Glass Rose

Chapter 5C

There was no cut, there was no blood, there was nothing.

Just a pool of water spilling from where her dagger met his skin.

"Well, this is certainly not how I wanted this to end, but mirage spells don't last too long anyways, I guess." The man was still showing off his teeth in that cold cruel grin.

Her hand was shaking furiously, uncontrollably. The air became heavy, so hard to breathe. Pain erupted in her chest as she struggled to process everything. She just tried to kill someone. Kris was captured. The Captain was gone. She was alone.

Her wet clothes clung to her skin, the freezing water dripping across her back. Her mask was shattered, and so much emotion was spilling out. Tears threatened to fall, but her stubbornness held them back. "Aw, cheer up, sunshine! You're about to make history!"

He was crazy, a type of spell, he had said. Not even real. Laera turned to walk away.

"Oh, princess," His hand snapped to hers. The touch had felt like icicles coiling around her hand. Not real, she repeated in her mind to stop the fear flying around in her stomach. "Stick around a bit. This is the first time a mirage has been used as a messenger and as a siren's trap!"

He was partially gone now, the spell wearing off, but the smirk spreading wildly across his face. She raised his dagger and sliced through his arm, the water splashing out and his grip disappearing. She kept her eyes blank and bore into him, "Tell me about the siren."

Instead he winked, as the last of him disappeared into the water.

Laera turned, sighing and pushing the dagger back into her pocket. Whatever type of siren he was talking about was probably just to worry her. He was full of nothing. No story, no real answers. Just more questions.

Mirages were a relatively simple spell. Mainly used by sirens years ago, they could be used lure sailors or beachgoers. From the stories she had picked up from various events over the years, some could be used to show a person exactly what they wanted to see. Now they were used mainly as messengers.

She would've been worried about the stranger's prediction- was it right to call him a stranger?- if she was anywhere near the ocean.

She was back at the shallow end of the pond. The lake's water rolled around her ankles as she let the sand sink down under her weight for a moment.

In a flash, she was back at the ocean. Her bare feet kicked back salty water, splashing Kris and her dad as they both raced to catch her. Huge waves gently rocked her back and forth as the wildlife swam with her.

It had been years since she had tasted the seafoam or had her feet burned by the sand. That had been a relatively peaceful time. Traison owned the beachfront, but although the relationship between the countries were strained, both had given tons of effort towards a treaty.

And like always, it never worked out.

Kris's vial of saltwater was stuffed in the bag. She didn't want to know how he got it.

Leaving the water felt impossible. By now her shoes fet glued down to the dirty brown sand underneath. Everything was wet and cold, and though she wanted more than anything to change into a different pair of pants, the small ripples were calming.

If she just watched it for a bit, maybe she'd feel at peace too.

Cold slime wrapped around her ankle.

Just a fish. That's all it is, she thought. Just a fish swimming past.

But the feeling didn't move, and as her chest beat, she let her head slowly look down to see the thing holding her.

A gray hand was staring back.

She ripped her leg back, but the creature was stronger. It pulled and pulled, until her body slammed against the sand. For being so soft, it hurt so much.

Claws dug into her skin, scratching down her calf. Kicking and flailing around she desperately tried to grab onto something, digging her weight into the sand.

She was in knee-deep water again, but with her back down, she barely was able to press herself above the water. Her lips struggled for air as she bit back screams.

The next second, she was under. Her eyes opened to the murky sight. A gray slender figure with twig-like arms and pointed teeth scratched up her leg until she was face-to-face with the creature.

It breathed and moved like a fish, rippling along in the water, but the face was definitely not comparable to a siren. The creature had legs, and it's eyes were barely beaded spots sunken into its fleshy exterior.

A half-breed. A mutt. Outlawed from both Fotia and Traison and hidden away in Harwood.

Fascinating.

If she wasn't about to be devoured, she would've loved to study this creature. But her hand steadied around her dagger and swung wildly, hoping to hit something that wasn't her.

As the fleshy limb loosened from her grasp, she swam, desperate for air and desperate to get away. She didn't bother to look back.

She gulped air as her head resurfaced, and immediately pushed her body forward. The shore was so close, if she could just-

The mutt ripped at her skin and caught her foot, while something else wrapped around her shoulders and tugged her to shore.

A sword cut at the mutt, but it wasn't her dagger. It was cleaner and decorated in silver, moving so swiftly, she barely could see the hand that was holding it.

She almost laughed at how quickly she recognized the Captain's callouses.

The mutt shrieked at them, baring its enormous mouth and two sets of teeth that seemed more like broken shards of glass than fangs. Its arms were snapped off, like branches. One more strike, and it'd be finished off.

Laera stumbled to her feet, using the Captain's hand as a crutch and pulled out her stained sword.

"Why did you run off?!?" The Captain hissed, not moving his eyes off the animal.

"I saw someone."

"Someone?" The Captain's voice raised, and Laera felt her anger rise too, "Who?"

Laera spared a second to look at the Captain, whose brows were furrowed at her. She angled her eyes back, and was about to spit back a retort, when the mutt screamed again.

It's body was like sticks, and as it stumbled forward, she could see it was bark. The dark colored exterior ran from it's long nails up to its shoulders, where it's scale-covered neck sharply contrasted the skin.

The more she stared the more she wanted to know, so her eyes naturally check back over and over the mutt's body, "Laera."

"What!" She snapped back. She was met with wide eyes and a hand flailing for hers.

"We need to go. Now."

Her head turned back towards the creature as the bark on its shoulders shifted back. Limbs stretched to replace the ones they broke off, as the creature let out one final roar while staring down Laera.

Fascinating.