Page 54 of When Monsters Fight
Her eyes gleamed like wet stones. “In the beginning, I sent my people to investigate. We retrieved their dead bodies from the waters offshore. But maybe you will fare differently and this world will be healed. If not, then we will retrieve the bodies of your cargo and have our feast.”
A win-win situation for her, it seemed. “Can you lead us to Perinady?”
“It seems your ship is bound toward it anyway. But I willclear the mist so that you may see your path. We’ll be watching, and if you go off course, you will hear our cries.” She didn’t wait for my confirmation before turning away from us and walking into the mist.
The other creatures leapt into the water. After a few moments, the fog parted, clinging to the sides of the boat but leaving our path clear.
Jilyana sagged, hand on her chest. “We did it.”
“Youdid it, Jilyana. I was ready to battle, but you reasoned with her. Thank you.”
She dropped her gaze and shook her head. “I just…I want to help. I need to fix things. To atone.”
“And you will. We’re so close.” The relic called to me. “It’s so close now.”
Jilyana frowned and dragged me toward the bow. “Rue, is that…is that land?”
A strip of gray sat on the surface of the sea in the distance. “Yes…yes it is.”
Chapter 27
We’d expected to be sailing for four days, but barely three days after we’d set sail, land was in sight. The relic and the gate were close. My stomach fizzed with excitement and apprehension. What were these Ioness creatures like? How many of them would we be up against?
No one would say it, but we were all exhausted. The last week had taken a toll on us, and even the past two days on the ship hadn’t been enough to recharge us.
But once Lucifer had all the relic pieces, we’d pass the baton to her. The last leg of this race would be hers, and we could go to base zero and wait for her to restore the balance.
“I can see them in the water,” Asbeel said from the bow. “Those creatures that wanted to eat us are following the ship.”
“Of course they are,” Gabriel said. “They’re hoping we’ll die and end up in the water so they can feast.”
But that wasn’t the impression I’d gotten. “I think, if they have a choice, they’d like their circle to go back to the way itwas. To be populated. To have the status quo restored. Eating us would be a consolation prize.”
Silence fell, the only sound the whoosh of the sea as the strip of land grew closer. Kabiel hadn’t bothered taking the helm. We were headed in the right direction, after all. Instead, he stood beside me, arms crossed, watching the rapidly incoming shoreline.
“We’ll have to drop the anchor soon,” Kokabel said. “We’ll fly the rest of the way.”
There was a small boat tied to the side of the ship, but I didn’t relish being so close to the waves, despite the strange tentacle woman’s promise.
“I see a light,” Yomiel said from the air. “I don’t see any creatures, but the land has many small hills. The light comes from within.”
“We’re close enough,” Kabiel said. “Release the anchor.”
The rattle of chains as the anchor was released was followed by a loud splash as it hit the water. The ship came to a halt, bobbing in place as we gathered our party.
Jilyana held on to the backpack, but Gabriel took the bat.
“I’ll carry Rue,” Gabriel said to Kabiel. “You need your talons free to fight if need be.”
But I could fight too. “Jilyana and I can fight as well. We can blast any threat that stands between us and the relic.”
“Then I’ll make sure we stay close to you,” Asbeel said, holding his arms out to Jilyana.
We took to the air and approached the land in a V formation with Kabiel at the helm. I caught the streamlined dark shapes of the siren creatures in the water swimming toward land, but they stopped where the water grew shallow, heads bobbing above the surface to watch as we arched through the sky aiming for the beach.
This high up, it was easy to spot the glow on land. It peeked out from between jutting mounds of rock.
My blood heated, chest burning with awareness even though the door to the power was closed.
