64. Kellan

Chapter sixty-four

Kellan

Dawn was on the horizon of the Vayr Sea as I inspected some of our vessels and their crews that awaited in the Islan harbor. We made sure to be prepared for the imminent arrival of Elianna's fleet, which we expected any day now.

I gazed out at the sea, the only thing I would ever truly love, and a grin formed on my face as I imagined what it would be like to finally end this pointless fucking war and make my move to sit upon the throne.

Once the battle was won, and the witches exited Isla and took what they had bargained from the queen, the opening to force my way into the crown would be vast once again. Even I couldn’t stomach the thought of sleeping with that cold-hearted cunt to get there anymore—no, I would rip the crown right from the top of her fucking head.

My eyes glazed over as I imagined it all, my fingertips brushing over the wood of the ship’s wheel.

“Captain,” William’s voice carried to me from across the ship’s deck, snapping me out of my trance. “We weren’t expecting you here this morning. ”

William had been reassigned once more and took charge of ensuring that the sea fleet was in pristine condition while I terrorized the queen’s citizens from my wyvern’s back.

“Aye, but does a captain need to announce his arrival for inspections?” I challenged.

“Of course not.” He took a few steps closer and met me at the helm. “It’s just that, lately, you take to the skies, not the sea.”

A growl slipped from me. “It’s not by choice, William.” I gave him a vicious smile. “The things we do for what we desire most.”

He lifted a single brow at me. “And that would be?”

Baring my teeth, I was about to lash out at him when my ears picked up a melodic sound that carried in from the waves.

Both of our gazes drifted to the deep sea, where the tide was rolling in. The rising sun reflected off the waves as an enchanting chorus flowed in, drawing us towards it.

My steps brought me to the bow of the ship, and I placed my hands on the railing as my stare focused out toward the haunting call. I stuffed my pinky in my ear and twisted, making sure that I was hearing correctly. I had never been a male who feared many things, but growing up as a son of the sea, I quickly learned that sirens were among the few creatures worth fearing.

Call it a gut feeling, but I was nearly certain that call was exactly what I heard. The melody grew louder and surrounded the ships in the harbor, as if coming at us from all sides while a mist drifted in on the waves .

“William?” My voice was just above a whisper as he stood next to me at the bow, but I went unanswered.

My eyes whipped toward him and flared as they beheld what his own looked like—glazed over with a cloudy haze. My steps sent me stumbling backwards, and my arms caught the rail, stopping me from falling overboard.

“William!” I barked, but his stare remained unseeing as he peered out at the water. I jogged to the center of the ship, where the troops were lined across the deck, and was horrified when I noticed that every single pair of eyes matched William’s. From what I could tell, everyone aboard the surrounding ships in the harbor was stuck in the same trance.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, and then my gaze flashed down to my wrist—to the cuff that linked my mind to the wyvern’s.

It will serve as a barrier for exterior magic , Azenna had said that day she bound this cuff in our blood, and I had never been more fucking thankful for something in my gods-damn life.

I peered back out towards the sea, where the sun had nearly completely risen, and my stomach dropped as hundreds of slick-haired heads emerged from the surface of the water, stark white eyes glowing from them.

Fog continued to roll in with the tide, but I knew it wasn’t of nature. The haunting melody grew louder, and then a subtle splash caught my attention from the front of the ship .

I stalked back up to the bow, where William had been, to find he was gone. “Holy gods,” I whispered, and my quickened steps brought me to the very tip of the bow.

I leaned over the edge of the rail to see bubbles emerging from the water where his body fell, and then a long, scaled onyx tail lashed out from the surface. Thick, swirling crimson then flooded the waves.

“FUCK!” I bellowed as I unsheathed my sword. The fog had already crept its way aboard the deck of the ship, swirling around my feet as I ran back toward those who remained standing.

“Wake up, you morons! Everybody, snap out of it. Now!” I screamed. Some of their eyes began to blink, but not enough to rid them of their milky hue.

As if I had commanded them, they all started walking towards the ship’s edges, where webbed fingers curled over the railings.

Sirens heaved themselves onto the ships in the harbor. My eyes flashed in all directions as they climbed up the sides of the wooden vessels and sat upon their rails.

I frantically ran around the deck, swearing and grunting at the situation as I shoved sailors to the ground while their steps moved to carry them to their doom.

Then, a voice broke through the sirens’ song.

“Handsome captain, why do you stop them?” My steps halted, and I whipped in the direction of the voice, where a siren held herself up on the ship’s side. Ice-colored hair that matched her piercing eyes clung to her skin.

I took a step toward her, and my lip curled back in a snarl. “Why do I stop my soldiers from running blindly into their death? A bit of a foolish question. Wouldn’t you agree, sea-witch? ”

Her unseeing gaze narrowed in on me beneath furrowed brows as a smirk tilted her sharp lips. “And why does the captain not answer our call?”

I held up my arm that the cuff was clasped around and waved my fingers through the air as if in a mocking greeting.

She hissed in response, and before I could blink, her oil-hued tail whipped out at me, its razor-sharp fin slicing through the skin of my forearm.

I roared in pain, and it ignited the harbor into full fucking chaos.

