Page 1 of From the Mouths of Sirens

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SAOIRSE

The abyss was as dark as spilled ink, pressed into the seafloor like the footprint of a Titan. Saoirse leaned over the opening of the trench, watching as a foreboding stream of bubbles drifted out of the chasm and into the clear sea above. Her dark curls rose around her face, floating upward as she looked over the rim. The water was ice cold, nothing like the sun-warmed waves of Kellam Keep.

Saoirse readied herself, adrenaline humming through her body. High above, the sun was a distant speck of light, almost blotted out by the dark waves bearing down on her. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment. She smoothed out the creases and scanned the faded words:

As the moon, I shine full and round; my mysteries of creation abound. I am impenetrable as stone and ancient as titan’s bone. In a deathless cave I hide, biding my time for the right eyes.

This had to be it.

Saoirse shoved the parchment back into her satchel and looked over the edge. It was now or never. She flexed her webbed toes, preparing to descend into darkness. With a deep breath, she pushed herself over the edge of the trench, cool water rippling over her as she dove. She swam along the ridge of the pit, fighting the fear that crawled up her skin and surged through her blood. As she descended, the walls of the abyss shuddered with the rhythm of the sleeping beast within. Saoirse slowed her dive and hid herself in a patch of tall sea grass, praying that she couldn’t be seen. In the darkness, she could just make out the hulking form of the sea dragon at the bottom of the pit.

Curled up at the bottom of the trench lay the infamous Kaja, more massive than Saoirse had dared to imagine. Huge fins jutted out around the beast’s head like a crown and menacing spikes protruded from her giant skull in a lethal cascade. Kaja’s colossal tail was wrapped around her body, twitching slightly in sleep. The sea dragon’s body glimmered as Saoirse drifted closer, her deep scars and chipped scales looming in the shadows. Saoirse eyed the enormous teeth that stuck out from Kaja’s mouth, knowing that each ivory spike was sharper than any blade. She tore her gaze away from the beast and narrowed her eyes at the treasure below.

Just as she predicted, the dragon had collected a trove of incalculable wealth. Thousands of gems and pieces of gold lay beneath Kaja, collected over hundreds of years. The gleaming jewels shone in the murky light, whispering of long-forgotten histories. The items had belonged to kings and royalty, scavenged from shipwrecks over centuries. The piles of wealth shifted as the sleeping dragon turned, softly tinkling as stray coins rolled against the floor.

Saoirse slipped from her hiding spot and ventured closer to Kaja’s treasure. She leveled herself with the dragon and stilled, waiting to see if she would wake. But the dragon’s eyes remained tightly shut, her scaly face still soft with sleep.

Saoirse sank to the floor carefully and did her best to leave the piles of jewels untouched. Her heart thundered in her chest. Up close, she could see the dragon’s numerous scars, evidence of her countless battles with other beasts of the ocean. But there was a reason why Kaja had survived all these years. She was one of the most lethal dragons to ever dwell within the waters of the Maeral Sea. To steal from Kaja was a death wish.

She scanned the treasure mounds, eyes searching for the greatest prize of them all: a Málmr pearl. She had heard whispers that one was hidden in the mire of the trench. If her suspicions were correct, the riddle confirmed that the dragon had one in her possession. If any beast might possess the rare pearl, it would be Kaja. Only opening once every six hundred years, the tooth of a sea dragon was the only thing sharp enough to penetrate the immortal shells of the Málmr. She searched with an urgent gaze, eyes roving over blood-red rubies, glittering moonstones, and golden candelabras as if they were mere trinkets.

Saoirse’s heart stopped.

Hidden under a rusted old mirror, a milky white pearl shone in the light. As she swam over to it, her heart hammered louder in her ears. Saoirse lifted the gold mirror with a feather-light touch and set it aside as silently as she could. Gleaming up at her sat a Málmr pearl, perfectly smooth and ethereal in the mirk and mire of Kaja’s Trench. Her hand trembled as she reached down to pick up the treasure, her fingers shaking with anticipation. She gingerly held the Málmr pearl in her hand, turning it over in her palm. A satisfied smile tugged at her lips. It seemed she had accurately interpreted the riddle.

Saoirse looked up at the distant speck of sunlight above, anxious to leave the abyss and never return. But something made her look back down at the piles of wealth one last time. Like a whisper against her skin, she felt a pull she couldn’t deny. Unable to resist its call, Saoirse sifted through the treasure with a hunger she didn’t understand, searching for something nameless.

The breath left her lungs. Laying amongst the glimmering precious gemstones was a second Málmr pearl, this one as black as obsidian. Saoirse was sure that her eyes betrayed her. But the dark pearl was there, shining with otherworldly light. Even in the court of King Angwin, a dark Málmr pearl couldn’t be found among his riches. She picked up the pearl and held it to the light, her mouth going dry.

