The selkies led them away from the ocean, instead leading them further inland towards the mountain. The townsfolk stayed behind, flittering back to their jobs as Elf and the others were prodded with spears, the metal digging into their back and sides. Elf wondered if they were going around the mountain to another part of the ocean, only hiking because of their inability to grow tails. Instead, two of the leaders - men wearing the same torn, beating clothing as the women - ducked around one of the taller, naturally forming pillars and disappeared completely. Jian followed first, limping heavily, and Elf took a long breath before following. Anwen stayed close on his heels.

Elf ducked beneath the craggy stone, the smell of dirt and brine filling his nose. They had been led into a cave, the rocks jagged and sleek from water, narrow enough to only fit the small group in a single file. The spear behind him dug into the small of his spine, threatening to break skin.

‘O Se, what’s going on?’ Mihri’s voice echoed through the space.

‘We’re getting a meeting with this leader type,’ he said.

‘Maeraphe,’ Jian offered in front of him.

‘Right,’ Elf said.

‘Is that it?’

‘They’re not happy to have us here?’ Elf offered. Mihri didn’t reply, and he wondered if that was all of the conversation, or if he’d have to continue it back on Ossory. Jian glanced back at him, as if wondering the same thing, and the woman in front of Elf shoved the man forward again.

It didn’t take long for the tunnel to widen, for the ground beneath them to become rockier and more uneven, before opening up into a massive cave. Elf stopped in his tracks as glittering lights blinded him for a second, hundreds of blue and green splattered across the walls and roof of the cave.

A great caldera spread out before him, the walls crystalline and lined with bright red veins of lava, frozen in time by whatever magic lived here. They were prodded onto a flat grove of the floor, before each of the selkies dove off the edge of the great cliffs in front of them. The sleek, grey bodies of leopard seals replaced their human form under the water, which was a strange reflective teal colour, small pockets of steam building around the edges of the walls. A line of sweat immediately coated his face, and Elf shook himself.

Two guards stood on either side of the cliff leading down to the water below, each of them watching as Elf regarded the space. Mihri stared up at the dried volcanic crust of roof above, and Jian watched the water in a mimic to Anwen. Elf inched forward, his clothes already sticking to his body, and he wondered if they would mind if he jumped in with them. Instead, when he approached the edge of the cliff, a wave of dizziness sent him stumbling back. He caught himself against Mihri, tearing her attention away as a familiar, painful chill washed over him.

‘Well, shit,’ he mumbled.

Another wave of dizziness washed over him, and he swore, his hand finding Mihri’s and squeezing hard enough to make the bone click. The cave around him turned blurry and waving back and forth, the lights around him dimming.

‘Can you fight it?’ Mihri’s voice sounded in his ear, echoing around his skull.

‘I don’t know,’ Elf hissed. He grit his teeth as a cold, clammy feeling washed over the sweat on his skin. His legs turned to jelly under him, but Mihri caught him before he could collapse completely, her fingers digging into his shoulder.

‘I’ve got you,’ she said.

Elf forced himself to his feet, shaking off the dizziness only for another spell to wash over him, this time joined with cold water dripping down his back. Quotinir’s voice echoed through his head, grating and scraping against the back of his skull.

I will not be disobeyed.

A sharp pain sliced through Elf’s chest and he fell to his knees, then kept falling, further and further down into the dark abyss as his strength finally gave out. Down and down he fell, past the cave, down into the waters of the deep, away from light and life. Elf forced his body to relax, to stop fighting to breathe, to let go of his body, but once again a lifetime of instinct caused panic to sink in. Underneath the thudding anxiety pounding in the base of his skull, Quotinir’s voice sounded again, rippling through the water around him.

You will not disobey me again. You will throw the chest and its contents into the water the next time you see it, Elfyn O Se, or you will cease to exist. You have until the moon falls.

Elf wanted to say something clever, or rude, or just scream in frustration, but before he could, something hot and furry wrapped around his middle and yanked him back hard. He spun into a burst of white light that burned through his body, and he was solid again, lyin on the floor of the cave and shaking uncontrollably. Both Mihri and Anwen were standing over him, their figures blurry and out of focus.

