Page 94 of Rise of the Melody
As he drove down the dark, crunching lane, he spoke in a calming voice. “Bryant has assured me that everything is set up perfectly to make it as easy as possible for you.” I swallowed and nodded as he went on. “I’m going to be nearby. Out of hearing range, but when you shoot the flare, I’ll come straight to you.” More nodding from me, my stomach clenching. “Listen to me good, Letty. If this thing goes sideways, you do whatever you have to do to get away. I don’t care what it is. Tear down trees with your magic if you have to. Run. Whatever you do, don’t let that damned creature get anywhere near you with its teeth.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
We were pulling through the gates to the national park now.
“I know you’ve never sang with the intent to entrance someone, or something. I imagine it might feel strange at first. Just don’t stop singing until it’s in that cage with the door shut and locked. Got it?”
“Yes.”
The car careened up a steep hill.
“Have you thought about what you’ll sing?” he asked.
I swallowed again, then nodded. There was a song I’d always loved with Norse roots called “My Mother’s Savage Daughter” by Wyndreth. I’d been singing it for years, but every single word took on new meaning now that I knew what my mother and I truly were. It would be my anthem tonight.
The headlights illuminated an opening through the trees and my heart slowed for a moment before I saw the dark pond, and my pulse quickened again. Two other cars were parked, and three druids stood waiting. Across the way I could make out a metal structure on the side of the pond, like a dog crate the size of a large shed. I was sweating when we parked and Ron gave my hand one last squeeze before letting go so we could climb out.
Bryant wore a long peacoat buttoned against the evening chill. He held out a bulky gun with a thick barrel. “Here’s the flare.”
I took it and tucked it into the pouch of my sweatshirt.
“And the blood,” he said. I took the small pouch of blood from the hospital, and tried not to be grossed out as I held it.
Oh, Gaia. This was really happening. I focused on my breathing.
“We’ll be down the lane about a quarter of a mile,” he said. I gave him a nod of understanding before pushing up my sweatshirt sleeve and holding out my arm. After a pause with a look of distrust from Bryant, he held the cuff in his hand and muttered the Gaelic phrase. When the cuff opened, a rush of warm, buzzing energy filled me and I sucked in a lungful of air. He slid it into his pocket, watching me. I gave him a nod, refusing to speak.
The men turned to get back into their cars and I focused on the magic that filled me. I took in a deep breath and held it, letting it out slowly as they reversed to leave. Ron stayed and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m not driving away until you’re across the pond in position. Okay?”
“Thank you,” I told him.
As he pulled back, he took my shoulders and looked right in my eyes. “Letty…from what Lorna tells me, you are powerful. More powerful than any of those men who just left. More powerful than the monster in that lake. It’s time for you to own that without any fear or shame.”
More powerful than the monster in that lake.Wow.
“Okay,” I whispered, nodding. “I’ve got this.”
“That’s right.” He squeezed and patted my shoulders. “You do.”
Ron was true to his word, standing in that spot next to his car as I made my way through the tree line, careful not to get too close to the water. When I stood beside the giant cage, Ron’s car started and he slowly reversed and drove away, leaving me in darkness.
Everything was quiet and still. The water was like black glass, reflecting the waxing gibbous moon phase—almost a full moon.
My hands slightly shook as I opened the small spout on the pouch and bent, letting the blood pour onto the pebbles of the shore, and into the water. And now, I stood between the water and the open cage, and I waited. Arms crossed, I quietly hummed the tune like a warm-up as I stared so hard at the water that my vision began to blur. I blinked to clear my eyes a few times. Then I wet my lips and began. The first lines came out as soft and smooth as velvet until I felt the magic swirling through me like a swishing skirt on spinning child. It was time to free that magic.
I opened my vocals now, singing the almost-chant like words about running barefoot over sharp stones. About never cutting my hair. About refusing to lower my voice.
My mother’s savage daughter.
As I sang, I paced the shore, my boots crunching into the pebbles and sand, watching as the moon shifted higher overhead. I stopped, facing the water and belting out the powerful words, stomping my right foot with each beat.
Then I halted, going completely still. A dark, round lump had formed in the middle of the lake. I watched, mesmerized as the rounded bulge began to rise, as if in slow motion, revealing two dark eyes. It was the creepiest thing I’d ever seen. My heart plummeted and my brain froze in shock for a long moment, silencing my voice before I pulled myself together, cursing internally.
Keep singing, Letty!
The next note that came out cracked like a pubescent boy. But the note after that rang true, and the next. For a moment, as the melody rose up from the depths of my belly, the kelpie remained still. And then one ear twitched and its full head came out, its thick neck shining in the moonlight.
