When Silas opened his eyes, the darkness vanished into a dazzling whiteness. Before him lay an ocean of snow, an endless horizon of icy ridges beneath a pale firmament. The air was so pure that it hurt to breathe, while the stillness of the mountains seemed as if time froze.

  In the distance, a howl echoed, long and clear, followed by the flapping of wings. Then he saw them. Down the slope shadows of all shapes and sizes were racing across the snow. Some became a blur as they jumped, turning into wolves, bobcats, deer, goats, bears, foxes, hawks. They moved through a broken landscape, where white hills formed narrow valleys and ice ridges rose up like blades. They hovered between deep crevices covered with frost; climbed steep cliffs with agility, making their hooves or claws resound on the frozen stone; and slid down as if in stampede, leaving behind them soft trails.

  That was his pack. Wandering Star.

  He strained his eyes, trying to recognize his mother among the shifting forms. He wanted to call out to her, but she was already too far away to hear him.

  They were leaving him behind.

  No, not again. He couldn’t allow it.

  He took the first step, resolute, and that was all it took for his body to begin to change. His feet stretched into talons, his skin became covered in feathers, and a pair of wings burst from his back and opened like an explosion in the midst of the wind. He launched himself into the sky with a cry of joy.

  He was flying. Free.

  In a few moments he would join his pack. He could already imagine the happiness on the faces of his mother and grandmother, the festive howls, the spiraling dances through the air acknowledging his power, the warm voices calling him by his true name. Everything in him vibrated with that certainty: he had returned.

  They were almost beneath him. He prepared to swoop, his wings taut, his heart bright and light as a butterfly.

  But suddenly he noticed something strange. The air was getting thicker. He flapped his wings hard, but felt that he was no longer moving forward. The sky darkened, and the snow turned to ash. An ominous whisper rose from the depths of the valleys.

  The wind struck him with sudden fury and whirled him around. He turned his head to the side, and watched helplessly as his feathers peeled away from his body and scattered into the air like dark rain.

  He was returning to his first form. The sky had rejected him.

  And then he fell, like a stone thrown into the abyss.

  The cold air tore the breath from his chest, his limbs flailing in the middle of nowhere. Below him the mountains rose now like the fangs of a monster opening its mouth to devour him.

  He closed his eyes, letting the darkness bury him in oblivion.

  A sharp blow, followed by a stab in his side, brought him abruptly back to reality. He awoke amid screams and complete darkness. Before he could react, a new jolt pushed him to the other end of the cabin dragging with him other smaller bodies that wouldn't stop shrieking. He felt the wetness of the water under his hands, and reached for the blankets that had piled up around him. They were soaked. When the screaming died down a bit, he felt the sound of water splashing against wood.

  “What's going on?” Olivia shouted from the other side of the cabin.

  Silas stood up and tried to reach her. He blinked, trying to get used to the darkness. Suddenly, through the small circular window, a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the inside of the cabin. For a brief moment he caught a glimpse of the shapes of the children, lying on the floor in all sorts of positions, their limbs entwined, and Olivia's pale face turned to him with a terrified and confused expression.

  Another jolt startled him. He heard a creaking sound as if every timber in the ship was about to turn to splinters. The younger children began to sob. Rufus and Milo tried to soothe them, but to no avail as immediately a new onslaught of waves against the hull of the ship shook them again.

  From the other side of the cabin door, they heard the sound of footsteps splashing through water. A bell rang loudly, though somewhat muffled by the deafening roar of wind and thunder.

  "Everyone on deck!" a voice bellowed amid the dark chaos.

  Silas managed to free himself from the bodies pinning him down and tried to reach the door, but it burst open to reveal Tavia.

  "We’ve run into a storm! The captain is at the helm!"

  "What can we do to help?" Olivia asked.

  "You can't!" Tavia snapped, her fierce face briefly lit by a flash of lightning. "The best thing you can do is stay here. Don’t leave this cabin for anything until someone comes for you!"

  "That’s easy for you to say!" Rufus protested amid the thunder. "If we stay here, we’ll drown!"

  "We can’t take care of you if a wave sweeps you overboard!" Tavia shot back. "If you want the Freedom Sea to swallow you whole, be my guest!"

  Tavia ran toward the deck. Struggling to keep his balance, Silas reached the cabin door. More water had poured in through the open doorway, streaming down from the hatch. The cold air made him shiver, and his soaked body began to tremble. He was about to close the door to keep more water from getting in when a weak male voice stopped him: "Hey, you, chimera."

  Silas squinted, trying to see in the darkness. Suddenly, he caught the glow of two green eyes that lit up like magical stones in the shadows.

