Chapter 2-1
345 Words
Chapter 2
“Ouch, ouch.” Maggie’s legs throbbed their fatigue as she scrambled up the rocks by the Endless Sea. “Ouch.”
A fine layer of sand coated the rocks, blown up from the stretch of beach where the waves gently lapped at the toes of the residents who preferred to bask in the sun. But the red of evening had begun to take hold of the sky, clearing the beach and leaving Maggie in peace to climb the rocks to her home.
Cracks split the giant stones. Each gap as familiar as the streets she walked every day.
“Learn to fight, Miss Trent,” Maggie mumbled as she slid down the edge of an outcropping that hovered over the sea. “It’ll be useful, Miss Trent.” Blood trickled from the cut on her shoulder. “I’m not just being an a*s who wants to jab you with a sword, Miss Trent.”
A giant fluke broke through the sparkling water.
“I could just refuse to go with him, Mort,” Maggie called to the whale as he lazily rolled in the water. “Tell him I’d rather not jump back into the fiery death world and just wait for the next round.”
A plume of water shot into the air.
“I could do it. I could sit this one out. Don’t doubt me, Mort. I might prove you wrong.”
Maggie turned her back on the Endless Sea and smiled despite the blood on her arm. A tiny, stone house hid nestled on the rock outcropping. There were no seams between the walls and the rocks above and below. Only the thick wooden door and large window with heavy shutters hanging open showed the greatness of the Siren’s magic hidden within.
At a touch from her hand, the door swung open. The lamps flickered on before she reached for them, lighting the tiny room with their warm glow. A bed rested in one corner, and a table with one chair in the other. The curving gap where the two rocks that formed the back wall met held her fishing net, a spare fishing net, and three books Bertrand had lent her.
“Home, sweet home.”
- Writer
