without looking back, along the water’s edge. I watch her walk slowly, her head turned towards the sea. Her hair has come undone, and it’s blowing behind her. She’s so slight against the backdrop of the ocean. I can’t leave her alone, as much as I know she needs solitude. Not with the demon-bird around the house, and who knows what else. I’m as certain as I can possibly be that we are not safe. I look up at the sky again, anxious.
But it’s empty.
They don’t come from the air this time, they come from the water. Just as my gaze returns to Elodie, I see long, thin jelly-like tentacles bursting out of the water, wrapping themselves around Elodie’s waist and dragging her under so fast that she doesn’t even have time to scream.
34
From the Water
The depths of the sea
Are home to me
I’m one of those beings
Who should not be
Sean
I can only call her name, over and over again, as Elodie is thrown into the air and then pulled underwater with splashes and sprays of liquid grey. I take out my sgian-dubh, but do runes work underwater? I’ve never tried. How far has the demon gone? Is it swimming away from the shore? For a second, I feel there is no hope. I’m sure that Elodie is going to die there and then, just after our ill-fated kiss.
“Elodie! No! Elodie!” I hear a voice calling in despair, broken, full of terror, and the voice is mine.
And then a thought makes its way through the panic. If I stand on the shore, the demon will get me too. I have to turn away. I have to run. I have to leave Elodie to her fate because there’s no way I can save her and save myself too. And I must save myself. For the fight.
I know that it’s what I should do. But I can’t. To turn my back on Elodie and run is just impossible. I can’t.
That leaves only one option. To run into the sea and take the one-in-a-million chance that one of us, or both of us, might survive. Though my head is telling me that what will really happen, of course, is that we’ll both die.
“Sean! Don’t!”
I turn around just as I’m about to dive, and see Niall running towards the water. He stops right on the shoreline, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and throws his head back. A long, powerful, chilling wail comes out of his mouth. I throw myself on the sand, my hands on my ears – but even that is not enough to block out the terrible sound. I can feel the sand lifting up in a whirlpool around us – it’s stinging my cheeks and blinding me. I barely manage to make out the surface of the sea rising, and the water starting to turn into itself over and over again, until it becomes a colossal waterspout, a sea tornado, rising high in the sky.
I’m drenched and half blind, and my ears are in agony. The sound of Niall’s song is still audible over the noise of the swirling water, and of the unnatural wind born from Niall’s power. I try to drag myself up, but I’m flogged down again – once, twice – grains of sand lashing my face like steely whips. I open my mouth to call for Elodie, but it fills with wet sand, and I choke. The pain in my ears is so unbearable I think I’m going to pass out. I don’t know how long I can bear this.
I half-open my eyes and try to peer over to where Niall is standing. He’s a few inches off the ground by now, his arms thrown open, as if he’s being crucified. His head is tilted back at an impossible angle, his features twisted in pain. A few more seconds of torture for both of us, and then out of the spinning waters soars a huge, light-pink mass, its tentacles flailing and whipping the waves. The demon is propelled out of the water and lands on the sand with a thud. Niall’s song finally stops, and he falls to the sand, empty, unmoving.
I cough and splutter, my mouth and nose and lungs full of sand. I realize that my hands are covered in blood – am I wounded? No time to worry about that. Niall is lying on the ground, senseless, and there’s no trace of Elodie. A split-second choice between the two, and I go for