The day went by in a blur. Aila insisted on teaching him how to swim as a Selkie, and since the morning they hadn’t done anything else. Caught between happiness to finally be able to swim with her as a seal through the ocean and utter dread of what was still expected of him, all Alistair could do was to smile and bear it. There was no way he could ditch Aila and look for the priests to kill them. There was also no way for him to be able to tell her the truth as to how he had gained the skin.

  To his dismay, whenever his fiancée noticed his tortured mind, she attributed it to the seemingly new situation of him having a sealskin and using it for the first time. Her words were kind and encouraging. They showed him how much she loved him and how much he loved her, and how deeply he regretted having struck a deal with Sedna, Mother of the Ocean.

  As the evening drew closer, Aila didn’t slow. Still more than ecstatic about his new skin, he had to force her to stop, at least for a few moments.

  “Is something wrong?”, she asked as they swam for the shore and flopped onto it.

  Everything’s wrong.

  He couldn’t say that.

  “I just need a break”, Alistair said instead, and took a deep breath.

  “That’s alright”, Aila replied chuckling, which sounded adorably cute in her seal-form. “I pushed you around quite a lot today, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah… You did…”, he said anxiously and rested his head on the surprisingly warm sand.

  “I guess I’m just so eager to marry you, I can’t help myself”, she responded and nuzzled against him.

  “I, too, can’t wait. What’s this Selkie tradition about?”

  “Well… I guess I should tell you, and now’s better than later, isn’t? So… At dusk, we need to head with the outgoing tide towards Sedna’s shrine and pray there until the new moon rises. Once it’s up, I’ll have to dive first, while you have to wait for some time until you follow me. Then you have to seek me out and find me before dawn.”

  “A game of hid and seek?”

  “It’s not just a game of hide and seek! It’s meant to show that the couple does trust another and will find each other even in the dark. It’s rather romantic, isn't it?”

  “It’s rather dangerous with the murderer swimming around”, he replied concerned and slightly shocked about her unbothered mind considering the circumstances.

  “Alistair, as a Selkie you have to do it”, she replied sullen.

  “Will Sedna curse me, if I don’t?”, he asked serious, but Aila seemed to take his concern as a joke.

  “Silly, she won’t, but I’ll get angry if you deny me this tradition”, she replied haughty. “Which is worse, isn't it?”

  “I guess a spurned spouse is worse”, he replied and forced himself to laugh despite his throat feeling like a tight rope pulling slowly close around it.

  “Well… I guess you’re somewhat right, still,” she mused after a moment apologetical. “If something happens, I know where I can find you and I won’t be hiding somewhere difficult. So… Please… With those murders around, no one here in Harren has a lot to laugh about, let both of us have at least a little fun.”

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  “I guess you’re right”, Alistair replied tense and looked towards the horizon, where the sun stood like a great orange orb above the fog out at sea. “Let’s continue to train my swimming abilities. I don’t want to disappoint you tonight!”

  Aila let out an exited bark and flopped back into the sea. Alistair hesitated a moment, but then he followed her with a heavy heart.

  —

  Upon dusk, Aila and Alistair watched the sun close in on the horizon as a crimson pearl.

  “Now it’s time”, Aila said in clear awe of the situation. “And to be blessed with such pleasant weather… Alistair?”

  “Yes, my love?”

  “I think Sedna wants us to marry.”

  “I do hope so.”

  “Could it be, you’re much more nervous than I?”, she asked and nuzzled him.

  “Perhaps…”

  At this, she laughed and jumped into the water. Alistair didn’t want to lose her out of his sight and immediately followed her. Soon they reached the cliffs and followed the outflowing waters of the tide to the Shrine of Sedna.

  Doing so in the shape of a seal with all the animal’s abilities was a breeze in comparison to his late night swim. Still, he couldn’t really relish this ease. His heart felt leaden and about to jump out of his throat.

  They arrived in silence and, judging by Aila’s tense yet happy expression, all was in order. With reverence, he hadn’t expected from her, she shed her sealskin and stepped naked onto the stony shore, holding the sealskin like a cape across her shoulders. Alistair followed her example and stepped next to her, taking her out held hand. Together, they kneeled, while continuing to hold their hands.

  “Mother of the Ocean”, Aila began, unusually serious and almost solemn. “As it is costume, we stand before your shrine, dressed in what you intend your humble children to wear. Together, united in heart and soul, we ask humbly for your blessing for our union. May your fortune guide us as below as above in the eternal bliss of love.”

  Alistair half expected Sedna to appear like she had appeared to him during his first visit to this place. Yet, everything remained calm and the new moon, strangely visible as a black hole in the dark sky, rose higher and higher as if time hastened it on. After a few more moments, Aila let go of his hand, much to his growing dismay. As if sleepwalking, she moved back to the sea and warped herself inside her sealskin. A heartbeat later, she was gone beneath the unnatural calm ocean, which appeared more like a black mirror than the giant expanse of water it usually was.

  Alistair wanted to follow her immediately but found he couldn’t move more than his neck. Frightened, he fought against the binding but found no relief. At the same time, he thought to heard Sedna’s sickening laugh echo across the mirror-like ocean.

  The second this petrification disappeared he ran into the ocean, breaking the mercury surface and warped himself into the sealskin.

  His heart beat up in his chest and the only thought left inside his head was:

  Find her! I need to find her!

  Feverish he looked around the kelps and couldn’t find her.

  Panicked he turned around all the rocks and couldn’t find her.

  Desperate, he surfaced and saw just the vast expense of his nightmares realized.

  And then there was it. The monster which had attacked Aila before. There was no mistaking the large glowing eyes and the giant maw, so much bigger than her. So much bigger than Alistair.

  The beast snapped its jaws close in his direction. He could feel pain bloom in his left flipper, but he didn’t let his fear overtake him. Worried sick about Aila’s safety, he attacked the monster and a bit down.

  This time, the taste of blood felt exhilarating and liberating.

  He clawed and bit.

  He rammed and shook.

  He did all a seal was capable of and more, for he had also the cunning of a human on his side this time.

  The monstrosity didn’t stand a chance.

  Despite being stronger and wilder, it was no match for his nimbleness and sharp mind.

  Bit by bit, he wore the beast down until everything became just a blur.

  The moment Alistair surface, he was surprised to be close to the shore of Harren. Exhausted and certain to have fulfilled his promise to Sedna, he swam ashore and found Aila there. By the looks of it, she must’ve grown tired of hiding and decided to wait for him on land. But there was something wrong.

  He couldn’t tell what it was until he was ashore. But the moment he saw the blood on her body, he knew that he had been too late. Yet before pain and grieve could take over, he was knocked out and knew no more.