Celeste's Arc

Chapter 20 of 23

Gray light seeped through the cracked hull. Celeste had not slept. The screaming had stopped hours ago, and the silence scared her more. She clutched the purple shell horn to her chest and listened. The wraith had stopped chasing Slate. That meant he had lost the cat, or something worse. She needed to reach the lagoon before full dawn, but the open beach lay between her and the water. No trees. No cover. Just sand. She crawled from the gap in the timbers. The tide had pulled back, leaving wet sand that shone pink under the low sun. She ran. Her bare feet slapped the shore. Halfway across, a shadow fell over her. "There." The pirate wraith stood between her and the lagoon, blade glowing cold blue. His white eyes found the horn in her arms. "Mine." Celeste froze. Then a dark blue shape shot from the dune grass. Slate. He threw himself between her and the wraith, fur spiked, teeth bared. The glowing blade swung down. Slate twisted, but not fast enough. The edge caught him. He hit the sand and lay still, one paw trembling. "Slate!" Celeste screamed. A voice cut across the beach from the shallows. "Celeste! Give me the ocarina!" Nyrimia rose from the surf, her indigo hair streaming, her silver tail flashing. The mermaid who had guided her, who had promised the tunnel's secret, stretched out one webbed hand. "Throw it! Now!" Celeste did not think. She hurled the shell horn across the water. It spun over the waves. Nyrimia lunged and caught it just before it struck the sea. She pressed it to her purple lips and blew. The song poured out, high and bright and strange. Light burst from the ocarina, a spinning wheel of green and pearl rays. It rolled across the sand toward the wraith. He raised his blade against it and hissed. "This is my shore," he rasped. "Not anymore," said Nyrimia, and played harder. The light swelled. It swallowed the pirate whole. He shrieked, thin and fading, and his ragged shape tore apart like fog in wind. The blade dropped. The screaming stopped. As the sun cleared the water, the bright light broke and settled onto the sand as scattered pieces of smooth sea glass, pale green and blue and frosted white. The wraith was gone. Celeste ran through the shallow water to Slate. She dropped to her knees beside him. His breath came fast and shallow. Blood matted the fur along his side. His green eyes opened a crack. "Told you," he whispered. "The beach. Bad idea." Tears ran down her face. She looked up at Nyrimia, who floated close now, the ocarina still in her hand. "Please," Celeste begged. "He's hurt because of me. Can you help him?" Nyrimia looked at the cat a long moment. Her chartreuse eyes softened. "Bring him to the lagoon," she said. "Quickly. The water there can mend. But we must go now."