Page 56 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

Erick’s head whipped back and forth between the two fleets as they advanced, and Kora peeled away from the small mast, her heart erratically thumping beneath her ribs. They had to move quickly, or risk being ripped apart by the hull of one of the warships that would easily tear through the pinnace.

They needed to choose the lesser of two evils.

“You both need to choose now! Which ship will we survive on?”

She raised her hands.

“What?”

Erick and Aryn echoed.

“Choose now—Galen or Talmon.”

It was like asking which way they would like to die.

“Talmon!”

Erick barked. She supposed their chances of survival were slightly better there—if not highly minimal. Better to face tyrants than blood-thirsty, mindless savages.

Aryn glared at him viciously, but his ire was quickly replaced with shock. Light bloomed from Kora’s hands, trailing up her arms like coils, and she gritted her teeth as the ocean water pooled onto the pinnace, circling up their legs like a second skin. Resistance pushed back, and she trembled as she delved into her slumbering well of power, past an unknown barrier.

“Hold your breaths!”

she yelled over the rising cries of battle, and the boom of cannons as warfare unfurled. Erick yelped as ocean water consumed them, dragging them beneath the surface—just as the pinnace was smashed in half by a Galen warship.

Joyous warmth spread through her as she commanded the sea. Her power felt unlimited, the barrier broken within her. It rejoiced with her as she speared their bodies with the current towards one of the empire’s warships. Her body was alight with energy once again, her shoulder healing completely as the water cocooned her like a long-lost love. It snaked around her body, her veins thrumming with a fathomless strength. She nearly felt whole.

And she was glowing.

Once they neared the mahogany hull, Kora directed their bodies upwards, shooting them out of the sea like sirens leaping to ensnare sailors.

“Grab on!”

Their hands flung out, grappling onto the side rigging of the ship. Water dripped from their hair and clothes, and the males panted, their eyes wide with shock—and something else. She didn’t spare a chance to look at them too closely, mostly in fear they would be repulsed . . . or afraid.

“Keep going!”

She climbed the rigging and propelled over the thick railing.

It was chaos.

The ships had already collided, and the deck was fraught with both Galenite mercenaries, in their pale-stone armour, and Talmon soldiers in their opposing black. The sound of metal and shouting roared around her and she paled. She’d never experienced true war, and the sights, sounds, and smells were ghastly.

“Kora!”

Erick thudded beside her, his shredded wet cape slapping against the wood, followed by Aryn. They both stared at her wide eyed, heavily breathing, and Erick was . . . shaking.

“How long?”

Erick pressed.

“How long since your powers returned?”

“My . . . what?”

Kora shrank back.

Erick glanced around. No one had noticed them yet.

“You knew,”

she whispered, her voice trembling.

“You knew!”

The shame in Erick’s face broke her completely. He had lied. He’d kept her past a secret.

Her yell attracted attention, and a swath of Galenite mercenaries approached them, breaking through the folds of Talmon soldiers. Erick unsheathed his sword and leapt in front of Kora, fighting them off. Aryn raced up to her, his eyes distracted by something in the distance, and grabbed her hand, hauling her to the quarterdeck.

“No! Erick!”

she cried as Aryn dragged her away from her father.

“Let me go!”

Surrounded by mercenaries, his green cape sliced and trickled to the deck around him as he fought with a ferocious might. Seeing Erick in battle had always inspired her—he was a force to be reckoned with—but now it sickened her violently.

Aryn’s grip was impenetrable, even with her regained powered strength, and she couldn’t shake him. They raced up the steps to the quarterdeck and stumbled into a towering female dressed in a labradorite flight suit.

“Skylar!”

Aryn skidded to a halt.

Skylar turned, her doe-like eyes raking over them as she withdrew her estoc sword from the gut of a soldier, wiping blood across his corpse. Her braided silver hair whipped in the wind, and a smile slowly spread across her lips.

“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise.”

Her voice woke the water beast within Kora, and her hand whipped out instinctively, shooting a bolt of razor-sharp water at Skylar. The female leapt into the air, her flight suit expanding as she flipped graciously around Kora’s attack before landing on her feet.

“So predictable,”

she crooned.

“Skylar, not now,”

Aryn snapped, his grip tightening on Kora. She tried to pull away, but Aryn tugged her back as if she weighed nothing.

“I’m just playing,”

Skylar shrugged.

“We need to get Kora somewhere safe. Now is our only chance.”

Aryn knew Skylar—he knew the Galenites.

The pain in Kora’s chest felt like the whole ocean was pressing down on her, and nausea churned in her gut as she assessed one of her closest friends.

Another liar.

Another secret.

Her life had never been real. All of her relationships were fake.

Aryn averted his gaze, his jaw working as he pleaded with Skylar.

