From my vantage point on the ground, I watched in horror as mutant’s legs slowly regenerated. Tiny little stubs wriggled from the holes left behind. This was definitely not good.
Bravo screeched from high above, circling the action with nervous anticipation, waiting on my cue to let him help.
Well, Bravo, if I could figure out how to stab the damn thing, then I could figure out if its blood was acidic, then I could let you know if you could join the fight or not. As it stands, I’ll never figure it out, because this bastard’s skin is too tough to even draw blood in the first place!
I knew Bravo couldn’t read my mind, but I was frustrated, and if I was being honest, I was a little scared.
I was in the middle of a hoard of giant mutants that had needle-sharp teeth, regenerating limbs, and an extremely protective outer layer. What were the odds I would die soon? Probably pretty good, unless I figured something out quickly.
Wait.
Protective outer layers, like an exoskeleton or a shell. Almost like a crab. Every creature has a weak spot, some sort of chink in their natural armor. Crabs have a soft spot in the front between their eyes, and in the back. But this creature was nothing like a crab; its anatomy was much more like a whale. And the best weakness I knew of on a whale was its blowhole. If I could somehow get up there and slice through the skin behind the opening, then I could destroy its nervous system and hopefully kill it instantly.
One of the nearby whale-bugs reared up and jabbed its toothy face at me, inadvertently smashing into the ground when I dodged out of the way.
It was clearly time to keep moving.
I thrust out my sword, dismembering the newly regenerating limbs, making sure the giant mutant was still immobile, then I rushed to the back near the tail. This was the lowest point, the easiest place to start climbing. Balancing precariously, I ran up its spine while it moaned pitifully underneath me. Their limbs might’ve been tiny, but I was quite certain it still hurt to have them cut off.
A deep shout cut through the air, clenching my stomach in an instant. I paused to search for my wounded companion, but all I saw was a crazed stampede of whale-bugs. They were frantic and almost aimless in their attacks, throwing their bodies anywhere in hopes of squashing us. Apparently, it had worked, I just had no idea which one of the team had gone down.
Please don’t let it be Cruz.
When I reached the blowhole, the whale-bug let out a burst of misty air, knocking me back a step or two toward the edge of its blubbery head.
“No way. Not gonna happen,” I told the giant mutant. “I didn’t come all this way to be killed by a gust of wind.”
As if in response, it puffed out another spray of mist.
Here goes nothing.
I knelt down on all fours and positioned my dagger at the edge of the hole. At first, I sliced carefully, allowing every inch of the blade’s sharpened surface to graze across the mutant’s flesh, but it didn’t pierce the skin. So I applied more pressure, dragging the blade with as much force as I could muster. A ripping sound soon filled the air just before the desperate bellows of the whale-bug.
The sounds sickened me, but I forced myself to keep going. I couldn’t stop, or we’d all be dead.
I pulled the blade through the softer tissues as blood started spilling and spurting.
Red blood. It wasn’t hissing, or smoking, or anything. Bravo let out another impatient screech.
“Okay, okay!” I yelled up at him.
I’d just dip the tip of my finger into the puddle and, I don’t know, wait to see if it disintegrated or not. Easy peasy. Taking a deep breath, I quickly jabbed my finger in and out of the gooey mess. My stomach roiled, but I held back my nausea and wiped my hand on my skinsuit, fearfully examining my skin for any signs of damage. But there was none. I hadn’t melted or burned or crumbled into dust.
I let out a relieved breath and waved up at Bravo.
“It’s safe. Tear them apart!”
He didn’t waste a moment, tucking his wings back and diving down to attack the nearest mutant with his deadly fangs. More blood sailed into the air, and more painful bellows ensued.
Which reminded me... I was in the middle of killing my own mutant.
I pulled the dagger even further down its spine until I finally realized it should’ve been dead by now. Maybe I needed to cut deeper? I sheathed the dagger and withdrew my favorite sword instead, lining it up with the previous cut and hacking down the exact same path. A few excruciating seconds the later, the creature twitched and rolled onto its side, throwing me off.
