The elders had warned him.

  Never go beyond the mountains where humans live.

  Or you'll end up in the middle of the ocean trapped on a pirate ship puking your breakfast overboard.

  Damn stupid castle maids who had made him believe that the sea was a wonderful place every time they drooled over the Count of Shadowrock's blue eyes. Of course they didn't know what they were talking about. Humans possesed an innate ability to exaggerate everything.

  Silas never thought he could get sick like this. During his time as an orca he hadn't suffered any problems, but now in his first form that experience was becoming unbearable for him. He had to transform himself into whatever it was as soon as possible to put an end to this torment. Even if he had to transform into a tiny fish having to swim away from predators, or a deck rat being chased by broomsticks. Any of those options had to be better than what he was feeling right now.

  He clenched both hands on the edge of the deck as if trying to squeeze the wood until his fingers turned purple. His bear claw had completely disappeared after he had returned to his first form. Again he was back to the starting point, but he would not let his spirits waver. He hoped that his transformation into the original chimera would help him untie the knot that Thalassa had mentioned.

  It was true that he had fallen victim to River's trick, but in the end they had achieved one of their goals which was to save Penn... and in the process hurt a lot of wizards, even if that hadn't been in Olivia's plan. He didn't care what Rovenna Astra thought, he wasn't the least bit sorry for what had happened.

  Of course, he would never forget the pain that mysterious red-eyed creature had caused him. But if that was supposed to frighten him in order to change his mind, it didn't work. Rather, it had caused the opposite effect. Every time he thought of how vulnerable he had felt against that abysmal power, which crushed him like a boot to a mere insect, his blood began to boil. He didn't remember much of the attack at the City Hall, only loose bits and pieces, but he did remember the feeling of the energy rushing through each of his veins like an unstoppable torrent of lava capable of dissolving any obstacle that stood in front of him. Each attack that knocked out the red tunics was like regaining a piece of his race's lost dignity. For a short time, he was no longer the nameless cub that everyone in the pack mocked, or the helpless chimera traveling undercover through the human realm, who everyone was supposed to rescue.

  No, he was not scared, but more resolved than ever.

  He took a deep breath in the cool morning breeze, and looked up to feel the warmth of the sun, begging for strength, but the only fire he felt inside was in his stomach. His body bent forward at a new surge of retching.

  When he lifted his gaze he stared at the swell that rocked the boat from side to side. He gritted his teeth, aiming all his fury at that infinite, indifferent blue expanse.

  “You'll see,” he growled under his breath. “When I return to my original form, the first thing I will do is make you disappear, and turn your sand into gigantic mountains that reach up to the sky.”

  In response to his provocation, the breeze blew a strong smell of seaweed straight up his nose, which caused him to retch again and expel the last of his food.

  At this rate he would not be able to resume his training until they reached the island, not only because of the sickness, but also because his body was short of energy after getting rid of whatever he had eaten.

  To put it simply, the sea wanted to starve him to death, which is why it had become his new enemy, to the point of turning more dangerous than the red-eyed creature.

  “Everything all right, mate?” Warwick planted his thick hand on his back. The gesture was intended to be reassuring, but all it caused was another bout of nausea, which made Silas wish to throw himself overboard, and forget all about his revenge.

  He couldn't understand why his body wouldn't stop doing that. There was nothing else for him to throw up, only his insides, and he would gladly do so if it would end his suffering.

  “Hey, hey,” Warwick held his head. “Didn't the healer give you anything?”

  Unable to speak, Silas nodded as he spat to get the acrid taste out of his mouth. The ship's healer had offered him some bitter tea, but he didn't think it would do any good. He surely had already expelled it with everything else before it had a chance to have any effect on him.

  “It's a matter of time then,” said Warwick. “Perhaps by tomorrow you'll be well. If Bronto wasn't so weak he might be able to relieve you right away with his healing magic.”

  “I wouldn't be so sure,” said someone behind them. “Maybe it was Bronto who infected him in the first place.”

  “Shut your bloody mouth, Tavia!” Warwick snapped. “The boy is just dizzy. And Bronto is getting better day by day.”

  “I'm just saying...” replied the young woman with dark skin and braided hair. “He doesn't look good at all... Or maybe I'm just an ignorant sailor who doesn't know that chimera skin has the same color as snot.”

  “Don't mind her, Silas, you look completely normal,” Warwick patted him back again, which caused him to retch.

