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“THE STORY OF US?” I repeat. “Are you sure? It’s painfully complex. We could just talk about—”
“Tell me,” she demands.
“Are you absolutely positive you want to know? You might be disappointed with what you learn about our joined past.”
“I’m sure!” She stomps her foot.
Kumiko is different than she was, so I feel I have no choice but to oblige before she spits fire at me.
I take a breath. “More than two centuries ago, I heard you screaming. I came to your aid against criminals and you rewarded me by lying with me. But it was more than a lay; we pretended to be in love. We pretended to make love as we thought true lovers would and I believe we fell in love this way. Afterward, you demanded I bring you back to your lord, who owned you. You were his prostitute. When he set sail for the Americas, I convinced my dear friend, Captain Willis, we follow you. But tragedy struck. A fire consumed your vessel. It was magic that brought upon the fire and it was magic that turned me into what I am, so despite an injury you received, I was still able to bring you back to safety aboard the Annabelle, my ship. A few days after you reached shore, you came to me. You made love to me and your lord...”
I pause. It still pains me.
“What?” Kumiko whines.
“Your lord saw us. He was waiting on the pier behind empty barrels and the second you approached his position, he slit your throat.”
I can still feel the pain—the piercing slice of blade against Kumiko’s thin flesh and the choke of blood as it left her body. I reached for Kumiko with two long limbs to caress and carry her while gripping her lord with two limbs and instantly twisting, breaking his neck.
“Then what?” Kumiko shudders, taking my hand.
“I held you for a few days and that’s when my dear friend, the sea dragon, left and returned in the company of nymphs. They were exhausted of my sadness. The powers granted to me by Poseidon allow me to not only command the creatures of the sea, but also feel what they are feeling, what anyone who has contact with the sea is feeling. And I can also project my feelings. My grief was so great, the creatures begged me to see the witch, Lenora, and that’s when—”
Kumiko squeezes my hand tight. “What?”
“I made a trade.”
I RECALL THE EVENTS like they were yesterday, although it has been more than two hundred years. The nymphs were too afraid to approach Lenora’s plateau, as she had only been a witch for a few weeks, the same amount of time I had been made half a sea monster. She was already aware and making use of her power. Opposite ends of the plateau held two ships, slave ships, wrecked, as dead bodies lay suspended to float about.
“The Master at Arms,” she laughed as I approached, leaving the nymphs and their large pet behind. “What do you hold there?”
“Can you help me, Lenora? The nymphs suggested you might be able to help.”
I brought Kumiko’s dead body into view and Lenora turned away with a grimace.
“Get her out of my sight,” said Lenora, “she’s disgusting. And you’re just as disgusting for carting her dead carcass around. I know what you want, Orphelius. You want me to bring her back to life.”
My heart, feeling dead for days, beat back to life. “Can you do it?”
Lenora, naked, hugged herself. It was as if she had acquired a reward deserving of self-adoration. “It’s possible I can bring her back, but it’s going to cost you more than you might want to pay.”
I looked at Kumiko in my arms. Her eyes were cloudy and gelatinous as her pale skin, plump with seawater, was peeling. Yet, she was still beautiful to me. “Whatever it is I’ll pay it.”
“Summon the dragon,” Lenora commanded.
“The sea dragon?”
“I cannot create something out of nothing. To bring your lover back to life, we must take a life.”
I searched my mind and found the creature within it and summoned it to us. Reluctantly, it came—scared and aware of what was about to happen, but I forced it towards Lenora’s side.
“It is the last of its kind,” I told Lenora. “I can sense it.”
Lenora held out a knife, pressing the handle into my hand then led my hand to push firmly against the scaled yellow belly of the creature as she demanded, “Choose—the dragon or your lover?”
As a Master at Arms, I had exterminated many men either by stabbing, shooting, or hanging, but never had I felt so bad about taking this poor creature’s life. However, seeing Kumiko afloat and without life, I really had no other choice.
“I choose her,” I said, ready to slice the animal.
“Be warned, Orphelius,” Lenora stopped me, gripping my hand before I could slice the creature’s belly open. “My plan is to take an egg from this dragon’s womb and trap your lover’s essence within it. You will bring the egg to shore where she will evolve over centuries until she becomes human. Know she will alter. She will not likely be the exact same person she is or was. She will be different. I also cannot guarantee she will return to you or when. And, you will have to pay.”
“Pay?”
Lenora held out a ring and I cringed. It was the ring that once rested on the hand of Kumiko’s lord. “Magic is not free. If your lover does, in fact, return to you, she must accept this ring and then lay with you, allowing you to walk on land, and my portion of this trade will be complete. I will accept your power to control the beasts of the sea as payment for this deal.”
The full extent of my powers I hardly knew, thus, I was willing to forfeit control of the sea creatures if it meant I could be free to return to land one day with my lover, who would be free of a lord and free to choose me.
I cut the beast open, and as I did, my own gut thrashed with pain. Lenora pulled a dragon egg resembling a large pearl and placed it in my hands. I pulled Kumiko’s body close with my tentacles.
“Leave her dead flesh here,” said Lenora. “Her soul is still with it. It seems she does not want to leave you either. I will protect her until her new body comes looking for the rest of her soul.”
I was wary of Lenora and whether she would do exactly as she stated—protect my lover’s soul. Not to mention, Lenora was a slave—a tortured soul, so I had no idea whether I could truly trust her.
“Hurry,” she shooed. “The sooner you let her go, the sooner she might return to you.”
Unsure of Lenora, but hopeful, I took the egg and swam about the sea for a day, irresolute of where to place the egg. I didn’t want to just leave it to be crushed or eaten. I found a beach, secluded among a mountain peak so high, I knew I would always be able to find it.
“AND THE BEACH GLOWED,” I continue telling Kumiko our story. “It glows at night, making it easier to find due to the crystals embedded in the black rock. I visited the beach daily, but nothing ever happened until one day, the egg vanished. It was just gone.”
Kumiko tilts her head with curiosity. She’s still holding my hand.
I move a strand of hair away from her face to behold her. “And here you are.”
