Page 97 of The Silent Mountain
Meanwhile, Elio has caught up to us, rushing towards the ugly creature with his claws upfront. He knocks against it with full force. The grip of the creature loosens slightly, and I use the moment to grab my dagger again, driving it into its body with full force. I don’t know what I hit or if it works, but I don’t care. I am not going to die doing nothing!
The bird creature screeches again, spurring me on, that my efforts aren’t in vain. I keep digging my dagger into its claws until I can finally feel its grip loosen fully, making me drop down into the ocean. Both Elio and the creature follow me.
Ros curses when we finally reach the water. The pain takes my breath away, but it’s still manageable.I want wings!She huffs.We have been falling into the water a lot recently!
You are right, but we have other problems now!
Ros and I ready ourselves to attack the ugly creature, when I hear the soft humming again. It’s the same as last time I was in the water. The alluring voice… I try to force my eyes to stay open and my mind focused. Next to me, Elio drops into the water in his human form. His strength must have left him again. He is too young to remain in his dragon form for long. Favian once explained to me that it’s different to fly over the ocean. It sucks the strength out of the dragons much faster, probably, because it’s the space between two realms.
“What’s this melody?” Elio mutters, his eyes glossing over.
I grab him by his hand, shaking it slightly. “Don’t listen to it!”
The creature above circles before lunging towards us again. It happens so fast I can barely register what’s truly going on. Suddenly, there is a face next to Elio and me. A creature that looks vaguely feminine, almost human, just with greenish skin and hair as black as the night. Instead of teeth, she has fangs, little sharp teeth that I don’t want to come in contact with, ever. Elio and I are both completely frozen, barely able to react when she grabs us and pulls us with her into the depths of the ocean. Above us, I can see the bird’s claws diving into the water, not reaching us, and then the tentacles of a sea monster suddenly hurtling upwards and wrapping around it. The screeching makes me almost lose consciousness, while the new creature keeps dragging us more and more to the depths of the ocean.
thirty-one
Lorelai
*ALANA*
Thefurtherfromthesurface we get, the more difficult it becomes to breathe. I can see Elio struggling, and it’s this that finally wakes me from my shock. Goddess, this is not much better than being dragged away by that bird!
I tug at my arm, trying to free it from the grip of the sea woman-creature, while gurgling, hoping it will distract her. She turns to look at me, her gaze almost curious. Cocking her head to the side she starts humming a song again. Next to me, Elio’s body goes limp as if he’s fallen asleep. I try to fight against it, but eventually the darkness lures me into a warm, comfortable sleep.
I dream of Favian and how he holds me in his arms. We are celebrating something. It looks like my coronation ceremony. But that’s not what makes me the happiest. I am much happier to have Favian next to me. Elio is standing together with Cassie and Theodor. Everyone else is there too, Barbara, Ludwig and-
Barbara…
For a moment, I want to ignore my gut feeling. I just want to linger in this dream, because everything in it is cozy and warm, and there is no pain, no war, no threat.
But it’s not real.
I want the real Favian, and I want to be there for the real clan.
“Stop it…” I mumble, forcing my eyes to open. “Stop it…”
A weird cooing sound meets my ears, a bit like a pigeon, just underwater. Underwater… I sit up abruptly, almost hitting my head against the ceiling of a small cave. Next to me, Elio is lying on the ground, still unconscious. And in front of me, in the water, there is the sea woman, who pulled Elio and me underwater.
But if we are underwater, how come we are in this cave now?
Alright, Alana, practical things first. Elio needs to wake up immediately! I am scared he’s been hurt–if not in his struggle with the bird monster, then while being dragged so far into the water–but to my surprise, I manage to startle him awake pretty easily.
“No!” he blurts. “Get away from Alana!”
“Elio!” I grab his shoulders. “It’s okay. I am fine.”
Elio stares at me, blinking a couple of times before shaking his head.
“We are fine,” I assure him. “Well… at least I think we are fine.”
“The bird!”
“Pretty sure that got ripped apart by that tentacle sea monster,” I remark.
“What’s with the other sea creature that dragged us under the water?”
I turn my attention to said creature. The sea woman is eyeing me, but to my surprise, she looks at us curiously. She doesn’t seem to want to intimidate us. “She is technically still here.”
