Mage’s Legacy: Cursed Seas

by hamilton, rebecca

  Tua tilted his head, and the faces on his cloak screamed as the licking flames twisted around them. “Don’t you know that I have watched you ever since you stepped through the entrance of my home? In this place, I know all. See all.” He turned back to Kerina. “I saw when you calmed the beast...charmed the beast...tricked the beast…”

  Tua’s head swiveled back to Gabriel, shadows dancing like living darkness around him. “I saw when you killed the beast.” It paused, the silence chilling. “I could have stopped you at any time, but I let you come. I let you challenge each of my children. I let them test your strength and resolve.” Its attention shifted back to Kerina. “Your worthiness.”

  Another pause. Gabriel’s heart pounded, its beat erratic. His grip grew cold and clammy around his spear, but he did not dare shift its aim off Tua.

  “I know what you seek.” Tua’s slitted red eyes moved meaningfully toward the emerald embedded in the cave wall. “You seek my greatest treasure.” Something moved in the blurred hints of Tua’s features.

  It took Gabriel a moment to realize that it was a macabre smile, a grotesque mockery of humanity.

  “A fair trade,” Tua continued. “The most generous I have ever made. My priceless treasure, my Legacy Stone—” He raised his arm, his finger point at Kerina. “—for that woman.”

  “No.” Gabriel’s answer was immediate, straight from his heart, bypassing his brain.

  Kerina gasped. She was so close to him, he felt shock shudder through her.

  Tua shifted his gaze to Gabriel. “What is she to you?”

  A sea-scented breeze swept through the cavern; the clean salt-tinged air reminded Gabriel—painfully—of his clan and his home.

  “She is not why you set out on this journey. Take the stone. Save your people.”

  Gabriel drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with the familiarity of everything he loved. Everything that mattered.

  “Leave her.”

  Gabriel expelled the air from his lungs, but his reply was not as quick, and his voice shook. “No.”

  “She lied to you. Deceived you. Jeopardized your people’s future. Put at risk all their lives.” Tua’s voice rose like the low roar of rushing waves. “Unforgivable.”

  Behind Gabriel, Kerina quaked. He could feel her body trembling against his, as if she suddenly realized the horrifying turn the conversation had taken—Tua and Gabriel, negotiating what she was worth.

  As if Gabriel were her owner, and she was a slave.

  As if she had crossed thousands of miles, battled the hazards of the ocean, and challenged all seven of Tua’s demonic children because she was nothing more than Gabriel’s property.

  “You came for the Legacy Stone. You have risked everything to save your people, and now you can.” Tua waved his hand, as if brushing away every obstacle between Gabriel and the emerald. “Take it. Leave her. She is nothing to you.”

  The emerald dislodged from its niche and floated down, weightless as a feather, into Tua’s hand. The dim light in the cave seemed to focus on the priceless stone. Each of its facets gleamed a different shade of brilliant green, blending into an utterly perfect soul.

  Even Gabriel could sense the power pulsing within its crystal heart.

  Tua extended his hand to Gabriel. Shadows swirled around the palm of his hand like a black velvet cushion base for the emerald, accentuating its vivid color. “You can protect your clan, restore the oceans. You only have to let go of her. She is a thief...a liar…”

  Gabriel’s right hand loosened around the spear as he reached out with his left hand. His fingers, no longer trembling, were fractions of an inch away from closing around the Legacy Stone when Tua uttered a final word:

  “Unlovable.”

  Gabriel stiffened. He blinked hard, then shook his head sharply. “I love her.”

  His right hand tightened around the shaft of his spear, gripping so hard that his knuckles turned white. He yanked his left hand back from the Legacy Stone and reached for Kerina’s hand.

  Her hand was so cold and shook so hard that he immediately damned himself for that moment of temptation—that moment when he had imagined that he could actually give her up...

  Although, it had not been until that moment when he realized exactly what he felt for her.

  And too late…

  Surely he had shattered what little trust she had put in him with his callous reaching for the Legacy Stone.

