Secrets in the Dark

Nastal couldn't sleep. His mind kept turning over the strange events of the last few years. He climbed up onto one of the high balconies of the temple. Outside, the rain was falling a little harder than before, but he wanted to gaze at the sea for a moment. A few years ago, something had happened under the waters of the Trident. Ships were getting lost one after another in the Vespia Sea, but that wasn't all. There was power in the black waves, something dark lurked in the waters and drove sailors and travelers mad. Nastal had known several captains who had lived at sea for years, always braving pirates, monsters, magic, and whatever else came their way. But when he saw some of them afterward, minds broken, bodies weak, souls flickering, he was sure there was something else out there. But what? The sailors would come to the temple looking for Nastal, and when they found him, they would fall to their knees and weep, asking for either forgiveness, protection, or simply death. Nastal shuddered at the memory and said a little prayer. What makes a man strong enough to ask for death? He closed his eyes, but the images continued to haunt him. He remembered the words of a young captain, blond and strong but whose eyes had the gloss of someone who had experienced something horrible, something worse than loss.

"He is there," he had said almost in a whisper, holding Nastal's knee like a small child. "He talks to us in the evenings, invites us to his watery grave, sits on his throne covered with shells, and gazes at the wood from our shipwrecks that decorate his kingdom. Our sails, our sons and daughters, our souls themselves go to him; he draws them with his magic and keeps them forever."

The memory came back so loudly that it disturbed Nastal. He grasped the symbol of the Trident at his throat, a symbol of Revedon and the kingdom together. Then he went down to the city. It was evening, but he wanted answers, so he stopped by Marby's house first.

"Lord Nastal," said Marby, frightened, opening the door of his house.

"I hope I didn't wake you. I'm sorry for the late hour."

Marby invited him in. "No, my lord, just barely. I woke up a little while ago; I've been asleep all day. What's wrong?"

Nastal sat down at the small round table. The fireplace was out. "Don't call me lord, I'm just a priest. Though tonight, I come in the capacity of commander in the queen's absence."

Marby said nothing.

"I have come for Darmakaya."

Marby seemed to be getting nervous. "I told the guards everything, Lord Nastal. I didn't know who he was at first. Then I knew who he was when I remembered the stories. If I had known, I would have left him at the bottom of the sea. Damn near broke my back getting him out of my net."

"You didn't know who he was?"

"I didn't even know it was someone, my lord. When stone became flesh, I was taken aback."

"Gargoyles are like that. They have strange properties."

"So they say."

Nastal stood up and began to poke at the remains in the fireplace. He felt like he wanted to have a live fire next to him.

"Is something wrong, my lord? I heard from Semta that he's in prison. We're not threatened by him, are we?"

Nasthal smiled. "We are in no danger, no. But something inside me is eating at me, Marby."

"What, Lord Nastal?"

"I don't know, but something has been weighing on me for a long time. I feel there's something there, something sinister."

Marby had an expression that sometimes betrayed fear and sometimes disbelief, but he was afraid of offending the priest and active lord of the island.

"I haven't lost my mind, Marby. I just think maybe this creature came to us for a reason."

"Came to us? Sire, I picked him up with my nets."

"The gods work in ways we don't understand, Marby. He came to us, yes."

Marby just stared in wonder.

"Do you remember a few years ago, the young man who was washed out to sea again?"

Marby at first seemed to remember nothing, but then the thought came clearly to him.

"Young man? I wouldn't say so. He was forty years old. You mean Arsik? Of course I remember him; he had fought with all the regulars in Tom's tavern."

"Yes," Nastal admitted with a smile. "He was a curious young man indeed. He seemed older than he was, and I think it was because of what he had seen, Marby."

Marby shook his head. "He was a bit mad, my lord. You can't take him seriously. Sometimes he'd be happy and play music, and then he'd have a vacant look in his eyes and beat anyone who fell into his shadow. That man was not well."

"No, he wasn't. And every time I tried to talk to him, he would break down into sobs and make no sense. But one day he came to me and told me that the thing that sleeps beneath our waters would one day eat us all."

"And then what happened?"

"Nothing. He left the island. Some say he traveled with the Salt Theatre and they played music on the islands. Some say he died. Others say he's alive and kicking under an assumed name. Nobody knows."

Marby didn't know what to think about all this. "But if all this is true, then how do you explain the fact that our ships are now no longer lost? At least not as much as before. The other day Garrick the captain was telling me that more ships are crossing the Vespia Sea than ever before. Perhaps that evil no longer exists."

