Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) (19 page)

“The Bloodhound?”

“It’s not Bloodhound anymore. It’s Vindicti.”

Another heavy silence. Without daring to move my feet, I leaned over and tried to peer through a hole in the wood. The girl had stopped a few paces away. I stooped, angling my gaze upwards until I could see her face. I recognised her large eyes and thick, messy hair, as I’d seen her around the training base. She had an irritated-looking injury on the side of her neck, and scratches across her sallow face.

“Why are they sending you out so soon?”

“They thought it’d be better to surprise the demons, since they’re probably still picking themselves up from …” The girl hesitated. “If Dani’s not here, I think I’ll go.”

Annith didn’t argue.

Shortly after the girl disappeared from my sight, her footsteps stopped.

“Is it scary out there?” she said, so quietly I had to hold my breath to hear.

Yes
, I thought,
you’ll live every second of every day wondering when it will be your turn to be impaled, or drowned, or eaten, or strangled, or—

“It’s only scary if you forget the reason you’re there,” said Annith. “Remember who you’re fighting for, and you’ll be all right.”

A few more seconds passed.

“You’ll be all right,” said Annith again.

The girl made an indiscernible noise. It seemed an eternity before she left.

Annith crossed the deck and slid the planks away.

Her face appeared against the grey sky, eyes wide.

“They can’t,” I said at once. “The Massacres are in May. They’ve always been in May.”

“They’ve also always had male warriors,” said Blacktail. “Breaking traditions is the trend lately.”

“But May has the most hours of daylight! This’ll put the girls at a disadvantage. They haven’t even had enough training,” I said, arguing with no one.

I thought of Adaro, and how he began sending out all his warriors at the end of our Massacre, even the ones who had just started training. He wanted more warriors attacking us, no matter what the cost. Now we were doing the same.

And the iron nets. What’ll happen when they go out with those iron nets?

No one had words of reassurance. Adaro had threatened to destroy us if he found another of our ships over his city. He would view an early Massacre as a betrayal from me.

“This war is out of hand,” I said.

Blacktail made a small noise. She looked as solemn as ever, with the daylight from above accentuating the pockets under her eyes.

Tanuu stepped towards the dangling rope. “I guess we’d better hurry up and find this serpent.”

“Where?” I said bitterly.

Tanuu’s eyes darted around as he considered. Blacktail chewed her lip.

Yes, that was our starting point, but we were no closer to finding the Host. Would we even be able to do it in time? I felt like that iron net had been dropped on top of me.

I pulled the bone dagger from my belt and turned it over. It must be significant, somehow. I even felt a strange sense of familiarity looking at it. I poked my fingers through the hole in the hilt, wondering about the design. Was something supposed to be here? A precious stone, or maybe something that decayed and fell out over time?

“What are you smirking at?” said Blacktail.

She was looking at Tanuu, whose smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I remember where I’ve seen the two-headed snake.”

“Where?” said Blacktail and I together.

“The totem poles by the old docks. The biggest one has a serpent head at the top, and another upside down at the bottom.”

Blacktail gasped. “It does!”

Tanuu shook his head in disbelief, staring at the engraving on the mast. “We’re looking for history. The totem poles have our history carved into them. Why didn’t any of us think of it?”

“Probably because that area’s been blocked off our entire lives,” I said dryly.

I’d seen them from a distance once as a child, back when Nilus was alive. He promised to take me to see them up close when he returned from the Massacre—after he’d killed all the sea demons for me.

“We should get out of here, anyway,” said Blacktail, grabbing the rope. “The devil and his spawn could be back any minute.”

Tanuu crouched and patted his shoulder. “You girls go first. I’ll give you a boost.”

“I am not getting on your shoulders,” said Blacktail. “I’ll crush you.”

“The only thing you’re crushing right now is my masculinity.”

“Oh, come on. I spent five years in Anyo bootcamp. I weigh more than you think.”

“Just shut up and climb.”

She sighed. “You can give me a boost with your knee.”

He knelt so she could use his thigh as a step. He pushed her up.

