“Straight ahead,” Faith whispered to Riley.
Hew glanced back at them and smiled. He walked faster, and Faith and Riley walked faster. The crowd moved around the two of them and they lost sight of Hew. Faith caught sight of him going down an alleyway between shops. She and Riley followed. Hew turned a left corner up ahead and they followed.
Hew had stopped in the alleyway. “Altunei is waking up. The two of you won’t be stopping him.” He sounded certain of this. He frowned at Riley. “It’s not too late for you to join us.”
“No,” Riley said without hesitation.
Hew frowned further. “And what do you have to lose? You know Altunei will wake up and you can’t stop him. The others will wake up and Quivis will wake up.”
“You always told me to do the right thing,” Riley said.
Hew looked away for a moment. “Things aren’t how they were, Riley. Right now, this is the right thing. You’ll be joining us when Ninivus wakes up anyway.”
“I will never help you with this.” Riley’s voice was tense. “I will do everything I can to stop you.”
Hew looked away again. “Very well.” He went down another alleyway to the left.
Faith and Riley followed, but Hew was already out of sight in the crowd at the harbor. The two of them stopped at the edge of the alleyway.
Riley looked away from the crowd. “We have to put Altunei all the way to sleep before he wakes up.”
Faith nodded. “Tonight.”
“Tonight,” Riley said.
They went back to the bed and breakfast. Lynnet and Radella weren’t at the desk. Faith and Riley sat in their room, at the table in front of the window.
“Where are you going when this is over?” Riley asked.
Faith hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t want to go back to Silverfield.”
Riley smiled a bit. “Understandable.”
“I’m not sure where I’ll go,” Faith said. “Collin’s parents live in Billen, so maybe Suzie and I will go there.”
“We’ll put Elaita to sleep next, in Billen,” Riley said.
“Where will you go?” Faith asked.
Riley frowned and glanced at the window. “I’m not sure.” He seemed about to say something more, but the phone between the beds rang and he got up to get it.
Faith gathered some clean clothes and went to take a shower. She hadn’t in a while. Too long. Riley was frowning while he talked on the phone. Faith hesitated, but she closed the bathroom door. If anything had happened, he would tell her later. Faith showered quickly, trying to enjoy the warm water, but she was still thinking of what night would bring. Still thinking of Suzie, Hew, and everything that was at stake. What would Quivis do if he did wake up? Faith wanted to ask Vallen, but there was no knowing where he was.
He might still be in that old building in the mountains, or he might have left and gone anywhere. Faith finished in the shower. It felt good to have clean clothes. She tied her dark brown hair back again and wiped some of the fog from the mirror. There was a messenger right behind her. The messenger grabbed her and pushed her head forward hard. A flash of pain blurred Faith’s vision. She felt the glass of the mirror crack with the impact.
The messenger’s grip had loosened. She pulled free of its cold, wet hands and turned to face it. She had no weapon. The messenger grabbed her shoulder, its other hand becoming a stream of water that went up Faith’s nose and forced its way into her mouth. She gagged, trying to cough it up. The messenger completely became water, trying to drown her from within. Faith gasped, trying to breathe in but only finding water.
She slid to the floor in front of the shower. The door rattled and Faith heard a muffled voice. The room was a hazy blur. The bathroom door was flung open, the lock breaking. Riley rushed in and pulled Faith to her feet, leaning against the wall behind him. He clasped his hands in front of her and pressed up hard beneath her ribs.
Water rushed out of Faith’s mouth and nose, becoming a puddle on the floor that gathered itself before seeping into the floor. Faith breathed in hard, coughing up more water. Riley had his hands on her shoulders. She caught her breath and felt something wet running down her face. Her head throbbed.
“You’re bleeding.” Riley led her out of the bathroom and sat her down at the table.
Faith put a hand to her head and felt a gash. It wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding fast. Riley went back into the bathroom and came back with a wad of toilet paper he pressed to the wound. Faith put her hand on it and he let go.
“There’s no first aid kit,” Riley said.
“It’s not deep,” Faith said.
“It’s bleeding a lot.” Riley glanced at the bathroom, but there were no more messengers.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Do you think it’ll come back?” Faith asked.
“It could,” Riley said. “We need to put something on that gash.”
Faith pressed too hard against the wound and winced. “I could just tie toilet paper around my head.”
Riley smiled, but it didn’t hide his worry. “We’ll see if Lynnet and Radella have anything.” He glanced at the bathroom again. “I don’t think either of us should be up here alone.”
Faith stood and the room swayed.
“How hard did it hit you?” Riley asked.
Faith let go of the table and didn’t fall over. “It slammed my head into the mirror. What will we tell Lynnet and Radella about the mirror and the lock?”
