Page 105 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

“Yes.”

“How are you able to be two places at once?” Minha dipped her finger in the water, then pulled it back out, likely testing the temperature.

“This is my realm.” Palto’s spirit drifted back up. “I can speak and exist here in ways the others cannot. My body must remain in this realm. That is the cost of death.”

Minha crouched at the water’s edge, still peering down at the five sleeping forms. “So how do we wake just Rowhan without waking the others?”

Palto glided across the surface, hovering over Rowhan’s sleeping form. “The right one will light up when you near its owner. The essence inside will enter the body, and he will revive.”

We each opened our palms and moved toward the water’s edge. The stones caught the dim light of the land of the dead. Mine was steady, Minha’s both unchanged, Theron’s calm. But Ranis’s flared, a warm pulse of gold light spilling between his fingers, casting shadows across the water’s surface. Below us, Rowhan’s sleeping form shifted, bubbles rising around him as though he recognized the call.

“I have Rowhan’s soul.” Ranis stared at the stone in his palm.

“There is one request, if I may,” Palto said. “I would like to join your quest. I cannot undo what has been done. But one more god fighting beside you is worth more than you might realize.”

I placed mine back in my pocket. “That would require you to take a physical form. Which means I have no choice but to trust you.”

“You already do, Yeri. You will need my assistance to ensure Rowhan returns to the pure stone after you’re done with him.” His gaze moved to Calroy. “Only a god can handle the energy Rowhan will produce when he fights his capture. Calroy must always hold the stone, to keep a tight leash on him. If he refuses to cooperate, threaten to put him back.”

Calroy’s mouth curved. Not the smirk I knew from Theron. Something far more dangerous.

Ranis looked at the glowing stone in his palm, then at Calroy, and held it out without a word. Calroy took it and gave his to Ranis.

The moment Calroy’s fingers closed around the stone, it blazed, brighter than it had in Ranis’s palm, the gold deepening to almost white, heat radiating off it in waves.

“Now,” Palto said.

Calroy crouched at the pool’s edge and lowered his hand, the stone touching the surface without releasing it. The water caught the light, gold threading down through the depths like lightning finding its path, wrapping around the sleeping forms below.

Rowhan’s body jolted.

His fingers spread. His back arched, hair fanning out around him, bubbles streaming upward in a rush. Then his eyes opened, pale and wide, adjusting to a new realm.

The water churned.

Energy cracked through the pool like a struck bell, rippling outward, and I felt it even standing back—a pressure in my chest, ancient and enormous, the power from a god wakening. The air shifted like the moment before the storm when earth holds its breath. The water around the pool’s edge darkened then settled. Even the waterfall stilled.

Calroy stood, stone in his fist, eyes locked on the figure rising through the water. When Rowhan broke the surface and landed a few feet from us, nothing about him was wet. Not his tunic, not his hair, not his dark skin. As if the water had simply released him without leaving a trace.

He had a kind face. Medium height, lean, dark hair falling past his jaw, the kind of face you’d pass on a road and forget by the next village. Except for his eyes. Amber, almost gold, the color of sunlight. Those you wouldn’t forget.

That was the most unsettling thing about him. Not what I’d expected from someone who had handed the queen the means to destroy us.

Rowhan’s gaze moved around the space—to Minha, Ranis, me, Calroy, and Palto’s liquid form. Taking in each face without recognition, he then looked up to the rocky ceiling, the waterfall threading down the far wall, the soft gold light catching the mist. Then down to the pool he’d just risen from.

Something crossed his face. “Where—” His voice came out rough. He cleared his throat. “How long have I been here?”

“Long enough,” Calroy said. “And whether you stay or go back depends on what you say next.”

Rowhan’s gaze dropped to Calroy’s fist. He recognized what was inside the stone. His jaw tightened.

“You hold my soul,” he said, his tone neutral.

“I do.” Calroy’s jaw worked. “And I’ll pull it back without a second thought if you give me reason to.”

The waterfall filled the silence. Then Rowhan dipped his chin.

His voice was regretful. “I have had a very long time to think about what I had done.” His gaze moved to me. Then back to Calroy. “I will not ask your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. But I am asking for the chance to make it right.”