Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I had never experienced a storm such as this. Even the most ferocious of sea storms that had blown across the coast of Castelorain didn't compare. Me and the other Raincarver neophytes were out bobbing in the frantic, churning waves of the furious ocean off the shore of Never Keep, and it took all my energy just to keep my head above the water. My legs kicked, my arms fighting the push and pull of the waves that were sweeping around us, clashing together like colliding anvils.

I was caught more than once between those waves, the wind their puppet master, twisting and churning the sea until she was frothing at the mouth, trying to drag us into a watery grave.

The booming voices of the Reapers cried out to us from above, riding upon the crests of high waves that went sweeping by, their bodies shielded by bubbles of air magic, keeping them in a pocket of calm away from the roaring wind, pummelling rain, and frenzied ocean.

"Part the rain, rise upon a wave and carry yourself to shore," Reaper Pavros called as he went sailing by, his black curls perfectly dry, not a single touch of rain wetting him.

The skill in their magic was enviable, their gazes impatient as they watched us thrash in the sea, fighting with our own element.

Casting water was one thing, but taming a feral beast such as these stormy waves was another entirely. It took all my focus just to try and stop the water from smashing into me and sending me spiralling down towards the seabed.

We'd been given swimwear that clung to our bodies like a second skin, but it was too thin, too simply made to really keep out the frigid cold. My fingers were numb as I flexed them to cast, but the rest of my body was warm enough thanks to the burning in my muscles while I treaded water endlessly.

As I tried to wrangle another wave headed my way, I managed to push my will into it, preparing to guide myself onto its prow. But the monstrous thing reared up then crashed into me, making me lose my grip on my magic and sending me spinning into the black depths.

I kicked hard, fighting my way to the surface and guiding water behind me to push me to the air above quicker.

I came up close to Ransom, finding his features twisted in concentration, his brown hair plastered to his cheeks. A wave slid under him and he rose with it, accidently bringing me too but as I tried to swim off of his rising wave, the water bucked and sent me flying into my half-brother, knocking him off balance.

He fell on top of me and we went crashing into the ocean together, our limbs colliding as we fought to get to the surface again.

As we made it above the sea, his fist swung for my face and I swerved it, his knuckles slamming into my shoulder instead, giving me a dead arm.

"You caused that," I snapped, shoving him in the chest.

"Bullshit," he snarled, swinging for me again, but I swam underwater to escape the blow, finding a group of glug fish staring at me from the murky sea.

The Reapers had warned us about them, their long, tubular grey bodies and gaping mouths not looking like much of a threat, but if they latched onto one of your limbs, they had a poisonous bite that would hurt like a bitch for at least a day.

I kicked away from them, breaching the surface further from Ransom so I could focus on wielding again. The water around me was just as volatile as ever and the rain pelted me like shrapnel as I turned towards the horizon where more violent waves were headed for us.

"Connect with the essence of the cresting wave," Reaper Pavros called out as he went sailing by upon a wave of his own creation again. "Sense the roiling fury at its heart and urge it to do your bidding. You are one and the same. Water is water. It lives in you as it lives out here in the tempestuous sea."

"Domerna sil oceania," I said between my teeth, thinking of Harlon and all the days we had spent dancing between the waves of Castelorain. Tame the ocean.

This might not have been the sun-soaked waters I knew so well, but it was still the same beast, just in a wilder form.

I focused on the wave that was coming for me, starting to swim for the shore while keeping one eye on it over my shoulder, just as I would have if my tiderunner had been beneath me now.

I pushed my magic into the ocean, not letting it take any form, just connecting to the pulse of the water and listening to what she had to say.

At once, my magic attached to that roiling wave and it didn't feel like an oncoming enemy anymore. It was my kin, and I only had to ask it to do as I wished and it would be more than happy to oblige. In my other training sessions, I had taken to casting magic with my right hand in such a way that it seemed I was casting with my left too, keeping my weakness secret. But here between the frantic water, there was no need to pretend, because no one was watching closely enough to notice anyway.

The wave rolled under me and screams rang out from the other neophytes as they fought to rise upon it. I didn't look their way, my attention honed on my connection with the water as it pushed me up and up until I was standing on the frothing edge of the coiling wave.

