“What?” she asked, her tail swiftly moving side to side.
“What are those swirls for?”
“The ocean. They show that I came from the ocean -- that I was born there. It was -- and still is -- my home. It is still a part of me.”
“They are beautiful. If you ever want to return to the sea, you may.”
“I want to stay with you,” Rayen said. “I didn’t have any friends, nor family in the sea. Now I have you.”
I knelt on the deck of the ship, right in front of her. I put a hand beneath her chin, and the other I used to pet her head. I bent down and kissed the blossom on her forehead. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome, Aiyana. You gave me a new life -- a better one. You gave me a family. I will always thank you for that.”
Pounding steps sounded from the stairs that led below deck. Aelin appeared, dressed in a pair of fighting leather pants and a loose shirt. When she saw me, she let out a cry of relief. She ran towards me and embraced me. “I thought something happened to you,” she said in a trembling voice. “Where were you?” She pulled away from me, far enough so she could look me in the eyes. Her lips were set into a hard line.
“I didn’t go anywhere special. I just flew towards the horizon. I needed some fresh air.”
Just then, she realized that a lioness was standing by my side, watching her with a close eye. “Rayen, this Aelin. Aelin, meet Rayen.”
Rayen smiled.
“How?” Aelin stammered, her face paling.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “I will explain it to you another time. Where is everyone?”
“I have no clue,” Aelin replied, looking around the deck. “This morning, I knocked on every single one of our guests’ doors -- no one answered. They were all gone.” Worry covered her features.
“Where could they have gone?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she murmured, shaking her head.
Rowan walked up from the steps that led below deck, wearing fighting leather pants -- like the ones Aelin wore -- and a loose, white shirt. He looked at me, then Aelin, confusion masking his features. “What’s wrong?” he said as he stopped beside Aelin.
“All of our guests are gone.”
“What?” he demanded.
“They. Are. Gone.” I said, enunciating each word.
He looked at me with the expression, I heard.
Well, I repeated it for you. I smiled at him.
He rolled his eyes. “They must have gone out to fly for a while. Don’t worry Aelin,” he said, taking her hand. “They will probably be back soon.”
“What do you guys think of them?” I asked.
They both turned their heads to look at me. Aelin spoke first. “They seem like nice people. I think I will accept their alliance, but will wait until we get to know them better. Amren is the only one that bothers me; she seems a bit . . . off.”
“I don’t like them very much,” Rowan said. “They seem too sophisticated -- like they know everything. Can you believe they went around asking people on their continent about us?” He shook his head in disapproval and frustration.
“They need someone to help them, Rowan,” I said, looking at him. “Apparently, there wasn’t anyone on their continent to do so, so they did some of their own research.”
Rowan looked out at the sea, his mouth set into a hard line. “That’s the thing I don’t like. He came here knowing every single little detail about us, while we know nothing about him. It’s absurd.”
“It is not absurd, Rowan. You’re just being dramatic. Is he always this dramatic, Aelin?” I looked at her.
She rolled her eyes. She faced him, still looking out at the sea, and crossed her arms. “Rowan, they seem like nice people. I would agree to their alliance right now, if I wanted to, even though I don’t know them.”
“What if we needed help to defeat someone who harmed us? Would we have done the same?” I added.
At this, he turned. “Yes,” he murmured.
“See? They didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Who -- what -- is that?” Rowan blurted, pointing at Rayen.
“I am a who, not a what. In addition, it is not nice to point,” Rayen said to him as a way of greeting.
“Excuse me?” he blurted again, his eyebrows raising. This will be fun.
“I would watch your mouth, Rowan. Rayen is very, very sensitive.” I looked down at her, and winked. She grinned. I returned the smile.
Instantly, Rowan’s face paled. “How?” he whispered, looking at me in complete shock and surprise.
“It’s a long story.” I looked out at the sea, the sun low in the sky. It must be early morning. “Is everyone still sleep --” I abruptly stopped as I saw winged creatures flying towards our ship. They were not our guests. They had webbed feet, were tall, and were a mix between human and creature. “Aelin,” I said, slowly facing her, “what are those creatures flying towards us?”
She stalked to the very edge of the deck, her face paling with each step she took. Rowan walked right beside her, his face pale, too. “Ilken,” he breathed.
Aelin jolted to a bell that was mounted on one of the hulls of the ship, and started ringing it. “Ilken!” she yelled. “Ilken! Ilken!”
At that moment, Aedion, Lysandra -- in snow leopard form -- Elide, Manon, Dorian, Fenrys, Gavriel, and Lorcan came running up the stairs that led below deck, all of them dressed, blades out.
I balked at them. “What are Ilken?” I asked Aelin as I turned to her.
“They are terrible creatures that can rip your throat out in the blink of an eye,” she said as she gathered her weapons.
My gut started to twist. “How do I fight them?”
“With weapons, your bare hands, or your powers,” Rowan answered from behind me. “Where is freaking Rhysand and his crew?” he demanded, looking around. “Are you sure you want to make an alliance with them, Aelin, if they leave on the first morning?” He glared at her.
“That is not the question you should be asking me right now, Rowan,” she angrily said as she stared him down.
The ilken were getting closer. I looked down at Rayen. “Are you ready?” She nodded once in answer. “What animal will you turn into?”
“It’s a surprise,” she whispered. She grinned. Her eyes sparkled with joy and delight.
“Great,” I mumbled. “Just be careful, okay?” She nodded.
I looked at Aelin, and the rest of my friends, who were preparing themselves. “Why are we all getting ready if there are only two of them?” I asked to no one in particular. Nobody answered. Well, then. I will just prepare myself for more to come. My wings flared from behind me, and I rallied my powers together. They thrummed, excited for battle. I pulled them all into my core, and forced them to spread throughout my body and to my fingertips. I was ready.
I looked out at the sky. The ilken were close enough for me to see every single detail of them. They grinned when they saw me, revealing sharp, jagged teeth. Chills ran down my spine. Rayen, who was beside me, still had not changed. She was waiting. For what, I did not know. All of my friends surrounded me, leaving me at the front of the group. We all glared at the ilken as they landed on the very edge of the wall, their claws digging into the wood.
“I see there is a new member of your little group,” the taller one said in a smooth -- but deadly -- voice. It looked at me, and grinned. I watched its every move; so did Rayen.
“What do you want?” Rowan demanded.
The smaller one -- a female -- pinned her stare on him. “Erawan sends a message,” she said.
“What’s the message?” Aedion asked, his face a hard mask of stone.
Both ilken looked at each other, grinned, and faced Rowan and Aelin, both tense and standing side by side. “You will see for yourself very, very, soon,” the female said. In a blink, they flew up into the sky, and vanished.
By Alexa Gantt
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