Saoirse was abruptly thrown across the chasm, slamming into the opposite wall. A deafening roar filled the chamber and the piles of treasure trembled as Kaja rose from her nest. The hulking outline of Kaja unfurling in the deep was enough to make her blood run ice cold. The dragon’s piercing yellow eyes possessed a rage that promised death. Saoirse pushed herself up from the rocks and narrowly missed the massive claws that swung at her. Kaja’s outraged roars echoed through the chasm as she snapped at Saoirse’s feet, her teeth mere inches from splitting her bones in half. Clutching the dark pearl tightly, she swam faster than she had in all her life.

She was flung to the side again as Kaja’s tail struck her, sending her tumbling through the darkness. Momentarily blinded, she tried to regain her bearings as blood pooled in her mouth. Kaja lunged, her jaws widening with a vengeful snarl. She pushed away at the last minute, hot pain surging through her arm as one of Kaja’s razor-sharp claws sliced through her shoulder. She swiped at Kaja with her sword, but the metal slid off of the dragon’s tough scales as easily as water against rock.

Saoirse was painfully aware that to outswim the enraged beast using her own strength was impossible. So she lifted her hands and desperately called the waves to obedience, reaching for the tendrils of power that lurked in her veins. The sea answered her summons, rising up from the chasm and pulling her through the abyss in a swell of living seawater. But even as the sea lifted her in a powerful, churning grasp, Kaja was right at her heels, snapping and roaring with fury. Saoirse urged the waves to rise faster, terror coursing through her blood. As if the sea sensed her distress, it pushed her toward the opening of the cave in an urgent rush of swirling waves. The ocean launched her from Kaja’s Trench just as the dragon lunged again.

Loose rock exploded around Saoirse as she was launched from the trench. Kaja burst through the opening with a roar that sent ripples through the sea. Saoirse summoned another wave and sent it hurtling toward the dragon with all of her strength. The water swelled against the beast and shoved Kaja back down into the cave. Even with Kaja’s great strength, the weight of the ocean was more than the dragon could bear. Saoirse brought her hands together and sent another ripple toward the seafloor, energy now humming through her body as the sea obeyed her commands. The force of the blast shattered the ocean floor, splitting rock and coral apart with violent shudders. Kaja roared as the stones crushed her, sealing her within the dark abyss below. The weight of the Maeral Sea bore down on the dragon, holding the rocks in place as she raged against them.

And then all went still.

Saoirse stared at the ocean floor, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She knew the barrier wouldn’t hold the beast forever, but it would give her enough time to take refuge within the protective walls of Kellam Keep. Slowly, she opened her palm and grinned. In her hand lay the dark Málmr pearl. Her blood tinged the water pink as it leaked from her arm, but she felt no pain. She began to laugh deliriously, unable to contain herself. She had done it.

A horn abruptly cut through the ocean, pulling Saoirse back to reality. It was a call she would know anywhere. She turned to the regiment of Mer soldiers swimming toward her, bracing herself for the scathing words she knew would come.

“What have you done, Saoirse?” Captain Sune Kresten’s voice boomed.

“I retrieved my Token,” Saoirse replied curtly, looking Captain Sune in the eyes without fear. She tucked the dark pearl into her satchel before he had a chance to look at it. He gave her a hard stare for a moment, a shadow of surprise barely concealed behind his piercing eyes.

“Why are you trespassing in Kaja’s Trench?” he demanded. “You know that to venture this far from Kellam Keep is forbidden. You know the reports,” he admonished. “You of all people should know not to leave the safety of the city.”

“I have seen no other beasts other than the one now trapped in the Trench,” Saoirse countered, tossing a glance toward the now-sealed abyss below. The sea floor was still settling, clouds of dust and silt floating through the waves. “Besides, if there was a real threat to the Maeral Sea, why would the Elders have scattered the Tokens throughout these waters?” Sune said nothing at that, his frown deepening. She was right, and he knew it. He shifted his gaze to the vast expanse of ocean beyond, as if searching for the destructive beasts that the reports spoke of.

She had heard the rumors of merchant ships going missing, filled with goods from Aurandel to be shipped to the desert nation of Tellusun. The sea had been unruly as of late, and whispers of mysterious creatures from the deep had run rampant through the city. With growing pressure from the nations who relied heavily on maritime trade, King Angwin had been locked away in his study with the Elders for weeks. Saoirse herself had gone out on numerous occasions with her battalion, scouring the sea for the missing merchant ships and the supposed beasts who had destroyed them. But apparently the Elders did not believe such rumors to be of any merit, for they had hidden the Tokens far from Kellam Keep, just as they did every Tournament season.

“We must return to the Keep at once,” Sune finally said, turning back to her. “If I catch you beyond Kellam again, you’ll be suspended from the Torqen for the foreseeable future.”

Her cheeks heated with rage. His condescending tone was enough to send her blood boiling. “I have as much right to enter the tributary as any other Mer,” she retorted, balling her hands into fists. “All potential tributes are required to present a Token of great value, and I chose mine. If I choose to put my own life at risk, then it is my risk to bear. My choices have nothing to do with you.” She swirled away from him with a scowl.

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