Page 42 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
They’re following us.
I met Noctis’s side and gripped the hand rails of the ship, sweat already beading across the surface of my skin.
“Any chance I could talk you into not throwing yourself into danger today?” Noctis uttered softly, his eyes glued to the mayhem. The Oricaans spared no one and nothing, merciless in their pursuit to destroy it all. I was tired of seeing innocent blood spilled.
“You can talk. I won’t listen,” I deadpanned. My eyes trailed the creatures as they stomped northward, tearing the village apart. “Start sailing out. I’ll catch up.”
I hurled myself over the railing, landing with a thud on the pier and took off after the destruction. Civilians fled in terror toward the sea as if they practiced the evacuation plan. The golden creatures towered over the buildings, their feline headspeeking across the horizon. Massive claws dug into the land, taking everything down in their wake.
The ground rumbled again, fissuring across the way before a fourth Oricaan emerged, turning to march alongside the others north toward the temple that connected the Terraguard Bound to Shadeborne Bound.
I flipped my dagger in my grip and waited for the creature to spin, revealing its exposed backside. But when it finally did, its massive size crunching buildings in the aftermath, the person orchestrating the beast's movements hid, shielded in gold casings.
“You taught us a little something the last time we ran into you.”
Raoku’s slithery voice made my teeth clench. I faced him, noticing immediately that he came to me unguarded, clothed in a velvety emerald suit, pristine for royalty. His close proximity worried me, only feet away.
And I was ready to dirty it with his blood. For his son, Jun. For my sister, Evelyn.
“Where is my sister?” I seethed.
A lazy smile tugged at his lips, followed by a breathy huff, as if my pain mildly amused him.
I’ll kill him just for that smirk.
“Ah, your memory is coming back to you quicker than hers. She still can’t remember her own name,” Raoku drawled, enjoying every syllable.
She’s alive.
I worked to keep the emotion from my face, knowing he would use every ounce of my feelings against me. A person that would hurt their own child, ignoring the pain in their own kin’s eyes, would use any advantage against their enemy.
“Let her go, or I’ll paint this ground with your blood,” I demanded, fists cramping from the iron grip on my daggers.
“I quite enjoy tearing her apart. She screams like you. Want to come join her?” His voice lathered slick with amusement.
And my anger rose like a tide that remembered it coulddrownthings.
I lunged for his throat, my rage burning my insides, refusing to be contained. Before I could crash into his abdomen, he disappeared in a flash of white light and reappeared behind me. I rolled across the ground as I hurled through where he should have been standing.
I snarled and quickly shot back up, prowling around him, each step measured, watching for a chance to strike. He laughed like a blade slicing into my pride. Then, he kicked up his foot, modestly shifting the dirt under his boots like a child at play.
“You could come with, you know. Try to save her and all. I’ll even put you both in the same cell.” He paused as if awaiting a response before he continued. “Then you could let your acquaintances search for this supposed titan. Have you ever asked them where this being even is? It hasn’t been seen in centuries. Sounds like a fool's mission to me.”
I gripped my daggers steady, but the words wrapped around my mind, stirring an unfamiliar uncertainty within me.What if the titan did not exist, and we were sailing to our deaths?But the sneer across Raoku's face belied the only sincerity he knew. Cruelty. And I would not allow his false words to falter my steps.I trusted the crew. Well, I trusted everyone fully except for the remaining shreds of doubt against Noctis. However, if I submitted to the Royal Vanguard, I may be able to find Evelyn and…
Noctis collided with the ground beside me, glaring eyes wandering between Raoku and I. He breathed heavily, his chest heaving as if the powers used to travel there exhausted him.
“She’s going nowhere with you,” the god barked at the commander.
Raoku grinned like a feline, full of ill intentions. “Oh, what a shame. I captured her parents, too. I thought maybe both of you would be interested—”
“He’s trying to deceive you,” an unfamiliar male’s voice cut through the air. “He has soldiers in the depths searching, but they haven’t found them, yet. He’s a liar.”
I shuffled back a step as if the words physically hit me. The male stood tall over my back, meeting the eyes of the commander. His shirtless, bronzed body glistened in the morning sun, damp as if he just jumped from the ocean himself.
“How would you know that?” I asked wildly.
The man responded not with words at first, merely lifting his tanned hand and twisting. Vapor from the air collected, forming a ball of water within his palm that he held above the brown wavy hair clipped short to his head. The sphere grew rapidly as he pulled the moisture from the area, and before I could close my shocked mouth, he blasted it into the torso of Raoku. The commander flew across the village street, uplifting the ground he dragged against.