  A sirenian. And he could be none other than the same Bronto that everyone on the ship was talking about.

  When Silas reached him, he found him clinging to the doorframe. Between gasps, the sirenian explained he had tried to move on his own but hadn’t fully recovered his strength.

  "Help me get to the deck," Bronto ordered.

  "What—?"

  "Don’t ask stupid questions."

  "You can barely stand."

  "Want to sink?"

  "Silas! What are you doing?" Olivia called from the cabin door, trying to move forward as the ship rocked violently.

  By then, Bronto had already thrown an arm over Silas’s shoulders, but he was far too heavy for the chimera to carry alone. Silas had no choice but to explain what was happening to Olivia.

  "But Tavia said—"

  "Forget Tavia!" the sirenian snapped. "I'm the only one who can pull us out of a storm in the Freedom Sea."

  "And how will you do it? You are still weak!" Olivia protested, though she still moved to help Silas.

  "I only need to get to the helm. The ship is calling to me. Don’t you hear it?"

  All Silas could hear were deep, intense creaks, as if the floor were about to split open beneath them.

  "What are you doing?" shouted Milos and Rufus from inside the cabin.

  "Stay there!" Olivia yelled back.

  "But Tavia said—"

  "Do as I say!" she ordered now, with the fury of a wolf defending her young. "You two are in charge of the little ones!"

  She took the other arm of the sirenian and the three of them crawled up the stairs, trying not to slip. When they reached the first step, a new jolt threw them against the wall. Bronto grunted in pain, but did not let go. Silas, teeth clenched, pushed with his shoulder and dragged him along while Olivia helped keep him balanced.

  Once on deck, chaos erupted before their eyes. Waves rose one after another, topped by white foam in the shape of angry manes. Each one roared before crashing with a bone-shaking rumble, and between them abysmal valleys opened up where the wind howled with a eerie voice.

  Between flashes of lightning, the shadows of pirates raced across the slippery deck. Some were climbing the rigging to pick up torn sails, while others struggled with ropes that grew dangerously taut with each onslaught of wind. A couple of them were trying to secure barrels that were rolling from one side to the other. A young sailor, tied to the mast with a rope, waved a lantern as a signal to help coordinate the operations.

  Amid whips of water and wind, soaked to the bone and shivering, the three moved forward clinging to ropes or any object in their path. They soon came across Warwick, who was shouting orders and blowing his whistle.

  "You three! What the—?" the boatswain ran up to them but stopped short. "You crazy sirenian!"

  Even after saying this, he moved to help them climb toward the stern, where the captain was struggling with the helm.

  "Bronto!" Jasper shouted.

  "Missed me, Captain?"

  "I could kiss you right now!"

  "With that beak of yours, you’d tear my tongue out! Now, please, give me back my helm!"

  Bronto planted himself beside him and grabbed the helm with his thick hands.

  "But are you all right?", Jasper asked.

  "Enough not to want to die in the middle of a storm! It’d be a disgrace to be the first sirenian in history to go that way!" He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, they gleamed like emeralds, and the visible parts of his skin shimmered with scales, though he still kept his two human feet.

  Silas sensed a vibration, a soft wave that seemed to start at the helm and spread to the rest of the boat, but before he had time to explore that power, from the bow he saw a mountain rise for the first time in his life.

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  They were about to crash into a colossal black wall that rose with a sinister slowness that reminded him of the grim look of a wolf about to eat its prey.

  He looked everywhere, but the waves formed an endless chain of hills. They couldn't dodge it, it was impossible.

  Warwick blew the whistle, and, when a lightning split the sky, Silas saw how the rest of the crew prepared for impact by grabbing the first thing at hand.

  “Hang on, kids!” he shouted to Olivia and Silas who, soaked and shivering, clung to a railing on the upper deck. “Come on, you old beast!” the sirenian threw back his head and roared, as if defying the storm itself. The rumble of his voice blended with thunder and his scales shone brightly.

  Aided by Jasper and Warwick, his hands turned the helm, and the Rambling Herald obeyed like a well-trained steed. Silas felt the creak of wood beneath his feet as the ship began to tilt.

  Bronto was not trying to dodge the wave, he was heading straight for it.

  The bow seemed about to plunge into the abyss, but in the nick of time it lifted like a soaring bird.

  They were ascending.

  Silas felt a pressure in his chest, a force pulling him back as the bow rose and rose up the liquid slope. From the deck below, the pirates screamed in terror, clinging as best they could, some shouting prayers to the Nymph and others curses against the sirenian.