“Oy! Watch your hands,” she yelled, sounding affronted.

“Sorry! Sorry! I meant to push your leg!”

I smirked. Above, Annith turned her face to hide a giggle.

“Next,” said Tanuu.

“I’m not getting on your shoulders, either,” I said.

Tanuu sighed dramatically. After a brief argument, I put as little weight as I could on his thigh, using my arms to pull myself up the rope.

Annith grabbed my armpits, and then my swinging leg, and helped heave me up.

Tanuu climbed the rope easily enough, and we pieced the deck back together. We stamped the boards down, making sure to leave no cracks.

With the fire iron over Tanuu’s shoulder and the mysterious bone dagger in my belt, we left the Enticer.

The totem poles had once been the main port of entry for tourists. For the last thirty years, the area had been abandoned and roped off to discourage anyone from venturing near the water.

The welcome sign hung intact, faded and grimy, with bird droppings running down the sides.

We hope you enjoyed your time on Eriana Kwai
. The message was written in multiple languages, welcoming people from all over the world.

I scowled.

As we crossed the gravel that was once a parking lot, the wind picked up, moaning in my ears and making it difficult to hear anything else.

I folded my arms against the cold. Without the canopy of trees to protect us, a sticky mist clung to my face and hair.

Cedar logs marked the edge of the parking lot. The cultural centre crumbled beyond that, a lawn out front that had not been mowed in three decades. A faded ‘Closed’ sign hung on the door.

“What’s in there?” I said.

The window was opaque from grime, with a rock-sized hole in the middle. I peered through but saw only darkness.

“Museum, dining hall, art gallery …” said Tanuu. “Probably a few rats.”

“Museum?” said Annith. “Do you think it has information about Eriana?”

“It’s aimed at tourists, so you’ll be more likely to find a miniature replica of the totem poles so people can take funny pictures.”

We continued on, stepping over a line of rope to get to the totem poles. They stood at the edge of the grass, before the earth turned to pebbles and dead seaweed. The tide was halfway in—far enough that we wouldn’t be splashed by waves, but close enough to pose a threat.

I scanned the shoreline as Tanuu led the way. The horizon was grey, the world below desolate. A seagull cried from a droppings-strewn buoy, barely audible over the wind.

Blacktail gripped her dagger, eyes glued to the crashing waves.

“Don’t trust your ears,” she said. “Keep an eye on the shoreline.”

Tanuu stopped in front of the largest totem pole. One serpent towered over us, another one upside down at our feet, with several animal figures locked between the two heads. The poles might once have been painted in rich, deep hues, but now they were faded and chipped.

We combed the area the same way we had done the Enticer.

I knocked on the poles as Tanuu had done with the trees, but I wasn’t sure what to listen for.

“Hey Tanuu?” I pressed my ear against what happened to be the side of a raven’s head. “This one sounds different when I knock on it. Is that because it’s bigger?”

“Ah,” he said wisely. “That’s because this particular one was carved on a Tuesday afternoon.”

I straightened, eyeing him.

“Let’s see,” he said, jabbing me in the ribs.

He pressed his ear against the raven.

“Wow, the totem looks just like you,” said Blacktail.

He pulled away and studied the figure. “You mean my large and manly nose? Or is it the dark and mysterious eyes?”

She pulled a face.

Tanuu clapped a hand over the beak. “You know what, Meela? You’re onto something. This one’s hollow.”

I grinned.

“The question is, how do we see inside?” he said.

The four of us circled the pole, pushing and pulling different pieces, trying to see if anything opened.

“Wait a minute,” said Annith.

She backed up a few paces, eyes fixed on the topmost serpent. Her mouth fell open.

“What?” I backed up to stand next to her.

“Look at the way it’s carved. The serpent’s tongue. The bear’s open mouth. The raven’s beak. The horns of—whatever that thing is.”

“A deer,” offered Tanuu.

“Sure. Well, I think we have to climb it.”

I gasped. “Annith, you’re right. Every totem has something to step on.”

