Victoria stands on deck and stares up at the huge walls of ice that surround the ship on either side. A strange, muted silence fills the air. When the ice cracks and groans deeply, it almost makes Victoria jump. The way there is no gentle whistle of the breeze, or even the trickling sound of the water makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand.
Beneath them, the waters are black and still. It is a stark contrast to the blinding white of the ice. For hours, they had slowly manoeuvred through the confusing maze that the great, icy cliffs.
Then again, it isn't called the Shattered Arctic for nothing.
"Are you sure you know the way through?" Victoria asks Thessaly.
"Aye," she says from her spot behind the wheel. Victoria nods her head, remembering seeing maps of the Arctic. Miles upon miles of towering cliffs of ice surround the Arctic mainland. It is a maze with dead ends and canals that lead in the opposite direction.
Every now and then, they pass an empty floating ship. A strange stillness surrounds them. There is nothing wrong with them. There is no damage. But looking at the way they lifelessly bob over the small waves and hearing the deep creek of the cold wood, sends shivers down Victoria's spine.
She can imagine how it went. A confident crew sailed through the passages of the Shattered Arctic only to get lost. With no way out and with the temperatures as low as they are Victoria suspects that the crews froze to death long before they ran out of provisions.
She stares at the ship, unable to even blink as she wonders how many of the crew are below the deck, frozen together as they tried to remain warm.
She wonders how long they've been here. How many years, decades, or even centuries, have these ships been frozen in time?
Why would anyone in their right mind come here?
With that thought, she turns to Thessaly.
"How do you know the Frozen Witch?" she asks curiously.
"She lets us take refuge here every now and then," Thessaly replies. "When we grow especially bored of sailing and want to hide from the ocean for a while without stepping on land, we just come here and hibernate, basically."
"Huh," Victoria replies.
She walks up to the railing and looks down into the black waters. They are deep. Very deep. She can feel it in the way a strange weight pulls on her body. It is a depth and darkness that both scares and excites her.
Mermaids used to live in these waters. They used to thrive here. This used to be the territory of the Callor Pod. This was their home and they had no fear of the infinite depths and darkness. Nor did they fear the sea monsters that reside in the great trenches beneath the ice.
Victoria shudders again and moves away, turning back to Thessaly.
"Are we nearly there yet?" she asks.
"Not too much longer," Thessaly says.
"Okay," Victoria replies and lets out a shaky, nervous breath.
She knows this crew trusts the Frozen Witch, but she can't help but wonder whether or not the Frozen Witch will actually help them. Worse still, thoughts of the Frozen Witch selling her out to the Order or to the Sea Witch flood her mind, making her stomach twist with nerves and unease.
Victoria hops down the steps and then into the captain's cabin. He looks up from his desk where he is finishing up mapping out the path they've taken through the ice canals onto an old parchment map.
YOU ARE READING
The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)
FantasyTHIS STORY IS ON HOLD Victoria is one of the last mermaids. Hunted to near extinction by The Order of Severed Fell, who harvest mermaid scales, blood, and tears for their twisted magic, Victoria is running out of places to hide. That is until The S...
