Chapter 23

The moment is etched into my memory. The flickering brilliance of the bonfire, the electric excitement in the air as everyone in Haven waited in anticipation, even the way the shirtless Ozzie glistened in the light.

“Rose, what do you know of Haven?” he asked with the gravitas of a vicar giving a sermon.

“Not much,” I replied. “I was told you could tell me best.”

He nodded in approval. “Thirty-nine souls live on Haven, but I was here first. Eight years ago, my plane crashed near the island, and the first three of us eked out a life here.” He waved his arm, indicating the barely-visible outlines of the huts and shipping containers. “The sea gives and takes. What the wasteful and decadent world outside casts off gives us life and comfort.”

“You mean you haven’t tried to go home?” I asked.

“Why would we?” he asked, raising his hand in an orator’s pose like an old Roman statue. “There, we lived under the thumb of the League and the threat of the Grim Horde. We worked in cubicles to make other men rich. Here, we are the masters of our own destiny, and we can live life the way we were meant to.”

“And how is that?”

“As one with nature,” he said. “We clear the refuse from the waters, for what gives us life takes it from the sea. In return, the sea feeds us and keeps the corruption of the outside world at bay. However, the natural life is not easy, and it requires many hands to do the work. We are glad to have you here, Rose.” He turned, jogging around the fire and waving his arms. “Haveners, show her your best welcome!”

“Welcome!” The assembled islanders shouted at the top of their lungs, the word losing its meaning in the roar of the crowd.

“Hold on,” I said. “I have a life back home! I appreciate the offer, but I really need to be leaving.”

My words killed the enthusiasm instantly, and I heard angry muttering break out on all sides.

“People, please!” Ozzie motioned for silence, and the crowd gave it without hesitation. He has them well trained. “Can we blame her for clinging to the old life? There was a time when each of us hungered for the old days, for what was left behind. We know better now, but we cannot expect Rose to adjust immediately!”

“Look, I see what you’re doing, but I really don’t want any part of it,” I said. “I’ll help earn my keep while I’m here, but I won’t be staying long.” My hands shot to my mouth too late. So much for playing along! The words tumbled out of me.

Ozzie nodded condescendingly. “You must have left something special at home. Do you have a husband? A lover?”

I winced as Zack’s face crossed my mind. The moon dimmed as clouds gathered overhead. “N-not anymore.”

“A great career, then?” asked Ozzie.

My face blanched. “No, after that crash, my name is mud.” Again, the words came without my permission. Ozzie seemed oddly trustworthy all of a sudden.

“Perhaps a beloved family?”

“I have family, but things are… strained.” I shook my head, trying to clear my mental fog. “However, it doesn’t matter. I have responsibilities! Friends! I’m training to fight the Grim Horde, who will wipe out every last human if we let them. That includes Haven!”

“The Horde is not worthy of your fear or hatred,” said Ozzie, his words hitting deep. “They cannot come to Haven; the sea keeps its chosen in, and culls the outsiders who threaten her children.”

“You talk like the sea has a mind of its own,” I said.

Ozzie’s knowing grin reminded me of my dad. “It certainly does, at least here in Haven. Do you know what happens if we venture too far?”

“I can’t say I do.”

“The same thing that happens to intruders,” he said. “Your ship struck no reef or barrier, yet it capsized. That is the sea’s power; it chooses who it wants to join the chosen people, and the rest are cast away.”

“That’s bollocks, then!” I stepped towards Ozzie, jabbing my finger at his chest. I hadn’t realized how tall he was, towering more than a foot over me. That didn’t deter me one bit. “Zack and O’Connor didn’t deserve to die! Damn your sea if it thought otherwise!” I was shocked at my own language, but it got the point across.

Perhaps too well; the gathered Haveners roared with disapproval, some hopping to their feet and pulling out blades that glinted dangerously in the firelight.

“How dare she?”

“To Ozzie, even!”

“Blasphemous!”

Ozzie’s face settled into a grim mask, but he gestured to the crowd to sit. They did so without hesitation. “I’m sure they were good men, Rose. The sea’s wisdom is beyond our ken, but we can catch glimmers of it. That ship would have had more crewmen than we have people. If they had all made it, we’d have been overwhelmed. The sea chooses the best one or two from each wreck to give us, so we can feed them.”

“It screwed up,” I said. “I’m not the best.”

“That is a personal choice,” said Ozzie. “You are new, but it is best not to test the sea. It gives, but it also takes.”

Ozzie suddenly reminded me of Captain Zhang and his superstitious ways. He was disagreeable, but he didn’t deserve to die, either.

“Dry your tears, my dear,” he said. “You see? The old world dragged you down, because it’s too big. There are plenty of young women like you there, so they don’t treat you well. Haven needs you, Rose.”

He meant to comfort me, but that only reminded me of O’Connor’s words back at Fort Flamel. Another person I let down. I led him to his death. A light drizzle fell in response to my tears; not enough to put out the fire, but the islanders jerked in surprise.

Ozzie didn’t. While I was busy having a good cry, he pulled something from the satchel he wore. “It seems the weather has turned on us. It’s time to perform The Welcoming, Rose.”

On Ozzie’s cue, three of the men began banging on skin drums, shocking me out of my pity session. What is this?

As my eyes refocused, I started at the sight before me. An angular, wooden mask covered Ozzie’s face except for his mouth and chin. The projecting nose was carved like the snout of a crocodile, with overlapping teeth running down the whole length. It was perfectly made, down to the regular etchings that ran around his eyes. The symbols looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them.

They flashed orange, removing the mystery.

“Runes? What are you…” I trailed off, unable to tear myself away from his eyes. I should be panicking. He’s a wizard, or something worse.

“Rose, Haven needs you. You have come to us from the sea, chosen as the worthiest of joining the sea’s people. Do you have anything back home?”

“No,” I said with a finality that surprised me.

“You say you wished to fight the Horde. Do you really think one girl could make a difference?”

“No,” I said, feeling free and empty all at once.

“Then do you reject the outside world and all of its corruptions?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Then let your old life go,” he intoned, swaying on his feet in rhythm with the drums. “Focus on where you are, and what you are doing. The old world is dead to you, as it is to us. That will bring you true peace, true joy.”

“Makes sense,” I said. Something in me railed against it, but it grew quieter by the second.

“Will you work to build a paradise worthy of our lofty status as the sea’s chosen?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Of course!”

“Do you promise to do what you’re told, and nothing else?”

“Yes. No reason I shouldn’t, yeah?”

Strange, that ‘yeah’ sparked something in me. Was I copying someone?

Oh, well. It was nothing I’d have to worry about anymore.

Ozzie’s exposed mouth grinned, his red eyes glinting in the firelight. “Welcome to Haven, Rose. Welcome to our perfection.”