Chapter Thirty-Nine
After leaving Cordelia behind in the Great Hall, Serena and Sasha swim to the surface. A large group of maidens wait in the deep water with their bows and arrows before the waves crest and break onto Cliff beach. Half of them don't even have quivers, the arrows are tied to their hips with torn fabric.
Serena looks at Sasha, then gestures to the archers.
Sasha shakes her head. She holds out her arms and turns around, showing she has no bow. Instead, Sasha digs into the satchel tied around her waist, and pulls out a short, rusty knife.
Serena's shoulders sag. Sasha wants to be with the reinforcements, and judging from the fire in her eyes, there will be no convincing her otherwise. They swim wide around the archers, approaching the breakers where the second wave stands in wait. Serena turns to Sasha, pointing with her finger. Stay here.
Sasha nods, looking at the rows of maidens with their backs to her. If she stays in the rear, hopefully they won't notice until it is too late to send her away. Sasha tightens her grip on the stunted knife and swallows so hard Serena can see a lump move down her throat.
Edging closer, Serena puts her hand on Sasha's shoulder, imitating Murphy's warrior salute. Serena smiles, and mouths the words, be careful.
Sasha blinks, passing the knife to her other hand in order to return the salute. Always am, she mouths back.
Nodding, Serena releases the salute and backs away. She has to force herself to turn away, resisting the urge to drag Sasha all the way back to the lower caves to dump the innocent maiden in the abyss, just to protect her. Serena blinks, finally seeing some reason to Zayla's punishment and even Kai's refusal to help.
Serena tilts her chin down, streamlining to swim faster. Time to fight her first battle of the day, earning a position alongside the King's Guard. Hopefully they'll have no option but to let her stay. She finds the first wave of fighters huddled behind boulders at the next beach over— Forest Beach. They take turns poking their heads out from behind the large rocks to scout the shoreline, where at least a dozen werewolves patrol.
The pink sky tells Serena the sun is rising, but at the opposite end of the Earth. For now, the beach and forest are shrouded in shadows.
Seagulls call out, announcing the coming of the sun. They glide over the shoreline, searching for breakfast. Serena is in luck, this flock is full of black-legged kittiwake seagulls—one of the few seagulls that dive. On cue, rays of light creep forward, warming the ocean as the sun rises over the treetops.
It is time. Serena faces The Dry, withdrawing an arrow from the quiver on her back. Then she turns the case around so it is aerodynamic as she swims. She only gets the one arrow for now. It needs to be on target.
She turns and swims forward under the shadow of a seagull. Following the crisscross pattern as the gull slowly angles toward the shore, Serena keeps a close watch on the bird, trying to anticipate its movements. The wolves that patrol on the sand won't be able to see her coming closer, at least not yet.
When the earth below begins to angle up, Serena pulls a fish from her pouch. She holds it in front of her as she swims, just below the surface of the water. The gull cocks his head, peering at the bait. Wings tuck in, preparing to dive.
Below, Serena streamlines her fins, preparing to jump. It happens so quickly, you wouldn't see it unless you were staring right at the bird. It dives for the bait, and Serena lifts herself from the water. For a split second, as the bird dives under, it's form is replaced with Serena's silhouette, elbows out mimicking wings. She pulls back on her bow and releases the arrow before she falls back under.
By now, the King's Guard will have noticed her, but the other wolves will have also noticed their fallen comrade. Serena stops to turn her quiver over for another arrow, then waits for the next bird. It doesn't take long, more of the flock moves closer at the promising prospect for food. She finds another shadow and when she is close enough, she holds out her bait, leaps up and releases another arrow. This time, Serena sees the guards creeping toward the shore, hidden in their own shadows.
Serena smiles. Murphy is taking advantage of the opportunity. The wolves on the beach are busy scanning the breakers for the threat, whining and anxious over an enemy they cannot see.
One more bird, thinks Serena, scanning the skies. She finds her fowl, and follows under its shadow. Her third wolf falls with an arrow to the neck. Serena doesn't hide back under the surface. She floats at the top, watching the guards close in on the rest of the pack. Kai and Murphy lead the charge. Against the enemy, they are quick, strong, and are surprisingly good countering werewolf claws and teeth. Serena reminds herself this isn't the first time the guard has fought the wolves.
Her eyes flit to Ervin, who was just sent sprawling across the sand with claw marks raked across his chest.
Well, maybe his first time.
Several guards come to Ervin's rescue, spearing his attacker through with their tridents. By the time the wolf has wheezed out his last breath, Serena's feet hit the sand as she walks out of the surf, shedding the salty seawater from her scales.
