Page 53 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
I deftly duck and weave through the remaining few creatures of destiny until one last Heimartai drops down into my path. It’s unlike any of the others. I watch stunned as it pulses silently before me, changing in colors from greens to blues to purples to silver and back again.
The rhythm of it matches the pounding beat within, that odd thrumming that comes from the other side of my affinity. I resist the knee-jerk urge to unleash my power. I’ve got a feeling in my gut that freezing one of these creatures would not bode well for my own survival.
The color-morphing Heimartai floats in my pathway, effectively nailing me to the spot. When the being speaks at last, it doesn't have the same odd mixture of tone as the others. Instead, its unusual voice is one I cannot place and yet somehow I know inside my very soul .
A male’s voice, deep and rich and familiar, proclaims, “So, the daughter of tides approaches at long last. I've wondered when you’d finally find your way to me.”
I can’t make myself move. I can’t tear myself away. Only one single thought keeps looping around and around inside my mind while I stand there as if frozen solid.
I know that voice.
I know that voice.
I know that voice.
Something inside of me hammers with an insistent beat. The wild thrumming feels like it is begging me to understand, begging to be remembered. As hard as I try, I’m met with the same solid wall of ice as always. I’m at a loss for words; my hands struggle to keep hold of their blades.
I know with absolute certainty that whatever this thing is about to spew, it is at last for me.
“And yet you are not you. Not quite.”
If Heimartai could tilt their heads, I swear this one would.
“W–what do you mean?” I rasp out in befuddlement.
My affinity is coiled tight inside my chest, just waiting for the moment to pounce.
The medusa actually appears to muse for a moment.
Then, without warning, the colorful creature begins circling around me as if inspecting my person. I spin in place with blades held aloft, prepared to stab it if I must. Curiously, though, I get the feeling that harming this creature might just break something vital inside of me.
“You have the potential to become you, " it states slowly. "But you are not yet the you that’s intended for this fate.”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, which I suppose that inversely I am. A hot flush of confusion and irritation towards this peculiar spirit begins coloring my cheeks .
“Then tell me who I am. If you know my fate, then surely you know my past.” I growl the words low and threatening to avoid them sounding like the plea that they very much are.
The Heimartai drifts back, cutting off my path forward once more. Its pulsing, color-changing beat only seems to amp up the one that's currently hammering me from the inside out.
"I could tell you about your past, but you wouldn't believe it, and it would do nothing to bring about the you that this destiny calls for. I’m afraid there’s only one set of greater events already at work that can trigger your metamorphosis,” the creature laments, sounding terribly sad.
I flounder around for the right words, but I’m too shocked and angry to think properly.
The Heimartai's light begins to dim, and I'm filled with a surge of panic that starts clawing inside my chest, demanding that I do something. I have to learn something—anything—before it fades away like the others. This may be my only chance to salvage a piece of my past.
“What events?” I plead, my hand stretching out as if to grab it.
The creature’s color shifts into a deep indigo as it swiftly dodges my closely approaching fingers. “Do not make that mistake again, daughter of the tides!” It snarls angrily at me. “You are not yet the right you intended for this fate , and so my touch may very well bring about your death.”
A feeling of crushing hopelessness at being so near my past and still being denied access all but consumes me. The Heimartai’s light dims once more, and my opportunity slips away with it.
“ Please ,” I beg the mythic being. “What events? What must happen for me to regain my memories? To become the one your fate is meant for? Please, I just—I’m so sick of not knowing.”
The creature pauses briefly. “I cannot say. I only know for certain that you will rage against them, and in turn they will shatter you. We will meet again, daughter of the tides. ”
With that final piece of dreadful information, the medusae fades away entirely, and I’m left with an open path to the beckoning grove.
There’s a heavy weight pressing on my chest when I ascend the ocean garden steps.
I can’t believe I was so close to my memories, and yet again I’m found unworthy.
It’s becoming a painful pattern in my life, one that I’m keenly aware of.
I tread perhaps more angrily than I should through the coral, aiming directly for the athanasia bloom.
The flower is just as described, with petals of vibrant amethyst and, upon closer inspection, a stem of blue. I lean down to sniff, not positive I will even be able to do so in the dream-like realm, but sure enough, the potent smell of the flower hits me like a slap across the face.
The sickly sweet fragrance of carrion invades my senses and invokes images of rotting flesh and maggot-covered bones. I jerk away from the innocent-looking bloom and promptly double over.
Clutching my stomach tightly, I hold back the gags, wracking my body with everything I have.
I don’t even want to know what it would be like to vomit in this pocket realm. My affinity works quickly to cool and soothe, taking away that gruesome scent along a frosty current.
“What in the fuck do they want with you?” I question, eyeing the flower testily after having regained some control over my bodily functions.
The flower, of course, remains silent.
Blowing out a short breath through my nose, I remove one of the more recently sharpened blades from the sling around my middle. It’s easy enough to sever the bloom from its home. Re-sheathing my blade, I hold the deceiving flower outwards like it might explode at any minute.
Thankfully, I’m saved from a trip back through the trench of horrors. As I step down the ocean garden’s steps, my foot lands on the pathway leading back out of the Veil Keepers mouth .
A quick scan reveals I’m back inside the monolith circle but now it seems I’m allowed to leave.
The fog has cleared entirely from the grotto, and I hurry towards the exit as swiftly as I can.
The amethyst petalled flower still held out carefully before me, like it might set itself on fire at any moment. I refuse to risk accidentally catching another whiff of its scent.
The last thing I need to add to this hellish day is to hurl my guts up before our Grand Regent.