A smile lit my face as I went riding in towards the shore, but Reaper Pavros swept in front of me, his youthful face twisting in alarm as he guided his wave away from mine and I started chasing him towards the obsidian beach ahead.

He glanced back at me, a cheer leaving him as he spurred me on. "That's it!" he cried. "Now part the rain!"

I turned my attention to the pummelling raindrops, trying to push them away from me, and my heart lifted as they swept aside. Pavros continued to cry encouragements, lowering on his wave to step off onto the black sand beach. I was closing in on it by the second, about to be the first to achieve this goal. But then water crashed into me from behind, hitting me so hard I was thrown forward off of my wave, slamming into the sea before the wave curled over and swept me under it in a violent vortex.

I kicked hard, rising to the surface with a splutter, finding Ransom sailing past me on the following wave, a smirk on his lips which told me he had been the one to drive water into my back and knock me from my perch. He sailed smoothly onto the beach, stepping off beside Reaper Pavros who clapped him on the shoulder and heat flared in my veins.

A snarl left me as more and more Fae made it to the beach, Alina among them, tossing her black hair away from her face and running to embrace Ransom in celebration. It had been robbed of me. My victory. My moment of glory. I should have been the one to make it there first.

As Reaper Pavros directed them all back into the sea to practice, a wild fury coiled in my chest that brought a growl to my lips. A shiver of movement in the water drew my attention to my right and I dipped my face under the surface, finding a group of glug fish bobbing there.

I lifted my head, treading water and glaring at Ransom as I sent water blasting beneath the ocean, driving those glug fish right for him as he waded back in up to his waist with that smug fucking look on his face.

But the smugness faltered as my glug fish crashed into him. He looked down in shock then a cry of fright left him as he yanked a hand out of the water, revealing one of those tubular grey fish latched fully around it, suckering its way over his wrist and moving higher still.

"Ah!" he yelled, trying to shake it off, then snatched his other hand out of the water, revealing another glug fish covering it. "Reaper Pavros!" he yelled, backing out of the water as Alina gazed after him in shock.

As Ransom made it to the shallows, he screamed and fell down on his ass, his legs rising from the water to reveal two more glug fish, one on each of his bare feet.

A wave slammed into the shore, slapping him in the face and sending him rolling across the sand past Reaper Pavros's feet. Ransom thrashed like a beached dolphin, trying to shake them off then screamed higher still as he looked down at his crotch, finding a glug fish burrowing through his swimsuit to latch right between his thighs.

"My cock!" he wailed and a manic laugh left me, echoed by the neophytes on the shore. "It's eating my cock!"

He smacked the glug fish between his legs with his fish-bound fists and Alina came racing out of the ocean, diving to her knees between his legs and grabbing the long fish that was suctioned onto his dick.

"Calm down," Reaper Pavros gasped, moving to help. "Just relax."

"Relax?!" Ransom roared. "It's trying to eat my dick!"

Alina yanked on the offending glug fish, pressing her bare foot to Ransom's chest as she pulled and pulled.

"No - stop!" Ransom shrieked. "Ahhhh! You're gonna pull my cock off!"

The glug fish released his dick at that very second and Alina went flying back onto the sand, the glug fish slipping from her grip, slapping wetly onto her face and suctioning over her lips. Her scream was muffled by the fish as she scrambled backwards in the sand in panic, trying to pull it from her face in desperation and I lost my shit, laughing wildly as I watched.

Ransom's dick was exposed where the glug fish had ripped through his suit, his cock botchy and red, a ring of teeth marks in it speaking of the venomous bite it had given him. He wailed, trying to clutch it with his fish-covered hands, rolling back and forth while Reaper Pavros looked between him and Alina, stunned as he decided who to help first.

He ran to Alina, gripping the glug fish on her mouth and casting water over the fish's mouth and hers to pull it off, leaving her with swollen lips.

The bells began tolling back in Never Keep, signalling the end of the lesson and as a wave came up behind me, I connected my magic to it, determined to do what I'd come here to. I rose upon it, sailing smoothly onto the beach, parting the rain and stepping off of it onto the shore with a grin as I looked to my half-brother and Alina.

