Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 12

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Darkness cloaked the innards of the cave, but Sehyun pursued the woman. He hated running and most things he was good at, but a new thrill brought a smile to his face despite his exhaustion. The thrill of chasing the survivor.

"Stop running!" he yelled. "You're going to not be happy with what you see!"

The woman let out a brief grunt before turning a corner.

How navigate she in the dark almost as skillfully as himself?

When the footsteps stopped, he only hoped she hadn't stumbled upon the Ruby. He would still have to take certain actions, regardless.

When he turned the same corner, a bright light stung his eyes. The light, the colour of Angels, poked his eyes.

The angelic colour contradicted everything the Ruby represented. The Ruby itself was a lie.

The survivor stared into the abyss of light, unbothered by the brightness. She wiped her sweat.

"What's your name?" he asked, approaching her with eyes catching every detail of her. He would need to determine if the risk would be worth it. Getting too close to the Ruby could sign your death certificate. The Ruby was dangerous. Rather than protecting it, Sehyun's job was to protect others from it.

"Aeryn. Aeryn Branche."

He raised his brow, wondering why she'd told him, but his eyes widened in realization. She was the survivor from the Maiden's Cross, and her name rang bells in his memory.

"Yours?"

Believing he should return the favour, he gave her half an answer. "Han."

Her head snapped to face him, shock climbing into her brows. "Han?"

"Remember me?" he offered, shrugging and looking away. He hated it when people knew his name. Something about the attention—the negative attention—bothered him. Though, he'd gotten used to it.

"It's hard to forget someone like you. I wasted a few months on an island because of you," she sneered before turning and walking further into the cave.

Aeryn ran until the blinding light left and got replaced by a red, ominous light emitting from a cage. But a jewel wasn't the cage's contents. A black book with a mysterious language on the leather cover sat underneath the metal bars of its cell.

Aeryn reached out to touch it, entranced by its beauty, the words on its cover. She wanted to touch the book, wanted to reach out and use it to her will. It drove her senses wild. She wanted the book, and she wanted it now.

It would be her everything.

She could hear the faint words of Han, but they drowned out as she focused on the book. His words weren't important. The book was all she needed. If she could break it out of the cage, it would be a dream come true.

A gunshot rang in the cave, the noise bouncing off the walls. Then came the pain and the dripping sound of blood falling onto the stone. Aeryn sank to her knees, scraping them on the rugged stone of the cave. Her hand reached to clutch her ear.

"You shot me!"

"Well, you almost killed both of us. There's a reason that book is in a cage." Sehyun dropped the gun to the floor and kicked it to the side. The barrel had become hot enough to burn his skin, and he didn't want to hold that gun anymore. "I snapped you out of your trance. You should thank me."

Sehyun's eyes rolled shut when the red light had leaked into the hall he stood in. Looking at the book could kill, and he knew that all too well.

"Why?"

Ignoring the question, Sehyun said, "Don't look at the book again." He threw a handkerchief at Aeryn's voice.

She caught it and wrapped it around her ear. She never wanted piercings, but she got one free of cost. "Where's the Ruby?"

Sehyun made to exit the cave, not waiting for her to follow. "What makes you think there's a jewel?" His footsteps receded in the red lighting, followed by faint laughter. What did he find so funny?

Aeryn stood, wincing with a hand at her ear, and raced after him. She grabbed his shoulder with her free hand. "Tell me where the Tiger's Ruby is."

He chuckled, shrugging her hand off him. "You saw it already, but you ignored it. You should leave this cave. You won't be getting answers from me or this place." Because even though I know where everything is, I would prefer to stay away from this place.

Sehyun opened his eyes, confident he stood far from the red light. Expecting Aeryn to be behind him, he turned his head to make sure the book hadn't entranced her again. But Aeryn's footsteps ran away from him towards the exit.

Her silhouette vanished into the light.

Sehyun waited before giving his quartermaster orders. From the darkness of the cave, he commanded, "Suzy, catch her."

Sehyun still needed to decide if he would keep her alive or kill her. He couldn't risk breaching the Sarah Walker contract, but killing her went against his principles. Not that principles mattered with his curse. His crazy ability to talk to ghosts and his duty to avenge them and send them to the Other Side.

It was nothing but a drag.

"Aye, Captain."

The swish of her arrow flying in the woods rang in his ears as he exited the cave. He stepped in his previous footsteps to avoid further dirtying his shoes. Though it seemed pointless, it made it less of a chore to walk on the mud.

"Don't kill her, Suzy," he said, swatting the bug that buzzed by his ear.

"I wasn't planning to."

Sehyun squinted to adjust to the sun's light, finding Aeryn's sleeve attached to a tree with Suzy's poisoned arrow.

"If you move, you might die," offered Sehyun.

"Isn't that what you're planning on doing, anyway?" she sneered, confident in such a tricky situation.

"I'm debating it." He faced his quartermaster. His gaze caught on Illorin's surprise. He couldn't have met someone else with a perfect aim. No one could come close to Suzy's skills. "To the ship?"

"Aye."

"Aye, Captain."

Illorin got tasked with dragging Aeryn by the rope used as a leash and to keep her arms tied together.

The survivor muttered and complained about the monstrosity her blouse's sleeve became. The poison Suzy laced her arrows with ate at her clothing, killing even her white shirt.

She could only wonder how long she would remain alive. Not for long.

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Word Count: 1111