Sorceress Rising (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 2) by Lisa Blackwood Read Free Book Online

their
approach across the vastness of the ocean. A small pod of six pale grey shapes
drew closer, their compact bodies elegant in the water. As the dolphins neared,
the ocean calmed, and Tethys let the last of her rage go. She’d never been able
to remain angry in the presence of the playful ones.
    With a lighter
heart, she went to meet them. The first dolphin broke rank and bolted ahead of
the others. A young male, his curiosity clear by his body language and
chattering clicks. He swam close enough to bump his nose against her tail
before his bravery deserted him, and he darted back to the rest of his family
pod.
    The other
members of the family, perhaps older and wiser, held back, studying her. The
young male broke rank a second time and slid closer. He continued to chatter at
her, questioning what she was. She answered in kind, the clicks and whistles a
language she’d mastered long ago.
    At length, she
explained to the dolphin family who and what she was, and they gave her their
names in turn.
    A deluge of playful
greetings distracted her from other, darker questions. It wasn’t until they had
hunted together and were well fed that Tethys asked about the condition of the
air and water. Her line of questioning was too complex at first. The results
were a mix of confusing clicks and meaningless whistles.
    She tapped the
fingers of one hand along her flank and tried another question.
    “What makes
the water taste bad?”
    There was more
clicking and swift darting bodies as the group worked out a spokesperson.
    The young male
ignored his elders’ debate and answered the siren. “The Not-Island sank.”
    “Not-Island?” She asked, hoping for something more conclusive.
    The oldest
matriarch of the pod bumped the young male aside, scolding him in the process.
Once she was finished, she came alongside the siren. They swam with near
perfect unity for several body lengths, and then Tethys reached out a hand to
rest on the dolphin’s side.
    At the contact,
a confusing series of images marched through her head. A great metal monster
perched out in the ocean, close to shore. Its metal roots borrowing deep into
the earth’s crust.
    Above the
surface, bright flames burned on the metal Not-Island. Darkness floated upon
the water and impossibly, burned there too. Great poisonous clouds billowed up
into the air.
    Humans had
jumped from the metal island, trying to escape their own folly. The dolphin pod
circled farther out, wanting to help the humans, but too afraid of the
monstrous island to come near enough.
    More humans
arrived in boats, rescuing their fellows. They battled the fierce blaze for a
time, but it proved too much, and the heat pushed them back.
    Both humans and
dolphin pod watched as the structure weakened. Then with a great, tortured
groan, the whole of it twisted sideways. Pieces of debris sheared off, dropping
into the water below with great splashes and much hissing of steam. Another
long stretch of time passed, then finally the massive Not-Island died,
collapsing down into the ocean. Like a Leviathan with its spine severed, chunks
of metal piping twisted and crumpled upon themselves as it made its slow,
painful way to the ocean floor.
    The fires on the
surface burned out, the sounds of tortured metal ceased, and the ocean grew
silent once again.
    To Tethys’
horror, she realized it was only the beginning.
    Oily black death
bubbled out of the earth as if a vein had been severed, spreading an ever
enlarging stain upon the ocean realm.
    For days upon
days, humans had scurried about in boats. Their actions desperate and
ineffectual against such an insidious enemy.
    The dolphins had
stayed in the region to learn if the disaster would be contained, but the
waters grew steadily more tainted, fish sickened and died or fled the area. Sea
birds and other life succumbed to the black menace.
    With no other
choice the dolphins abandoned their hunting grounds, following the schools of
fish, and left the humans to battle