All the air left my lungs at once as I crashed to the ground, landing flat on my back. For a few seconds, I was too disoriented and too pained to even contemplate moving. But I eventually crawled to my feet, relieved to find beast was no longer moving. A long line of blood trailed down its rubbery side.
Thank Poseidon, I’d killed it.
“Go for the blowholes!” I shouted.
My voice was so strained, it was like my vocal cords had detached. I had no idea if anyone could even hear me, but I refused to contemplate the alternative. That would mean death in every shape and form.
In the distance, I caught sight of Bravo swooping down and destroying another whale-bug, sending chunks of blood and gore raining into the air around them. It was disgusting, but pride still filled my chest at the sight. He’d picked up where Feroz had left off, and with surprising ease, too.
For a moment, I was struck by our parallel situations, but I quickly pushed the blasphemous thought aside. I was no hero, and try as I may, I would never be good enough to take my parents’ place.
Pushing the image of my dead parents away, as well as the overwhelming dread of incompetence, I ran to the nearest mutant and started the process all over again. Take out the legs, climb the tail and spine, cut through the blowhole, repeat.
After my third kill, I bent over and put my hands on my knees, trying my damnedest to catch my breath. It was moments like these that I truly hated the dry, above-sea air. My lungs burned with each strangled inhale, and I feared they might actually catch on fire one of these times.
Turning my head, I studied my surroundings. It had been ages since I’d seen more than fleeting glimpses of my teammates. Swords and bows raised here, bullets and magic flying there. Were they injured? Were they scared? Were we even winning this fight? It appeared we’d taken down about half of their number, but were we strong enough to finish off the rest? I already felt exhaustion settling into my bones. I couldn’t have been the only one.
Mustering my will, I ran toward the next blubbering whale-bug, and prepared to start the deadly routine again, but I was caught off guard by another whale-bug and rammed in the side of the head.
Pain filled my mind in a myriad of flying colors, and for a long time, the background of my vision was nothing but black. The world slowly filtered back into consciousness, though, and I cracked my eyes open to the sight of Bravo lighting the remaining mutants on fire. It was nothing less than ungodly chaos. My eyelids squeezed shut, and I had to force them open as tears streamed out. My head throbbed, and my limbs wavered. The last thing I wanted to do was try to run, but with flaming mutants stampeding all around me, it was exactly what I had to do.
I rose, still delirious with the world seemingly flopping on its side, and staggered to the right. My stomach lurched and I gagged, vertigo spinning my senses off kilter.
How the hell was I supposed to get to safety when I couldn’t even see straight and every movement make me nauseous?
The next thing I knew, my arms were being squeezed and I was hauled back onto my feet.
“Liliana, are you okay?”
The hand moved from my arm to my waist, holding most of my weight for me.
“Cruz?” I turned my head up to look at him, and his features doubled as my vision blurred.
“It’s okay,” he said, ignoring both of our prior questions. “The mutants are almost all dead. It’s only a matter of time, now. Let me ge
t you someplace safe.”
He dragged my dizzy ass to the tree line and propped me up against a trunk. My focus drifted from his face to the background, where I watched mutant after mutant fall into a giant heap of charcoaled rubbish. There were only a handful left, and I had faith that the others could handle them until my concussion—or whatever the hell it was—subsided.
But then the unthinkable happened. Something so implausible it had to have been an unhappy accident, because it never could have happened intentionally.
One of the burning whale-bugs reared up, not even facing Bravo, and with the back of its charred head, knocked my green dragon right out of the air. He appeared too stunned to even screech, just hit the ground with a heavy thud, which then stirred the already-panicked whale bugs into a stampeding frenzy. As their little legs trampled over him, he finally found his voice and screamed. It was a heart-wrenching sound, one that instantly shook me from my concussed stupor.