Skylar’s eyes flashed at the mention of Kora’s name, and she surveyed the battle around them, her mouth thinning. Kora peeked a glance down to the deck and gasped at the horror. Bodies and blood littered the deck, and more mercenaries and soldiers were swinging onto the ship from flanking vessels, propelling into the clutches of death.

The booms of cannons ricocheted through the air as the naval battle undulated in the sea around them. Smoke billowed from ships, tainting the sky. Arrows and lances soared through the air, embedding into the chests and necks of their enemies. Waves of yelling, crying, and moaning rang in her ears, and her bowels turned watery.

This was what Barron wanted—and this was only the start.

Thinking his name somehow beckoned him, and a familiar, dark figure landed onto the foredeck, the sound vibrating through the wood of the ship. Darkness leaked all around him, and she felt his ripple of power all the way from the other end of the ship. Like a beacon, Barron’s thunderous eyes found her immediately, and he smirked.

Apparently, he wasn’t finished being an admiral. But how had he found her on this ship?

Her mind screamed, her scar burning with an intensity that made her cry out, clutching the side of her face. Skylar frowned at her, but then instinctively whirled, using her sword to block an attack.

“Get away from her,”

a familiar voice growled.

Kora’s world tilted on its axis as Blake attacked Skylar. He was splattered with blood, his leathers torn, and his face twisted with savage rage. A thick, writhing shadow followed him, echoing every movement he made, causing Skylar to stumble, her efforts weakening.

“Get her out of here!”

she shouted to Aryn.

Blake’s gaze snapped to Aryn and Kora, and it fell to their clasped hands. With a roar, he pushed Skylar back with frightening force, her body flying back into the side of the ship with a crack. Aryn stepped in front of Kora, firing an arrow. It shot into Blake’s shoulder and he cried out in anguish, reaching to snap the arrow from his body.

“Kora, you need to run—now!”

Aryn fired two more arrows into each of Blake’s legs, but it didn’t stop him.

“I . . . I can’t. I’m not leaving you like Sam!”

Aryn offered a half smile, his hawk-like gaze trained on Blake.

“We need you to survive—run.”

“I’m tired of running!”

Blake’s attention whipped to Kora. At the sound of her voice, he ripped the arrows from his legs and charged forward. With one hand, he grasped Aryn by the throat, and she cried out as he tossed him over the side of the quarterdeck balustrade, into the teeming mass of swords below.

“You don’t need to run, my asterya.”

Blake stooped over her. His presence was suffocating, and her power shrank within his proximity. He ran a finger down the side of her face, tracing her scar. It burned so mercilessly that stars danced in her vision.

“I’ll take care of you . . .”

he murmured as his finger trailed down to the collar at her neck. He smiled at it.

“You look so beautiful in this.”

“You’re fucking deranged!”

Kora stepped back as Skylar bolted from the side, her sword swooping up between them. Kora dropped to the deck, sliding across the slick wood as Skylar fought Blake once again. She was limping, and her face winced whenever she raised her sword above her shoulder.

“You need to go!”

she ordered Kora.

“Find my siblings they’re—”

Blake cut her off as he lunged for Kora, but Skylar effortlessly blocked him, twirling around before bringing the pommel of her sword up to his chin knocking him back. The move was eerily like one of Kora’s. Skylar was . . . she was protecting her. Kora watched her with astoundment. Why was Skylar, a Galenite, protecting her? Surely, Kora was a threat to Galen. She could be used as a weapon—

She sucked in a breath.

A weapon.

I possess a weapon. A weapon that’s never been seen before.

Barron had insisted on her joining their war effort. Did he know? If Erick knew, then what’s to stop Barron knowing about her power?

Leaping to her feet, she descended the stairs to the main deck. Skylar was pushing Blake back to the edge of the quarterdeck, and Kora would rather take her chances in the throngs of battle than be left with her ex-lover and a brutal Galenite.

She ducked, dodged, and rolled away from attacks on the deck, and a gleaming piece of silver snagged her attention. She knelt, grabbing a light cutlass sword before she fought her way across the deck to Barron.

Boom.

A cannon fired through the air across the ship, narrowly missing the main mast. A ship to the right exploded, chunks of wood and debris cascading in the air and plummeting all around her. Severed, sharp pieces of a brig impaled a soldier through the neck. Several more soldiers were knocked unconscious—or she hoped they were. She didn’t stop long enough to see whether more pieces of a ship’s hull were protruding from their bodies.

There was only one way to end this war—and it was with Barron’s head rolling across this deck.

She’d been used by everyone, and she’d be gods-damned before she let Barron do the same. She’d been kept in the dark, hidden away from society. She’d been lied to. She’d been betrayed. She’d been abused, locked up, and chained.

And Captain Kora Cadell had had enough.

Now it was time to break free.

She would not be conquered.