Page 23 of Unmoored

“Is this a volcano?” She asked, startling me.

“Yes, though it’s been inactive for centuries,” I replied. “Now keep quiet, I must speak with the gatekeeper.”

I announced our presence, thankful the guard didn't put up a fight when he saw my unexpected prisoner. My status as a warrior allowed me to traverse in and out of the city without much trouble, and within minutes we were floating through the iron gates.

I brought her to a part of the volcano close to the front entrance, a series of tunnels and alcoves that served as holding cells. It wouldn’t be very comfortable, but she could manage for a night or two. At this point, I was positive anything would be better than that miserable hospital.

We floated into an empty room, and I slid the iron door closed behind me.

“You weren’t joking about me being a prisoner,” she said, looking around the cell. The room was bare, the floors and walls made of volcanic rock with a few veins of bluish crystalline stone running through it. In the corner sat a large, smooth rock that she could sit or lie on.

I waved my hand, removing a stone from the floor and revealing a large drain. Within moments the space wasdevoid of water, and I placed her on the ground before shifting into my human form.

“How did you do that?!” She demanded, life seeming to flood her eyes again. “And can you untie me, please? These are hurting my wrists!”

“Cranky,” I said, slicing through the kelp with a sharp nail. “We have human forms, you know. And not all Talassi are full-blooded Talassi. Plenty of areas in the city can be both dry and wet, depending on what we prefer.”

“This is insanity,” she breathed. “I’ve truly gone mad.”

“If you keep telling yourself that, you’re going to start believing it,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m leaving to grab you some food and water, all right?”

“Am I just supposed to stay here?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll get us a meeting with the Queen as soon as I can, and then we’ll decide your fate.”

“Myfate?!”she exclaimed, and I winced.

“Your… next steps,” I corrected, and she shook her head and sat atop the smooth corner stone, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

It took me quite some time to find proper food for her, as I had to track down a half-human to askwhatI could feed her. They sent me back with some cooked fish and a squishy pod. They said the pod contained freshwater packed with minerals, which were apparently important for humans since they couldn’t just absorb minerals through their gills. Yet another flaw in their horrible design.

When I returned to the cell, she was still huddled in the corner. Her breathing was slow, and she didn’t even open her eyes when I entered or shifted. As I approached, I noticed she was trembling.

“Hazel,” I whispered, not wanting to scare her. She said nothing. “Hazel!”

She jumped, eyes widening as she scrambled backward against the wall.

“I’ve brought you some food,” I said. “And this pod full of water is apparently good for you.”

She still said nothing, her eyes tracking me as her fingers clawed at the stone behind her. Something was wrong, and I wondered if she was going into shock.

I sighed, regretting all ‌my decisions and wondering if I should have just taken her back to the island.

“Hazel,” I said again, reaching out a hand towards her while once again pulling the rumbling song from my chest. Constantly having to hypnotize her was getting irritating, but it was the best way to get her to calm down. “You need to stop clawing at the stone, or you’re going to hurt your hands.”

Her trembling slowed as I pulled her small palms away from the wall, placing them in front of her, and her breathing seemed to slow as her eyes darted over my face.

“It’s…” she croaked, and I noticed a few tears streaming down her face.

“What’s wrong, Hazel?” I asked, trying to mask my annoyance as she wouldn’t release her grip on my hands.

“It’s so dark,” she said. “And damp.”

“Well, yes,” I replied. Obviously. We were in a cave inside a volcano. On the floor of the ocean.

“I can’t see,” she said, pausing again to collect her words. “And it makes me panic a little bit.”

For a moment I was confused, because I could see perfectly fine, but then I remembered she wasn’t used tobeing underwater like this. And she still was at least half-human, which likely meant her eyesight wasn’t great at depths like this.