Page 22 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
Agni slides off the newly broken kelpie’s back and down to the half-destroyed groyne. He turns back towards the stadium as the beast begins swinging its head from one side to the other in agitation.
With an unevenness about his steps, Agni makes his way down the flag-lined path.
I spot several members of his crew racing from the stands to help him.
He waves them all off and I note that one of his arms looks like the bone might have been snapped in half.
That thin black fabric mask of his is now down around his neck, exposing the right half of his face is drenched in crimson.
I don’t give anymore attention to his wounded form. My eyes find the dark kelpie still moving anxiously to and fro. The noise emerging from it almost sounds like a sob. Others are noticing the creature’s strange behavior as well. I have the strangest impulse to go to it.
The world around me becomes wholly silent as the terrifying wild spirit sinks down onto its darkly beautiful haunches and lets out a long, mournful wail.
It causes a perilous chill to envelope my person, all the way down to the bone.
I find myself shuddering in physical response, it feels like something is tearing inside my soul.
And I think the pure, unspeakable sorrow in that sound might just haunt me forever.
I watch on in agony as the kelpie’s midnight head turns at last to reveal a massive brand has been sliced right across both of its once fiery eyes. Agni stole the creature's sight, but what’s worse, he mutilated it with a brand.
My stomach twists, bile stinging the back of my throat .
It’s true we learned little of the water spirits during our earlier levels. But from what I remember for certain, a branded kelpie cannot ever find its one true mate. There’s nothing more devastating that could have befallen the creature.
We’ve lined along the narrow dock directly in front of the newly crafted stadium while a light drizzle drips down on us.
I have yet to glimpse any of the six TideLords who will be judging this first task, but I’m already anxious to see the seventh.
Raider Dornon informed us they would be deliberating privately on scores before announcing them.
Only one of us is still missing.
Captain Agni hasn’t been seen since his exit.
I’m wondering if perhaps he’ll be too injured to join us for scoring when a thunderous wave of applause rips me from my hopeful reverie. At first I think the TideLords must have come back, but then I spot the approaching figure heading for his place at the opposite end of our line-up.
Agni's arm is locked against his side, wrapped so tightly in cloth that it barely moves.
One half of his face is obscured, hidden beneath layers of fabric stained a disturbing red.
It doesn't appear he's even changed clothes yet.
The southern captain takes his spot next to Corvina before raising his good arm to the crowd in thanks for their praise.
I resist the bitter urge to swear.
Raider Dornon announces then that the TideLords will enter shortly to give their scores. He’s noticeably less jovial than he was at the start of the trials. The twinkle in his blue eyes has dimmed, and the scars on his face are made more prominent on his noticeably paler face.
Unlike when Agni made his recent entrance, the crowd becomes deathly silent, and everyone stands at attention for the TideLords stalking back into the open air box located in the center of the stadium. Only the wind and rain dare to make a sound in their presence.
My breath is stuck somewhere between my chest and my throat while watching them enter one by one.
The first TideLord is tall and predictably well built with hard-earned muscle.
Black corded dreads fall to his shoulders, and a neatly trimmed onyx beard takes up the lower half of his face.
His uniform is the exact orange hue of a sun on the brink of death.
I know without looking at the unmistakable gold earring on his left lobe or the ring adorning his right index finger, who stands above me.
TideLord Hiwaye Kufko, or as the land masses better know him, ‘The Clawmaster’.
He peers down through tangerine-tinted spectacles at us with cool amusement in his russet eyes.
I barely have enough time to absorb the sight of the first TideLord when the next one waltzes into the judges platform.
He’s shorter than Kufko and noticeably leaner but his teal-dyed crocodile kurta adds on plenty of bulk.
From one ear hangs a long, vicious-looking polyphyodonty tooth.
It’s the same length as the Lord’s dark silky hair.
His uniform is only one of the many reasons they call him ‘Crocsbane’. TideLord Jaladhi Bombay gives a nod to Lord Kufko before standing beside him and looking down to us in observation.
At the appearance of the following Tide Lord, I find myself scanning the stands for a familiar pair of electric blue eyes. I don't find any trace of Kerau. I knew I likely wouldn't, especially when it’s only the first trial, but I suppose a teeny tiny part of me had hoped. A bit .
TideLord Regis Raimbaut sweeps in with the flourish of his long ruffled cape; its remarkable pigment fades from ashen pink to soft cerulean into a coral hue.
The uniform beneath is a crisp white, appearing almost neon against his suntanned skin.
The Lord is middle-aged and quite handsome.
His expertly trimmed black hair has a few grays, as does his shadow of a beard.
