previous part here: https://jordynsaelor.com/2026/08/13/ascendant/
all parts here: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
The moon winked out.
The silver glow to the water
faded
and the liquid arms
suffocating some caricaurs
splashed to the soil.
The creatures quit dancing,
all of them,
panting and flopping to the wet ground.
In the sky, the lightning faded
behind the horizon.
And it was still barely after sunrise.
Like the lightning
had decided
killing a god
was on its to-do list
before breakfast
and now
it was going to snack on some trees
and have a brunch with some rats in the leaves.
That’s it? I asked,
floating in the still lake.
I thought the air would tremble,
or the water would start vanishing without the moon’s pull
or something.
But it just winked out
and it’s gone
and now it’s quiet
and nothing even smells singed.
But the sea didn’t answer.
And the caricaurs on shore
started to notice me
bobbing in the water
so they waved at me,
saying it was safe now
and I opened my mouth to tell them
they were exactly the same as the dracans
who worshiped the moon
but I stopped.
I was here,
communing with a deity in the water
about to tell some creatures off for following a deity in the air.
Are you, I sent to the sea, preparing me
for something
the way the lightning used these caricaurs?
The sea seemed to chuckle,
Of course.
***
check out my published books at Barnes & Noble
header photo by Rian Plante on Pexels.com
Jordyn Saelor 