The Triton

Chapter 10: Vivien

I whipped my head around to the source of the voice, the sultry voice, the threat, the enemy. Specter remained, looking forward to the still. Wasn't he going to move?

Then approached a new figure, wrapped in black leather straps and buckles, her attire hinted at a dangerous edge. One hand was on her hip, opening the coat just enough to give me the view of the concealed arsenal of knives and hidden weapons beneath the folds of her coat.

As she pushed back the hood that shadowed her face, her cupid's bow lips formed a sultry invitation that promised both danger and delight. Her fiery auburn eyes blazed with a fierce intensity, one I could see, even from my pitiful hiding spot, framed by short, wavy, fire-ruby hair.

"Sasha," Specter said.

"There were days I thought I'd never see you again," the red-scaled assassin responded. Sasha was her name, so it seemed.

This was my chance to leave, I knew it, I felt it. I would've...I could've...what, exactly? Maybe I could lose him, maybe I could escape.

But I couldn't. The call of answers pulled me closer, and I crept forward, emerging from my hiding spot, swimming up across a nearby boulder, straining to hear the conversation. I hid behind the rock, eyes peeking just over the top.

"The chains are broken," Specter said.

"Are they?"

The black-scaled beast nodded, once. His eyes flicked to hers. "As if they never were."

Sasha leaned forward, her words carrying a curious weight. "And so is the bargain, then." Specter only nodded in response.

She paused for a moment, processing. "You broke the chains?" the assassin asked.

He shook his head. "No. She did. I think."

Her brows knitted. "Eleanora?"

Specter's voice lifted. "No. You can come out, now girl."

I did, sliding over the edge of the rock. Her eyes locked onto mine with a magnetic pull that somehow stole my breath. There was a wildness to her gaze, a hint of untamed passion that stirred something deeply within me. Her eyes were alight and curious as she scoured me.

"A human?" she asked. My pulse raced in my veins as I saw her wielding a knife, the same elaborate, red-inscribed handle and blood-colored blade as the one Specter now held. She lazily held it, as if it were a toy, spinning it softly in between her fingers.

Specter kept the company of killers, a killer who could easily end me, one flick of that blade. So could he, truly. I began to regret my choice to stay.

"Yes," Specter replied, eyes still forward.

"I like her," she said, eyes finally leaving me, as if they hadn't feasted enough. Who was she? "You have fire in you, girl."

My eyes narrowed.

"You're terrified," she continued, smile still broad. "Yet here you are. You're not like humans I've met."

"You've met humans before?"

"I have, though not for a while," she continued, a smile sparkling in her eyes. Her eyes flicked to the black-scaled beast behind me. "Specter? What's the matter?"

He finally turned back. "We need to get into the Underdark, as quickly as possible."

She clicked her tongue, the honey gone from her voice as she sensed his tension, "No fun."

Specter stood from the edge of the clifface. "Do you have what you need?"

She slung a bag from her shoulder, a black duffle that looked shockingly similar to the ones I knew, dropping it beneath my feet. "You didn't give me a lot of time to prepare, but of course we'll be fine."

"Good."

Curiosity spiked in me. "Wait, how did you know to bring this? Did you like...I don't know what I'm asking."

She raised an eyebrow, cocking her head towards Specter. "Did you tell her...anything?"

His reply was short and quiet. "We didn't have the time, nor do we have the time now."

A half-laugh pulled at the corner of her lips. His gaze flicked to her, eyes narrowing. She lightly laughed again in response, a light, wonderful thing. "Still far too easy."

I saw him turn fully to face her. In an odd display, somehow more off-putting than this entire conversation...she quickly crossed, and wrapped her arms around him. She embraced him tightly, a hug of old friends.

"I missed you, Mr. Dark and Brooding," Sasha said as she pulled away.

His violet eyes glowed slightly, but his only response was a quiet, "We have work to do still."

Something was wrong. I tensed, unsure of why––only to see the black-scaled beast doing the same. His eyes flicked to mine, mine to his. He blinked a singular time. Tension seized every molecule of water around us, every muscle in my body.

"What is that?"

In response, Specter practically threw me to the ocean floor, relative safety. I sucked deeply, finding air again. Chest heaving, eyes wide, I looked up. I couldn't scour fast enough.

Dozens of warriors, clad in the same armor and sharp weapons as the four I'd seen earlier, spiraled to the floor, riding atop sharks. They swept in, cutting escape angles at every turn. At their center were two of the most graceful, beautiful creatures I'd ever seen.

At the very center, hair streaming behind her as she rocketed towards the ocean's floor, was a golden-scaled warrior, the elegant blade of a perfect sword in her hand. Golden hair framed a perfect face, two brilliant eyes of Cerulean shining down. She wore no armor, just a finely embroidered elegant, tight-fitting white gown and a wreathed tiara atop her head. She was elegance incarnate, a painting tired over for decades, only to hand the paintbrush to God to finish the job.

Directly behind her landed another gold-haired man, more angel than merfolk. Hair down to his broad shoulders, soft and perfect, big, icy blue eyes, yet bearing the same golden scales—an incredible union of lines crossed his bare chest, sleek and muscled like a god. The tips of two wings tucked tightly across his back, their white crests peaking above his shoulders. Wings.

His jawline was set, rigid, sleek as it was focused, eyes steely and observant He landed with innate fluidity and grace, pulling two swords from their sheaths and readying them by his side.

Sasha sprung to Specter's side, exchanging a moment of wordless communication, readying weapons of their own.

In a moment, peace had died. This was an ambush. And they were outnumbered, ten, twenty to one.

The greatest surprise of them all一the moment the golden-scaled woman stepped forward, Specter stepped back, closing the space between his back and Sasha's.

He was afraid. They were going to lose.

Otherwise, he would've killed her, the way he killed those other merfolk. He hesitated, then hesitated again, shuffling, calculating.

And in that moment of hesitation, that moment of loss, the golden-scaled merfolk looked at me. I saw relief flood her eyes, warmth, actual, real emotion. She even smiled, slightly, as if just seeing me made it better, seeing me alive made it better.

Then everything exploded. Specter, in a moment between moments, dug his foot into the ocean floor, diving directly towards me. His eyes bore into me, something resembling hatred contorting his face. Before he could reach me, before my eyes could even close, his arms extended out. A blinding amethyst light burned into my vision.

I tried to scream, but no sound emerged. As suddenly as it began, the pain intensified to a blinding crescendo, and darkness consumed me as my body slammed into an unforgiving rock. The world spun, colors swirling into a dizzying blur before everything faded to nothingness.