“Bravo!” I shrieked, voice shriller than I ever knew it could be, and scrambled to my feet.
“Liliana, no!”
Cruz reached out to hold me back, but he was too slow.
I sprinted onto the battlefield, terrified, as Bravo’s screeches became weaker and weaker. Following the frail notes, I soon found him—motionless, in a bruised and bloodied heap amongst a cloud of smoke and dust. I clamped a hand to my mouth just in time to hold back an involuntary sob.
The incinerated mutants crumbled to the ground a few hundred feet away, eventually succumbing to their fatal burns.
Anger and grief twisted together and beat at my chest. Good. Those bastard mutants deserved to be killed by the one they... No. I couldn’t even finish the thought without getting choked up.
I rushed the rest of the way over to him, relieved beyond words to find him miraculously still breathing. His breaths were shallow and gurgled, but it was the most precious sound in the world.
“Cruz!” I screamed as pent-up tears poured out of me in waves. “Help him, please!”
Cruz was there a moment later and jumped into action as soon as the magic touched his fingertips. As he worked to save my dragon’s life, I was overcome with guilt and self-loathing. I smashed my temples with both palms and sank to the ground in a quivering, upright ball.
None of this should have happened. I should have set the sea dragons free the day we met, not kept them as pets. I should have been honest about failing to avenge my parents, not launch head-first into a false reign. It should be someone else, someone better, up here risking it all to save the sea, not some bratty, rebellious princess who never even learned how to rule, let alone how to save the world.
It quickly became a weight pressing into my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. A weight sinking into my heart that was too much to bear.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I wept pitifully. “I should have known I wouldn’t be good enough.”
Cruz’s gaze was intense as his eyes shot over to at me. “Of course you’re good enough. Anyone else would have given up or died by now, but not you.”
I shook my head, unable to see clearly through the blur of tears. “But it shouldn’t have been me. I’m an imposter, a fake. Someone else should have been queen.”
“Liliana, what are you talking about?” he asked, as he continued pouring magic into Bravo’s broad chest.
My voice cracked as every lie I’d built up about my reign suddenly crashed down. A weight I was suddenly all too willing to let loose.
“I never avenged my parents,” I croaked out. “I never killed the alpha; she was dead before I got there.”
He blinked and his brows lifted. “Are you serious?”
I nodded pathetically. “Someone else should be here now. Catalina, Malisa and I... we should be back home in Seabella, waiting on a real queen to save us.”
The magic eventually slowed to a stop, and Cruz leaned back, wiping the sweat off his forehead. I couldn’t tell if Bravo was healed, or if there was just nothing more that could be done to help him. New tears sprang to life and I sniffled involuntarily.
Cruz reached over and lifted my chin.
“No, Liliana,” he said, continuing our conversation from a moment ago, “you shouldn’t be waiting on a different queen to save you. What I meant was, are you serious that you think you don’t deserve to be queen?”
My brows mashed together. “Of course I don’t. I failed to avenge my parents, and that’s siren law. I only broke it to protect Feroz and Bravo, and look where that got them. None of this would have happened if I had just told the truth to begin with.”
“No, just stop. That’s not a thing. Listen to me.” He took my face in his hands, and stared so deeply into my eyes it was like he’d hooked my soul and started reeling it in. “I don’t care what siren law does or doesn’t state. You are the perfect queen. You’ve been training for this for like, what? All your life? Just like I’ve been training to be a mage. And no law can make you any less deserving, just like no diploma can make me any more deserving. We’re both using every ounce of power, heart, and soul we have to save every being on this planet. And, call me crazy or conceited or whatever, but I think that makes us the perfect candidates for this journey.”
I said nothing. I was too busy letting his words soak in, lost in the passion of his eyes.
“So, yeah, maybe you didn’t kill the sea dragons’ mother, but that doesn’t make you any less of a queen—if anything, that makes you more of a queen. It proves you’re merciful, and just, and that you care about the innocent. And you care about your people, too. What other siren would risk coming above water to try to save them?”
