Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(3) Ande: Friend of the Enemy

The last time we were here, I had Taiki show me the way through the stone forest, so I'd be able to replicate it on my own if I had to. He's mentally present right now, but I want to see how far I can get. The first thing I remember is that getting to the stone forest in the first place is the first challenge we'll dace. We've barely entered the open water when an eddy begins to curl around us, and something shoves me from behind.

There's nothing there.

"Chura's curse," murmurs Taiki, hands barely lit.

"It's worse."

He doesn't answer. I stop swimming and let the water buffet me. It flows one way for a few heartbeats, then shoves me sideways, then down. I've scarcely beat my tail to counter it when it lifts me from below instead.

"Don't fight it," signs Taiki nervously. "It only gets worse if you fight."

Even as he signs the words, though, the water throws him, too. He jets back to me on reflex, tail-fins beating like a heart of their own.

"Like I said," I murmur, though he can't see my hands. "It's worse."

The currents around the stone forest never flow the same way twice. That's the curse Chura cast as she died here, killed by the great shark demigod, who was killed by the Sami shortly after. The story feels different now that I've actually met a Sami-Kel. I've seen Sar fight, and they might be on the stronger side, but they're dead meat against the Alliance. Now I'm wondering again just how strong the Alliance is.

The currents are definitely pushier than the last time we were here. Taiki hovers close to me, and grabs my arm when eddies threaten to tear us apart. I don't think he's felt the curse like this before, either, and he's been here a lot more times than I have. I turn my attention back to navigating. Last time we were here, Taiki navigated using the sun. There's no sun right now. I buoy my tail and pull us both towards the surface. I can be sure, at least, that there won't be any risk of Sami coming here. Taiki says they fear the curse far more than other Kels.

The moon is out, casting sparkles on the choppy waves. I lift a hand to it. A current throws me sideways, and my free fingers curse softly. I right myself and try again. Again, I'm knocked askew. It's like the water is alive, and it does not want me doing this. After a third, fourth, and fifth failure, my patience is fraying. If the curse wants to be aggressive, two can play that game. But mostly, I just want to try something.

I draw my dagger, and the water goes still.

Taiki's fingers spasm on my arm. He's staring at me with a face that has don't do this written all over it, but I'm not doing anything. Just holding my dagger, as the currents confirm its identity in a way nothing else can. Chura's curse might knock Kels around and mess with other demigods, but even demigods bow to Andalua.

"It's going to kill us," signs Taiki, small and bright. He quickly dims his hands.

"No it won't," I sign back. "I won't let it."

That's a bluff; if this curse actually tries to kill me, I doubt there's much I can do about it. But we have places to be and things to do, and I'm not about to let the lingering wrath of a long-dead demigod threaten me out of trying to stop a cataclysm. There is a time and place for reverence, and there is a time and place to understand that even the ocean may no longer be our friend. The ocean and Andalua are synonymous, after all. If one is trying to kill us, they both are. I lift my hand again to take an angle from the moon. This time, nothing disturbs me. I find our direction and tug Taiki towards it. "Come on."

He comes with me wordlessly. Still hanging onto my arm, like only physical contact will keep him within my dagger's sphere of protection. If I'm being honest, his presence is more than a little comforting.