The water lapped against my boots, cold and insistent. I froze, staring at the waves as they crawled toward me, then drew back again, whispering like they knew my name. My heart pounded so hard I thought the sea might carry the sound away.
Father's voice came steady, as always. "The first touch was only a greeting. Now the sea must claim you. Step in, Lily. Let it know you are not afraid."
But I was afraid. Terrified. The forest had always been solid beneath my feet, the earth dependable. The water felt like a mouth, waiting to swallow me whole. A hundred images flashed in my mind—sinking, drowning, my lungs filling with salt until everything went black.
Then Elis's face cut through the panic, pale and fading, the seconds slipping through him like sand through a fist. If I failed, I would lose him. And if I lost him… I would lose myself.
I took a step. The icy water clutched my ankles. Another step, and it rose to my calves. My breath came short and fast as the waves tugged at me, as if urging me deeper. The sea wasn't just water anymore—it was hands, voices, an ancient pull that wanted me inside it.
By the time it reached my waist, I was shaking. "Father, I can't…"
"You can," he said, his ghostly eyes steady on mine. "The sea does not take what is not its own. Trust it."
I shut my eyes. Elis will die if I fail. Elis will die if I fail. The words beat inside me louder than my heart. I drew a breath and plunged beneath the surface.
Salt seared my mouth and nose. I choked, thrashing, panic exploding through every nerve. My body screamed to rise, to claw back to air but Father's voice echoed through the water, calm and unyielding.
"Do not flee. Let the sea teach you."
I tried to inhale and braced for fire. But instead of burning, the salt water slid into my lungs like the breath itself. Cold, strange, but alive. My chest no longer ached. My body no longer fought. I… I was breathing.
I opened my eyes. The water shimmered silver around me, currents coiling like ribbons, brushing my skin as though greeting me. Scales flickered faintly across my arms, pale as moonlight, slick and soft beneath my touch. My body moved easily, instinctively, as if I had always belonged here.
A laugh escaped me, bubbles spiraling upward. For the first time in my life, water didn't feel like death. It felt like home.
I glanced toward Father, his form wavering in the current but his smile certain. "Yes," he said, voice echoing in my mind rather than my ears. "You are no longer only of the land. The sea remembers its own."
The waves curled around me, strong but protective, a thousand voices humming in welcome. My skin shimmered brighter, silver patterns blooming across it, and when I reached out, the currents bent toward my hand as though bowing.
I surfaced at last, gasping—not from need, but from awe. Salt stung my lips, the wind lashed my hair, and yet I felt lighter than I ever had, as if some hidden chain had fallen away.
I was no longer just Lily of the woods. I was something more. Something the sea had claimed.
And deep within its endless depths, I could feel it waiting, and watching, not just welcoming me, but promising trials yet to come.
The ocean shivered around me, vast and alive, as though it had been waiting for me all along. James stood beside me on the rock, his eyes glowing faintly with the pale shimmer of moonlight.
"This sea," he whispered, "is yours now. You're no longer just a witch, Lily—you are Selkie. Feel it. Listen to it. Then bend it."
I spread my hands over the water, my heart pounding as the waves lapped against the stone. At first, nothing happened. The waves rolled on as though I were nothing but another shadow. Frustration burned, but James's voice cut through it like steel.
"Don't force it. Command it. The sea doesn't obey fear, it bows to power."
I drew in a breath and let the cold air fill my lungs. I thought of the storm within me, the strength I had carried all my life without ever knowing its source. I reached out, not with my hands, but with something deeper. The sea answered. The tide swelled, curling in obedience. My body trembled, but I held it, the waves arching high before settling again at my will. A thrill surged through me—I had done it.
James's lips curved faintly. "Good. But water obeys more than hands. It obeys the voice too. Try."
I swallowed, my throat dry, but then I let sound slip from me—a note, low and uncertain. The moment it left me, the sea stirred. I pushed harder, letting a melody shape itself, and suddenly the water rippled in rhythm with my song. Silver fins broke the surface, sleek shadows circling beneath. Dolphins leapt, gulls screamed above, and the waves bent with the rise and fall of my voice. My song carried a force, commanding, weaving the ocean into music that belonged to me.
I gasped when I stopped, the sea returning to its calm. Power thrummed in my veins.
But James's gaze turned grave. "That is not all. You must learn boonminding. The greatest gift, and the most dangerous. To bind a moon is to grant or to take, to forge a chain that even death will not break. With this, you can command loyalty, seal fates, or destroy what binds your enemies. It is a Selkie's weapon and curse."
The air thickened between us, the waves whispering in strange tongues. I felt the pull of it, heavy and dangerous, like fire waiting to consume.
"How?" I asked, my voice barely steady.
James's ghostly hand hovered near mine. "With your will. With your blood. And with truth that cannot be broken. Promise to the sea, and the sea will promise back. This is power beyond witchcraft, Lily. With it, you can break Zal—or bind him forever."
His words struck something deep in me. The thought of Zal's shadow rising, unchallenged, burned through my chest. I clenched my fists.
"I will learn," I swore.
The waves rose in silent witness, a vow sealed in the salt wind. And for the first time, I felt it—my power, whole and undeniable, greater than anything Zal could dream of.