Page 76 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
“Understood.”
Blood floated from the gash in my cheek, dispersing around in the water. It might have been a show to him, but nothing about it was gentle or warranted.
“You were a prison guard here.”
Laziel nodded instead of speaking at first, his eyes diverted as if pained of the past.
“Before I ran off to find my brother.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
“Shock factor… They wouldn’t have believed––” Laziel attempted, but a crash interrupted. There was a slight metallic ring, but it was blurred by the water—heavy, ominous, and distant. It echoed dully through the depths, barely reaching our ears at all.
I peeked around the corner but quickly shot back.
“Guard,” I mouthed to Laziel.
We shifted through the water slowly at first, careful not to interrupt the stillness. When we were nearly at the end of the corridor, draped in gloom, we tore off. We needed to reach the dungeons, levels below where we swam, but already, we were off plan.
Heat radiated the further we pushed ourselves away from the approaching guard. My entire body submerged in sweltering temperature, making breathing difficult.
“Backup plan,” Laziel murmured between breaths.
He froze and quickly dropped to the floor above a rusted, metal grate. I lowered beside him, helping pull the iron lattice until it squealed over enough for us to slip inside.
The tunnel pushed in on our shoulders, just wide enough to barely squeeze through that it wouldn’t be comfortable by any means. I didn’t envy Laziel’s broader shoulders, each scraping against the tunnel walls. A radiating heat wave purged past us, blistering my skin immediately. A puny whimper snuck out between my lips as I trailed Laziel.
The further we pushed through the underground thermal vent, the more the heat increased. Puss-filled sores began to swell along my tail’s flesh, shifting my scales outward as they bubbled over and ruptured. The walls slowly narrowed until my shoulders scraped along the stone, tearing open the blisters at contact.
“Almost there,” Laziel barely breathed out, but I wasn’t sure I was going to survive to the end.
I pushed my body through the water, arms outstretched toward the mer. My pace slowed, exhaustion wracking my body. I couldn’t move much faster. I couldn’t move much further, either. If I stopped, though, I would let down everyone. The Terraguard Bound would be in ruin within hours.
I crashed into the back of Laziel, who shoved with as much force as he could muster to open the grating. It was taking too long. My shoulder pressed on his back, helping move the blockade. A slight creak echoed through the water—muffled and stretched.
Laziel reached over the ledge to pull himself out, only to scream in agony. He whipped his tail backwards, barreling me backwards out of sight.
A slimy, gravely male voice filled the void.
“And what exactly are you doing down there, colonel?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Noctis
She will never know the weight I carry. And I’m okay with that. Hell, I’m ecstatic that the pain and guilt I hold is one she never has to withstand. I’d brutally destroy anyone who brings anything but joy to her life. And if I ever met her parents, I’d ensure they never stood a chance to look her in the eyes.
But just wait until I get my hands on the Ocean Mother.
There was a time that I could fly with my wings—feeling the wind through each feather, the muscles in the feathery appendages contract and release, the speed at which I could cut the sky like a blade through silk. But there wasn’t a greater time that I wished I still had the ability to race through the clouds than when I was trying to find the cure to save Caelyn. The only thing I had left of my wings was the phantom pains and shame.
Every beautiful thing I knew in the world was her. Not even exile could sever that truth, and if the order of the world itself demanded her life, then I would unmake the order. I knew it made me selfish, but when I lost her to the Ocean Mother before, the agony etched its way inside my bones, creating crevices of decay that only ravenous vultures would care to dig through.
I would beg for her. If the gods demanded my pride, I’d leave it at their feet for her. If it cost me my name, my soul, or my last breath, I’d give it without question.
The sky raged a brilliant orange, but all I saw was red. I was wrath given form and purpose. And nothing had better get in my way.
Finding the ferryman in the harbors of Grisenweld should have been only an hour flight, but storm clouds scattered across the sky in blotches, releasing their contents and weighing me down. In my second hour of travels, I began blasting the clouds away with my power, holding onto as much as possible in case I came across conflict.