"The swelling will go down in a few hours and the pain will stop in a day," Reaper Pavros said, and I found him patting Alina on the shoulder as she sobbed, her lips five times the size they had been before and looking puffy as shit.

A few more Reapers had come to shore and had removed the glug fish from Ransom's hands and feet, tossing them back into the ocean. They offered him healing magic and I scowled as he panted in their wake, the swelling going down in an instant as he cupped his dick in his hands, trauma lining his expression.

"Can I be healed?" Alina asked in desperation through her lips which were so big and puckered they were starting to resemble a giant cat's asshole, still swelling with each passing minute.

"Commander Rake's son has been offered the privilege of the stars this once," Reaper Pavros explained. "You will be well again in a day."

He walked off, leaving her there with a sob breaking through her puckered lips which sounded more like a strained fart.

I burst into laughter and her eyes swung onto me in rage as Ransom joined her, his hands locked around his bare cock and his cheeks paled from the ordeal.

It was a shame they hadn't left him to suffer with a puffy cock, but of course my father's precious prodigy would be given privileges in this place. As Alina glared at me, I turned and headed for the Escalade, dripping wet with the cold wind biting into my skin.

The burn Kaiser Brimtheon had left on my right wrist stung in the frigid air, but nothing could dampen my mood as I started the climb back to Never Keep. Not when I'd succeeded in harnessing the sea and had gotten some sweet revenge on my least favourite people in the world for good measure.

I had a book on wielding the power of water tucked inside my notebook, the little tome fitting in it snugly. Technically , I wasn't supposed to take books out of the Library of Frost into the heart of the Keep, but eating in the refectory was pretty much torture when no one would sit with you.

I preferred the company of a book over most Fae anyway, and I wasn't going to sit staring at the wall while I ate, counting bricks. Fuck no. This beat that and the little tome had an engaging way of describing the connection between water elementals and their magic, keeping me occupied.

Though occasionally my gaze strayed across the Fae further down the bench where Ransom was loudly regaling the tale of the creatures that had ‘attacked' him at Obsidian Cove. The glug fish sounded far more like ferocious sharks that he had ruthlessly overpowered in his version, and irritatingly, the Fae around him seemed to be eating it up. Some of them had literally been there watching on the beach, but now they were buying his bullshit like it was nectar to a bunch of mindless bees. There was no sign of Alina, and I guessed she'd decided to take her dinner in her room, feeding it through the pursed hole in her ass lips. I kinda wished I could be there to see that.

My gaze moved to the Stonebreakers, taking in some of the most dangerous-looking bastards among them and picking out anyone who might pose a real threat on the battlefield someday. My usual scouring of the Flamebringers' table lasted longer than any other, seeking the face of Kaiser Brimtheon, but I couldn't find him among them. The burn on my wrist was red enough to show the mark of his fingers where they'd gripped my skin, and hatred simmered in my blood as I ran my thumb over them.

Beyond the Flamebringers, the Skyforgers were eating by the long row of windows and my gaze paused on the Sky Witch. I felt the allure of her, but forced myself to stare at her until it was easier to detach myself from the seduction of her features. Then I returned to reading my book, eating a mouthful of vegetable stew that was a little too salty for my liking. Or maybe I was the salty one, my emotions the real stew inside me; the ache of missing Harlon, the vengeful rage I felt towards Kaiser, and the ever-persistent grief of my mother's loss.

Never rest, Everest.

I thought of her so often, her smiles, our moments together in the sun. She had loved me and my sisters dearly, but the eight-year age gap between the youngest of my elder sisters meant I had never been that close with them. They had shown no interest in me, perhaps because of the age difference or maybe they had seen me just as everyone else had. A runt. A daughter born to a Provider who they had assumed was done providing after so many years without producing a new child.

I didn't understand why my father had spent eight more years trying for another heir from my mother's womb. Was there a time frame designated by the Magistrine – the government of Cascada - in which she was meant to keep providing? I didn't know. I should have asked. Why hadn't I asked her more about what she'd been through? What it had been like to be assigned to a ruthless man like Commander Rake to birth warriors for our land? Had she ever loved him? And if not him, then someone? Anyone who had treated her with the adoration and affection she had deserved?

