SINGED
Chapter 8

My name is Miranda Hawking, and I am an enchantress. My gifts, if you choose to call them that, were passed on from our ancestors to my sister, Lenoir, and myself. Some say we must have dragon blood in our lineage, for sorcery always comes from mixing with dragons, but if it is so, we have found no evidence; no record remains to confirm it.

Our parents died when we were both young. I was too young to remember the great storm that swallowed the island and all who remained upon it. Lenoir said it was only by our arts that we survived, for the sea can be enchanted as well as a man.

We loved the sea and the sea loved us. Already the fisher folk of nearby islands called us sea witches. We sailed on tiny vessels made of driftwood wherever we willed. Our favorite breezes followed us, filling our sails. We would sleep on the waves and porpoises would bring us cakes made of sea foam and brine.

When we encountered mainlanders, we were treated with a sort of respectful revulsion and awe. People sought us for cures to things that no one else could cure. Persistent pestilences, often caused by curses. They said there was another one of our kind nearby who was not kind. They called her the Storm Hag.

Then one day, Lenoir disappeared. We had become acquainted with Lindorians, who visited us on the waves. They wanted us to recover sunken treasures for them, but we stayed aloof. However, with Lenoir missing, I went to one who courted us most often to ask for his help. In return I agreed to replace whatever he wished. His name was Alister Crow.

I was suspicious of him at once, but he can cast a sort of charm of his own. He is so immersed in his lies that he makes one forget about them by their sheer pervasiveness; he is hidden like a twisted sinister tree amid a dark bramble filled forest. Everything he touches is entwined.

I could sense deception but believed I was immune. Perhaps they were courteous white lies or necessary evils caused by competitive business practices with others of his kind who knew and accepted the aggressive rules of their trade.

Before I knew it, I was enmeshed. He wove a web work of falsehoods with the skill of a dark hermit spider and I fluttered right in to be snared. Confessing to have commiserated with Lenoir at once, he seemed grateful to share the burden of his angst.

“The Storm Hag has her,” he choked. “It is my fault. I asked her to replace the gem. You know, as I have before. I would not bother you, gentle sea dwellers, but the need is great. I did not know the Hag would claim everything lost beneath the waves is hers. It is outrageous!”

“Where did you send her?” I demanded.

In answer, he handed me the ransom note. I accepted it with shaking hands. It was written in a dark spindly script that radiated magic, and it was written to me.

“I have your sister,” It read. “I will spare her life if you bring me your medallion. Return with my ship or I will kill her.”

It was signed with a sigil. I recognized it as a binding charm, but it was weak. I touched the medallion at my throat. It was a gift from Lenoir. She wore its counterpart from me. They bound us together, allowed us to share our strength, to support each other. She was too far away but if she was closer they would call to each other. Maybe if I got closer I could replace her, send her enough magic to escape.

“She sent a ship?” I said, watching Alister.

“It arrived with the note nailed to the mast,” he said, “and no crew.”

“No crew?” I said, frowning.

It was enchanted, of course, but what shocked me was the amount of power it would take to charm a large vessel and send it as many leagues as it appeared it had come. I knew if Lenoir was within a day or even a few days travel I could still sense her through my medallion, but there was nothing. She must be far. How did the Hag send the ship? The amount of power it would take was staggering. Such a witch was very dangerous. I swallowed.

“Will you go?” Alister asked.

Did I imagine the predatory gleam in his eye? It was already gone if it had been there. Yet I did not have a choice. I love my sister more than anything. I could not bear to think of her there alone and helpless.

“I will go,” I said earnestly.

As soon as I said it, the sigil on the note awakened. It was powerful after all. It had been a trap. The Hag knew I would recognize the sigil, so she hid another within it, sleeping. I could not ward it off alone. Perhaps Lenoir and I could have together, but not alone. I felt it bind me with my own conviction.

I don’t even remember leaving Alister’s office. I found myself aboard a deserted derelict in the harbor, a ghost ship, staring out at the sea.

Alister sent me sailors and supplies but he would not set foot on the vessel himself. Instead he sent Cayn with another note stating he would support my rescue mission but if I retrieved the Hag’s treasure he was to receive whatever he chose from it. Cayn also told me of you. I agreed to request you from Alister at his recommendation for though I found I could not talk about what had happened he seemed to know, and I needed his support.

We set sail. It seemed to be always night but no one else noticed. I asked Cayn if it was the same for him and he told me there was day and night as always, but he only ever saw me at night.

I cast a scrying upon myself and it revealed my missing candles during the day. I was transformed into a hawk, a sea hawk. It terrified me. I was living a half-life, a waking nightmare, with only one long night.

In despair, I fled the ship, riding out over the waves on my tiny sloop. I sailed on and on, headless of everything, only trying to outrun the enchantment. I sped wildly over the dark waters, lighted by the twin moons. When day approached, I was many leagues away, but it did no good. As the sun began to creep up over the rim of the world, I lost consciousness. I woke back upon the Mist Drake. That was the night that I met you.

You rekindled hope in my heart. For you are untouched by the curse. It falls from you, unable to bind you. I began to believe that maybe the Hag’s curse could be undone with your aid. If only I could get close enough to Lenoir.

Maybe the Hag sensed it as well, or maybe the water drake attack was always her plan. I think she wished to drown me before I got close enough to join with Lenoir, for together our powers are great. We have conserved our power, storing it in the lockets. Quietly we have protected the coast.

The Hag knew of us. Claiming Lenoir stole from her was only an excuse. Why Lenoir agreed to go alone, I cannot guess. She had become withdrawn from me before she disappeared, I realized.

Together we were complete, but I am frightfully weak without Lenoir. I discovered the drakes are resistant to my magic too late. I tried to turn them, but I could not. Instead I enraged the second drake.

I cannot feel Lenoir’s locket. I should if she is near. I fear she was drowned beneath the waves and this is all a trap to lead me into the same fate. The Hag could take the lockets at her leisure from the bottom of the sea. If you had not saved me she would have succeeded. If only I had been with Lenoir. She could not have defeated us together. Now all my crew, whom I have come to care for deeply, have been sacrificed for nothing.