by A F Stewart
As he watched his sister struggle and disappear, Rafe reacted on instinct, shouting, “Stop at once! I command it!” Sudden fear clutched at his heart and raced in his blood. “Bring her back!”
Brief silence held in eternity, then the sea erupted again, water spurting in a great funnel spray of aquatic liquid. Goddess and ghoul lifted far into the air, their entwined mass suspended for a moment, before the water dissolved into droplets beneath them, casting all in a descent downward. Manume fell without a sound, but the ghouls screamed still trying to reach her with grasping hands.
From the water, Rafe gave another shout, “Be gone!” And the ghouls vanished with angry howls. Only his sister struck the ocean swells and disappeared beneath the waves. Rafe dove after her, pulling her unconscious form back to the surface. Cradling her, he swam them both to the shore of the Isle of Bones.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Concord
HER EYES FLUTTERED open. The Goddess of the Moon stared at her brother who knelt in the sand a few feet away. She eyed him with lingering suspicion and scowled. “Why did you save me? Why didn’t you let them take me?”
Rafe hesitated and then said, “I don’t know.”
She continued to stare, the silence like an anchor weighing them down to the beach. Something rustled near the trees, and she glanced away. Turning back, she spoke. “Were you being kind?”
Rafe twitched, and an aspect of confusion spread over his face. “What?”
“Kindness.” Hugh’s voice sounded from the dunes above them. “You remember that, don’t you? You showed it to me once, so you’re capable of it.”
Rafe sighed. “Nice to know you’re still among the living, Hugh. So to speak. I’m not sure what the both of you are talking about, but yes, maybe it was kindness. Or family bond, or memories, or one of a dozen things. I don’t know. I just did it.” He picked up some sand and let it run through his fingers. “I just didn’t want you to die. Not like that. Not by their hand.” He dusted off his palm on his trousers. “Maybe not at all.”
The sound of the birds and the puff of the wind filled the silence. Hugh sat down on the grass, watching and waiting.
“You used to be kind.” She spoke in a whisper, seemingly at no one in particular.
Rafe still answered her. “So did you. You had the most wonderful heart. I still remember that sister. I wish I still knew her.”
“So do I. Sometimes. But that heart broke.”
A soft wail came from the ocean, and the brother and sister looked out towards the sea, neither speaking, both knowing.
“So fix it.” Hugh cut into the disjointed quiet. “Fix what’s broken. Keep talking. Stop fighting.”
The sighs of two deities sailed to the clouds on the sea wind. They stared at each other but said nothing. Hugh threw his hands up and groaned, kicking grass and dirt in frustration. Then he rose and walked away.
Rafe’s mouth quirked a half-smile. “I think he’s mad at us.”
Manume nodded. “He does things like that. He’s very strange.” She sat up, curling her arms around her knees. “I like him, though. He’s nice. Tells me the truth.”
“Humans don’t do that often, do they? Tell us the truth. They’re usually too afraid or awed.”
“They run. They all run. Run, run. So afraid. I’m a terror.” She giggled. “He didn’t run.”
Rafe tilted his head. “He didn’t seem intimidated by me either. Rare that.”
“Maybe he’s just too stupid.”
Rafe chuckled. “Maybe. Or too stubborn.”
She lowered her eyes and watched a tiny crab crawl on the sand. Then she whispered, “Maybe he’s too clever. Sees through us.”
“Maybe.” Rafe reached out a hand, and she met it with her own. Their fingers closed and entwined.
They sat on the beach watching the crab, holding hands, and saying nothing. Above them, the sky sparkled a velvet blue, and the stars and moon shone a pearl light on the calm sea.
TWO SHADOWS FELL ACROSS the silent pair: one from the dunes. One from the shore side. They looked up. A quizzical Blackthorne and an irritated Hugh looked back.
“Sir, we were wondering, is it over?”
“Yes. Are you done trying to kill yourselves and wreak havoc?” Hugh snapped his question like a crab defending itself.
Rafe looked back at his sister. “Are we? I think I’m done. What about you?”
She cast down her eyes, drawing little circles in the sand with a free finger, but she didn’t let go of her brother’s hand. “It all comes round and round, like the moon when it’s full. So big, so bright. Sometimes blinding. Best choice. Only choice? Yes. No more killing. No more mad.”
“So now what? We all walk away.” Blackthorne’s query fell like rain after a storm.
“I—I don’t—I,” Rafe sputtered, stumbling over indecision.
His sister looked up, straight into his eyes. “Are you going to take my powers away?” The words came out soft and low in the cadence of a frightened girl.
Rafe squeezed her hand. “I should. It’s what I planned. You know that.” She nodded. “But somehow it doesn’t seem right anymore.” He sighed. “Yet, I can’t leave you like you are, either.” He shot a glance at the runes on her arms.
“No. Not a good idea. Too tempting.”
“So what do we do?”
A quiet cough, a clearing of the throat interrupted, followed by, “Perhaps, sir, a compromise?”
Rafe gave his first mate a sideways glance. “Speak up, Blackthorne. What’s on your mind?”
