Page 14 of Sea and Sky
His agreement with Vex had been adjusted. Instead of a thousand silver coins, Vex wanted the phoenix stone. No doubt he wanted the stone for something nefarious, but if it bought Kyler his freedom, he didn’t care.
Despite being a pirate, betrayal had never sat well with Kyler. To get close to Gavin, to make him believe Kyler was helping him and not himself, that would be a betrayal. But it meant freedom, and Kyler thought he could do it for that alone. He could harden his heart if he needed.
The plan wasmuchbetter than selling the junk he stole from ships, or sucking cock, and much, much better than the few coins and jewels he could steal pick-pocketing.
It was perfect. Until the prince realized the truth. But by then, Kyler would be long gone. He’d swim off into the sunset and hopefully find other merfolk to teach himhowto be mer.
Of course, if Jessi was right, and the captain had no intention of letting him go, he didn’t know what he’d do. But that was a worry for another day.
Right now, he relished the bit of extra freedom he had. The Golden Drake—notthe Golden Goose—needed more repairs than the captain had anticipated. It’d take days for the supplies to arrive and then longer still for the labor. As were the rules of the binding, Kyler was allowed to roam to his heart’s content as long as he came back when called.
Waves gently rocked the boat, lulling him into a semi-comfortable state, but he wanted to be in the water. He had time to take for himself, not wanting to make it to landtooearly. According to rumors, the prince was supposed to present his bride-to-be in a parade. Parades were boring and Kyler had no desire to watch.
There was no one around for miles, so he dove into the ocean. He popped up for air and flopped to his back, floating in human form, staring at the cerulean sky. The water felt luxurious to his heated skin.
Not a cloud marred the crystalline vision above him. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the water keeping him comfortable. It didn’t matter if he fell asleep, if he sank, his body would become mer so he didn’t drown.
He shut out the world above, letting his hearing shift to listen to the symphony of sounds below the surface. Whale calls were his favorite, and he’d learned the sounds of a few different species. When he had the chance, he’d follow a pod for miles. Whales weren’t assholes like dolphins. Don’t even get him started on orcas. He didn’t mind sharks. Andmostfish were fine, but the ones that were transparent and he could see their innards creeped him out.
Kyler didn’t know how long he was in the ocean when the low drone of an incoming ship in the distance infiltrated his head, but it was the shriek from above water that forced him to take notice. He opened his eyes to a huge dragon blotting out the sun. Screams belted out. The red and white flag on the ship in the distance was Reynolds’s. Which meant the screams didn’t come from the crew. No—
Kyler knew what Reynolds did to the people he stole and Kyler couldn’t let the innocents get hurt. Not when this time he could actually help them. He ripped his pants from his legs, not caring that he’d never see them again. His shift rolled through him, though it burned to transform so quickly. He had a boat. Surely, he could help evacuate people before the ship was destroyed. Towing the rowboat, he swam faster than a dolphin towards the ship. The dragon circled above, taunting the ship with fire. The sails already burned. It wouldn’t take much to catch the rest.
People had already started to abandon ship. Reynolds, with his red hair, ran around demanding his crew stay, forcing magic to bind them to the ship. Apparently, if he was going down, so were they.
Once Kyler was close enough, he called out, then sank beneath the water to hopefully stay hidden from the captives. He watched the battle between dragon and pirates as the innocents said prayers of thanks to gods unknown to him and filled his rowboat. Luckily, it wasn’t too small.
Above, the dragon swooped and blew flames as he dodged cannon fire after cannon fire.
Reynolds wasn’t as adept at magic as Captain Vex was, or even Prince Gavin if the rumors were true. But like all pirates, he had a magic cannon. They finally had it wheeled into position. The crew stuffed the glowing spell ball in, aimed, and fired.
Kyler lifted above the water to warn the dragon, but it was too late.
A blast of orange light shot at the same time the dragon blew fire. The ball of light hit the dragon square in the chest as the ship ignited in flames.
No!
But the dragon didn’t go down. Kyler’s heart raced. He’d stopped paying attention to the rowboat once they’d started paddling to safety.
Only the crackle of fire made a sound. The sailors must all surely be dead. Kyler’s stomach lurched. Hopefully, all the captives made it to his rowboat.
The dragon flew listlessly. Squinting, Kyler couldn’t tell the coloring other than the beast was pale and getting closer.
After a sad whimper, the dragon’s shoulders and wings sagged just before it dropped. Kyler wasn’t fast enough to get away. With a splash, an enormous wing dragged him under.
He tumbled beneath the great leathery appendage for what felt like hours as they went deeper and deeper. The ocean pressed into him. Kyler tried to will himself to calm, but it was no use. His arms flailed and his tail flopped around uncomfortably.
He had to think around the problem logically. In his mer form, there was nothing to fear in the ocean. He wouldn’t drown. As long as the dragon stayed unconscious, Kyler simply had to wait.
Finally, the dragon shrank, losing wing, and scales, and talons as it morphed from beast to man and drifted away from Kyler. He had already planned on saving the dragon, but the glint of silver on the man’s head forced Kyler to work quicker. Prince Gavin.
Kyler’s heart pounded. If he couldn’t save the prince, he would lose his freedom forever. He wouldn’t be able to afford the high price of it.
He closed the distance between them. Kyler wrapped an arm around Prince Gavin’s waist. Blood bloomed around them from several wounds, and Kyler hoped they wouldn’t prove fatal.
He propelled them to the surface, but had to go painstakingly slowly. Prince Gavin sunk them deep and Kyler couldn’t risk him getting decompression sickness. Kyler only knew about the problem because of merfolk horror stories he learned as a child. As they ascended, he noted Prince Gavin’s handsome face was surprisingly peaceful.
When they broke through the waves, the rowboat was so far ahead of them he couldn’t see it. The rowboat that had Kyler’s jar of sand among other things. Kyler pulled the prince along, being as gentle as possible, but the man wasn’t breathing.
