“Do you
really believe we’re doomed to fight each other?”
“Yes.” A tear
trickles down my cheek as I force the word out. Anything to keep him from
taking one more step into the angry sea.
The singer’s
laugh rolls through the mist. “I don’t believe that. Our people used to be
friends. Tell me from your heart—do you believe the One Who Is has destined us
only for war?”
The waves
dance higher as his voice passes over them, and I shudder. The ocean is
listening.
The Seamother
is listening.
Depths take
him, he’s going to get both of us killed if he doesn’t stop talking. I
slip into the water, shifting back into my sea-dwelling form as I do. With a
few flicks of my lithe tail, I speed through the shallows until I reach another
large rock, this one only a few yards from the singer. I crouch behind it and
speak in a whisper. “Please, leave before the Seamother hears you!”
“My name is
Keliveth. Keliveth Dalzana.”
The singer’s
simple words send ice through my veins. A Dalzana. A prophet of the elves, too
powerful and dangerous to trust. And yet … this makes his claims about the
Creator plausible. My head spins as I try to sort out what I dare believe about
this man, and I say the first thing that comes to mind.
“I didn’t want
to know that.” I would rather have gone on thinking of him as the dream-singer.
As someone who didn’t have to be my enemy.
“Why not?” His
voice is so earnest, so sincere, that it makes my next words all the more
bitter.
“Because
someday soon I will meet you on the battlefield.” My voice quavers. “And when
that happens, either you’ll die with my spear through your chest, or I’ll be
turned to ash by your magic.” I pause, gulping back sudden tears. “It’s worse
when you know the names of the ones you kill.”
“Well, then, I
guess you shouldn’t kill me.” I can almost hear a smile in his voice, and I
clench my fists. Does he think I’m joking?
“I’m leaving,”
I snap. “Don’t follow. My people will spear you and shred you to pieces.” I
push away from the rock, ready to swim back down to the palace and leave this
absurd dream world behind.
His voice cuts
through the darkness again.
“Tell me your
name. Then I won’t be able to kill you either.”
A pang shoots
through my heart. If only it were that simple.
A wave swells
before me, rising so much higher than the rest of the breakers that the stone
outcroppings that dot the shallows are buried. I grip the rock I hide behind as
the water rushes over my head. All thoughts are chased away by the sight of the
wave as it arcs above me and crests in glittering white foam.
The Seamother has found me.
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