Kai walks toward her, and she braces herself for a fight. His breastplate is splattered in werewolf blood. Serena follows the drops down his arm to his hand that holds the three arrows she fired, already pulled from her victim's bodies.
Her eyes shoot back to his. He stalks toward her with long strides, shoulders heaving slightly forward in coordination with the opposite leg.
"What are you doing? How did you get out?" Kai hisses, scanning the surf as if the answer lies there.
Serena narrows her eyes. "You're welcome."
"You need to go back," he grabs her at the arm. "You can't be here. If Alaric finds you—"
Twisting her arm out of Kai's grasp, she glares up at him. "Are you going to throw me in the pit yourself, this time?"
"Now? We are going to do this now?" Kai looks at her from underneath thick eyebrows.
"As you say," Serena hisses through gritted teeth.
Kai growls. "We don't have time for this."
Serena waits as Kai starts to pace the beach, looking from his guards recovering from the fight, to the shadows retreating farther into the tree line as the sun rises.
Murphy steps in front of Kai, forcing him to halt his agitated pacing. "You are right—we don't have time for this. We don't know if one of them warned others, and we'll never win a fight on this open beach. We have to draw them over to Cliff Beach where we can control their entry, and where our reinforcements wait." Murphy turns to Serena. "Besides, I have a feeling she is going to do this anyway. She is as stubborn as the king." He winks at her, then turns back to Kai. "She'll be safer with us."
"Fine," Kai sighs, turning toward Serena. He reaches up, her arrows in his hand, and Serena braces herself for his arms to envelope her in order to place the weapons in her quiver, like he did in the armory.
Instead, Kai grabs her at the shoulders and turns her. Serena almost topples over at the rough movement. He shoves the arrows in her quiver and turns her back around before she has had a chance to catch her balance.
He leans in, fiery eyes pinning her to the spot. "You stay close to me and Murphy—but I want you in the trees."
A sharp, ear-piercing howl rings through the forest, cutting straight through Serena's heated core, leaving only ice in its wake. All Undine heads turn toward the sound.
"All right," says Murphy, turning toward Serena. "We may be facing more than fur and fangs alone. The wolves are integrated into Ungainly life, more so than us, anyway, and they may have Ungainly weapons."
Kai is tightening the straps around Serena's armor. "They pack a powerful punch. And have a farther range than arrows, but they can't penetrate our incandescent scales—only their fangs are thin enough to do that."
"That's comforting," mumbles Serena. She glances from Kai, to Murphy, then to Ervin joining the group brushing sand from the scrapes across his chest.
"You got new tridents," she notices. The weapons aren't nearly as i
ntricate as Serena's, but they look sturdy enough. She hopes they've had time to practice with them. The one dozen bodies on the beach tell her they have. Her eyes pause on Ervin.
Has Cordelia told him she's with child? Would it make him fight harder, or would he be distracted?
Serena can't think of that now. Hopefully, Cordelia knows him well enough to make the right choice between telling him or not.
Serena looks at Kai, heat from their argument dissolving as he inspects the rest of her gear for faults. Already the large, uncomfortable breastplate feels more secure. "Are we really about to do this?" she whispers to him.
He turns, squaring his body with hers, and nods. "We'll be okay. And when this is all over, you can enlighten me on how to properly court a maiden of the throne," he winks at Serena.
Serena smiles back. "Your guess is as good as mine—or better, probably."
They both turn to Murphy. He gestures to the trees. "Alright warriors of the guard, and…Serena. Let's go."
The column, spread out in one staggered line, moves forward. Serena calls forth more of her natural armor. Midnight-blue, diamond-shaped plates crawl up as far as her neck, extending to her chin and trickling out over her cheekbones until they look like permanent splashes of water across her expression. Besides her head and the exposed parts of her face, the only unprotected spot is her toe, where wolfsbane poison has left its mark.
Serena grimaces, longing for the yellow-petal shield she is so used to hiding behind. There will be no wolfsbane in this battle, the wolves made sure of that. Her grip tightens on her trident. Forged in the spiritual fires of the armory and blended with Undine ancestors flesh and bone, the weapon is more than a sufficient replacement to the poisonous flower.
Her feet take long strides across Forest Beach and she finds herself scanning the lot of dead bodies for the crescent moon-shaped birthmark, but doesn’t find one. Liam isn't here.
By the time the next breaker hits the shore, the first wave of Undine have disappeared into the trees.