It’s true that TideLord Raimbaut is one of the more colorful lords to emerge from The Order, but don’t be deceived. In the seas of Pontus, the more vivid a creature’s exterior, the more dangerous. He wasn’t given the title ‘The Bright Terror’ without earning it.
The only current female TideLord swaggers in next.
She’s even smaller than the rumors, although you’d never know with the way she throws her weight about.
The dark brown of her uniform is dripping with black pearls; they twist thickly around her slender neck, and strings of them droop from the epaulets at her shoulders.
Her midnight hair is shorn tight against the hollows of her delicate cheekbones, revealing a row of tightly studded gems along both ears.
I work to keep my face neutral while watching TideLord Mei Li Tiamat join the others.
Her reputation for leaving every skirmish with her enemies not even able to recall her face is legendary.
There’s no wonder why the landmasses know her as ‘The Faceless Devil’.
She’s my hero.
Lord Tiamat is followed by an extremely intriguing TideLord Kazuo Kurage.
His otherwise standard uniform of dull gray is made utterly transfixing by the outer cape adorning it.
The storms have brought in a dark enough sky to reveal the bioluminescent lining of said cape that extends along up and over the edging of his hood.
Even with the rain continuing down between us, I can clearly make out his famous gloves lighting up the darkness. Those gloves are the only thing shielding anyone near from the fatal touch of Lord Kurage or more fittingly, ‘The Reaper's Hand.’
The last TideLord to arrive is one whose name needs no introduction.
He's as cutthroat and vicious as they come.
His finely tailored uniform is a deep tartarean and fashioned with golden armor around both his midsection and shoulders.
A cape of matching obsidian falls from the auric plates atop his shoulder.
That sharply lined, square-shaped face of his is handsome and expertly groomed.
TideLord Orcus Nero, also known as ‘The Kraken King’.
I wonder how our Tide Raider King feels about one of his lords holding a title to rival his own.
Lord Nero’s dark eyes scan over each of us; his attention lingers on Captain Agni and his bandaged body the longest. Jealousy twists my insides in response to the TideLord's blatant interest. I have to stand out to one of them.
This is our best shot at the closest thing to freedom that exists within The Order.
The crowd cheers wildly once all of the TideLords have taken their places. The announcer then informs the stadium that the scoring will begin with the first captain to complete the task, me .
I steady myself as TideLord Kufko lifts his board to reveal my score.
He turns it over and I blink to find a nine. A fucking nine .
I’m floored. Looking upwards, I give what I hope comes across as an appreciative grin. Kufko returns it with a cool nod in acknowledgment, and I clamp down on my budding excitement.
TideLord Bombay gives me an eight, and I’m once again stunned by the score I don’t quite feel deserving of. I then receive a seven from Lord Tiamat and another eight from Lord Raimbaut. I keep myself firmly grounded when Lord Kurage gives my next seven.
This is followed by TideLord Nero, who hands me my lowest score, a three.
A portion of the crowd actually boos at Lord Nero’s score. A portion that is most definitely not under his command. It doesn’t make me feel any better. One of the most revered TideLords in the history of The Order views me as a three . It stomps on something previously budding inside.
I end up with a total score of forty-two. But I don't know yet whether or not that’s going to be competitive. Droplets of water begin clinging to the white hairs marring the edges of my vision as I wait and watch while the others receive their results.
Vash is given a final score of thirty-nine, his highest points coming from Lord Tiamat. Dhara comes out hot on my heels at forty-one. Reed is in the mix at thirty-eight. Ansil isn’t far behind at forty, while Brisa earns herself the very first perfect ten from TideLord Bombay.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t green with envy at her forty-six.
I’m actually surprised Corvina only earns a total of thirty-five but clearly time was more of a factor than I’d already anticipated. I wonder if she was also penalized for her lack of actually riding the creature. It’s quite obvious that The Order wants these trials to be a show.
Captain Agni goes last, and I’m impatient.
The mournful wailing of his kelpie has mercifully stopped, but I know that I won't be able to get the memory of the creature's heartbreaking scream out of my head for a very long time.
I smirk when Lord Kufko gives him a six to kick it off.
Bombay holds up a seven, followed by Tiamat's score of another six. Raimbaut gives him a six as well, and Kurage adds another seven to his total. There’s true joy fluttering inside of me when tallying him up at thirty-two with only TideLord Nero and his repeatedly low scoring to go.
Not to mention the fact that the kelpies were donated by him to begin with.
Beating Olsson is almost the same as winning as far as I’m concerned. Lord Nero turns his score over at long last, and both my stomach and jaw drop at the perfect ten he’s given Captain Agni.
Leaving him with an outcome of forty-two.
He’s now tied with me for second place.