Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

H arald absolutely hated that Karalyn had left. He felt as if a part of him had been ripped out of him and was flying away with her. After the nightmares especially, he did not want them to be separated, but she was stubborn to a fault.

As was he.

The thought of going eastward to scout had crossed his mind before Karalyn had approached him, but he originally thought to wait a few days before risking it. She was right to be concerned about the mermaids. They had fought fiercely, but neither side had killed a single foe although there had been some injuries.

He glanced over his shoulder. Lightning-struck sand, as hard as stone and as gorgeous as glass, the sand castle was just visible, although he could not see the sea shells that decorated the fa?ade.

While he loved the castle, he felt most at home not even on the deck of his longship but rather when he was in the water itself… or on top of it through the magic of his staff. He could walk on water, or he could create waves to carry him swiftly about.

The water was his true home, and the mermaids and the sirens would not strip that from the sea raiders.

Were the other two species living in Tridor their biggest threat, however? Certainly they were the closest one to their isle, but the shapeshifters were dangerous. What if the elves and shapeshifters had forged an alliance with the mermaids and sirens? What if they wanted to slaughter the sea raiders while those from the Kingdom of the Skies took care of the fairies? What would happen next? Not that he would be around to see it, but the alliances they forged to destroy would be broken apart and more and more destruction would befall Evermore.

As much as he wished he could set sail to check on Ashelin and the elves, he knew he could not.

Nor could he leave this very moment.

Bernal had been one of those to sustain an injury. He and Harald had already spoken at length, and while Harald appreciated his friend's mettle, he did wish that Bernal had not set out nearly by himself. He could not blame Maggie for declining the venture.

Bernal's reasoning to go out with such a small crew was to show that he meant no offense and to not display a show of force, although that had been for naught nor had he been able to travel nearly far enough to spy on the elves had that been his original aim, although he might have merely wished to see what the mermaids and sirens were up to.

"Rosella, if you could see to it that all of the longships are beached and too far away from the rising tide to be swept out again?" Harald asked.

"Are you sure you want to leave us stranded?" Rosella asked. "I don't mean to question you, but?—"

"We will not be stranded. It might take longer for the longships to return to the waves, but we can also use our staves to have them lifted by waves back out to sea."

"Of course," Rosella murmured. She was unusually quiet since the fighting ended, a fact Harald did not like. He might not care for all of the cursing, but even that would be welcome now because he felt a bit ready to let loose his own tongue against those who sought to hurt his people.

Harald waited until Stormbreaker was beached for him to grab his staff. Chances were, unless he was able to disturb not a single wave, the sirens and mermaids might realize another had entered their waters, but that was a chance he must take. Walking upon the surface of the water would cast too long of a shadow to be chanced.

The tip of his staff touched the water, and Harald controlled the water, forcing it to rise up and form a bubble around him so that he might have air. Using his magic, he slowly eased the bubble forward off the sandy beach and submerged a bit, slowly so as not to disturb the natural waves rolling toward the isle.

The farther away he drifted from the isle, the more his thoughts began to betray him. Allowing the tide to sweep him along with the least amount of guidance should help to minimize any effect of his magic upon the water enough that the mermaids and sirens should remain ignorant… so long as he avoided any of their watchers.

But the minimal use of his magic meant he did not have to concentrate solely on his task, and as a result, his mind wandered. So long as the sea did not still, he should be fine, but what if his curse involved the sea? What if his curse and Karalyn's were connected? What if her burning the sky caused fireballs to rain down not only on Fae Falls but also on Tridor below? The floating isle of the fairies would take most of the brunt and so spare his isle, but the Sea of Enchancia could be hit time and again, and while water should douse out the flames, what if the curse had the sea bubbling and boiling to the point that the sea was no more?

The mermaids and sirens had seers of their own. What if their alliance had been forged against Harald and his people because the nature of his curse threatened them and their home? If that was the case, he could well understand why they would seek his death. They knew already about Karalyn's curse, but had they learned his? He had only learned about Karalyn's curse because he had spoken with some sirens who had been more than willing to gossip, but that time had fallen into a whirlpool. None of them had mentioned his curse, so perhaps at that time, they had been as ignorant as he had been, unknowing that he had even been cursed, but if they had since learned what his curse was about…

Although there was precisely no one near him, not even the fish in the sea, he found himself so thoroughly alone, merely drifting in the vast open waters, that he felt isolated as if his own people had abandoned him, as if his wife had left him for all time. That was not the case, he knew, but still, he found the silence and solitude suffocating. What if his unknown curse caused him to lose everyone and everything he had ever cared about?

He did not particularly like the way he and Karalyn had quarreled. Yes, they had made amends before she had flown off, but he did not like for them to fight. They had far too many enemies to contend with as it was. What if in the future, they somehow became enemies once more? For all he knew, the weight of their two curses could shatter their love as war and destruction ravaged their lands, their once harmonious relationship torn apart.

No. These negative thoughts he should banish from his mind, but he found he could not stop his mind any more now than he could the previous night. What if his curse transformed him into some kind of monstrous being? What if Karalyn had to be twisted and subverted herself so that she gains the ability to burn the sky and enact her curse?

And if her curse did come to pass, magic would be gone, not just the magic of the fairies, but all magic within Evermore. He would not be able to control the water any longer. If the world lost all of its magic, surely it would turn bleak and lifeless. The vibrant, enchanted world he once knew would be replaced by a dull, desolate wasteland.

By now, he was traveling closer toward the sirens' waters. He could not allow their rulers—the maestro and maestra—to learn about his slipping through their waves.

Although tempted, he did not use his magic to speed up his journey along the tides, and gradually, he rose slightly, along the waves so that he could see how much farther he had to venture yet.

Ashelin was a beautiful land, rich and fertile, with as much greenery as Fae Falls. In the center of their land was a dense forest, and while he could see no one along the beach, he did see movement within the trees.

He had brought with him a portable looking glass so that he could see from a great distance. The elves were tall, stately beings, slender and beautiful. The magic they wielded was powerful. They thought themselves superior to anyone and everyone, the strongest and most magical of all the beings of Evermore, a thought that none of the other species agreed with.

So that the elves were talking with the amber-eyed shapeshifters had Harald gritting his teeth even more so when one of the shapeshifters held out their hand and the elf did not hesitate to clasp it.

An alliance was forming before his very eyes. He could scarcely believe it.

For as long as he dared, Harald remained there, watching, trying to see if any of the dark dwarves, draugar, or banshees from Darum had climbed up to Ashelin, but he could not see a single one.

That did not mean they all remained beneath the ground. They could be in the mountains and plains of Theriana, but Harald did not feel comfortable continuing on in this fashion around Ashelin to the Kingdom of the Shapeshifters. The elves had tremendous eyesight and no need for looking glasses. If any of the ones in the forest looked this way, he would be spotted, and that would not end well at all.

Now, to make the long and equally dangerous trek back to Tridor.