  The chimera didn't even have the strength to speak or slap him.

  Tavia let out a chuckle. “He'd better snap out of it as soon as possible. We haven't even gone that far. The most dangerous part is still to come.”

  “He's made it this far. He'll survive.”

  “He'd better. He's about to learn that a wave can be as high as a mountain.”

  Hearing that, Silas' body cooled in such a way that even the fire in his stomach seemed to die down.

  “What did she just say?” he asked.

  Warwick clicked his tongue. “Don't listen to her.”

  “If Bronto were all right, we wouldn't have any trouble,” Tavia's words trailed off, as if she were taking the time to savor each one of them. “For him the storms are like a summer breeze, but now–”

  The boatswain wouldn't let her continue. “Tavia 'Hatchet Tongue' Reid, don't you have something better to do?”

  His subordinate snorted. “Since you mention it... The captain asked me to take charge of the new swabbies.”

  “Ah, so he's decided to accept them as crew members after all.”

  “Ha! Of course not! We simply must keep them busy, or they'll end up driving us all nuts.”

  Tavia was referring to the children's behavior over the past few days, which had become a problem for the pirates, many of whom were reconsidering their vote to force their captain to bring them along.

  At first, the sailors had taken it as an opportunity to serve a noble cause, as well as an amusing novelty. In their minds the children were nothing more than brave little rebels rescued from a port in the throes of an evacuation, whose curious eyes and hunger for stories seemed to warm the hearts of everyone in the crew.

  By the third day at sea, however, the mood of the adults was already quite different.

  It all started with small, unimportant pranks that ended with a mild warning from the pirates, trusting that the children meant no harm. Penn and Finn spent the day climbing the sail ropes like little squirrels in the trees. Although at first some of the sailors laughed under their breath, the fun turned to trouble when the two boys interrupted the operations, tripping the sailors or tangling important ropes.

  They had even climbed up to the crow's nest, and started shouting at the top of their lungs things like: “Enemy ahoy!”, “Kraken to starboard!”, “We're under attack!”. After so many false alarms, the lookout threatened to tie them to the mast like flags.

  Their relentless scouting led the two brothers one afternoon to the powder kegs in the hold. Fortunately, one of the pirates discovered them just in time, before they began experimenting with the cannons.

  Vinnie and Katty, for their part, pretended to “help,” but their idea of collaboration consisted of sneaking into the navigation room to rearrange the maps and move the instruments the pirates used to navigate. Then, once bored, they playfully slid down the bowsprit, using a line as a rope to launch themselves over the sea, without understanding the real risk of falling into the water.

  Until then Milo and Rufus were behaving like the most mature of the group, while they learned with Warwick about handling the helm. However, their tireless rivalry led them to a new argument that ended in a duel on deck with real swords that they had managed to steal from some corner of the ship.

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  But the last straw, as if they had not learned anything from what had happened at the City Hall, was the bet the children made among themselves as to who would manage to sneak into the captain's cabin and steal his famous eagle mask. When Jasper, apparently asleep, caught them in the act, after forcing the lock on his door, the uproar they caused woke up the whole ship. Pirates came out with cutlasses in hand, believing they were under attack. When they saw that it was only their captain, furious and with his head covered with a rag, blindly chasing the six children with his sword, they did not know whether to burst into laughter or hide.

  “I told you all there was a fucking reason why children are not allowed on board!” the captain roared.

  After all, it was Penn who won the bet, and the only thing he seemed to regret was that, because of the darkness of the cabin, he couldn't uncover the true face of Captain Jasper “The Eagle” Gloom.

  From that incident, Jasper ordered the children to be placed under the charge of Tavia “Hatchet Tongue” Reid, who was given official permission to be as stern as she wished.

  “At least this one here doesn't bother me,” Tavia turned around and started yelling at the kids who were already starting to play rope races again. “Hey, you maggots, down. Now!”

  Silas turned to watch their energetic, agile little bodies hopping like rabbits on the deck. None of the children looked sick, although that was no surprise to him. They were also descendants of the first pirates. Sailing must have been in their blood.

  What Silas could not explain was why Olivia had not been attacked by that illness either. When she went up on deck with Milo, she looked as fresh and healthy as ever, as if the sea air was having the opposite effect on her as it was having on him.

  It didn't make any sense. Like him, she had never set foot on a ship, so why wasn't she throwing up just like him right now? It wasn't fair at all!