‘What the hell…’ Elf gasped, the words catching between coughs as salt water burned his throat. ‘… is in that chest?’

Anwen tilted her head. ‘Nothing. Just me.’

A third head appeared over him as his vision sharpened, an unfamiliar face that stared at Elf with the intensity of a typhoon. The newcomer had a long, straight nose and arched brows, their hair choppy and short around their pointed ears, their skin holding a waxy grey quality. As Elf struggled into a sitting position, they straightened and crossed their arms over their chest.

‘Now,’ they said. ‘None of that in my house.’

Elf recognised the words as Islite, but not the accent with them. It swallowed them in a harsh drawl, swallowing the vowels and drawing out the language in strange places. Elf shook the sea water from his hair, the frenzied movement popping the block in his ears. He regarded the stranger once more.

‘You must be the scavenger,’ they said.

The name clicked immediately, and Elf struggled to his feet, swaying as his legs still lacked the strength to hold him. ‘You must be Maeraphe,’ he returned.

The selkie nodded. ‘What may I call you?’

‘I am Captain O Se, of the Ossory,’ he said.

Maeraphe raised an eyebrow in surprise. ‘An isle man? How interesting. Perhaps I don’t have the most immediate reason to drown you. However, your man owes me a debt now, and I need you to translate its delivery.’

Elf turned to Jian, who paled. Elf felt another cold wave wash over him, this time dread. ‘What did you do?’ he demanded.

Jian flinched. ‘I didn’t want you to go under again,’ he said. ‘Not now. I asked them to bring you back, though I don’t know what they want in return.’

‘That was stupid,’ Elf said.

‘It was a reactionary thing.’ Jian hung his head, a patch of red creeping up his neck, and Elf sighed. On top of all the other bullshit he was dealing with, Jian echoing his ability to make threatening and reckless decisions was not one of them. He turned back to Maeraphe.

‘What do you want from him?’ he asked.

Maeraphe smiled. ‘Only a few drops of blood. A young, innocent thing like him has much to spare, and he has no use for it.’

The selkie clicked their fingers, and one of the women emerged from the water with a seal pelt draped over her body like a long cloak. One slender hand emerged from under the fur, revealing a small, glass vial. Elf grimaced.

‘Take mine instead,’ he said. ‘It was me you had to pull away from Quotinir.’

Maeraphe smiled. ‘Angering the Chained One is its own reward,’ they said. ‘But you are not the one who made the deal.’

‘I can speak for him.’

‘I don’t want your blood,’ Maeraphe said. ‘You are almost sea spray; your humanity is a mere burst of wind away from vanishing into the ether. It has no worth here.’

The words stung, but Elf knew they were true. He didn’t have long before Quotinir decided to end him in a second, but Jian had already paid enough for Elf’s mistake. ‘And what if my companion is the one to replace me when I perish?’ he asked.

Maeraphe only smiled a sly, horrible grin and held out the vial. When they didn’t say anything, Elf sighed and took the vial, then turned back to Jian.

‘They want a few drops of blood,’ he said.

‘Oh, is that all?’ Jian dropped to the cave floor and pulled a small dagger from the cuffs of his boots, readying it in his fists. Elf grabbed his wrist before the blade could connect with the other man’s arm.

‘That’s never all,’ Elf hissed. ‘Didn’t you ever hear stories about blood fiends as a kid?’

‘Of course,’ Jian said. ‘Got stories about shape-shifters too, but they shed skin to take away their disguise, not the other way around.’

‘Selkies are magic; they’re tricksters.’

‘I thought they just had sex with anything that moved?’

Elf glared at him. ‘Please think about this.’

Jian stared back, his gaze surprisingly hard. ‘No. Let me do this.’

The force behind his words surprised Elf, and he took a step back, releasing the man’s arm. Jian glared for a moment longer, then ran the blade down the back of his forearm, a red trail following the metal. Jian hissed, then passed the blade to Anwen and held the vial under the wound, letting the scarlet drops fill the glass. Once it was full, he corked it and passed it to the waiting selkie, who swept it into her cloak and dove back into the water. Anwen considered the blade in her hands, then placed it in her mouth, her tongue running along the surface. The selkie guarding her grimaced.

