Dindi
The young woman in the canoe had a pretty round face, though she was frowning. Her long hair was twisted into loops and tied with beads. On her head, she wore a crown made of small white seal teeth. Her dress was made from smooth, soft sealskin, dyed blue, green, and orange. The colors were bright, but the dress looked well-worn, as if she wore fine clothes like this every day.
When she saw Dindi, relief filled her face.
"You're still alive!" the maiden cried. "Good! I was afraid I came too late to make the switch."
"The switch?" Dindi asked.
"I'm Kami of the Selkie Killer Clanhold," said the young woman. She pulled her canoe next to Dindi's. "I'm from the same clan that did this to you. I'm very sorry for what my people have done. Please, forgive us! Please don't take revenge!"
With a sharp stone knife, Kami cut the rawhide cords from Dindi's wrists.
"Thank you!" Dindi gasped. She finished untying the rest of the ropes and wrapped her bleeding arm with a rag. "I owe you a lifedebt!"
Kami gave her a sad smile. "Not really. You were sent to wed the shark in my place. You don't owe me—I owed you. I was the one meant to go. I'm the one who angered the shark. My mother loves me and wanted to protect me. So when your peace party came to visit our lands, she thought the fae had sent a gift. A perfect sacrifice."
Kami shook her head. "But I can't let someone else die for me."
"For your courage and honor, I thank you," said Dindi. Her voice was soft but firm. She didn't care what Kami said—she would repay her lifedebt. "What will happen if your clan finds out what you did?"
"It'll be too late to punish me," Kami said. "By then, I'll already be in the shark's belly."
Dindi stared at her. "Wait—what? You still plan to sacrifice yourself to the shark?"
"I have to," Kami said. "My father made a promise—"
"Fa! He had no right to make a promise like that!" Dindi burst out. "I know he's your father and now one of the honored dead, so maybe you don't want to speak badly about him, but he should never have promised you to a shark! That's not brave, it's mad! Cruel! And honestly, not even helpful. You can't bribe a monster with one girl and expect it to go away. A shark that eats a maiden is just going to come back for more maidens!"
Kami pressed her lips together into a tight, stubborn line.
"Go back to your people, friend," she said quietly.
"Dindi of Lost Swan clan," Dindi replied.
Kami nodded. "Dindi, you can take my paddle. I have another. Leave now. Hurry. I know where the shark waits."
Dindi took the paddle—but she had no plan to run.
"Then I'll go with you," she said. "I won't let you throw away your life. We'll face the shark together."
"No!" Kami cried.
"Together, we can kill it!"
"We can't—it's impossible—"
"And we'll avenge your father!" Dindi added.
Kami hesitated. Her eyes filled with confusion and pain. "I… I should avenge him, but… You don't understand. The shark is owed something too…"
"The shark is owed something?!" Dindi echoed.
And then—maybe summoned by its name, or more likely by the blood in the water—a dark fin sliced through the fog.
Dindi's whole body went cold.
This time, it was the shark. No question. She knew it in her bones.
The fast, terrible shape rushed toward them.
Huge jaws opened, coming straight at the canoes.
Kami screamed.
There was no time. No weapon. No defense.
So Dindi did the only thing she could.
She grabbed Kami and clutched the corncob doll around her neck.
Magic burst around them.
Time turned to honey. Everything slowed.
The shark froze in place. The water glowed with golden haze. Dindi and Kami were caught in a bubble of Vision magic, pulled out of normal time and space.
Kavio had once told her that strong magic could leave behind memories—Visions. A place or object, if it soaked in strong emotion, might echo with the past. Tavaedies could see those echoes. And sometimes, if a Tavaedi had left behind a spell, even someone with no magic—like Dindi—could see a Vision.
The corncob doll had always been strange. It often showed her memories—maybe of the dancer who had created it.
But this time, the Vision was not about Dindi.
Because she was holding Kami…
…the Vision that unfolded now belonged to Kami.