Sirens leapt onto the ship from all sides, their tails wrapping around my sailors, shoving them overboard into the water—their talons and rows of fangs sinking into their flesh.

Screaming ensued from all ships, echoing throughout the harbor. Blood splattered from all directions, soaking me and the floorboards of the ship.

Sailors were snapping out of their stupors as the roars of agony continued, but not in time to save themselves.

With supernatural speed and strength, the sirens continued to maul my sailors, their claws easily tearing through flesh and bone.

The wails of anguish and torment blended with the lingering echoes of the sirens’ song. The ship's deck became stained with the deep red of their spilled blood. Sailors, who fell from their trance, desperately swung their blades and any makeshift weapons they could get a hold of, but the sirens moved with a grace that defied even that of the fae.

I cut through any fin or reaching claws that swiped too close to me—the shrieks of pain that tore through the conch embedded in their throats was true music to my ears. However, I was surrounded by those who weren’t as lucky, still half under the trance of the sea-witches’ calls.

Some succumbed to the sirens’ seductive allure, their vacant eyes betraying a surrender. Faces of those who resisted the trance were overcome with a mix of fear, rage, and despair as they tried to flee, while the sirens were lost in their bloodlust.

Everything was happening so fucking fast—too fast. I couldn’t keep up, and I watched as countless crew members met their fate at the hands of the wicked sea creatures. I swiped my blade in the air as quickly as I could, but rarely did I meet my target.

I wiped the back of my hand across my face, only smearing the blood of my crew around my eyes more when I meant to clear it from them.

A distant roar thundered through the air from my wyvern mount, snapping my gaze to the castle in the far distance.

My hands held my blade out before me as I backed myself against the ship’s mainmast. I tapped into my wyvern’s sight, hoping to the gods that I was quick enough to not get mauled by one of these cunts from the sea.

My jaw locked as my vision focused in through his red-stained gaze to see that a crack had splintered through the sky beyond the city gates. It was then that I knew. This siren attack was Elianna’s doing, and she was using it as a distraction to make her grand fucking entrance.

I willed my mind back into my own body, just in time to slice through the torso of an oncoming attacker as she lunged at me. Her severed body fell to my feet with a loud thud as black gore poured from her.

A deep growl rumbled through my chest as I tapped my bonded blood cuff three times, alerting the beast to come to me immediately. With a bloodcurdling battle cry, I unleashed all my wrath on the sirens that remained on the deck as I plunged my blade through them. However, I quickly found that I was outnumbered, as their claws sunk into my skin and shredded anything they could grab hold of.

Growls of disgust and rage continued to flow through me, and I imagined how fucking glorious it would feel to wrap my hands around Elianna’s throat and choke the life out of her for somehow catching us off guard.

Avery

The sound of my cell door creaking open woke me from the little sleep I had managed to get since I had been locked in this gods-forsaken dungeon. When I wasn’t wallowing in self-pity, I was violently trying to shake the bars of my prison, hoping that the minimal strength I had would somehow break the ancient rusted door from its hinges. But if Lia wasn’t able to break free from this place, then I knew I was doomed.

My eyes snapped to the door as the creaking ceased, and I was met with the hideous crone. I let out a hiss at the sight of her, and my legs moved to push me further up against the far back wall.

“We do not have time for your stupid games, traitor princess,” she murmured. A second later, she appeared directly before me and wrapped her shriveled, taloned hand around my forearm without permission.

An evil, toothy grin was flashed in my direction. Suddenly, it felt as if all the air was ripped from my lungs while the realm soared around me in a tunnel of rushing wind.

When I reopened my eyes, I was in the throne room, standing before my mother and the High Witch. The moment I found my balance after the wisp-travel, I dry heaved and vomited onto the floor from the dizziness.

Veli was right—it certainly wasn’t safe for non-witches to travel that way.

“Thank you, Sylvae,” Azenna said, and then her gaze flashed to mine. “It appears that your little court of rebels has come for you, Princess. Magic bursts beyond the gates.”

My eyes widened as I stood beneath her and my mother’s stares.

“Sylvae, go to one of the towers and place a shield around the city’s battlement. None of the heir’s soldiers are to breach the gates. Am I understood?” Azenna ordered.

“Yes, of course,” the crone’s bone-chilling voice answered right before she vanished .

My heart was racing—they came for me, but they were unknowingly falling into a trap.

“You will not use me against her!” I screamed.

Ignoring my outburst, both Azenna and the queen took steps towards me until they flanked me on either side. My lips curled back in disgust as I returned their hate-filled stares.

“Anything you’d like to say before we greet your sister?” the High Witch taunted.

My eyes darted back and forth between each of theirs, and a sinister smile leisurely spread across my face. “Only that I hope she kills you all.”

My mother’s lips parted in horror as Azenna scoffed in annoyance while she grabbed both mine and the queen’s arms. The rushing, shadow-filled winds took over, threatening to make me sick once more.

This time, when I opened my eyes, we were atop the east tower of the Islan gates. Countless rows of armored soldiers stood at the foot of it, sprawling forward for nearly half a mile.

The sky before us in the distance was splintering into severed cracks, forming a rift in the realm that made my heart race with anticipation.

And then a wyvern burst through it.