There was nothing else she could do except retrieve the Aegis. The tattooed man holding the knife was clear – get the artifact, or I'll slice your nan open. That gruesome vision of Grans played in her mind, turning Catrin into a stilted automaton that the men wrenched out of the cottage. Auburn hair unbrushed and sporting shabby Gryffindor pajama bottoms, she was manhandled onto the waiting boat, along with her wide-eyed and bound grandmother.  

The sputtering motor echoed off the cliffs of Cairn Cove as the vessel pulled up to the shore. Catrin jumped off the side into shallow water, the man's demands fresh in her ears. The forested cove was sacred to her and her family alone. She picked her way through the garbage on the beach with a scowl and moved further inland.

Before long, she stood by a statue, its humanoid figure obscured in vines and lichens. The delicate clawed hand displayed the artifact in its upturned palm. The essence of the ruins filled Catrin’s nostrils; ozone, resinous smoke. Her people had always perceived this place, while others unconsciously turned a blind eye. She was horrified the man knew of the artifact at all. 

Catrin's hand shook as she reached up towards the stone hand. She took slow breaths as she examined the artifact. Her mind couldn’t place its shape. Maybe it kept changing? It gave no resistance as she claimed it with trembling fingers. A lifetime of reverence roiled deep in her belly at the act. Her eyes darted, expecting punishment for her transgression. 

The Aegis’ form fluctuated between cold edges and pliant warmth. It hummed a low vibrato between her palms, a soundless pressure gathering in a wave that ruffled Catrin’s hair. Her ears rang. She waited. The Aegis grew silent and still. Tucking the artifact into Grans’ faded fanny pack at her side, she jogged back towards the cove. After a few moments her ears popped, and the ringing ceased. Ice gripped her spine at the sensation. 

Catrin whipped around at the sound of soft crackling. Smoke floated into the sky, an acrid stink touching her nose. A strange line of blue flames boiled along the earth through the brush nearby. Sparks sped up pines and maples, turning the trunks and branches to ash that spilled down and coated her in grey. She did not remember turning around. When she snapped to, her limbs pumped and sweat ran into her eyes. The glassy blue of the cove peeked through the trees, and she willed her legs to keep running. Bursting through the wood line, Catrin let out a gasp of relief. She viewed the expanse before her, the ring of secret sea cradled by grey cliffs. She swallowed, fists clenched at her sides. 

Where’s the boat? 

She moved forward, scouring the horizon. Lapping waves were at odds with the roar growing behind. Her heartbeat spiked at the thought of swimming. She could see the trees cascading into particles over her shoulder, and with a whimper, she turned and dashed towards the water. Catrin’s shoe slipped out from under her, and her left knee came down onto jagged stone peeking through the sand. She cried out and rolled on her back. She pushed herself up to glare at whatever made her fall, the culprit a slimy swim cap dotted with dark mold near a ripped trash bag. 

She snapped back to attention by snake-like fire writhing in the brush, a line extending as far as she could see to either side. She scrambled up and hobbled forward, the saltwater stinging her knee. The chilly waves slapped her face and she fought a rush of panic as she began to bob. Her throbbing leg hindered the sad attempt to doggy paddle her way into deeper waters. The strangely warm Aegis in the pack at her hip somehow calmed her fraught nerves.

She kicked, shoe sinking into something taut. Smoothness brushed against Catrin’s legs and fresh panic squeezed her chest. Something wrapped around her leg and yanked. She could not fight the strength in that tug, sucked down like a twig. Her vision was filled with bubbles, a gnashing maw, sinuous arms. Bitter fear wrestled with memory as the monster pulled at the pack around her waist.

Grans making thick hot chowder on cold nights.

… her body open and spilling like crushed watermelon, eyes empty.

Grans holding Catrin close the day she found out she was an orphan. 

…plump face drained and tidy white bob askew.

Catrin kicked, head pounding, lungs crying for air. Her fingers danced along the zipper of the pack and sunk inside to grasp the Aegis and hold it to her chest. She curled around it.

You can’t have it back! I need it! Please! 

The arms wriggled into her huddled form, grasping at the artifact. 

Soundless pressure gathered, vibrated. Dispersed in a wave that ripped from Catrin’s tortured lungs. The hand that held the Aegis was scorched and wildly twitching. Curled in a claw, burning, burning... merging. She was screaming when everything turned white, when the water became scalding steam, when she flew onto her back, hard beach beneath her. It was no longer a sound fueled with air but a discharge of rage and release.

The sea rushed in to fill the cove as Catrin stood and waited motionless for the boat’s return. When the vessel finally arrived, the man offered no reasons for his departure. Grans watched Catrin board and she shook her head fiercely, pleading with her eyes. 

The man snarled, “Give me the artifact!” 

Catrin nodded, sliding a fevered palm into his hand. Eyes growing wide, a blue crackle twisted along his tattooed arm and spread across his body. His form fell into a pile of soot. 

The artifact was something that Catrin could no longer physically hand over. 

She was the Aegis.

The man at the helm opened and closed his mouth as he stared at the smoking remains.

“Take us home,” Catrin commanded.