“You’re sure there aren’t going to be any Defiled?” It’d been the third time I’d asked since we left the port. Each time, Portia would assure me no such creature would appear, but I just couldn’t shake the image of something coming up from underneath and dragging us into the dark ocean depths.

“You’re really squirrely for a man, aren’t ya?” said Portia.

I opened my mouth to speak, thought about it, then shut it.

“He seems somewhat capable,” said Ravyn. Her narrowed gaze and slight tug at the corner of her mouth told me there was more venom to that statement than how it sounded. Of all of the girls who had to sit facing me, why did it have to be her?

Hey, better question. Why did you ruin everything and kiss Keke?

I breathed a deep sigh. “I’m trying.”

Portia laughed. “Don’t get melodramatic on me, boy.”

“I’m not, it’s just—I got a lot on my mind.”

Cannoli turned her head toward me. “We’ll be here to help! Nyarlea’s a big place. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.”

I smiled. “Thanks.” As I rowed, Cannoli turned back to look at the ocean as my gaze drifted off to the harpoon lying at the bottom of the boat. It looked old and sturdy. Signs of wear and tear littered the weapon in dents and grooves. A few splinters of wood stuck out of the shaft and there were a few chips in the blade. “Old reliable?”

“Huh?” Portia raised an eyebrow.

“Your spear.”

“Harpoon,” Portia corrected.

“Your harpoon. Looks like it’s been through a lot. How long have you been doing this?”

Portia laughed. “Not terribly. Years at least. Old heirloom. Dad used it.”

My stare widened and for a moment I stopped rowing. “Your dad?”

“Don’t stop rowing. But yeah. He loved the ocean. Spent a long time out here.” Portia said something else afterward, but it came in a mumble. The swishing and ripples of small waves rocked the boat as we sat quietly. I had so much I wanted to ask. This was the first time I was hearing someone mention their dad. Even at the risk of sounding insensitive, there was one question that I needed to have answered.

“Where is he now?”

Ravyn raised her brows. “Wow, right through the heart. No subtlety with this one.”

“What a jerk! What a jerk! Squawwwwk!”

“Yes, he is. Yes, he is,” Ravyn crooned, ruffling the feathers of the bird on her shoulder.

Dumb bird.

“You don’t pull any punches.” Portia laughed. “It’s anyone’s guess where he is now. I used to wonder all the time, but after a while, I learned to stop asking mom.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine. I’m over it. Just focus on rowing. The faster you go, the faster we get there. You haven’t been to San yet, yeah?”

“No, not yet.”

“Be careful not to get too overwhelmed, boy.” Ravyn’s smile, her tone, her mannerisms. Everything about it put me on edge.

Was I supposed to be expecting something ludicrous and out of this world? Ni Island was a shock, sure, but it wasn’t too bad once you got used to it. I got what I signed up for.

“Many men become tainted by my island,” she purred.

“If the other girls are anything like you, I can see why.”

Ravyn’s smile disappeared, replaced by a scowl. Keke snorted. Ravyn passed a glare in her direction, and I returned the favor with a sneer of my own.

“Fine. Can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Her nose in the air, Ravyn folded her arms and readjusted her legs. Admittedly, I chanced a peek beneath her skirt.

“Wait! Look!” came Keke’s voice. I jumped, afraid I’d been caught. Portia came to a halt in her rowing, and I followed suit. We looked over to where Keke was pointing. What I saw beneath the surface horrified me. Three human-sized shadows hovered around the rowboat.

“What are they?” Sharks? Giant squids? Bigger catfish?

Portia grimaced. “Fishcats.”

I blinked. “Not catfish?”

Keke shook her head. “No. Worse.”

“They’re dangerous then?”

“Yeah. Get back. Hunch as close to the center of the boat as you can.” Portia rounded us together and hissed beneath her breath. “Damn it.”

“Just stick them through. Like you always do,” Ravyn whined.

“Stab them! Stab them! Squawwwwk!”

“Can’t you shut that bird up?” Keke hissed.

“Ball Gag?” The bird looked to its master, blinking twice and tilting its forehead. Ravyn tapped the end of his beak with a single finger. “I need you to be quiet.”

I moved to my knees between the first and second seats while Portia mirrored me on the opposite side. Keke and Cannoli turned to face me, then scooted in closer to Ravyn on the middle bench.

“Well, so much for personal space,” Ravyn murmured.

No one replied. I swallowed and sat as still as I could manage while the numerous shadows in the water circled our boat. As we waited, my mind made up as many scenarios as possible with how I could possibly handle them with such a short and stubby weapon. I glanced at Portia’s deadly-looking harpoon. I made a mental note to get myself one of those in San Island. Assuming we were to make it out of this.

“How long should we wait?” said Keke.

“Hard to say. They’re clever little cats. Sometimes they’ll leave a scout behind. Just in case their interest starts to move again.”

As she said that, two of the shadows disappeared, and my nerves calmed. I started to reach for my axe, but Keke caught my hand, shaking her head vigorously. I nodded back to her and gestured to free my hand. To my surprise, though, Keke didn’t let go, and the two of us quietly intertwined our fingers together and settled them down on the seat, hidden away from everyone else.

