Divine Evolution (2021 Watty Awards Shortlist)

CHAPTER TWO

With absolutely no fanfare, the Dragontide's longboat pulled away from shore and sailed off into the Great Sea. Or if there was fanfare, it was the horrified screams of the villagers as the Dragontide left without either explanation or having Chosen from among the village youth.

The longboat set off of its own volition, moving without wind or sails or anyone manning any sort of oars. In fact, there really wasn't any obvious power source. The Dragontide simply stood in front, arms crossed over his chest while he looked off into the horizon, and the longboat moved. Unsettling was the only word for it. The man in black leather said they weren't gods, but they must have had some kind of magic if they could move a boat just by seeming to think about it. A quick glance back showed Cyann the Great Sea had returned to its cool, inscrutable blackness. The sparkling blue was gone. So were the village and the island. There was nothing but water and blue sky in every direction.

Cyann sat in the back of the longboat, rigid and unmoving. It had all seemed so thrilling at first: being Chosen. What a dramatic way to escape her pathetic life in the village. How could she resist? But now, doubt crept in. She'd handed herself over to a stranger, essentially promising to follow him to the ends of the earth, because why? Because she was mad about some dead flowers? If she hadn't panicked, she probably could have found a way out of the mess. And, at least she knew where she stood in the village. Then again, where she'd been standing hadn't been all that wonderful.

What would happen to her? And now that she thought about it, what had happened to the other Chosen the Dragontide had taken from the village two moons ago? Then he'd Chosen Cheza, a tiny little thing who giggled too much with dark brown hair and eyes. Cyann could only assume he'd handed her off to the man in black who'd found her lacking. If so, what had happened to her, and could Cyann expect the same treatment if she was found lacking too?

She cast an anxious glance over at the man in question. He sat to her left on a bench built into the side of the longboat. One elbow rested on his knee as he stared out over the waters, while his other hand absently sheathed and unsheathed one of the knives on his belt. He looked...baffled, she decided. The pinched look on his face seemed to indicate he'd been thrown a surprise he wasn't sure he liked or wanted to deal with. Without question, her future was entwined with his after what had happened back in the village. His blood was inside her now. What did that mean? Was it the same for everyone who'd ever been Chosen before her—each handed over to some unknown master? Master. Was that who he was to her now? Did he control the rest of her life?

As if sensing her eyes on him, he turned. He twirled the knife between his fingers without looking before sheathing it back in his belt. Cyann followed the movements, amazed he didn't cut himself. Then again, he was a god. Wait, no he wasn't. But under that steady green gaze, it was hard to make herself believe he was the same as her. Doubly hard not to let her eyes skitter away from his and gulp nervously. Still, he called her a woman and said she had something he needed that no one else in the village could provide. If nothing else, speaking her mind had gotten her this far. No point in clamming up now.

"Can you tell me what happens next?" she asked. She gestured vaguely to the Great Sea. "How far are we sailing?"

"Not far," he said in that deep voice of his. "Just enough so no one in your village hears the sonic boom."

"Of course," she said, as if she knew exactly what a sonic boom might be.

"Cyann, whatever happens, I want you to trust me. You'll see things you won't necessarily understand, and there will be changes that need to happen in order for this to work, but just know it's for the best. I have to work within the system regardless of how I feel about it."

She frowned. "I know things will be different now than they were in the village, if that's what you mean," was the best she could manage.

"There's a reason I work alone," the Dragontide interrupted. He cast an angry scowl over his shoulder at them. "You're only confusing her with unnecessary explanations. The issue isn't trust, it's understanding what's expected and the necessity of this position. The Ministry Envoy will explain it to her, as required."