of a human. My Undine will watch as I carve you into pieces," Sarpedon said.

  Dylan circled him warily. When he spoke his voice was calm. "You may kill me, Sarpedon, but you will not win her love. She will loathe you forever."

  Sarpedon's laughter was sharp. "An eternity is a long time. She will forget you."

  An eternity. The words echoed within CC's mind. It was Dylan's promise to her. And there was only one way she wanted to spend eternity—next to Dylan's side.

  Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she beat against the water with powerful strokes of her tail, so that she rose up, lifting her entire torso from the waves.

  I am the daughter of a goddess, she told herself, and I claim my birthright. With a voice that filled the morning air, she called to her mother.

  "Gaea! Your daughter needs you! Help me, Mother!"

  Then, using the sea magic that sang within her true mermaid body, CC reached out and cupped some of the bubblelike foam that surrounded her.

  "Make me a weapon," she commanded the waters. Instantly, the handle of a knife formed against her palm. Her blade wasn't the color of foam—it was the crimson of her newly shed blood.

  "Dylan!" she called to her lover, and both mermen paused in their battle to turn to her. "Catch," she said and tossed him the dagger.

  Dylan caught the knife deftly and sent her a tight smile of thanks. Then his attention shifted back to Sarpedon.

  "That will not help you," Sarpedon snarled, and they continued circling each other, blades flashing in the morning light.

  CC felt the change in the air the moment before the goddess materialized. She strode from the foliage at the base of the cliff. Her anger was terrible; the air around her crackled and sparked with it. The knight and the squire dropped their weapons and cringed before her on the beach. She spared no glance for them. Her attention was riveted on the sea monster that had dragged Isabel to within inches of its gaping maw.

  The goddess stretched out her hand and in a burst of green light a leaf-colored spear appeared. Gaea plucked it from the air and hurled it straight into the monster's open mouth. The force of the spear was so great that it traveled through the creature's body and exploded out the rear of it, followed by a slick fountain of blood and entrails.

  "Return to the dark depths from whence you were born!" Gaea commanded.

  The monster writhed spasmodically. Losing its grip on Isabel, it sank below the surface in a muddy cloud. Isabel scrambled to her feet, but she wasn't able to walk and she stumbled, falling in a heap at Gaea's feet. The goddess knelt and passed her shining hands over the old woman's body.

  "There, the pain is gone, my Isabel."

  Isabel's eyes widened in recognition as she gazed upon Gaea. The old woman crossed herself reverently.

  "Thank you, Holy Mother!"

  Gaea touched Isabel gently. Then she stood, facing the sea. Her silver cloak billowed behind her and the white silk of her transparent gown shimmered with the goddess's might. She walked to the water's edge, and the sand surged forward, hardening under her delicate feet until she stood on a bridge of earth that jutted out into the sea.

  Mere feet from the goddess, the mermen were locked together in silent combat, each straining to end the battle with a killing slash. Dylan was bleeding heavily from several gaping wounds. His body looked like it was clothed in scarlet.

  "ENOUGH!"

  The power of the word was a tangible thing, lifting the hairs on CC's neck and ringing through her blood. A wall of white light exploded between the mermen, knocking them apart. CC swam quickly to Dylan's side.

  Sarpedon spun on the goddess, raising himself out of the water until he levitated over her bridge.

  "This is not your battle, Land Goddess," he spat. "I preside here in my father's absence."

  "Foolish child," the goddess's voice held pity. "I have tolerated your interference out of love for your father. But your hatred has gone too far."

  Gaea lifted her graceful arms to the sky, crossing them at the wrist. Above her materialized a cloud of power that spun and sparked like the dust of diamonds.

  "LIR! THE EARTH DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE AS SHE RENDERS JUDGMENT UPON YOUR SON!"

  As Gaea spoke the command she brought her arms down in a sweeping arch, fingers pointing at the surrounding water. Like fireworks, the cloud exploded, raining power and energy, and the echo of the goddess's words into the sea.

  Sarpedon's face had paled, but when he spoke his voice was still filled with arrogance.

  "My father will not answer your summons. He is not an Earth child to jump at your bidding." His laughter sounded hollow and forced. "And he is much too busy presiding over the problems of the islands. The Shark God and I have made quite certain of that."

  Gaea shook her head sadly at the merman. "Lir's absence stank of your interference. I knew it, and I should have interceded. The deaths that have happened today were needless. Your hatred caused them, son of Lir, but I could have prevented them. That guilt will be my sadness to bear. But with or without the presence of your father, I will cast judgment upon you—and fulfill your punishment."

  "You have no right to punish me, Earth creature!" Sarpedon growled. "I am a sea god. In the realm of water my desires are fulfilled, and my commands obeyed. I will have Undine as my mate, and the rest of these pathetic creatures will stand aside or face my wrath!"

  Before the goddess could respond, the water surrounding them began to seethe and bubble. Then a pillar of brilliant seawater geysered into the sky. The thick column swirled, morphing in color from the clarity of glass to the turquoise of shallow water, which refracted and changed in shade to the blue-black of the ocean's depths. The center of the pillar suddenly split, as if a bolt of lightning had cleft it apart, and from within that split appeared a giant of a man, carrying a massive trident made of deadly looking ebony. On his he
ad was a crown of golden shells speckled with the iridescent white of perfect pearls. His silver hair was the color of moonlight on water and it curled in a thick cascade around his shoulders, mingling with the luxurious length of his beard. His togalike robe, the exact color of waves, was draped across his body. It left much of his powerful chest exposed, and as he stepped free of the pillar and strode to Gaea, walking as if the water was solid ground, CC couldn't help but marvel at his majesty.

  Gaea spoke first, offering him one slender hand, which the giant took and bowed over, kissing it with an easy intimacy.

  "Lir, the Earth welcomes you." The goddess's voice was warm and intimate.

  "The sea responds in kind," the giant said. "It has been much too long since we two have met." Lir spoke with obvious affection. Then his attention shifted to the scene surrounding them and a frown creased his brow. "What have we here, Earth Mother—errant children?"

  "Father, this Earth goddess interferes in matters of the sea. There is no trouble here that is not of her making," Sarpedon blurted.

  "Sarpedon, your tone is offensive. Gaea does not meddle in the affairs of others. Be wary that you do not make the Earth your enemy." Lir's face tightened and though his voice remained calm, his reprimand was sharp. He glanced around the restless water and the sea god's eyes narrowed in anger as he noticed Undine's injury.

  "Who dared to harm my child?"

  The waves trembled at Lir's words, and CC's tongue felt thick and awkward. But Dylan's answer was swift, and he met the sea god's eyes unflinchingly.

  "The arrow that wounded your daughter was meant for me. Although Sarpedon did not loose the arrow, it was his jealousy that caused the humans to try and destroy me."

  "Undine." Lir turned to her. "What has happened here?"

  CC took a deep breath, swallowing her fear and the pain that radiated in cruel fingers from her shoulder. When she spoke her voice sounded tinny and strange, like it belonged to someone else.

  "First of all, you need to know that I'm not really Undine. My soul is human. Your daughter and I exchanged places because she hated it here and because—"