Nastal turned and looked at him. "Perhaps," he said. "But something is there, and I won't rest until I find answers. The gods demand it, Marby. Now get dressed."

"Where are we going?"

"Do you still have your boat?"

"Of course."

"I need you to take me to the place where you found Darmakaya. I'm going to need your help with something. Think of it as a royal command."

Marby nodded, "Yes, my lord," and led him down the beach into the night.

When the boat reached the spot where Marby had found Darmakaya, the rain was heavy. Nastal, covered in a grey shroud, endured the hardship. Marby seemed more frightened by the conversation that had preceded it than anything else.

"This was the spot," he said at last.

"Is it deep?"

"Very. That's why I come."

Thunder tore across the sky behind them. Nastal took it as a sign.

"Do you think you can dive?"

"What are we looking for, sire?"

"I don't know. Anything. I don't have answers, Marby, just questions. Maybe there's something useful down there."

Hesitantly, Marby took off his shirt. Wasting no time, he dove into the black water, listening to the thunderbolts through the sea as they lit up his back. The depth, combined with the utter darkness, brought him despair. No matter how good a mood he was in, every bone in his body told him he shouldn't be there. Soon after, he was back on the surface of the water.

"Anything?" Nastal asked, hooded and wet.

"Nothing," almost shouted Marby. "Though I don't even know what I'm looking for."

Nastal felt bad for the young man. He began to wonder if he had simply let his fears take hold. Maybe this was all a big exaggeration. He helped him onto the boat.

"Cold night tonight," complained Marby, turning around.

"You'll soon be by your fire, young man. Sorry about that."

"No problem, sire. I just wanted to help..."

Marby's gaze froze. A shadow passed under the water, large and swift.

"What is it, Marby? What did you see?"

"There's something, my lord," he said, and they both stood up. From the tension, they almost tipped the boat over.

Marby put his hand on his belt, but he wasn't carrying a weapon with him. Nastal reached for his medallion. "Don't be afraid, son." Something in Nastal's words comforted Marby for a moment, but the shadow flickered again. It shrunk for a moment as if it were heading for the bottom, but soon after, it began to grow larger and larger. Marby put his hands protectively on Nastal, and they leaned toward one end of the boat until something ripped through the water and flew out into the darkness.

"Rilea!" Nastal cried out in relief.

The white-haired woman had stunning features and skin the color of the sea. She had larger eyes than an ordinary human and in her hands, she held a majestic trident covered in moss and seaweed.

"You can't send people that deep, priest; they'll drown."

Nastal took the weapon from her hands. It had runes etched into it; the handle was black, and the tips were also stamped with black. The runes glowed gold in the moonlight, marking it as a weapon of considerable power and formidable construction.

Marby had swallowed his tongue.

"Surely you're not afraid of Rilea, are you, Marby? She's the queen's mermaid; they've been friends for years."

Rilea winked playfully, but Marby was even more frightened.

"I see you fishing here sometimes. You're handsome," she told him, and Marby put all his effort into smiling.

"Rilea," said Nastal, "thank you so much for this. You have no idea how much you've helped me."

Rilea smiled. "It belongs to the ugly one you found, right?"

"I think so. I'm sure of it, actually. We've all heard of the Stone Kraken who sows death with his trident. Did you know about him?"

"I saw him long ago, old man."

"You told us nothing."

Rilea shrugged. "Whatever I have to say, I say only to Siriafil. I knew who he was from the first moment. I didn't bother him. I guess in my heart, I wished he'd stay petrified. I've seen many strange things in the depths of the sea."

Those words triggered something in Nastal.

"Well done, I suppose. Now, however, things have taken a different turn."

"Don't trust him, Nastal," Rilea said. "He's a murderer—horrible, violent. He deserves death and worse."

Marby, who agreed, began to look at her more kindly.

"That is for the queen to judge, after the gods decide, of course."

"Your gods are strange creatures, priest. Strangers. We follow the way of the great Sentinel and the ancient Amar."

"I like you, Rilea, but you know I don't react well to blasphemy."

"I know."

"Anyway, thank you for everything." He took her hand and kissed it, and Rilea blushed for a moment. "Go to Revedon's wish, dear."

Rilea nodded.

"Next time you come fishing, say hello," she said to Marby, and suddenly, she disappeared into the depths as quickly as she had appeared. Marby looked at Nastal in awe. The priest shrugged his shoulders, and they laughed out loud together.