Page 22

Esmyra

E smyra’s tail cut through the water with swift, powerful strokes, her turquoise scales shimmering in the dim light filtering through the ocean's surface.

She clutched the soaked, weathered map, its edges frayed and disintegrating from the seawater. Her eyes darted between the map and the underwater landscape, but it was essentially useless while she was beneath the waves.

Her mind was a whirlpool of frustration. She should’ve trusted her instincts more and gone alone to begin with, before bringing this to her father, knowing he had always been wary of the southern seas.

Relying on his approval had only delayed what she set out to do. But no, she had to stick to tradition and involve the captain, didn't she?

Esmyra was his first mate and greatest asset, yet he didn’t even trust her instinct about what she was about to uncover.

All because he’d been lying to her for centuries about the truth of where she came from.

Everything she knew was based on a lie. She had nothing without trust, and the one person she had put all her faith in had fed her nothing but false truths her entire life.

If she didn’t find the sunken kingdom before the humans of Lephyrin did, she may never know her true lineage. Or even where she truly belonged.

The stakes were higher for her now, extending beyond simply upsetting the gods.

Her swim halted, and her fingers tightened around the map as she gave it one last glance. Above the surface, the sun gave way to the moon, and her midnight hair flowed around her like swirling ink, while her tattoos and eyes emitted a faint glow in the darkness.

The parchment finally disintegrated entirely in her grasp and floated away in the current. She huffed out a breath through her gills and her tail propelled her forward once more—regardless of where she ended up, she knew she needed to swim to the southernmost part of Rymelle.

All these years, he had lied to her. The only person in the entire realm she trusted—aside from Jak. To Rymelle, Cyrus Blackwood was the most feared pirate in all the seas, but to her, he was simply her father.

He raised her aboard The Night Wraith, and that was all she’d ever known.

It was her life for nearly one thousand years—longer than any creature in Rymelle typically lived.

It wasn’t until the past few centuries that she ventured out to experience everything the world had to offer on her own, except for the southern seas.

Whether it was out of boredom or curiosity, she wasn’t entirely sure.

However, what she found was a bleak reality of impoverished kingdoms ruled by corrupt royals—Lephyrin being the worst of them.

If the menace king of Lephyrin became the wealthiest in Rymelle, on top of having his shadow and flame-wielding sons, he could become the most feared and powerful king, even without possessing a drop of magic himself.

She refused to let that happen. She would rip his plan out from underneath him and put the power back into the hands of his own people—making them richer than their tyrant king.

Esmyra swam south for days, pushing her body to its limits.

As she became increasingly frustrated by the need to rest, she hitched a ride on a sea turtle’s shell, gliding through the water until it abruptly turned around and sped off.

She released her hold the second it began to drag her back toward where they came, bubbles erupting around them. The creature swam as fast as it could in the opposite direction, leaving her behind—and alone.

“Thanks a lot,” she huffed, as she waved her webbed hand through the water.

She circled back and found the cause a moment later—only a few feet ahead lay an underwater cliff, dropping off in complete darkness.

With caution, she neared the trench, gripping its ledge as her fingers curled around the rocky edges.

What in all gods is this?

Even with the glow of her stare, she could barely see a few feet below the trench’s cliff.

This must’ve been it—where Maerinys sank to its doom.

Esmyra wasn’t a fearful woman, but something was gnawing at her insides, screaming that whatever lay at the bottom of the darkness wasn’t just a lost kingdom.

But she had made it this far. It would be foolish to turn back now.

Esmyra gulped and began to scale down the wall of the trench, gripping its jagged edges with her talons.

She was on high alert, unable to see much of her surroundings.

But the further she descended to the bottom of the sea, she realized the brighter the markings on her arms glowed.

Her eyes flared as she rotated her forearm, examining it.

They had never glowed brighter before. The tattoos that more resembled burns always appeared the same—a rusted red on land, and a dim turquoise beneath the tides, matching her scales.

Kaelypso’s tits, what’s happening to me? She blinked multiple times before continuing her descent, only this time, she released her hold on the wall and began swimming as fast as she could down into the darkness.

The walls of the trench loomed menacingly on both sides, adorned with ancient coral and scuttering sea creatures. Her heart raced as her every breath and movement became intensified by the suffocating silence .

She halted and hovered where she was. The walls were expanding outwards—the once narrow trench was now easily a mile wide.

The quiet was interrupted by a deep, resonant rumble as it echoed through the water, sending a shiver through her fins. The sound was unlike anything she had ever heard—low and malicious, reverberating through the depths. It sounded like the ocean itself was growling, a guttural, primal noise.

Esmyra’s senses heightened as she froze, her eyes widening while she scanned the trench for any sign of danger.

But all she was met with was a labyrinth of darkness.

