66. Ries

66

Ries

I have no idea what's going on. One second I'm talking to Kami, the next I'm floundering in water in which I should be rejoicing.

But it no longer feels like home, and that scares me more than anything.

A long blue tentacle wraps around me. Impossible to resist as it's pulling me toward its mouth. It opens, and giant black teeth, sharp and serrated, await me.

I can't die yet. I have to save the others, wherever they've gone. I hope they're not drowning with me. Potential food for this kraken who ripped a sea serpent in half with ease.

Before I can even try to escape, I'm tossed into its mouth, barely missing the closing of its teeth behind me as it swallows me down.

I pass through a chamber that filters out water. I land, but not in its gullet.

Shockingly, I find myself in a comfortable looking room outfitted with furnishings, bright light, and a beautiful, familiar female I haven't seen in years .

She has long, ocean-blue hair and skin a shade paler. Her eyes are pure white and sparkle with magic. She could almost pass as a regular despite her coloring, except she has a way of moving that indicates she's likely water born.

I blink. "Lou?"

She smiles. "Hey, Ries. What are you up to?" She helps me stand, and I realize we're in a ship of some kind, the walls painted a light blue, the ground underneath us firm yet not made of wood. There are a few chairs and a table, upon which a tray of sweet meats and kelp has been prepared.

She grabs a pitcher and pours me a goblet of water I drink down, parched.

"Thanks. Where am I?" A pause as I consider something more likely. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

Lou laughs. I can't remember the last time we met. In my father's kingdom, perhaps, for some festival celebrating Poseidon and Tethys?

"You're alive, with me, in Lake Divine."

I recall the kraken with alarming clarity. "There was a kraken…"

She pats the side of the ship fondly, and I realize the wall is shiny. And shifting in color, ocean- to lake- blue. Like the kraken. "You're inside Bubba."

I wipe a hand over my face. "Is this the baby kraken you've been raising?" I say baby, but the thing has to be several years old.

Lou's a nereid, a water nymph. She also happens to be a godling. They have strange powers that vary, depending on many factors. Rumor has it her father is Poseidon, but it's only rumor.

If her father is a major deity, she'd be strong enough to control a spawn like this. Though Lou has never been all that physically powerful, and I've never seen her do magic. Then again, our meetings have been limited.

But she's always been softer and kinder than those associated with deities. I'd know. Even though a minor priest, my father is a huge jackass. And don't get me started on my mother, Queen of the Dickheads.

"Bubba is gearing up for his first mating." She sounds like a proud mother. "He's a funny little guy."

Little?

"We've had a few bumps here and there, but nothing major."

I swallow. "So we're inside him?"

She nods. "In his first stomach, through his first mouth. I don't know if you noticed, but his teeth are smaller here."

"I didn't notice," I say drily.

She grins. "I guess size is relative. But we're safe and dry. His second and third mouths chew and crush and empty into his other stomachs." She pauses, reading my doubt. "Really, Ries. You'll be okay in here."

"Yeah. About that. Thanks for the rescue."

"Sorry I wasn't sooner. Been keeping an eye on the games." She sighs. "I've been ordered to spy on the trials. What the war god has planned is dangerous."

"So you're keeping tabs on this for some higherups?" I'd mention her father, but I don't want to make her uncomfortable. If Poseidon is her dad, he's not winning any father-of-the-year awards. The guy puts mermen to shame the way he fucks anything that moves.

Lou nods. "Yes. The gods are worried but also curious. If Beyrthnel succeeds in coming through to the mortal plane, he'll disrupt the fabric of The Meld. And it's taken centuries for everyone's magics to finally come into balance."

I hear what she isn't saying. "But if Beyrthnel succeeds, then they want to know how he does it so they can come through and join the party."

Her unhappy expression says volumes.

"This is beyond bad."

"Yes." She frowns at me. "But why did I have to rescue you at all? Water is your element."

I hold up my forearm, where Folas's cursed mark throbs under my skin.

She gasps. "That's so wrong." Then she gets a look in her eye I haven't seen before. She looks mad. And mean.

The expression doesn't fit on the godling's beautiful face.

That's when it strikes me. "You're wearing clothes now?"

Lou used to go around naked, as most sea creatures eschew clothing for what nature gave them. Clothes tend to drag in the water.

But now she's clad in silken fabric that clings to her shape. The material shines when she moves, like a multitude of mini scales.

The scales remind me of Malkar. Is he okay? Are the others?

Then I realize why I like Lou's outfit so much. It reminds me of Kami's.

Vulnerable Kami, whom everyone wants to kill.

"I have to get back. My friends are?—"

I swear as Lou grips my forearm and twists, as if wringing out a wet towel. She squeezes so hard it feels like my arm will pop off.

What the hell? The gentle nereid I used to know could barely carry a bucket of crabs without help.

"Lou, that— Fuck. "

Then magic sizzles, and I feel reborn, loved by the water all around us.

It throbs inside, that miracle of life that comes from the sea, from the lakes and rivers, the rain and the clouds .

I sigh and cradle my arm, which is sore but light, the curse on my magic gone. Finally.

Lou scowls. "That should never have been. One doesn't bind Water's Son from Water's Breath."

"Thank you." I jerk as the floor tilts.

She frowns, says something in a language similar to those used by whales and water beasts.

The reply is deep and comes from all around us.

"Bubba says there is another in the water. A fae who's dying."

"Get him." I remember my manners. "Please."

She nods and races out of the room—stomach?—we're in. I stay where I am, not sure I want to see the rest of Bubba's insides.

Moments later, she arrives with Crash sliding behind her, carried in a tentacle made of water.

He comes to rest before me, and he looks terrible. He's bleeding from several places, his face mottled with bruises.

He's not breathing.

Lou rushes around gathering herbs and jars while I kneel and put my head to his chest. I can't tell if there's a faint heartbeat there, but I don't have time to waste.

I put my hand on his chest and concentrate. Not every mage can do this, but water is mine to bend and twist, to command, as I'm its humble servant.

Calling to that which should not be in his lungs, I pull it from his chest and out through his pores and hear the wheeze of air filling those spaces.

Then Lou is there, gently pushing me out of the way while she shoves something into Crash's mouth. "Hold him. This will hurt."

I brace myself over him just as he shudders and spasms, nearly shaking me off. Lou joins me, and together we hold him down until he stops jerking.

He's so still, I fear he's gone.

"Wait." Lou nods to him.

We sit back on our heels and watch his chest rise once, then fall. Then rise again.

Crash coughs and slowly opens his eyes.

They widen when he sees Lou, and I know it's not every day you drown then wake up to a gorgeous blue nereid smiling down at you.

But when he spots me, he rushes to sit up, only to break down in a fit of coughing.

He grabs my shirt to hold himself up. When he catches his breath, he says in a rush, "They got Kami. She's dying. They're all dying. We have to help."

"Who has her?" My heart pounds, fear taking hold once more.

"Enwiss and the others. All of them. I'd swear I felt the war god's presence in there too before they tried to drown me."

Kami has been tasked to stop the war god.

By extension, so have we.

"It's too late," Lou says, her voice soft. "Beyrthnel has come. I feel him. And I feel… her. " Lou's expression softens. "Your friend is dying, Ries, so he can be reborn."

We're too late.