“Well. I am unsure how these sorts of things work precisely, but might a limitation on her powers be possible?”
The siblings exchanged a look, and then Rafe smiled. “As always, Blackthorne, yours is a voice of practical solution.” Another glance between brother and sister. “It could work, if you’re willing.”
She nodded again. “A little left, a little gone. I can accept that.”
“Shall we get started, then?”
The pair scrambled off the sand and walked farther down the beach. They stopped when they were just out of sight of the others, facing each a few feet apart.
Rafe spoke first. “I won’t need the binding spell this time, I take it?”
“No. I won’t fight it.”
Rafe outstretched his arm, palm up, feeling the cool breeze on his skin. He summoned the magic of the Ankara Stone still embedded inside his hand, and a blue-white glow spun upward in dancing filaments.
“Ooh, pretty. Like my children’s tentacles.”
Rafe suppressed a smile and continued. The magic grew, the threads reached out and wrapped themselves around the Goddess of the Moon in a latticework cocoon.
She laughed. “It tingles.”
“That may not last.” Sadness reflected back to her.
“I know.” She smiled at him. “Finish it.”
“Torilri'r sylltiad au a rhwym rhud! Eth uwaith yngryf, ynawr yngwn! Udwan! Rhwch! Hannery perhiyn medd uydd wiesh!”
The filaments surrounding his sister flashed and shimmered, bursting in fresh energy from the spell. She screamed and fell to her knees as the binding did its work, slowly melting into her flesh. Energy swarmed inside, threading through her blood and sealing a great part of her vast power—old and new—behind a woven lock of magic. When the spell finished, the cocoon was gone, and her skin was covered in cerulean coloured tattoos. Any trace of the red runes vanished from her arms.
Rafe knelt beside her. “How do you feel?”
She looked up. “Less. Better.”
“It worked, then?”
She nodded. Then she stared at her hand, turning it over to view the artwork etched there. “Pretty. Better than the last time. I don’t like ugly scars.”
“A side effect of the spell. A visual manifestation of the binding.”
She shrugged. “Still pretty.”
“Yes.” Rafe helped her to her feet. “Shall we return to the others?”
“Wait.” M
anume leaned in and whispered in his ear. “A warning, brother. I was not alone in this. You needn’t fear me any longer, but beware the Nightmare Crow. He is not finished with you.” She rocked back on her heels and smiled. “Now we can go.”
Ignoring the questions written in Rafe’s expression, she walked past him and headed back up the beach to Hugh and Blackthorne. Her brother shrugged and followed.
A pacing pair awaited them. “It’s done.” He saw relief on their faces but said nothing. He turned to his sister instead. “Is there anything you need to tell me? More secrets regarding birds, perhaps?”
She tilted her head and giggled. “No. No. No. Little bird, nasty bird. Its secrets are not mine to tell. No, not mine.” She spun around with another laugh.
He sighed, but with a smile. “Very well. With that, I should most likely take my leave, sister, but I hope we see each other soon.”
“We will, I think. A happier meeting next time.” She moved suddenly, and Rafe found himself engulfed in a hug. He smiled and returned her embrace. It only lasted a moment but bridged monumental years of separation.
With their goodbyes said, Rafe turned to Corwin. “Well, Hugh, time to leave this place and set sail. We can finish your journey to the After World as soon as I reopen the portals.”
“No, sir. I’m staying here.”
The Goddess of the Moon whirled to face him. “What? Why?” Surprise sliced through her tone, mixed with some suspicion.
“Why do you think? Someone has to keep an eye on you. It might as well be me.” He shrugged, threw up his hands, and stomped away across the dunes. Manume watched him go, humming a little tune.
“You’re right, sister. A very strange man indeed.” Amusement tickled Rafe’s voice
“Strange, strange, very strange. I like that.”
“Well, he can stay, if you want him.”
She smiled. “I want him.”
“That just leaves us, Blackthorne. Back to the ship and set sail for the Outer Islands.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Chapter Twenty Eight
Ebbtide
THE Celestial Jewel sailed calm open water towards the Sea Portal as the sun settled well past the noon apex, lighting the sky in a warm burst of light. The affairs of gods, the Sea of Perpetual Moon, and the Archipelago of Nightfall lay in their wake, and the mood of the crew sparkled buoyant and jolly. The captain and his first mate stood at the rail watching the ship cut through the water, and listening to the flap of the sails overhead. A seabird soared with the prevailing winds, trailing along the edge of the ship, before veering off and heading inland.
“It almost feels as if nothing happened. Now.” Blackthorne’s calm voice cut the silence in half. “But things will change now, won’t they?”
“They will. Somewhat. The nights of full moons won’t always mean storms and death, though we’ll still have our duty when the ships go down. And there are still monsters out there. Not every foul sea creature met its demise by its mother. They’ll still be a menace, I think, though perhaps not as much.”
“Does that mean the towns and seaports are still in danger?”
“Doubtful. That was her doing, and...whatever augmented her magic. The beasts should go back to their natural instincts. Feeding on ships and sailors. The seas are still a place where monsters roam, Blackthorne.”
