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The last glow of burnt sienna faded from the rim of the black velvet sky. A new moon emitted a hint of silver as it rose above the Bannimor Hills. Floating lights flickered on the calm surface of Bascath Bay, multiplied by the myriad ripples and wavelets that gently rocked the wreaths drifting out from the shore.
Each person in the crowd watching from the sand had followed Morgan’s and Rowena’s lead, wading into the chilly water, carefully holding a wreath with its lighted tea-light candle aloft. Then stooping, each had set their tribute afloat with a murmured “thank you” to the sea; to the air, to whoever or whatever might be listening in the deep waters of the Bay. “Thank you” and “I miss you”, and “May this light lead you safely to your ocean home.”
For a while, nothing happened. Just the tiny flames and their reflections flickering and bobbing, slowly drifting in a shift of currents. Then there was a collective gasp from the beach, as each of the wreaths became steady, and moved slowly away from the shore, glimmering lights gliding towards the horizon. People sighed as if in relief, or shivered in awe. Tears glistened on the cheeks of many, and all stared for a long time, watching the lights gradually become tiny, winking out one by one in the vast ocean.
Beneath the wreaths, the Nemaro glided, each guiding their spirit-light away from the watching humans. Hunter looked from his wreath above him, to his clan all around him, who had come in response to Skye’s news. On every face he could see, there was a smile, or a look of poignant contemplation. Even Jarrod had joined them, and although he was doing his best to look unaffected, Hunter wasn’t fooled.
Hunter drew his light across the surface nearer to Jarrod, who gave him an exasperated look. “Just because I said you weren’t worthless, brother, it doesn’t mean I want to spend any time in your company,” he snapped, still guiding his light with care.
Hunter grinned. “You knew I would be here. And yet, here you are too.” Unsurprisingly, Jarrod ignored him. Hunter looked around at all the faces near him again. He felt incredulous to be here with them. Incredulous that they had responded like this. “Our people are moved by this gesture from the village, to have come in such numbers. Perhaps it signifies a shift?” he mused.
“What shift?”
“Perhaps...from predator to protector?”
Jarrod glared and muttered something Hunter couldn’t catch.
“Why are you here?” Hunter couldn’t help asking.
“Curiosity.”
“About?”
“The humans, in part. When I heard of this...strange tribute tonight, I didn’t believe it.”
“And now that you see it is true?”
Jarrod didn’t answer, shrugging, emotion twisting his face. Then, perhaps resenting a witness to his turmoil, he turned his face away, viciously tugging the wreath beneath the surface, extinguishing the tiny flame. “Pah. It is meaningless. They will forget any good we did for them before even a year has passed. How can they not? We are Forgotten. Just like your human girl, Skye. Now that you have tainted her with our curse, she is as Forgotten as we are. Or soon will be. We are less than nothing. We are all trapped now.”
Hunter thought he caught an ache of sadness behind the tone of malice. “I’m not so sure about that,” he replied, turning his head to watch Skye leading the flotilla ahead of him. “Skye has a knack for breaking curses.”
*
Skye swam effortlessly beneath the shimmering surface, smiling delightedly, her eyes on her wreath and its halo of light above her. It was incredible. Although it was dark, the clear water above her sparkled as if lit from within, and beyond it, the night sky was as deep and glowing as if a master painter had laid wash after transparent wash over a sunlit sky, of every kind of indigo, cobalt, midnight, ultramarine, cerulean and sapphire blue, so that the darkness almost hummed with colour and life.
She sensed Hunter’s presence before his arm nudged hers as he drew next to her, and turned her head to study his beautiful face. His hair, almost luminous black in the shifting water, wafted across his forehead, his cheekbones and his eyes, whose charcoal depths were lit with opal-like glints of the colours of the sea. He slid his arm beneath her. She rested her head on his shoulder and they drifted together looking up at the flicker and glimmer of light that seemed to dance on air against a backdrop of dark silk.
Then he let his wreath go and pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her hair, her ear, her cheek. She turned her head again and met his lips with hers, and they drifted together, Skye’s insides dissolving until she felt she was made of pure, liquid light, inside and out. When she drew back, he smiled, and the love for her she saw in his eyes filled every part of her.
She smiled back, and gestured towards the distant village and his clan around them. “You did this,” she whispered. “You stood for the village and saved them from tragedy. You changed everything. I think you’ve brought...healing to them.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head, his mouth curving in the smile that always set her heart hammering in her chest. “You have done this, Skye. There’s a magic in you that is more powerful than anything I have. You have changed everything, again. Peace with my clan, peace with the village, and even with Jarrod. And...peace with myself.”
“Really? Peace with yourself?” As long as she had known him, he had despised his Nemaro nature.
Hunter didn’t answer at once, staring up again through the water at the night above them. She followed his gaze to the diamond stars that glowed like tiny white embers.
“I think...” he said.
“Yes?”
“I think that perhaps I don’t hate what I am anymore.” His husky voice was almost a whisper, as if he was afraid to speak his truth aloud. “We stood for the village, like you said. We stood. My clan, and me, and you. I’m... I’m so proud of them.” His voice broke, and her heart swelled with happiness for him.
After a minute, he said, “You said Morgan didn’t remember you again today?”
“No. But it felt different today. Like – like we’re friends. I’m not giving up. And I won’t let this become your prison again.”
“Nothing is a prison as long as you’re near me, Skye. But I agree. You shouldn’t give up.” His voice was deep with passion. “You need to keep going back to see Morgan and Mike and Rowena. Win your human life and your freedom and their love back. You deserve all of it. And I think I just figured out what your magic is, the magic that can break curses and shatter boundaries and bring freedom. I’m living proof.” He smiled, his face alight.
“What is my magic?” she couldn’t help smiling back.
“It’s your love.” And he kissed her.
*
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Francesca