  She tilted her head to study him, but he ignored her trying not to show his discomfort.

  Tavia planted herself in front of the children.

  “Listen to me well, you little slugs! From now on you can forget about your life of felonies.” As she said this, she began to walk back and forth with her hands behind her back. “You think you're smarter for having lived on Stormbrace? Ha! That's nothing! I was born and raised on Brazen Island, which has nothing to envy the great island of Rebellion. Have you heard what happens to you brats when you don't do what you're supposed to? Well, today you're going to find out!”

  Vinnie was frowning. Katty lowered her head. Milo sighed. Finn muttered something that Penn shushed with an elbow. Rufus spat on the deck.

  Tavia fixed her eyes on him. “Is there a problem, boy?”

  “There's no way you can make me do anything,” he replied, gritting his teeth.

  “Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh?” She snapped her fingers and a tired-looking pirate brought in a pile of buckets, brushes and rags. “First task of the day: you're going to start by scrubbing the deck until I can see my reflection in it. Then you will practice tying knots and mending sails until you get blisters on your hands. After that, you'll help cut up the fish for dinner. And if anyone dares to complain... you'll be in charge of washing all the crew's underwear.” She paused, grinning maliciously. “And since we haven't set foot on land in weeks... I assure you, you'll drop dead as soon as you smell the stench.” She again turned to Rufus. “ Want to think it over or will you risk me sticking that pretty blond head of yours in a place you'll never forget?”

  “She's exaggerating, of course,” Warwick whispered to Silas. “I can assure you that we pirates are quite civilized...” He sighed. “It's just that these children... have managed to bring out the worst in us.”

  After that last warning, the children, including Rufus, reluctantly began to clear the deck following Tavia's instructions. It was there when Olivia finally approached Warwick and Silas.

  “Lady Olivia,” Warwick greeted her, bowing his head as soon as he had her in front of him.

  “No need to be so formal,” she blushed.

  The boatswain nodded in agreement. She looked at him as not knowing how to continue the conversation. Silas did nothing to start talking.

  “How many days do you think it will take us to reach the island?” she finally asked.

  He had already heard her ask the question several times, but Warwick had no problem answering her in a patient tone.

  “Three more days should be enough... if the wind is fair to us.”

  “Could it change?”

  “We are in the Freedom Sea, my lady... Miss... Olivia... The weather here can turn from one moment to the next without any warning...” Let's hope that after the last storms, the sea might decide to rest a little bit.”

  The girl nodded and said nothing more. She studied Silas out of the corner of her eye, but he could only lower his eyes.

  Warwick cleared his throat and pulled away from the gunwale. “Perhaps I'd better check that Tavia doesn't go overboard with the children.”

  With that said he walked away, and the two of them were finally alone. It was the first time since the attack at the City Hall. After Rovenna's long interrogation and their release, the children had not been separated from them at any time until then.

  “Are you feeling better?” she asked him.

  “Yes.”

  “Don't lie to me.”

  “I'm not lying. I think the worst is over...” He put a hand to his stomach. “I'll have to wait until lunch to find out.”

  She watched him suspiciously. They were silent for a while, until Silas remembered something he had been wondering for days.

  “Why didn't you tell Rovenna that the creature forbade you to contact the witches?”

  She took a deep breath, as if she had been waiting all this time for him to ask that.

  “As long as she believes I can awaken my power at any time, I knew she wouldn't dare to imprison us. To her we have become a menace beyond her control. She must think the Archmage will take care of us.”

  “I thought you trusted her.”

  Olivia shook her head. “I've decided not to trust anyone from now on.”

  Silas nodded, though he couldn't help but ask: “Not even me?”

  She gasped as she blushed. “Of course I trust you!”

  “Even after turning into a monster?”

  “I am the monster, Silas!” She put her hand to her heart and tears welled up in her eyes. She said it as if she had been thinking about it for a long time, and finally managed to get it out of his chest.

  Silas' body sat there not knowing how to act in this situation. The only thing he could think to say was: “Of course not!” And he really meant it. “We've been over this!”

  “But look what I've caused! Rovenna was right, and so was that creature... they both warned me about the same thing!”

  “You are guilty of nothing. The witches have used you!” He had used her too, although he did not dare to confess it.

  “I knew deep down that they were dangerous! Look what they did to you!”

  “I allowed River to transform me!”

  “Did he tell you he would turn you into an original chimera?”