  Tua roared. His cloak seemed to burst into flame, the anguished faces screaming along with him until the caverns rolled with the sound, layering horror over terror.

  The endless scream set up vibrations that rippled through the earth, jolting Gabriel off balance.

  “Go! Run!” He shoved Kerina back toward the tunnel. “I’ll hold him off.”

  Tua’s genuinely amused laughter mocked him. “Do you really think you can stop me, little siren?” The darkness rushed out, and Tua soared into the heights of the cavern. “Did you think you made it this far without my permission? Did you think I would let you take that which is most precious to you without giving to me that which is most precious to me?”

  Gabriel snarled. “Kerina is not a thing to be traded!”

  He crouched low, then leapt onto the top of a tall rock. He gauged the distance to Tua’s heart. It was too far, and the cavern was full of rocky ledges. If he could work his way up, to a better place—

  Tua’s fist arced downward. Gabriel jumped off the rock. His trajectory hurled him toward the rock wall, and he landed lightly on the ledge. These high leaps through the air were nothing to him; he had fought sea serpents in the water. His body, trained to battle through the far greater resistance of water, fought effortlessly in the air.

  Except that Tua was even faster than those damnable sea serpents.

  The demon closed the distance and hurled his fist out. Gabriel leapt away a moment before the ledge he had been standing on was pulverized to dust. He landed on another ledge, even higher than the one he had been on, but the cave rumbled, as if roiling in pain, and he tumbled off the edge.

  His left hand grabbed onto the ledge. For a moment, he hung there as the shadows danced and flickered around Tua. His gaze searched the cavern floor, but he saw no sign of Kerina.

  Good. She had fled. She was safe.

  Now, he just had to deal with Tua.

  Gabriel’s gaze flicked to the priceless emerald in Tua’s hand.

  And if he could still somehow get the stone—

  Tua strode up to Gabriel and leaned in until Gabriel was on par with the demon’s eye. Red flames blazed where the irises should have been.

  “She is mine.” Tua’s voice was all the more menacing because of its cold, factual tone. “She was mine from the beginning. I took her. I claimed her. I spilled her virgin blood. I licked the tears from her face and swallowed her screams with my kisses. Her body swelled, time and time again, with my seed.”

  Gabriel gritted his teeth as he struggled to pull himself back onto the ledge with just his left hand. “Kerana is dead. The woman you kidnapped and raped is long dead!”

  “No! You have brought her back to me!”

  How did one reason with a delusional demon? “Kerina is not yours. She was never yours.” Gabriel glared into the demonic eyes. “She’s not even mine. She belongs to nobody!”

  He drew his right arm back and slammed his spear into Tua’s eye.

  Tua yanked back sharply. The demon’s howl of pain rocked the cavern. Rocks dislodged from the roof. Stone dust fell like rain on Gabriel. Freed of his spear, he used both hands to pull himself up onto the ledge and stared at Tua as the demon staggered around the cavern, both of his hands pressed against his injured eye.

  Gabriel’s gaze snapped to the green gem, glowing amid the rocks where Tua had carelessly dropped it. If he could reach it—

  He leapt off the rocky ledge and landed effortlessly, rolling into a battle crouch. In an instant, he was on his feet and racing toward the Legacy Stone. Its brilliant light
, clearly visible in the shadows, beckoned to him.

  “No!” Tua roared, the thud of his feet pounding behind Gabriel.

  Gabriel spun around and dropped into a crouch. He flung both his hands up in time to catch the downfall of Tua’s fist.

  The pressure pressing down on him was even greater than when he—at the time, a reckless teen siren—was slammed beneath the crest of a massive tidal wave. The impact had slammed all the air out of his lungs and broken several ribs in the process. He had been convinced then that he was going to die.

  But it was nothing compared to the pressure crushing him now. Tua shoved down as if he would grind Gabriel into the cave’s floor, making him one with the dirt and stone. The weight of Tua’s hand intensified, pushing down on Gabriel’s hands until he had to bow his head and use his shoulders, his back, his legs—every muscle in his body—to push against that awful, crushing pressure.

  A motion shifted in the corner of his vision.

