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L ight, bright and blinding, erupted from the castle spires. The man cast a panicked glance behind him as he raced through the flooding streets of Maerinys. Seawater seeped into his leather boots as his calloused hands nervously clutched a screaming infant to his chest.

Dodging terrified citizens and leaping over the gods’ destruction, he forced his steps to carry the treasure he held as far as possible before they were engulfed with the kingdom.

His run turned desperate, fighting for the survival of not only himself but for who lay in his arms. Bricks fell from the sky, tumbling around him as the ground trembled.

Maerinys was sinking quicker now.

Alarms rang from the conch horns posted at each spiraling tower of the city—a warning of what was to come. A warning of what he’d helped cause.

Cries of both men and merfolk surrounded him, filling his ears until the deafening noise of the depths swallowing the kingdom was nothing but a distant buzz.

The resistance of the water forced the man’s run to slow. Breath heaving, he hid behind a building as cracks splintered through its bricks .

The infant’s shrieks had ceased, and he risked a peek at her porcelain-like face.

Eyes as blue as the brightest lagoon met his own, and he hugged her tightly once more while the flood grew to his knees.

The pirate lord knew he held a life more valuable than any gold and was willing to risk his own for it.

All he had to do was make it back to his ship, where his crew awaited his return.

“He went this way!” The call stunned him; its source only feet away.

He had never been a fearful man, but he knew death would be a better consequence than whatever would be placed upon himself and the blue-eyed babe if they were caught.

Willing his feet to carry them once more, he pushed through the resistance of the incoming tides until he reached the secret, hidden entrance to the kingdom’s capital city—a system of caves that led out to a small isle off the coast, where a pinnace was tied off, waiting.

The waves were chest high as he held the baby above his head; the water splashed up into the man’s face, pouring down his throat as its salty tang stung his nostrils.

He stormed through the cavern, running through the darkness as fast as his feet would carry them.

Even a mile into the underground cave, the roar of the waves filled his mortal ears, and when a loud crashing sound echoed, he dared to look back.

The cave began collapsing . The ground trembled and crumbled beneath his boots as if sinking alongside Maerinys, separating them from the way they came.

It filled him with the fear of all gods.

He gritted his teeth as he surged forward once more, racing for what seemed like miles until he reached the other side.

Sharp, jagged rocks met them beyond the cave's mouth.

Then, in the distance, his eyes fell to the pinnace, its small white sails rocking violently in the waves.

The pirate’s reputation was one of merciless brutality, but he handled the infant with a surprising gentleness as he placed her in the boat and heaved himself over its ledge.

He gripped the oars and began rowing them towards the open sea as the water surged in from all directions, racing towards Maerinys.

No matter how hard he rowed, no matter how direly his muscles strained, the currents were too great. Every row away from the kingdom somehow brought them closer to its sinking center.

Peering into the depths beneath them, scales shimmered under the surface as merfolk fled their home.

The man’s eyes bulged, his jaw hanging open in disbelief as what began as a ripple in the waves grew rapidly—swallowing everything with it.

A whirlpool greater than any he had ever seen surged, trapping them in its swirling cascades as it ripped the oars from his grasp, shattering the wood in tiny splinters.

The pirate lord had always known his death would be at the hands of his greatest love—the sea. If it weren’t for his new plans, he would’ve welcomed it wholeheartedly, greeting the roaring waves as if they were a long-lost lover calling his name, beckoning him to her depths.

Malicious shrieks and hisses filled the air as sirens were dragged towards the sinking kingdom alongside them.

Even the strength of their powerful tails couldn’t save them from the riptides.

The screams of terror from the citizens of Maerinys echoed in his ears, competing with the thunderous sound of the roaring sea.

The moonlight hid behind the mistiest of clouds, encasing their drowning world in near darkness. Merlights flickered from where they remained on the spiraling towers until, one by one, they snuffed out.

Sucking in a sharp breath, he waited for the sea to take their lives, when suddenly, a force as great as the gods strained against the swirling tides.

Their small boat was shoved out of the whirlpool’s grasp, as if the ocean itself was protecting them.

The conjured currents dragged them away until they reached the peak of the pool, and the castle’s highest spire was all that remained of Maerinys—right before pure, untapped power burst from it as striking as the midday sun.

His eyes slammed shut, shielding the babe on instinct while their pinnace rocked with the waves.

And then, as quickly as the storm struck, it vanished. The sea fell eerily silent and still.

Slowly opening his eyes, they worked to adjust to the darkness and found that the once great kingdom of the sea had ceased to exist, leaving nothing but a few bubbles in its wake.

The man couldn’t catch his breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to comprehend what he just witnessed.

Suddenly, the babe erupted in an ear-shattering screech. At the same moment, a piercing pain ignited within the pirate’s chest, as if someone had plunged their sharpened blade directly through his heart.

A roar of agony burst from the pirate lord’s throat, matching the infant’s. It was unlike any pain he had ever felt, fully believing his soul was leaving his body, tearing him apart as it ripped free of his ribcage.

With a sharp rip, he tore open his shirt and placed his palm over his heart.

The man’s eyes widened, blinking through what he thought was a trick of the hidden moonlight.

He lifted his palm to his face and found it covered in a black substance, seeping from an unwarranted wound carved into his chest.

It was blood. His blood. Only it no longer held its crimson hue and appeared as decayed as his heart now felt.

The hazy clouds of mist cleared from the sky and he peered down at the trembling infant that rested in his other arm. His jaw gaped as his eyes landed on the reason for her shrieks of pain.

She didn’t possess the black bleeding mark above her heart as he did, but instead, designs now marked her flesh, resembling burns. Swirls and intricate rune patterns trailed down her arms and spine.

His thumb traced over them, surprised to find the marks weren’t raised or hot to the touch. It was as if they were inked into her newborn skin.

“Blackwood!” His name echoed through the air, rolling off the calming waves.

His gaze whipped in the direction of the noise to find The Night Wraith floating toward where they remained in the dangerous, open water—its onyx-hued wood and navy sails gleaming in the moonlight.

Glancing down at the infant once more, his throat tightened.

Glimpses of what he had done and who he had betrayed by taking her flashed across his mind.

But it wasn’t just about stealing her, regardless of whether that was part of the plan or not.

It had become about saving her, and in turn, the sea.

Once The Night Wraith reached them, a rope-woven ladder was cast down and he eagerly began his ascent—worried about the possibility that something else could rise up and pull them down to the depths alongside Maerinys.