Page 75 of Salt in the Seas
“Sirens haven’t been seen since the Great Divide.” Velden set down his glass. “They’re predators, like lions of the sea. They reel men in with their wordless songs to devour them. My mother was nothing like that, and she never gave me the impression that the other Sayhleens were either.”
He held up his webbed hands before his own eyes, as if seeing them for the first time. “But you’re right that physically they’re probably a cross between the two. On land, they look and function like half-lights, but in water, they all form gills and scales, allowing them to dive deeper than any warm-blooded half-light should be able to. Some only gain webbed hands and feet like me, while others form full tails and fins below their waist.” His tone turned forlorn.
What would they find on Sayhla Island?Ifthey ever managed to find the starbridge in Andel…
“It’s said they were cursed or blessed by the sprites,” Velden said, “depending on how you look at it. A man came to them asking for the ability to dive deep and swim leagues. They twisted his request intoforming a new race, subjecting him and his family to a life so tied to the water they could never leave.”
“That definitely sounds like the sprites,” Gaeren muttered.
Velden’s eyebrows rose in satisfaction. “And yet…they worship the sprites.”
“What?” Cyrus asked, his face holding the same shock that Gaeren felt.
“Think about it.” Velden leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Vendarans worship the Sun because they believe it created them. Lorvandans worship the Stars because they believe they created them. If Sayhleens believe sprites created them, why would they not worship them?”
“Because they’re terribly cruel?” Gaeren suggested, and Riveran snorted from beside him.
“Well, where do the sprites come from?” Cyrus asked.
“Where do the winex come from?” Sylmar countered. “Or the dragons? They’re created the same as any other creature.”
Gaeren frowned. He supposed that made sense. But unlike the winex and dragon, who seemed to have the choice to seek good or evil, all the sprites seemed bent on twisting truth and causing havoc.
“That might be a better question for Orra,” Gaeren said. “There’s something evil about the sprites. I’m not sure how they could have been created by the Sun just like anything else.”
Cyrus nodded, his show of support surprising when he still likely believed the Stars to be the creators.
Riveran leaned over, his words for Gaeren’s ears only. “I’ve thought the same ever since that blackness came out of the one I killed.”
Gaeren stilled as his mind went back to the moment they’d escaped the sprites. It had been chaos, and they still didn’t know which deal the sprites had taken, if any. But Riveran had killed the sprite they’d bartered with, and in that moment, a darkness had fluttered out of the sprite and escaped from the cave.
Gaeren had wondered if they’d released something far worse into the world with that action, but then he’d forgotten about it. Now, Riveran’s reminder combined with more recent events brought a truththat made him go cold all over, despite the warmer breezes in the southern currents.
“It was a dark spirit,” Gaeren whispered.
“What?” Riveran asked.
“I saw them enter Arvid and Mayvus. The dark spirits that feed on blood magic. I thought the ones in Myndren were the first I’d seen, but you’re right. A dark spirit came from the sprite.”
“What are you saying?” Riveran asked. “That the sprites fuse with dark spirits? That they’re doing blood magic?”
Gaeren shook his head slowly, remembering the way the dark spirit had been evident in Arvid and Mayvus, how their eyes had turned black and smoke had come from their ears and nose. The cold darkness he’d sensed from the spirits hadn’t been present in the cave. Not until Riveran had killed the sprite.
“I’m saying we may not know where sprites come from, but now we know where dark spirits come from. They’re dead sprites.”
CHAPTER 29
Orra followedthe path around the lower bailey until she reached the weakest part of the wall, where the winex worked alongside the soldiers. Sixteen days into their cycle, they were at their prime—able to lift twice as much as the soldiers. But several of them grumbled and dragged their feet as they laid stones and mortar to strengthen the ramparts. They took their cue from Felk, who hadn’t quite settled in with the people this time around. Perhaps it was because he’d only had one day with Aeliana before she’d set sail.
“Day eleven and no sign of Mayvus,” General Nels said as he came up behind her.
She kept her tone even as she turned. “I already told you she went back to Ahmranas five days ago.”
“And yet our soldiers lost sleep pulling extra guard duty the last few days on the off chance you were wrong and she still came, arriving early by boat.”
She turned back to the winex. “That decision was not suggested by me.”
“It’s awfully convenient that she went back so fast.”
