that they were horrified that I was ignoring the Queen’s command.
Within moments, Carragheen and I were skimming through the water, picking up speed, humming ourselves longer and faster. We had no idea what awaited us at the dark cave, but I could sense that both of us just wanted to get there, to find out, and (hopefully) to get this done.
Okay, so, great.
We were going out to face who-knows-what, possibly some evil that the monster Kraken has unleashed, and we had some maybe-defense of our own, in the form of some pretty pissweak song thing that might or might not work if we hit the right notes.
Ran be with us. ’Cause nobody else is tonight.
The city was sparkling and peaceful below us. Impossible to believe that dark things had been nesting here, twisting the minds of peaceful people. As we swam, we heard the heralds’ calls, warning everyone that the Queen was about to deliver a message of supreme importance, and that all must immediately stop what they are doing, and come to the Eye of the Goddess.
We reached the outer edge of the city, where the darkness lay, and I felt the now familiar clammy fist grab my stomach and squeeze. Carragheen sensed the moment’s hesitation in me. He stopped, treading water beside me, and turned me to him. He asked the question into my mind. Are you sure you must come? I can do this. You have done enough. The purple-blue of his irises was even darker than usual, and his pupils were huge inside them.
I nodded and something made me take his hand as we continued, swimming through the ever darker water, until we could see the outline of the cave in the distance. At the sight, the blood inside my veins seemed to freeze, and my heart-rate galloped upwards inside my chest.
I thought about my conversation with Dad, his words about courage. And Ran’s words about how the land-men would help. She’d made it sound like it was gonna be a long campaign.
I shook my head. For now, I needed to concentrate my energy on finding Lecanora. I knew with a powerful certainty that they were there. In the cave. My whole being filled up with the knowledge. Imogen. My beloved Lecanora. Waiting there, hoping. Waiting for us to come. My rib-cage stretched painfully with the hammering of my heart as I waited every second for the crippling pain to strike us down. I could almost feel the sting and crush of it, the absolute obliteration of my senses. As we moved closer, I knew it must happen soon. This was the moment last time, the moment they used the weapon, whatever it is.
I heard Carragheen talking into my mind.
Let it go, Rania. Don’t let the fear control you. We need to get there.
So I did. I focused on the dark water in front of me, on humming and swimming faster and faster, on Carragheen’s hand in mine, sure and true, pulling me forward, knowing this was what I wanted, even as his heart dreaded the outcome.
It felt like seconds passed and then we were there.
Now that we were this close, I could see from the outside that it was some kind of large, weed-covered hillock. More sand than rock. It was almost perfectly round, with a conical part on top. I tilted my head, trying to understand what it was.
Carragheen, again, answered me without me asking the question.
No-one knows. It’s called the Cave of Sighs in the ancient songs. They think it may have been a place of the old dolphin sorcerers. It has perfect acoustics, so there’s speculation that it may have been a place of worship. He looked at me seriously. Or of burial.
I raised an eyebrow at him. Great, lovely. Yeah, right. Let’s go ferreting around for kidnapped girls in some ancient, secret grave. This was exactly the right way not to make me feel better about this whole creepy expedition.
I steeled myself. Let’s go.
The mouth of the cave was wide, but immediately inside it curved suddenly inward, creating a narrow tunnel. The tunnel was dark and twisting with a sandy floor, and the temperature was even cooler than the water outside. Because of the twists and turns, it was impossible to see how far the tunnel went, or where it led.
Carragheen took my hand again. Onward.
We swam slowly, feeling our way, the knowledge that the girls were here intensifying with each passing yard. I started to be able to see Lecanora