Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 3 ~

No more month hiatuses!

:)

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

It didn't take long till we spotted the first ice floes. We were far north, where the sea was dark and spikes of ice pierced the ocean's surface.

I spent hours in the Darkling's cabin, both of us planning exactly what we were going to do. But when I wasn't in his cabin, I was with Sturmhond. He seemed interested in everything I knew, although part of me believed that he knew it too and just acted like he didn't. 

On the seventh day, we passed between two slate stone islands that I recognized: Jelka and Vilki, the Fork and Knife.

We had entered the Bone Road, the long stretch of black water where countless ships had wrecked on the nameless islands that appeared and disappeared in its mists. 

"You know they say that these waters are haunted," said Sturmhond appearing next to me on at the front.

I was looking at the Darkling who was carefully observing the waters, looking for a trace of something. Anything. 

"They say these waters hold monsters and mermaids with ice-white hair and deep black eyes," continued Sturmhond and I looked at him amused, "If you caught one of them, you could claim your heart's greatest desire."

"Well right now my heart's greatest desire is to push you off this boat," I replied smiling, "Although I doubt I need to catch a mermaid to do that."

"Grumpy," said Sturmhond laughing. "So, you got anything for me?"

"You ask me every day, and the answer will always be-"

"I can't tell you," interrupted Sturmhond, "Come on. It'll be our little secret."

"You will know when you see it."

Sturmhond just grumbled before he walked over to the crew and was signaled by the Darkling. I turned around and saw that we were approaching the mist. 

He ordered the sails trimmed, and our pace slowed as we drifted through it. An uneasy silence blanketed the ship. I studied the whaler's longboats, the racks of harpoons tipped in Grisha steel. 

"Are we close?" asked a voice that I recognized next to me, Genya. "It looks like we are close."

"Well, we won't know till we find it," I replied, "The sea whip knows how to hide."

"You're telling me we came here looking for a dragon?" asked Genya. 

"The ice dragon," I replied, "Rusalye."

Rusalye. In the stories, the sea whip was a cursed prince, forced to take the form of a sea serpent and guard the frigid waters of the Bone Road. 

"I thought it was a myth."

"There have been sightings of the sea whip in these waters for years. And I mean look at what we are. Beings that are able to harness and manipulate all kinds of matter. Are mermaids and dragons really that far of a stretch?"

"True point."

I continued to explain the story of the Rusalye to Genya as time passed and nothing happened. We spent hours on the deck sailing through the mist to no avail. 

Days passed and I could sense that the Darkling was getting impatient, and so were the crew and the Grisha. 

The Darkling kept thinking Mal, who I (with help from Alina) had miraculously managed to convince to help track the whip, was working against us. It would take him hours of convincing to back down but eventually, he did.