I sighed, returning my attention to my cooling stew and the book that could distract me from the questions I would never get an answer to.

By the time I was done eating, I'd finished the tome, flicking onto the last page and finding the emblem of Cascada sitting beside the prophecy I knew by heart. My mama used to recite it to me while brushing the salt and sand out of my hair before bed, and the memory of that pained me as I read it now.

War of the four, divided and torn asunder.

Flame, sky, rock and sea collide,

While the stars bless the valiant souls of battle.

Seek the void, for it shall guide the victor to their glorious path,

A weapon of purity, and the gift of null.

In a web of lies and cruelty, fate will favour the cresting wave of destiny,

And a bountiful empire shall be reborn under one all-powerful rule,

Garnering the fortune and favour of the almighty sky.

The prophecy had been spoken by a legendary Seer who had lived when the Endless War began and knew the four instigators of our conflict. The suggestion of a ‘cresting wave' being favoured in the war had confirmed in the hearts of Cascada's rulers that we would win the war. I hoped our generation would be the ones to lead them to that victory, and I would be among the heroes who brought the news of that triumph home. I could see myself now, standing on a battlefield with a sword held high and starlight gleaming off of my armour, marking me resplendent in their eyes.

An elbow jammed into the back of my head, knocking me out of that daydream and I hissed as I turned to look at the offending Fae. Ransom was walking by with his pack of sheep and he didn't look back as I glowered at him, my hand moving to the butter knife beside my bowl.

I let it go, figuring the Reapers keeping watch would punish me if I started a brawl. Instead, I gathered up my things and headed for the door, planning to get some more magical practise in tonight. My mental shields were improving, but the real test would be when I came face to face with Kaiser Brimtheon again. I couldn't let him gain possession over me twice.

Before I made it to the exit, an argument broke out in front of me, a male Skyforger with sleek blonde hair hurling his plate at the head of a red haired Flamebringer.

"What did you say to me?" the Skyforger barked, and the girl cursed as she ducked the plate and it smashed on the flagstones, drawing everyone's attention.

"I heard what you said in the Astral Sanctuary today. You were scoffing at the Reapers," the girl hissed, flames sparking in her hands. "You're an arrogant, waste of space Skyforger, and now you've shown what the aristocracy of your kind really think of our almighty prophets, Ogden Breeze. I heard your uncle is a Reaper. Fucking rich that is."

Ogden's cheeks pinked as he shot a sideways glance at the Reapers standing by the exit and my heart raced a little as they gave him narrow-eyed looks.

He thrust his chin up, looking back at the girl. "I have a right to question the world around me. Fae who accept it as it is are fools with minds easily bent to the will of others, fire harlot."

I glanced at the Reapers, my pulse quickening a little as I wondered if they were going to reprimand him for that. Although, he had a point in all honesty.

"My name is Kala Emberthorn," she hissed. "And the only fools here are the ones who scorn the stars' desires. The Reapers are practically gods among us, and you dare question them?"

"I stand for questioning all rules laid upon us, not just those of the stars," Ogden lowered his voice, clearly not wanting the Reapers to hear him, but I was sure they could. "Your small mind could never understand that, clearly." He turned away from her, marching to the exit and my eyebrows lifted at the fact that he hadn't offered the Reapers the words of respect when he'd passed them. He should have said ‘praise the stars.'

Muttering broke out and I walked after the Skyforger, offering those words to the Reapers myself.

Two of them spoke to me in reply. "Praise to those who tread their destined path."

I headed back to the Vault of Frost, then down, down into the dark where my quarters awaited me. It was there, as I entered the cold room and willed the everflame back to life beyond the grate, that I heard an echoing scream. Stilling, I listened, straining my ears as I moved to the low-hanging pipes where I was sure the sound was coming from.

Some dark, twisting sensation in my chest set me on edge. The scream didn't sound again, but it wasn't the first I'd heard in here and though I tried to convince myself it was just the groaning of the pipes, my gut told me I would be a fool to believe that. But here in the lonely dark, I had no one to tell.