Her stare darted between me and water repeatedly. My heart pounded against my chest, but it wasn’t from the mermaids. Her hand was so soft and warm in mine. I caught her eye and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

Keke bowed her head for a moment before returning her gaze to mine. She shook her head with only the hint of a smile.

Just then, the shadows returned. This time they were bigger. Soon after, a few more joined in, and Portia clicked her tongue. “Weapons ready. We’re in for a ride.”

Keke let go of my hand in a flash and nocked her bow. The rest of us reached for our weapons, and as Cannoli and I made to stand up, Portia motioned for us to stay seated.

“Unless you want to capsize the boat, you stay put. Don’t stand unless you have to,” she snapped.

“S-sorry,” Cannoli mumbled.

“My bad,” I said as I scratched the back of my neck.

The shadows were moving quicker now, and their graceful circling had turned to frenzied patterns.

“What are they doing?” asked Cannoli. Her white-knuckled fingers trembled around her scepter as she squirmed.

“Hey, stop that,” said Portia.

“Sorry!” Cannoli clamped her jaw and stilled her quaking knees.

“They’re getting impatient,” said Ravyn. “I’ll need to stand for this. May I?”

“You’re going to do whatever you want anyways,” Portia sighed. It was clear that she wasn’t quite ready to provoke them, but Ravyn was done waiting, it seemed.

“Why, thank you.” Ravyn stood on the spot and rubbed her pointer finger against Ball’s wing. “See them?” Ravyn took Ball onto her wrist and held him over the water. “You know what to do.” With that, she raised her arm into the air, and Ball took flight.

“Tell me you have a plan,” I said.

“Matt. Unlike some of us, I always have a plan.”

Ball grew more and more distant. The fishcat’s fins flapped above the surface, splashing towering waves of water on us and into the boat.

“Little bastards,” I muttered. I felt completely helpless. Throwing my axe into the water would do literally nothing. Keke could try to shoot them—like fish in a barrel, perhaps—but there were just too many.

“Watch and learn, little boy,” mused Ravyn.

Ravyn held her hands at her chest and began to chant. “Beckoned by the one who has summoned you, I grant my body. As your catalyst and keeper, I command thee become a raging fire to silence those who would oppose me. To my enemies, I—”

Ravyn’s mantra was suddenly cut off by one of the fishcats leaping out of the water. It looked kind of like a mermaid with a scaly, fishy bottom and a separate top half. Except the top half was not the beautiful fantasy depiction I’d expected. It bore fur instead of skin, a feline facade that was far from human, and beady black eyes. It reached toward Ravyn with lanky, jagged claws. The fishcat screamed—a high-pitched trill that pierced my eardrums.

Ravyn shielded her face with her arms.

I had to protect her. I shot to my feet and lunged across Ravyn to strike the fishcat. The axe bit beneath the fur and into the flesh around the collar bone, granting me a convenient way to grapple the creature. It screamed again and tore at the bare skin of my legs as I dragged it into the boat with us.

Can we not do this again? With the legs?

Portia bellowed something, but I couldn’t hear her clearly between the constant splashing and aquatic chaos. Blood pounded in my ears as I drove my heel into the roach’s midsection to free my axe. The boat careened back and forth as more water poured in. I had to get this thing dead and gone before we sank.

With its glistening, soulless eyes staring straight into me, I raised the axe above my head with both hands and brought it back down, slicing into the beast with all my strength. I lost count of how many times I hacked into its body. I only stopped when I realized it wasn’t moving anymore. With a shove from my shoe, I pushed it back into the water. Blood was all over my hands, the boat, the girls, everywhere.

“Hurry!” I said to Ravyn. “We’ll guard you!”

“H-hai.”

Keke and Cannoli tried calling out to me. No luck; I still couldn’t hear a word she was saying despite our proximity.

“I-I g-grant you a scorched earth. Come forth! [Scorching Ring]!” Ravyn shot her arm into the air. A flash of light and the distant sound of flames coming to life erupted around the hovering parrot.

Heatwaves came with each beat of Ball’s wings as he began the slow spiral downward. After a while, he paused and circled in the air like a vulture.

I chanced a glance upward, and I could see a ring of dazzling flames beginning to form above us. Ball resumed his descent and his speed compounded. With it, the visibility of the ring.

Around us, the fishcats’ shadows were becoming more erratic. I held my axe above my head and waited, hoping that whatever Ravyn had in store for us was going to get us out of this.

Another fishcat leapt from the water, but this time I was too slow. You’d miss it if you blinked. A single, thin ray of light shot out from above and struck the fishcat in the head, traveling the length of its body and exiting through its tail fin. It fell right back into the water with its muscles twitching and blood pooling to the surface in a thick cloud.

The onslaught of rays continued, zapping the fishcats before they ever had a chance to breach the waters. One by one, the shadows floated to the surface, frozen looks of pain planted on their faces. Over a dozen fishcats hovered dead in the ocean.

To be honest, it was disturbing to see so much blood tinting the water.

In the same brilliant flash from before, Ball returned to his former magnanimous self, flapping back to his master and perching on her shoulder. The ring of death evaporated.

Afterward, all that accompanied us to San Island were the sounds of waves nudging the bodies up against the boat. That thumping noise would not be something I’d soon forget.

New Notifications!

Matt has gained: 40 XP!

Matt has gained: 1 level of Valor!

Ravyn has gained: 30 XP!