‘Thank you,’ Maeraphe said. ‘Now, the reason why you have stepped into my house, Champion of the Chained One.’

‘I’m not his champion,’ Elf growled.

‘You say that like you have a choice in the matter.’

Elf glowered.

‘Don’t be so personal,’ Maeraphe said. ‘He is rough with all of this champions, and from what I heard, you were careless to him first.’

‘I didn’t…’ Elf swallowed the retort as the guard next to him pressed closer. ‘I’m not here to talk about that.’

‘They’re here with me,’ Anwen said.

Maeraphe spun around, their face splitting into a wide grin that showed yellow, pointed teeth. ‘Hello, little fish,’ they said. ‘Last I heard, you were hiding on land with the other humans. What’s this about coming back to the tundra?’

‘I got caught,’ Anwen said.

‘What else did you expect?’

It was Anwen’s turn to glower. ‘I expected I could come here and ask for help.’

‘No,’ Maeraphe said.

Elf stepped forward. ‘No, you won’t grant us safe passage through your territory?’

‘Hush, little scavenger. The big kids are talking now.’ Maeraphe brushed him away with a wave of their hand, and the guard stepped forward again. ‘If that’s all you’re here for, the answer is no. I’ve seen that hulking bastard you’re travelling on; I won’t have it pollute my waters. But, that’s not why you’re here, is it, Anwen?’

‘My ship is not—‘

‘O Se, shut up,’ Anwen snapped. She squared her shoulders, meeting the gaze of the other creature with her unblinking stare. ‘I need to find the shoal.’

‘The Chained One’s shoal? Well, most of those fish are waiting for you once you cross my borders. Hardly anything that needs my assistance.’

‘You know which kind of shoal I mean.’

‘Yes, I do, and my answer is no. You are travelling in the presence of the Chained One, and will I help you travel to a territory where you have the power to release him? Hardly something I can support you in.’

‘You said so yourself,’ Elf said. ‘If she planned on doing that, she just had to jump into the water. Isn’t that proof enough?’

Maeraphe only smiled. ‘Those were your orders. Not hers.’

Elf scowled.

‘Whether you intend to release the Chained One or not is not my concern. He wants you because you are the most devout to the First, the one with enough power to free him. You threaten the entire archipelago, and I will keep my people safe first. To work with or against him in present company is a threat to the chains that hold him. You know that. His champion stands with you now.’

Elf felt another wave of cold dread fall over him at the words. If this deal of hers was enough to release Quotinir, even by chance, then he and any other human on these waters didn’t stand any chance. His promise to get his crew home would mean nothing. ‘What are they talking about?’ he asked her.

Anwen shot him an angry look. ‘Can we continue this meeting in a more private setting?’

‘Of course.’ Maeraphe swept their arm towards the water below. Ignoring Elf’s shout of protest, Anwen turned and dove in, her legs merging into a long, colourful tail as she hit the water and disappeared. The guard next to him angled the spear closer to Elf’s neck in warning. Elf swore.

‘What’s going on?’ Mihri asked. Elf watched as Maeraphe swept their own cloak around their body, and a great leopard seal leapt into the water after her.

‘I have no idea,’ Elf mumbled.

Mihri snorted. ‘Welcome to my life.’

The words cut deep, and Elf flinched as he realised this wasn’t the first time Mihri had pointed this out. He had been so focused on everything, he had only ignored her. Had he really been so selfish, even now? He knew each member of Ossory had the same goal, and Elf would give his soul willingly to the next creature if it meant Quotinir didn’t break free from his empty abyss and rampage through Caltanissa, but did that mean he would side with Anwen?

‘What’s Anwen’s goal?’ he asked the guard.

The guard shrugged.

