Page 30 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
She’s angry, child. You’ve made an enemy you don’t want.The voice drifted through my head again, coercing and terrorizing.
A sunken ship tilted on its side, wooden beams decaying from years of submersion and deterioration. Tattered flags and sails drifted lazily through the cooler, denser currents. I skewered under the main deck through a massive hole in the wood and froze as I felt the Nethergill approach.
I know you’re here, sacrifice. I won’t go back empty-handed again.
I slowly backed myself into the corner of the storage haul, rot eating away at the wood. Panic dug its claws into my chest, and I tried to calm my nerves—to filter through my ribbed gills slowly. However, I still shook, trembling ferociously and moving the water that wrapped my body.
Could the Nethergill hear my pounding heart?
Shadows flashed across the wood under the trap door ahead. The Nethergill lurked right above.
I can smell your fear.The voice raked nails down my thoughts, a sickening noise ringing through my head.
Its gangly arm reached into the opening before me, blindly knocking over barrels and crates that drifted downward through the water. Jagged fractures ripped across the flesh of the Nethergill’s arm, rotten and gooey ichor flowing viscously through the sea.
I fisted my dagger, knowing the water’s resistance would weaken a strike, but I floated ready to defend myself. I’d dietrying to survive. The blade shoved into the creature's hand wouldn’t kill it, but it might slow it down enough for me to lure it far from the crew.
I’d at least save them. My naive idea wouldn’t kill them. I’d make sure of it.
A piercing screech rang through the sea, thunderous, ravaging, and traveling through every direction. The creature’s arm jolted, spasmed as it retreated from the hole.
Silence followed. It pressed in like cold, murderous hands over a mouth, smothering even the thought of a scream.
I stayed frozen, sure the Nethergill expected to play on my naiveness and was awaiting me above.
A soft glow illuminated the opening, crescendoing every second. It didn’t banish the shadows. It pinned them as if searching for evidence. It flickered like it breathed, and each pulse felt like a warning.Was I dead?
Noctis’s body flailed against the water, working to propel himself toward me, and my body unraveled like a bowstring finally released, the tension snapping free all at once.
The god reached his hand out to me urgently, and I took it, his fingers wrapping mine firmly. His face scrunched, ballooned cheeks holding on to what little air he could gulp before he dived in for me. He projected light through the void that fluttered in intensity. And beyond, the Nethergill’s headless body drifted to the dark abyss below.
Noctis fought to stay conscious, his powers waning with him. I remembered what it was like to not be able to pull oxygen into my lungs and the sharp pains that accompanied the panic.
Gods. I need to get him above the surface.
“Back to the ship,” I demanded. He shot a gust of air at our backs, propelling us up, but it dwindled quickly, his feet frantically kicking in hopes to push us through the surface. I beat my tail, but it wasn’t enough. The surface was too far. His breath was too little.
He’s dying. He’s drowning. This is my fault.
Each second became critical, Noctis’s head nodding in and out of consciousness. My free hand raked through the water, clinging to the waning god in my other arm.
His power died off, legs slowing, and he fell limp. Too limp. I was left to swim carrying the lifeless body of the god.
Open air slammed into me as our heads broke the surface. Noctis didn’t move. Didn’t gasp for air. Didn’t breathe.
No. No, no, no…
“Here!” Calvin’s voice cut through the onslaught of my mind, tearing me from my hysterics.
He tossed over a rope, and I wrapped it around my wrist and hand, holding firm to Noctis’s body as the crew pulled us back on board. He nearly slipped when we reached the railing, but Jun and Zahara pulled us both to the quarter deck.
Noctis was dead. I was sure of it. His scars that normally glowed a matching hue as his hair dulled, unnatural paleness painting his skin. Zahara kneeled over the god’s body and pumped her overlapping palms into his chest in a rhythmic move. Over and over.
Noctis died saving me.I paced the deck, watching Zahara blow air into the god's mouth and resume shoving her fists into his still chest.
I begged. Begged for anyone to save him. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but watching the god’s lifeless body made me weak. My chest ached in immeasurable agony. My knees collided harshly with the deck’s wood, my head spinning viciously against my will.
“Jun…” the plea fell from my lips. The healer looked up at me wracked with devastation.