Riley sighed. “I’ll think of something. Maybe for now we shouldn’t tell them anything. We’ll be staying here for a while. For now, we need to get something for your head.”
They left the room and started down the stairs. Riley kept an arm around Faith’s shoulders. She was confident she could make it down the stairs on her own, but this seemed to make him feel better, so she didn’t say anything. His arm was warm. Lynnet and Radella stood from their chairs at the desk.
“What happened?” Lynnet asked. “Is she alright?”
“She got dizzy and slipped in the bathroom,” Riley said.
Faith managed a smile. “I must have taken too hot a shower. The cut’s not deep, but do you have any bandages?”
Radella dug around in a drawer of the desk, then handed Riley a small box. “I’ll get something to clean the cut with.” She hurried through a door at the end of the stairs.
“How deep is it?” Lynnet asked.
Faith lowered the wad of toilet paper, which was soaked through.
Lynnet looked relieved. “Not deep, just bleeding a lot.”
Radella came back with a wet cloth and gave it to Riley. Riley dabbed at the cut gently, then taped a bandage over it.
“Do you need anything up there?” Lynnet asked. “More towels?”
“We’re good for now,” Riley said.
Lynnet seemed about to say more.
“I’m sure she wants to sit down,” Radella said.
Faith and Riley went back upstairs. There were no messengers in sight, but Faith knew from experience they could be there, hiding. She sat at the table. The throbbing in her head had lessened.
Riley sat across from her. “Maybe we should wait on going to the harbor.”
Faith shook her head, immediately regretting it when the throbbing returned full force. “Altunei could be close to waking up.”
“You shouldn’t jump in the harbor with a head wound,” Riley said.
“I’ll be alright,” Faith said. “You’re the one who will have to hold off the messengers.” She didn’t say what else came to mind.
“And Hew,” Riley said. “I’m sure he’ll be there.”
Faith nodded. “We have to do this tonight. Before Altunei has a chance to wake up.” She had almost forgotten. “Who called earlier?”
“Holtby is the sheriff now,” Riley said. “He called to tell me Gray Lake has been restless.”
“Then Ninivus could be waking up. Again,” Faith said.
Riley nodded and said nothing more.
The clouds outside got darker and rain drizzled. Faith and Riley went to the cafe, so they wouldn’t be hungry when they went to the harbor at night. They sat by the window, how they had the night before. There weren’t a lot of people there. Riley glanced around. He seemed nervous, and Faith knew he was looking for Hew. She’d been watching for him on the way there too, but she hadn’t seen him.
Riley was itching the mark on his neck and staring out at the sea. The two of them ate their sandwiches. It was getting darker outside, but the rain had stopped. Hopefully it wouldn’t start again before they went to the harbor. Back at the bed and breakfast, Lynnet and Radella weren’t at the desk. They hadn’t been when Faith and Riley had left for the cafe either.
Night came and the rain hadn’t returned. Dark clouds still hung overhead, churning and rolling over each other like the waves in the harbor. The sea was anything but calm, worse than the night before. At least it wasn’t raining. Faith and Riley went downstairs. Radella was at the desk, but she didn’t look up when they left.
There were few people outside. A cold wind blew past from the stormy sea. Faith and Riley went out onto the docks. The water stirred at the edge of the damp wood. Wet, dark hands came up onto the dock, messengers pulling themselves out of the water. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Faith looked back and saw someone standing where the docks began. The wind blew against Hew’s tan coat.
“Did you think it would be easy?” Hew asked.
Riley turned to face him sharply.
The light from the lampposts further up the harbor didn’t reach the docks. Lightning struck overhead, briefly illuminating the messengers standing silently at the edge of the docks. It illuminated Hew as well, his white hair and blue scales. His bright blue eyes. They were dark gray during the day.
Hew laughed. “Did you think Faith would just dive down there and stop Altunei from waking up?” His amusement vanished, becoming what she thought might be desperation. “We don’t have to do this, Riley. We always worked so well together.”
“We were trying to stop this from happening,” Riley said. “You betrayed us.”
Thunder rumbled and lighting struck again, close enough the hair on Faith’s arms tingled. It started to rain lightly, then harder. The messengers still didn’t move.
Hew frowned. “There was nothing left to betray. We had already lost, I merely decided to survive. You could do the same.”
“Faith.” Riley didn’t look away from Hew. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”
Faith didn’t want to leave him there alone with so many messengers and Hew, but Altunei was close to waking up. The sea tossed against the docks harder and the rain poured down. The water of the harbor was going to be even colder than the rain. Faith ran to the end of the docks, took a deep breath, and dived in.