He wracked his brains about what Anwen had said when they agreed to help her. She had been blunt about freeing them from Quotinir, and had said something about what he saw in the deep being only a representation, or some other big word that meant the same thing. Those had been the parts his brain had latched onto, and the rest had flittered away into nothing. On the plus side, he was in the company of someone way smarter than him.

He clicked his fingers at Mihri to win her attention. ‘Do you still have that “remember everything that ever happened to you” thing?’

Mihri’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yes?’

‘When Anwen cut that deal with us, what exactly did she say?’

‘She called you an idiot.’

‘Besides that.’

Mihri screwed up her face in concentration, her eyes focused on something Elf couldn’t see. ‘She talked about how she knew we weren’t going to the Tundra, then explained how human souls worked, then said that if we were to return her to her shoal, she would have the power to help us.’

‘Okay, that,’ Elf said. That sounded vague enough to have a double meaning, and he was going to run with it. ‘What were her exact words?’

Mihri thought for a moment longer, then her eyes widened. ‘She mentioned a patron.’

‘Ha!’ Elf turned to the guard, who regarded him with confusion. Elf understood the feeling; he wasn’t sure he understood what he had gotten from the remark either. ‘There’s another big bad in the water, isn’t there?’

When the guard continued to stare at him, Elf asked the same question in Islite, and the creature paled, the grip on his spear tightening. Elf took that as a yes. He would need to ask Anwen about it directly, but if this involved waking up something else to rampage through Caltanissa… he really didn’t know what he was going to do. He glanced at Mihri, who was still staring at him in confusion. ‘I think I understand,’ he said.

‘That’s concerning,’ Mihri said.

The only concern Elf had now was that he would be putting his crew - including him - at the mercy of another powerful creature of the deep, and simply trading their souls instead of winning them back. He needed the full picture, and he needed to figure out what the plan was without waiting for a fish to explain it.

Elf turned back to the guard and considered the man-shaped creature. His hair was dark and choppy like the others, falling over a narrow, freckled face, and his pelt was loose around his shoulders, showing a well muscled human body underneath.

‘Are you allowed to make deals outside of your big fishy boss’s permission?’ Elf asked him.

The guard narrowed his eyes. ‘Of course.’

‘There was a map, an underwater map in a chest that was taken from that sorry sod back in town,’ Elf said. ‘What’s it gonna take for me to get my hands on it?’

The guard considered the words, then glanced him up and down, and Elf realised he had just offered himself up to one of the most sexually aggressive creatures in the archipelago.

‘I could take you out to where our treasure is kept,’ the selkie said. ‘If you promise to only take one thing.’

‘Is that including or not including your dick?’ Elf asked.

The creature gave a sly smile. ‘If you agree, I can offer that bonus.’

Elf considered the human form beneath the pelt. Perhaps with a bit of buttering up, he wouldn’t be against the idea. The guard caught him staring and grinned. He stepped closer, pulling the spear away from Elf’s neck. The creature had a few solid inches of height on him. ‘I hope you don’t have any qualms about physical activity.’

Elf snorted. ‘If you wanted a blushing virgin type, you’ve got the wrong man.’

‘Good,’ the selkie said. ‘Experience is better. I don’t want a limp doll to play with.’

‘Honey, I wouldn’t want anything to be limp in this transaction.’

The guard laughed, and Elf took a moment to watch muscles ripple along his collar and disappear under the half toga. He decided that maybe he was open to this. He’d had worse looking companions for less.

‘So, a round of fun for one map?’ Elf asked.

The guard held a single finger up. ‘One. Only the one you want. You won’t get your chance to take anything else. In return, you let me have my way with you.’

‘I thought you wanted someone with experience?’

The guard winked and the finger moved to Elf’s chin, forcing his head up to meet the creature in the eye. ‘I never said you would be in control.’

Elf pictured in that moment how aggressive this creature could be, and his body, in that moment, decided it was eager to agree. He shrugged, and the man’s smile turned sly.

He turned to Mihri. ‘I’ll be back in ten minutes.’

Mihri raised an eyebrow in question.

‘Okay, twenty. Just wait here?’

‘What are you—‘

‘Don’t,’ Jian said. ‘This one, we can just leave alone.’