  “No... he told me about a big bird... so we could both fly away... Similar to what the sirenians did at the lake.” Silas was ashamed of having fallen for that lie, but he did not regret the power he had awakened... and the power he still had at his fingertips if he did things right.

  She threw his arms out to the sides. “See?”

  “Maybe things didn't turn out the way we expected, but we're still on our way!”

  “We've hurt people, Silas! We're about to cause a war! Is this...” She turned away fearfully. “Is this the road you want to take?”

  Silas avoided answering the question directly, and shook his head. “What I mean... is that you should not blame yourself... We didn't know what could happen.”

  “We were very innocent...”

  “How were we supposed to know that the witches could breach the Dragon's Seal? Did you ever think that was possible?”

  “Never,” she responded firmly.

  “Then don't be hard on yourself. Wait until you get to the island. Talk to the Archmage.”

  She shook her head. “It is you who should talk to the Archmage... I... I refuse to use magic... ever again.”

  Silas felt the air leave his lungs. When he spoke his voice sounded choked. “You can't do that.”

  “Of course I can... After what happened, after what the witches said and that creature... The more I think about it, the more I realize it's my decision. So far they've used me because I've allowed them to.” She shook her head and swallowed. “But never again. I won't even use what little Eldrin managed to teach me.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?”

  “Simply by... doing nothing... I don't know what I'll do when I get to the island, but I've made up my mind. Besides, there's no way the Archmage will accept a human. A chimera perhaps, because of your history, but not a human, let alone someone like me.”

  “You don't know that.”

  “I...” Olivia's lips trembled. “I shouldn't exist, Silas.”

  It was broad daylight, there were hardly any clouds in the sky, but Silas felt a shadow settle on him and coil around his body like a snake slithering through the branches of a tree.

  “Don't say that.”

  “I am nothing more than one of Daephennya's experiments. She created me, made me this way, I am a weapon, as Dawn said, though I didn't want to admit it at first. My mother twisted me as she pleased... Her own daughter and I was barely a baby... without any chance to defend myself.... Maybe it even started before...” Tears began to stream down her face, her voice became shaky, it sounded as if something inside her had broken. “I was not born, I was fabricated! And to think that I once considered myself special... when at the end... she designed me to serve her ends, as if I were an extension of her will! She made me a monster! I have no right to exist!”

  Silas grabbed her shoulders tightly. He wanted to shake her until she came to her senses, but suddenly an image of his own mother, about the time when he was just a whimpering cub, emerged from the depths of his mind. The memory stabbed into his chest like a knife, and, without giving himself time to think, he wrapped Olivia in his arms and pulled her to him.

  Her sobs grew more intense. He felt her trembling against his chest, as fragile as a leaf at the mercy of the wind. He rested his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes, holding her like something precious that had nearly shattered.

  “Don’t say that,” he whispered. “Don't say that ever again. Never.”

  He wanted to tell her that he had once felt the same way, that he, too, had wanted to give up on life, alone in the mountains, abandoned by his own pack.

  But he didn’t dare. He simply held her tighter, hoping to convey everything he felt through the warmth that had bloomed like a shy flower between them.

  It was the first time they hugged each other in that way, without counting the time she had hugged him in his dog form.

  Through the murmur of the waves, he heard the whistles of several crew members, along with the children, who were immediately scolded by Tavia for getting distracted from their work. Milo let out a dramatic sigh, that made Rufus mocked him, but no one dared approach to interrupt them.

  “Are you feeling better?” he repeated the question she had asked him at the beginning of their conversation. She rubbed her face against his chest to dry her tears, then nodded. “Promise me you’ll never say or think what you just said.”

  She hesitated for a moment, but nodded again.

  “You’re not a monster. You’re beautiful.” He felt her startle silently. He also wanted to tell her how powerful she was, if only she could believe in herself. She didn’t need to trust anyone except him. Together, they would become stronger. As long as they had each other, no force could stop them.

  But it was too soon to say all that. For now, he would let her believe he agreed with her decision to renounce her power. But slowly, he would change her mind. The island would give them time, space. Everything would be different there. Under the Archmage’s guidance, she could learn to channel her power instead of fearing it.

  And when his own power fully awakened, she would be there to help him reclaim what he had lost. He could stand proudly at her side.

  One day, he was certain, the world would fall at their feet, and everything would be as it was meant to be.

  The witch and the chimera.

  The beginning of something new.

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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