“And what of this other thing, sir?”
“We have a name, now. At least she gave me that much. The Nightmare Crow.”
“Well, that doesn’t sit well. Conjures to mind dark trouble, that name.”
“Indeed. I fear we’ve more trouble on the horizon in regards to that, my friend.” He sighed, then the edge of his mouth quirked. “But not today. Today, that is not our concern. Today, we restore the Sea Portal and the balance between the living and the dead.”
“I’ll be glad of that as will the rest of the Outer Islands and The Seven Kingdoms. Perhaps then we can have some shore leave.”
“Not quite yet. Tomorrow’s task is still ahead.”
“What’s on the roster for tomorrow, sir?”
“A trip to the Isle of Shadows. We have to return this to my father.” He slipped the Ankara stone from a pocket, gave it a toss in the air before catching it and returning to the dark folds of his coat.
Blackthorne watched the show with a groan. “Oh, the crew will love that piece of news.”
Rafe smiled. “Won’t they just. But that’s tomorrow’s problem. Let’s simply enjoy the day, shall we?”
“Aye, Captain. Aye.”
The pair smiled, as a shadow passed over the sails. Far above the ship, a crow flew on black wings and rage.
Book Extra
HERE’S THE ORIGINAL piece of flash fiction I extended into this novel.
Ghosts of the Sea Moon
THE MOON BLENDED INTO the obsidian sky, a luminescent silver veneer striding across the horizon. Its grace swayed and suspended on shifting ethereal clouds. Its children stars gathered close within a bright, shimmering embrace. To the melancholy sailor on deck, the lunar object seemed to be the ship’s destination, the full sail and choppy wake speeding the vessel to the heavens.
“She’s a sight, the Sea Moon. Once a year, she looms vast and grand above us, beckoning home her seafaring brood. But she’d swallow us whole if we let her.”
The sailor flinched, the captain’s voice abrupt and loud in his ear. The man gave no warning to his presence for the ship’s master had a step as quiet as a cat’s paw.
“Do you really think it would swallow the ship, sir?”
“Aye, in a fashion. Not the moon itself, mind you, but the celestial magic spilling into the air and sea. And it could do worse if we miscalculate the bearings. It’s tricky work navigating these moonbeam waters and the otherworldly rifts.” The captain smiled and clapped a hand on the sailor’s shoulder. “But not to worry, lad. I’ve been doing this run a long, long time, and I never floundered my ship in the hoary moon mist yet. I’ll get you home.”
“Home.” The sailor let the word flop on his tongue, its taste bitter. “Home is far behind this ship, back on shore with a weeping widow who barely had time to be a bride.”
“Aye, lad. I’m sorry for what you’ve lost, and the hardship of your death. I hope you take some comfort in the fact that I plucked your spirit from the deep before the sea demons feasted on your soul. Moreover, be glad you finally accepted your fate. Some never leave this ship, vainly hoping to find a way back to the living.” A fleeting frown crossed his lips and then pivoted back to his customarily, wry smile. “Besides, my lad, you’ll see your widow bride again one day, in the afterlife you’re seeking, and there’ll be people who went before you waiting there for you. So be cheered.”
The sailor said nothing, simply turned his face to the imposing moon as the ship of ghosts sailed toward his last port of call.
Pronunciation Guide
Manume – pronounced Man-You-May
Cylla, - pronounced Sill-Ah
Lynna – pronounced Lin-Ah
Aryna – pronounced Are-EE-Na
Reis – pronounced Ray-iss
Bevire – pronounced Bev-ear
Abersythe – pronounced Ab-Er-Sigh-th
Llansfoot – pronounced Lans-foot
Amaratha – pronounced Am-Ara-Tha
Kyyn – pronounced Kin
List of Gods in the Book
Captain Rafe Morrow, God of Souls
Goddess of the Moon (Manume)
Cylla, Keeper of the Gate in the Isle of Shadows
Lynna, Goddess of the Sea
Aryna, Goddess of the Wind
Reis, Sovereign of the Gods
Bevire, Goddess of Shadows and Night
MORE BOOKS BY A. F. Stewart
Multi-Author Anthologies:
Beyond the Wail
Legends and Lore
Mechanized Masterpieces
Christmas Lites VI
Christmas Lites V
Christmas Lites IV
> Christmas Lites III
Coffin Hop: Death by Drive-In
Fiction:
Killers and Demons II: They Return
Killers and Demons
Fairy Tale Fusion
Gothic Cavalcade
Ruined City
Once Upon a Dark and Eerie...
Passing Fancies
Chronicles of the Undead
Poetry:
Horror Haiku Pas de Deux
Horror Haiku and Other Poems
Colours of Poetry
Reflections of Poetry
Shadows of Poetry
Tears of Poetry
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About the Author
A steadfast and proud sci-fi and fantasy geek, A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She favours the dark and deadly when writing—her genres of choice being dark fantasy and horror—but she has been known to venture into the light on occasion. As an indie author she’s published novellas and story collections, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction.
Read more at A. F. Stewart’s site.