  Kerina peeked out of behind a rock, scarcely visible in the looming shadows.

  Damn it! She hadn’t run. Why didn’t she ever listen to him?

  The pressure above him suddenly lightened, as if Tua were only pushing with one hand instead of two. With supreme effort, Gabriel managed to straighten slightly. He stared up at the demon. A chill rippled through him as he immediately realized his mistake.

  Tua ripped the spear out of his eye. And with a cruel smile, the demon drove the spear’s blood-stained tip right through Gabriel’s stomach.

  Chapter 18

  Tua may have been a beautiful man, but he had an evil soul. In truth, he was just as monstrous as his children, and now, Kerina would be forced to face that darkness alone. Gabriel was too badly injured to help. He’d saved her life, and now, she would return the favor.

  Or die trying.

  Probably the latter. After all, she was human—not a mage. A lie that had gotten Gabriel and herself into this mess in the first place.

  Tua had just driven Gabriel’s spear into Gabriel’s own stomach, and at the rate the siren was losing blood, there wasn’t much time for her to think. All she could do was react.

  She crouched down and lifted a large stone from beside her foot. She hurled it at Tua, who laughed darkly as it flew past his side. It didn’t stop her from trying again, and that time, she would have hit him if he hadn’t dipped so easily out of the way.

  In that moment, something darkened over Tua. His body seemed to smudge, a monstrous spirit visible beneath the surface. Kerina dropped a third stone from her hand and stumbled back as she gasped.

  Tua was no man.

  “My Kerana,” Tua said, his human form re-solidifying as he stepped closer. He held out his arms to her, as if she would come running to him, to be wrapped in his embrace. Her stomach lurched at the idea. “You can save this man, his people, the world...and all I ask is that you stay.”

  Kerina shook her head, taking another fumbling step back. Her heel caught on a large rock, and she tipped backward, scraping her hands when she broke her fall.

  Tua walked closer, until he hovered over her fallen body, staring down at her with an admiring gaze.

  “You loved me once,” he said. “Loved our children.”

  Kerina didn’t want to take her eyes off Tua, but the movement of Gabriel behind Tua, removing the spear from his stomach, captured her attention. Gabriel winced, and as he opened his mouth as though he might groan, Kerina covered up the noise by shouting, “Then show yourself to me.”

  She’d been loud enough to cover Gabriel’s muffled groan, but she wasn’t sure what good it would do. There was so much blood. Gabriel could barely get to his feet. She would only be able to keep Tua’s attention for so long.

  She forced herself to focus on Tua. “Do you not want to be loved for who and what you really are?”

  Tua’s man-form raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to love me for who and what I really am, Kerana?” he asked. “Because last time—”

  “This isn’t last time,” Kerina said as Gabriel firmed his grasp on the spear. “I came back, didn’t I?”

  As Gabriel stumbled to catch his balance, Kerina jumped animatedly to her feet to keep Tua’s attention.

  Tua rubbed his fingers across his lips. “You’re stronger than you used to be,” he said, something in his expression telling her that he was still unsure how he felt about that. “Our children… They could be stronger, too.”

  Kerina steeled herself against his words, fearing that any expression of disgust would be too easily read by this...creature. Demon. Whatever it was.

  “Kerana,” Tua said, “I will show you who I am, but more importantly, I can show you who you are. Who you could be. The great power I can give to you, when you give yourself to me.”

  She nodded, unable to wrench submission from her lips. A pit had grown in her gut, sucking down every hope for life. Gabriel was creeping closer to Tua, but Kerina wasn’t sure how much time she had left before Tua snatched her away.

  “Here I am, Kerana,” Tua said.

  His human visage wisped away like threads of smoke, his form melting into a grotesque blob of shadows that licked at the air around him like fire. Faces pressed against his body, as though trapped beneath a veil, as though trying to force their way out of his shadowy membranes.

  In that moment, Gabriel charged.

  His spear drove into Tua, and Tua let out a howl that shook the walls of the cave. Gabriel didn’t pause—didn’t try to take another stab. Instead, he grabbed Kerina’s wrist and started pulling her toward the exit.