I wanted to reply, to contradict him, but the only thing floating around in my head was the fact that everyone else had called this trip to the surface ‘suicide.’ Maybe a different queen wouldn’t have risked it?
Cruz smiled and shook his head, still staring deeply into my eyes.
“And more than that. Humans and mages have all but despised sirens ever since you were created. We blamed you for our troubles, and we called you cowards behind your backs. But you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, human or siren alike. And it would take a damn incredible woman to shatter those misconceptions so completely that one of us could fall in love with you. And I have, Liliana. I love you. You are an incredible woman, and you do deserve to be queen. You are everything, and you deserve everything this world has to give and more. Please, don’t doubt that—ever. Not even for a second.”
My arms were around his neck, my lips pressed tightly to his, almost before he could finish his sentence. He had no idea how much I needed to hear those words—all of them. Or maybe he did, and that’s why he chose that exact moment to say them? Either way, I didn’t think I could love anyone as much as I loved him right then.
I broke our kiss with a hopeful smile that overtook my entire face. “I love you, too, Cruz. I don’t know how we’re going to make this work, but I’m going to fight for it. If we can find a way to save the entire fucking world, then we can find a way to make this relationship work. If we can’t... Then, I’ll see you in Elysium.”
He kissed me again, and muttered into my lips, “Either way, we’re going to be together. I refuse to live without you, in this world or the next.”
We held each other for countless minutes before I was finally able to pry myself away from him. I carefully crawled back over to Bravo and stroked his smooth scales. His breathing was still shallow, but the gurgling was mercifully gone. His big slanted eyes were squeezed shut, and I knew he must’ve been in excruciating pain. I considered asking Cruz what the verdict was, but I couldn’t bear to hear any bad news.
“Hold on, brave boy,” I whispered, petrified that he’d take his last breath in front me. “Just hang on a little bit longer. Give me one more day, that’s all I need, and I’ll fix all of this, okay?”
But he barely even acknowledged that I was there.
Please, Poseidon, let him live.
Turning aroun
d, I realized our ragged crew had joined us. Well, most of them. I scanned the line of gashed bodies in torn clothing and realized our sailor was missing.
“Where’s Danny?” I asked, but the sinking sensation in my gut wasn’t promising.
Alex removed his hat and pointed to a motionless heap lying prone next to a fallen whale-bug.
We all walked over and I allowed myself to shed a tear for him. His inclusion into our group had been rocky at first, but it was safe to say he’d become my friend. I wiped at the tear with my knuckle.
“Your service to the sirens will never be forgotten, sailor. When you pass through the gates of Hades, I pray your path leads you to Elysium.”
Alex tipped his head in Danny’s direction. “Amen.”
“Amen,” the others agreed.
Then Alex sighed and returned his battered hat to his head.
“Alright kids, this is it. The final showdown. We’ll be in Palenque in less than twenty-four hours. By sunset tomorrow, we’ll either win or lose, but either way, it will all be over.”
I clung to those words with fear and relief.
Tomorrow, it would all be over.
Chapter 23
We moved far faster than people who’d just seen a deadly battle ever should, but we were on a mission, a life or death mission, and that sort of apocalyptic thing didn’t give two shits if you were tired or not. It waited for no one, so we didn’t wait for it either. We hustled.
By the time the midday sun was high in the sky, I could no longer feel my legs. And by the time it started dipping behind the trees, painting the sky in an ominous ribbon of red, we were finally close enough to hear the crashing waves of the sea line.
Wait. The sea?
Frowning, I shouted up to Alex. "Ranger! Why are we getting closer to the sea? Palenque isn’t supposed to be a coastal ruin."
He turned to look at me over his shoulder as he ducked beneath a low-hanging vine. "How old was the map you were looking at, Queenie? The landscape changed dramatically after the ice caps melted, remember?"
Siren Awakened (The Cursed Seas Collection) Page 19
