Beyond That The Sea Novels & Stories

“I realized I can't do this. Don't bother looking for me. I'm fine.” —Penelope. If she thought her life couldn't get any worse than her misfortune weeks back, she was in for a treat.

He was afraid, but he refused to show it. I squeezed his hand gently, letting him know I was aware of his fear. I didn’t blame him. This was unknown territory, a place where the sea itself could turn against us at any moment. Then, with steady resolve, I raised both hands. The response was immediate. The sea trembled, as if recognizing my command. Slowly, the waters split apart, opening a path before us. The ocean groaned as it pulled away, creating towering walls of water on either side. The passage was vast, wide enough for giants to walk through, but the sea still surrounded us, deep and endless. The sheer force of it was both breathtaking and terrifying.

"Needed you to understand that whatever happens during the breakthrough, you're fighting for something real. For us. For a future where we don't have to hold back anymore." "A future where we can be together without prophecies and supernatural politics and ancient suppressions," I said, understanding dawning. "That's what we're fighting for." "Exactly." He kissed me once more, this time gentle and sweet. "So you break through, you access your full power, and then you come back to me. We'll deal with everything else after." "Together," I said. "Always together," he agreed. A howl from outside signaled that the eclipse had reached its peak.

[The Rising Tide] The sound was not a roar; it was a groan, a deep, tectonic weeping that vibrated through the soles of my feet and into my very marrow. Through the reinforced glass of the Core, the horizon of New Macau was changing. The sea, once a shimmering sapphire girdle around our high-tech paradise, was retreating with an unnatural, predatory speed. It left behind miles of grey, glistening silt and gasping reefs—a bared throat waiting for the knife.

She put her hand in his and they stood at the railing above the beach with the sea in front of them and everything still ahead, and the sea did what it always did, moved without awareness of what was happening at its edge, indifferent and continuous and bigger than whatever anyone brought to it. Which was, in the end, exactly the right size for standing beside.

Chapter 123: High Ground The beach gave Celeste more than room to stand her ground. It gave her leverage. The Deep Script, born of Poseidon’s gift to Queen Dacia, answered the sea around them like a second current beneath the visible one. The ocean was not merely behind Celeste now; it was with her, a power rising through the shoreline and feeding the tension in the air. With the water at her back and the tide at her feet, she had the high ground in a way Ares had not expected.

He did the same. The ship departed. --- The journey lasted six days. On the sixth day, the stars disappeared. The ship's systems began failing. Rylan's voice came through the communication system. "We're entering unknown space." Liana looked through the window. The silver ocean appeared. It stretched endlessly. There was no planet beneath it. No horizon. Just an ocean floating through darkness. Above it hung the black moon. The older Liana whispered, "It's exactly the same." Caelum stood beside her.

•|•|• The Land Beyond the sea is the land of men. Men have trained dogs to obey their will, and one day, they will want wolves. •|•|• [Kayos] I had no reason to be as angry as I was at this moment. Perhaps anger was not what it was, if it were I would have taken the sun out of the sky, released my wolf into the wild forest to hunt, or sent a shadow to harvest a soul. Frustration?

I turn back toward the ocean. From my new vantage point, I can see a much broader swath of water than I could from down on the beach, but it doesn’t matter. As far as my eyes can see, the sun-dappled sea is completely empty. I swallow my disappointment. I knew the odds were small, but I had been hoping for a sight of The Star of India, or at least one of the lifeboats. But there’s nothing. The huge, seemingly endless expanse of ocean drives home just how alone I really am. If any of my party survived, they’ve come ashore somewhere beyond my sight.

The water was serene, with only the smallest of waves aiding our buoyancy. "Where are we?" Aurora inquired, her voice carrying a mix of wonder and apprehension as we floated together. "In a time, long past, when the sea water level was still high, perhaps some part of our modern world had yet to emerge, possibly submerged beneath the rising waters," I mused, contemplating our sudden arrival in the midst of the sea. Casting my gaze toward the afternoon sun, I sought to orient ourselves. Extending my hand, I pointed toward a distant outline on the horizon. "There, I believe that's where our high land lies."