IN THE OCEAN
Orca’s voice sliced through the water again, more urgent this time as he moved closer to Nerida, his heart racing. "My queen, who is this human?" he asked, his breath hitching as he took in the shock and dread in Nerida's eyes. Nerida's answer made him freeze in his tracks.
“He’s a curse. A Sharyx. He is the reason we are in this mess, the reason my daughter and husband are no longer with us." Orca’s eyes widened in disbelief, her words sinking in like a stone dropped into the depths. Nerida continued, her voice laced with both anger and sorrow as she retold the story of Lykos and Oceana once more to Orca.
Orca's heart pounded harder as everything began to make sense—the way Lykos moved in the water, how he outswam the whales so effortlessly. No ordinary human could do th
