Beyond The Blue

to. And sometimes, the currents

___

epiphany. Merbel walked the path along the cliffs with an unsatisfied restlessness, her hands tracing along damp bramble like it could confess

with the immobility of a rising tide. His arms were folded, his eyes enigmatic, his presence a burden in the atmosphere. He had

under her door. The paper was wet, thin, the wo

e sun sets. Bri

ut Merbel recog

n

more than these things. She was a remnant. A witness.

ed at the bottom of the cliff like a shell jammed into the rocks. Seaweed netting overhung its eaves,

ng on for late," Enna

burned down low, casting shadows on the walls of driftwood with dancing

clay cups. Her hands shook, but her eyes-o

answered, her voice as unforgiving as

g the scalding cup. "Anacobal is. w

. "Protecting or delaying? There is a difference, child. The

lf and experienced mint, salt, a

at I am anymore,

. "That's because you've

ate on

d the memories inside would snap at her. Rags of silk sparkled in the fire-sea colors faded by time.

comb with sacred hands a

s your m

like stones int

ght. "My mother die

Enna said. "But

somewhere, a gull scre

t Lira, like they said. It was Lirae. She wasn't a

r fingers trembled as they rested against its handle. T

ed the reef gates. Hurt. Half-transmuted. I discovered her on the beach, bleedin

til she met your father. Sweet, clever liar. He had e

eeling. The tea chu

t. Thick as fog. But they stole her away-not to return her home, I think, but to

ged through Merbel's he

y n

ood is waking. The storm was a signal. The sea knows you've come of age. A

felt suddenly like a stranger in her own skin. Like t

ink. She didn't realize she was crying unti

ng still, as if he had kn

" she accu

d silent.

you not

said, "it never lets go. And I did

not known peace since the first time I awo

wolf, Merbel. In excess of any prophecy or curse. You

ut confused. Haunted. I can't b

ark-behind your ear. A crescent-within-a-wave. It's not a b

t instinctively. A faint pu

en's worlds and magic. Keepers of the peace. When your mother disappeared, that contro

she drew in

becomes tenuous. You must decide what

ttlefield-half-wolf, half-something e

she answered. "I want my

rm, coarse, true. "Then use the throne to gain you

ing a silver fire along the cliffs. Waves poun

s stirring,

And it knows

-

under her pillow, softly pulsing, dreaming with her.

a line of creatures built of nightmare and coral, shadow and scale, flame and fin. At her side

h a cry: "Daughter of tide

dding clung to her in sweat

the door-and

cob

ask. He did

it too,"

re speaking. The Veil i

wh

. The last temple of the Moon Court. You

, the only home she'd ever known.

t's go,"

aves, something ancie

__