Prince of Persuasion by Saward Samara

Author:Saward, Samara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

seventeen

Screams sound from the water’s edge where seals splash in the shallows, making their way onto the pebbled beach, some of them in the middle of a shift.

If you can call that horrific sight a shift.

Their seal skins part down the middle, falling off the selkies’ shoulders like a gruesome cloak. Men and women with greyish skin and long, lean muscles step from the fur before arranging it like clothing. Some wear the skins like capes, others use the seal’s mouth as a weird hat, women drape them over their shoulders like a shawl. It’s the rare few that leave their skins on the rocks unattended.

Besides the seal skin, the selkies are naked, rivulets of water running down their chests, arms, and faces. Only some of them wear adornments of shells and pearls, but every single selkie carries a trident. The weapons gleam, their razor sharp tips menacing in the moon’s light.

Children scream for their parents and spears of fire hurtle through the air. Vials of potion explode at the feet of the nearest selkies as they fight against gale force winds to progress up the beach. It’s mayhem.

I launch to my feet as June takes a defensive stance beside me. Clove crouches low in front of the both of us. “Should we flee?” he asks.

“No way!” I shout. “This town is full of potion makers, anglers, and healers. They need all the help they can get.”

“Commu-ring,” snarls June. “As your sword, I suggest we portal out of here and find help. It’s our job to protect you, Em.”

I twist the silver ring on my thumb once, telling Rone I need him. Under normal circumstances, he’d come straight away. But he’s with his family at Sacred Spring. He won’t come unless it’s an emergency. I twist the ring twice more, code for perilous trouble.

“Daddy!”

The scream of a child catches my attention, piercing above the clang of metal striking metal. I whip my head to the right, searching for the owner of the voice.

He’s crouching with his head in his hands, eyes squeezed closed in fear; even from this distance I can see he’s shaking. My feet move of their own accord when I catch sight of the selkie bearing down on him.

“Embry!” June shouts after me as I sprint through the fighting mages, but I don’t dare look back. Her screamed expletive chases me through the battle.

Helios powers build in my palms, crackling and zapping in anticipation of being used. I will the electricity and heat to withdraw, focusing solely on the light power. Before I can even contemplate throwing out orbs of bright white light, Juniper appears at my side. She slashes her sword through the air in an arc, a threat to any selkie nearby.

Clove joins us on my other side, his circular shield emitting waves of a pearlescent haze. He juts his shield arm forward, and the haze solidifies into a solid barrier, encompassing the three of us as we charge along the beach. Selkies dive toward us, but their tridents collide with Clove’s shield and clatter uselessly to the ground.

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