  Tua floated toward them as they ran; by the time they sprinted through the narrow entrance into the bigger passageways, Kerina had to start pulling Gabriel instead, due to his injury. By the time they had exited Tua’s dwelling, Kerina was practically dragging the siren.

  “Hurry,” she scolded him, his weight becoming harder to move by the moment.

  Gabriel tumbled behind her to the ground. Kerina had to turn to him, her back toward their path of escape, to drag him by both arms. His eyes were closed, and he was limp on the ground, but Kerina still pulled him fiercely behind her. They didn’t have much time to get away from here.

  She guided him around another corner as Tua’s shadow slanted out of the opening of its dwelling. The demon wasn’t dead, and before long, it would catch up with them.

  Still, Kerina and Gabriel rounded around a corner, and then another. Then they went down another long tunnel before she pulled him into a little cave.

  Perhaps Tua couldn’t come after them. Perhaps it was a prisoner in its cave.

  Kerina tried to shake Gabriel awake. It didn’t work. Pressing her ear against his chest, she held her breath and strained to listen to his heartbeat. To feel his breath.

  Nothing.

  Trembling, she fumbled for her herbal bag and dumped everything out on the stone ground. She had to do something. He couldn’t be dead. If he was dead, it was all her fault. If he was dead, there was no one left in this world for her.

  If he was dead, she had lost the man she loved.

  Tears stinging her eyes and fear clamping her heart, she glanced up at him again, at his wound. It was bleeding worse now than it had been when she’d first seen it in Tua’s lair. He shouldn’t have pulled the spear out like that.

  But if he hadn’t, Kerina never would have escaped. At least they were here now. She could do something. But first, she had to stop the bleeding.

  Quickly, she reached for the yarrow, poured some of the herb into her hand, and pressed it in a thick layer against his wound. Then she ripped off a piece of her clothing and held it there, pressing it down hard, wishing that her lie about being a mage were true.

  The bleeding was slowing down, but that didn’t do anything about his breathing or his heart. Performing compressions on his chest to get his heart beating again might make the bleeding worse. But a beating heart and breathing were priorities right now.

  Stamping down her fear, she began doing compressions on h
is chest. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was doing, exactly. She’d read about it in an old book. After a few compressions, she pressed her lips to his and breathed into his mouth. She thought that was how it was supposed to go.

  After a few more tries, Gabriel jolted a little. She checked his heart. It was beating again. And as she did so, she could feel his breath, cold and clammy, breezing across the crown of her head.

  He was alive, but barely.

  But no matter how many times they saved each other’s lives, they could never be even. Because she had lied to him. Mislead him. Put his life in danger in the first place, and put his hope for all of his people at risk.

  It didn’t matter anymore why she did it. And even through all of that, even when given the chance to save his people, he’d turned it down to save her again.

  She didn’t deserve that.

  And Gabriel and his people deserved better.

  They deserved the Legacy Stone.

  She didn’t wait for him to regain consciousness. He would only try to stop her if he did know what she was going to do next. But it was the only way to save him, to save his people, to save an entire region.

  With one last look goodbye and an apology on her heart, Kerina headed once again toward Tua’s lair. When she arrived, Tua had returned his beautiful, deceiving human form. He stood facing the far wall of his cave, his back to her.

  “I’m very upset with you, Kerana,” he said, not turning to look at her.

  Kerina had lived her entire life as a slave. Had she not been taken in to serve the mage, had Gabriel not later taken her on his quest, then she would be another kind of slave right now. The kind of slave Tua expected Kerana to be.

  It was Kerina’s fate. It was ugly and vile and horrifying, but it was always going to happen, no matter what. An entire region didn’t need to die because of it.

  “I will make it up to you, Tua,” she said. “Me...in exchange for the Legacy Stone.”

  Tua threw his head back and laughed, a dark, chilling cackle that seemed to fill every space inside his dwelling. She thought it might never end, until he turned slowly to face her, leveling his gaze at her with devilish eyes and an evil, grotesque smirk, even for his beautiful human face.