I placed my foot on the snake’s curled tongue and my hands on the raven’s beak.

“Hold up,” said Tanuu. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Already off the ground, I looked down at him. “Why not?”

“It’s windy and you’re about to climb a slippery wooden pole.”

I stepped one higher into the bear’s open mouth. We’d trained climbing masts for years. I wasn’t afraid of falling.

“Meela, stop,” said Tanuu. “Let me do it.”

I stepped on the raven’s beak.

“No, I should climb it,” said Blacktail. “I’m the smallest. You can catch me if I fall.”

“With what?” said Annith. “We should get a tarp or a blanket. This isn’t safe.”

“Good idea,” said Tanuu. “We can …”

He sighed. I was already half way.

I kept my eyes on my hands, knowing my legs would betray me if I looked down.

A gust of wind pushed me away from the pole. I tightened my grip. I didn’t stop until coming face-to-face with the angry eye of the serpent.

Clutching its forked tongue with both hands, I could see further down the beach than before. The only life besides us was a bald eagle fighting three crows a short distance away.

Feeling around the pole with one hand, I traced my fingers along the creature’s mane of horns, fumbled down the back and around the sides, and pushed against the wood.

“There’s nothing,” I muttered, feeling around the back of the head one more time. “I’m coming down!”

Then the wood shifted. I pushed harder. It was loose.

“Ha!”

I shuffled around the pole, using the short wings of a saw-whet owl as a foothold.

A voice yelled at me from below, but I couldn’t make out the words over the wind.

“What?”

Regrettably, I looked down. My stomach squirmed, and I reflexively pressed my body against the pole.

“Did you find something?” yelled Annith.

“Maybe. The wood here is loose.”

She yelled something back, but it was lost in the wind.

A rectangular panel had been cut into the pole. I dug my nails into the crack and worked my fingers around it. It slid to the left. I kept pulling until it opened enough that I could peek inside.

The totem pole was hollow, but I saw only the other side of the trunk.

My body trembled from some combination of exhilaration, the cold mist, and my straining muscles.

I stuck an arm in and felt around, trailing my hand along the rough insides. Something rolled beneath my palm. I ran my fingers across it. Twine.

I pulled, feeling the weight of something dangling at the other end.

Excitement bubbled in my stomach.

“Someone really wanted to keep this hidden!”

I used my teeth to hold the twine while I pulled it up, bit by bit, until I reached the end.

“It’s parchment,” I said, more to myself.

Several pages of tan animal skin parchment had been tied to the end. I slid the roll from the loop and stuffed it down my shirt for safekeeping, then fitted the door back in place.

I climbed down, moving slowly. My arms and legs were trembling.

At the bottom, the others gathered around and watched as I unfurled the parchment.

“It’s in the old language,” said Blacktail. “Tanuu, you’re the only one who went to high school.”

Tanuu took the stack of papers with a flourish. “I see you require my intellectual prowess.”

“So you’re more than just a good swing, then?”

He smirked.

As we watched in rapt silence, Tanuu scanned the first page, turned it over to check the blank reverse, and then riffled through the remaining pages.

“Give me a minute. They’re out of order.”

“Let’s do this away from the water,” I said.

We retreated to the cultural centre and sat on the front step while Tanuu sorted the pages. While the overhang blocked the wind, it did little to stop us getting wet, with mist drifting up our sleeves and down our backs from all directions.

I studied Tanuu’s face for a reaction, forcing myself to be patient and let him think. His eyebrows stayed pinched in concentration.

Finally, he stopped shuffling pages. He stared at the words a moment longer.

“Hurry up!” I said.

He glanced up, cleared his throat, and read, “The day a bargain was made between Eriana and the Aanil Uusha, chaos befell the Gaela’s earth.”

My heart beat faster. This was it. The story did involve a bargain.

“While history must be preserved, this knowledge is best left guarded by the spirits of the island. This is a chance for you, reader, to withdraw from these pages and trust the spirits with their secrets. This is the story of Eriana’s Crypt.”

CHAPTER TWELVE
The Mine