Page 12 of Waves
Lizza’s hand reached up to scratch at her temple, moving the flesh there in an unnatural way that made me suspect that there was no muscle left beneath it. “Perhaps we need higher stakes.”
And she turned and marched off, not bothering to explain herself.
A few minutes later, she returned with some saddled swordfish and a few guards, though they stayed even farther back than they had when I’d gone wandering with Keelan. Either my mage scared them or she’d told them to mind their business.
“Let’s go,” she ordered impatiently, not waiting for us to reach our mounts before she was on her own and on the move, swatting at the beast’s rear and urging it to hurry.
There was nothing to do but follow.
We rode for nearly an hour until we came to a spot near the pale sands of the Umra Desert. This time, instead of massive mountains I’d visited with Keelan, there were strange pillars of dark rock and green coral. Holes at the top of these structures emitted black smoke that billowed out into the ocean and sent waves of uncomfortable heat in our direction, the sort of heat that instantly made the bands of scales on my cheeks and upper arms ache.
“What is this place?” I asked as I dismounted.
“Told those idiots—” she nodded toward the guards—“to find us the most dangerous place they know. They call this the chimneys. Say they look like sky-breather chimneys and, if you get too close, that smoke will melt the skin right from your bones.”
“Really?” Posey tilted her head, studying the smoke swirls snaking upward.
“Well, Avia’s going to test it out,” Lizza declared. Her stringy hair floated up in the hot water and tangled, making her appear even more unhinged than usual.
Glancing at the vents, which seemed to puff out copious amounts of pitch-black fury, I hesitated. “Are we sure that’s safe?”
“Course it’s not. You did terrible with safe. Now, your life is on the line. Each time you mess up, you take a step closer to that,” Lizza stuck an arm out and pointed, and I wasn’t quite certain, but I thought there might be a little bit of manic glee in her rotting features.
“I don’t?—”
“Posey, stab her.”
Without warning, the undead soldier lunged at me, drawing her sword quicker than my eyes could follow.
Panicked, I lifted my hands, straining for something, anything. There was a swell of sound around me, not quite music, but a cacophony of noise that was nothing like the ocean song I’d heard before. My palms met the blade?—
Uneven balls of ice formed all the way down to the hilt of the cutlass, transforming the weapon from fierce looking into a toy. A toy that smashed into my chest in a blow that would have killed me if the blade hadn’t been insulated. As it was, the hit jarred my bones, forcing me backward, my wings fluttering. The heat from the chimneys behind me made my scales flaring in alarm.
“Pathetic!” Lizza croaked as she dug carelessly around in the satchel slung over her shoulder. Bringing out a wriggling sea cucumber, she took a massive bite and stared at me for a long moment before she stiffened and raised her hand.
“Wait a minute!” she yelled with her mouth still stuffed full.
We froze as she hobbled forward and glared at me through narrowed eyes accusingly. Then, she reached up with her free hand and yanked on my hair, pulling me down. With swift movements she took the elven chain I wore for protection from my neck, sliding it into her pocket. “Damned elves. Probably interfering.”
Alarm ripped across my features, but she only smiled in response, showcasing goo-covered teeth as she turned to Posey. “Do it again. But this time, actually hurt her!”
Posey immediately moved, over a century of training making her sure and swift despite her decaying muscles.
Meanwhile, I scrambled—my back toasting, my wings sagging from the heat. Alarmed sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I raised my hands.
I didn’t even have time to do more than hear the ocean’s song before the searing cold of the icy sword shoved me farther back into the boiling water and I let out an ungodly scream.
Chapter 7
Avia
Each one of my eyelashes became prominent as my heavy-lidded eyes fought unconsciousness and a haze of red pain danced on the periphery of my vision. There was some sort of loud commotion in the distance, but I couldn’t make it out.
I blinked, and a moment might have passed or an hour–I wasn’t sure. The only thing I was certain of was the throb rippling up my spine.
“What the sard?” A furious yell rent the water in two.
My bleary gaze lifted to see Felipe racing forward, a jet stream left in his wake.