The rumbling intensified, drawing nearer, accompanied by the rhythmic swish of something massive displacing the surrounding water.

The vibrations sent shockwaves through her very scales.

A distant and enormous shadow caught her attention as it ripped through the undisturbed water. The creature's body surged with a terrifying speed, its scales reflecting the faintest glimmers of her light.

Her gills hitched, fear gripping her by the throat as she took in the beast’s size.

It was a sea serpent —a behemoth of the deep, known as a myth of Kaelypso’s creation a millennium ago.

Before Esmyra became the monster of the depths, this was the creature that sailors feared. And now it was circling her like prey.

The siren within her thrashed as if it recognized what was hovering before her.

This couldn’t be happening.

Esmyra twisted her tail sharply, the water parting around her as she searched for a place to hide. Its low, guttural growl vibrated through the water, making her heart race so fast she thought it would burst.

There was nowhere to swim to—nowhere to hide. And now here she was, levitating and glowing like a fucking beacon.

Its serpentine form stretched far beyond her line of sight.

A dragon-like head emerged from the darkness, eyes shining like twin orbs of liquid silver, cutting through the darkness with a sharp, predatory glint.

Rows of razor-sharp teeth lined its gaping jaw, and its navy scales made it effortlessly blend in with the trench’s gloom .

Esmyra’s mind raced, thoughts fragmented and frantic. She knew if she remained still, she would be as good as dead. Yet every instinct screamed that if she fled, the movement could cause it to attack sooner. She was fast—but even she knew she couldn’t outswim a dragon of the sea.

Its eyes remained locked on her, as if it were trying to decipher what she was—or if she was a threat. Her heart thudded even harder, her gills flaring as she struggled to maintain her false composure.

Think, Esmi. Think.

Just as she was about to make the dash to the surface, or at least out of the trench, the sea serpent surged towards her with its gaping maw. She extended her arms and sent a powerful jet of currents towards the beast, aiming for its exposed throat.

The monster sensed the attack and twisted its enormous body with a speed she never thought possible for its colossal size.

Her jaw dropped as she watched the jet of water glide off its scales.

The beast let out a deafening roar that reverberated through the trench, its sound making the walls tremble.

What in all hells was she going to do?

As she looked up at the sliver of the trench’s opening, she reached out her hand and felt the surrounding water come alive with pulsating energy, answering to her call as she willed it. In response, the currents violently swirled before wrapping around her like a protective veil.

Her power summoned a vortex, a destructive, swirling maelstrom, and sent it spiraling towards the creature. With a violent thrash of its tail, it easily evaded her attack, slicing the damn thing in half.

“Shit,” she hissed, distracted enough to accidentally drop her shield.

It lunged at her once more, its mouth aiming to swallow her whole. Barely avoiding the snap of its teeth, she propelled herself towards the surface, her heart catching in her throat.

How in all gods could she kill this thing? And how long had it been stuck down here? Had the goddesses damned their creature to the darkness of this trench, or was it here for a reason? Guarding something .

She didn’t dare look down as she raced through the water as fast as she could, feeling the monster right on her tail.

Knowing she would never make it in time, she summoned a barrier—a solid wall of water that she thrust between herself and the beast. The creature slammed into it, momentarily stunned by the impact.

Esmyra conjured a barrage of sea blades, launching them at the serpent’s eyes.

When the beast tried to escape the attack, it twisted to the side, crashing into the rocky wall, and caused massive boulders to break off and drift down to the ocean floor.

The deadly sharp sea-blades struck, embedding themselves in the creature’s scales and forcing it to recoil in pain.

The serpent’s body whipped through the water, thrashing violently, shattering the surrounding coral formations that lined the jagged walls.

Esmyra knew this was her last chance at escape, and her eyes beamed brightly as she summoned the full force of her power.

With a battle cry, she released a massive pulse of energy.

The shockwave propelled the serpent downward, back to where it came from, as it erupted in a bellowing roar that echoed through the trench.

Using what was left of her energy, she soared upwards. The force of her tail sent her spiraling past the edges of the trench’s opening, through the open water, and up toward the surface.

The dim, bluish glow of the deep brightened as she ascended, the sunlight filtering down in golden shafts.

With a final, powerful thrust, she broke through the surface, her head emerging into the open air.

Droplets of water scattered like diamonds in the sunlight as she arched out of the sea, her long hair flipping with the movement, sending a showering spray flying in all directions.

Esmyra was gasping for breath, scanning the area frantically, when her eyes caught on a small island in the distance, to the east. She glanced down beneath her, the darkness of the water concealing everything below her tail.

Was this how sailors felt when they sensed she was stalking them?

With that thought, she didn’t waste a moment before swimming toward the island. Worry worked its way through her gut as she realized that for the first time in her life, she sought refuge on land while fleeing from the sea.