Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner
Publication date: September 18th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
A mermaid’s supernatural beauty serves one purpose: to lure a sailor to his death.
The Massacre is supposed to bring peace to Eriana Kwai. Every year, the island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a mermaid’s allure.
Eighteen-year-old Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived with a secret that’s haunted her since childhood. For any hope of survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a ruthless mermaid killer.
For the first time, Eriana Kwai’s Massacre warriors are female, and Meela must fight for her people’s freedom on the Pacific Ocean’s deadliest battleground.
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EXCERPT
Somewhere
on the Pacific Ocean
The
young man aimed his crossbow at the water, ready to fire a bolt of
solid iron at the first glimpse of flesh beneath the surface.
“Sir,”
he said, “shouldn’t we have seen one by now?”
The
captain turned his back to the salty wind, jaw tight. “They know
we’re here.”
“So
what are they doing?”
He
followed the captain’s gaze. Blackness merged with the empty grey
horizon in every direction. A long silence passed, filled only by
gentle swells lapping against the ship.
The
captain drew his own crossbow.
“Forming
a plan.”
All
twenty men aboard the ship readied their weapons, reacting in a chain
until the last man at the stern took steady aim at the waves.
“Make
ready your iron, men,” shouted the captain. “We have ripples
approaching off the port side.”
A
handful of places in the water puckered, as if something lingered
just below the surface. The sea was too black to tell.
Then
it happened. Fifty, maybe sixty sea demons burst from the water and
slammed against the ship. The men wasted no time. They reacted with
trained speed and agility as the demons thrust stones and jagged
shells into the wood, both to break holes in the ship and to scale
the sides. The men picked them off with bolts of iron and watched
them fall one by one back into the sea.
But
they were outnumbered. Soon the demons were upon the ship, pulling
themselves across the deck with bony arms.
The
young man had already shot a dozen and the water reddened with each
passing second.
Slow
scraping sounds threatened him from behind. He whirled around,
crossbow ready. Burning eyes met his, and sharp teeth, bared to rip
into his flesh. He gripped the trigger, felt the bow tighten—
And
the demon was gone. The young man stared into the wide gaze of a girl
his own age. With a startled cry, he jerked his aim so the bolt
barely missed her.
She
held a black shell in her hand, sharp at the edges and ready to use
as a club. But she didn’t raise it. She just looked at him.
He
lowered his crossbow.
Her
blonde hair fell heavily over her shoulders, dripping beads of water
down her naked chest and stomach, pooling where her torso joined her
tail.
He
blinked, but made no other motion—where
her torso joined her tail.
Scales faded into flesh like some sort of beautiful, green and tan
sunset.
She
pulled herself closer.
“Stay
back,” said the young man, unsure what prompted him to hesitate.
He
looked into her eyes—emeralds surrounded by pearl white—where
moments ago they had burned red. Her sharp teeth had retracted behind
rosy lips. The seaweed-coloured flesh of her upper body was now olive
and raised with goose bumps from the icy wind.
“Hanu
aii,”
she whispered. Do
not fear.
She spoke his language.
He
loosened his grip on the crossbow, studying her. She lifted a frail
arm and pushed the hair from her eyes, then motioned him forwards.
His
pulse quickened as he stared at the beautiful girl.
“Hanu
aii,”
she said again, her voice resonating sweetly, as if she sang without
singing.
Suddenly,
he was kneeling in front of her, level with her luminous eyes. The
sounds around him faded but for the soft purr in the base of her
throat.
She
reached up and held an icy hand to his cheek, not for a moment
breaking eye contact. The hand slid behind his head and pulled his
face towards hers, slowly but firmly. He inhaled her sweet breath.
“No!”
He
flinched. He turned to see the captain racing towards them, aiming
his crossbow at the maiden.
The
young man grasped the scene around him. The ship was empty. A few
stray weapons and barrels bobbed serenely in the water. Blood soaked
the deck in places, and even the main mast had a splatter across the
bottom.
The
captain fired wide. Before he could reload and aim again, the sea
demon put a hand on the young man’s chin and pulled his gaze back
to hers.
Her
eyes blazed red. Her skin rippled into the rotten colour of seaweed.
Her ears grew pointed and long like sprouting coral. She opened her
mouth to reveal a row of deadly teeth.
The
young man screamed.
The
demon pulled him against her with more strength than three men
combined, and they dove headfirst off the side of the ship.
They
disappeared into the blood-red water.
AUTHOR BIO
Tiana Warner was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada. She enjoys riding her horse, Bailey, and collecting tea cups.
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