  When the ship reached the crest of the wave, it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. Even the wind and thunder quieted for a brief moment, as the Rambling Herald floated into the void only to tilt back down and plummet. Silas slammed against the railing trying to reach with one hand for Olivia who kept screaming beside him.

  The ship was now descending with the speed of an avalanche. The ropes were stretched to the limit, the main mast was swinging dangerously backwards, and the hull was groaning like a wounded beast.

  And when they finally reached the end of that cliff, the ship, by a miracle, did not split in two, but slid like a spear cutting through the foam. The three men at the helm howled in celebration, but the storm was far from over. Ahead stretched an army of dark waves and lightning lashed the horizon.

  “Back to your cabin now,” Jasper ordered, and the chimera had no trouble doing as he said. With her legs shaking, he broke away from the railing and together with Olivia began the descent to the lower deck.

  But they had barely descended a few steps down the ladder, when a new gust of wind, more violent than the previous ones, shook the ship sideways.

  Silas felt his feet slipping. He tried to hold on to something, but his toes skidded on the wet wood. A giant claw of water rammed him furiously and ripped him off the deck. Amidst the roar, he heard a scream from Olivia that died away as he fell.

  The impact against the water was brutal. A biting cold stole the air from his lungs as the world became a whirlpool of foam, darkness and salt. He could not distinguish up from down. He kicked blindly, feeling the current dragging him further and further from the surface.

  As he was running out of air, time sped up and his movements became slower and slower. He did not want to give up, but his body could not take it anymore. He was nothing more than an insect in the middle of an abysmal void. Once again the universe reminded him how insignificant he was.

  He caught a glimpse of the faint glow of the silent rays. All he could hear were the beats of his heart that seemed to be fading as the world around him.

  A shadow crossed in front of his half-closed eyes as his mind drifted to memories of another, very distant life, when everything was warmer and safer. Sheltered from the cold, in a secret cave, the little ones who had not yet learned to transform sheltered around the fire, while the elders of the pack were in charge of sharing out the food and telling stories of ancient kings and times of freedom. Their mother and grandmother laughed at their questions, each more curious than the last.

  He felt a pressure on his back. He had bumped into something, but he no longer had the strength to react. He didn't care. Everything was distant, confusing.

  The sea was already far, far away.

  “Little one, that's enough games!” his grandmother called him. “It's time to go back!”

  Suddenly something lifted him up. He was rising. Was this how he felt to return to the Origin? The warmth of the cave was replaced by a slap of wind and his body, now free of the water that imprisoned him, rolled to the side and began to cough, expelling the liquid that a moment ago threatened to explode his lungs.

  His hands were now touching a smooth, wet surface, slippery like a rock covered with moss but much softer. Puzzled, he felt with both hands for the strange surface and suddenly a huge fin rose from the side.

  A whale. He was lying on the back of a gigantic whale.

  “Silas...” a deep yet familiar voice called to him through the storm. The sound seemed to come from just below him.

  Just then a wave crashed over him, threatening to knock him back into the water. This time he clung with all his might to the animal's body, but it wasn't easy. His body felt slippery and his arms were beginning to tire. The whale raised its head through the waves, as if it was avoiding being covered by them.

  “Silas, listen to me, the waves are too strong.”

  The whale was talking to him.

  But it couldn't be unless...

  “Jasper?”

  The whale let out a kind of high-pitched growl. “Yes. I've transformed. Happy? Now-”

  “But you said you couldn't do it.”

  “As irritating and stubborn as you are, I can't let you die. I'll deal with the consequences later. Now, shut up and listen. The ship has moved away and the storm is not over yet.”

  As he said this, Jasper had to dive to avoid being tossed about by a giant wave. Silas hugged the whale to avoid being pushed by the current. Finally, they surfaced again. Silas inhaled sharply, preparing for another dive.

  “We must take shelter,” Jasper said. “It's been a long time since I've taken this form, you have no idea how much energy it takes.”

  “Shelter where?”

  “In the depths. Up here the current is very strong.”

  What he was saying made no sense to Silas.

  “But I-”

  “Your lungs won't hold out that long. Silas, you must transform!”

  “I can't!” Silas was ashamed of how quickly he replied, but it was the truth. He simply couldn't, especially not in the middle of a storm, lost in the middle of the sea.

  “Stop the nonsense!” the whale shouted at him. “You're a chimera! Of course you can!”

  “I'm nameless!”

  “That's not true! Your name is Silas.”

  “You don't understand! Chimeras-”

  “I know what you mean!” The whale sounded offended.

  “Well, now you know! My name is fake! It was Olivia who gave it to me!”

  “Well, in my opinion, this custom of chimeras is a tremendous stupidity, even if I am offending my ancestors with it... You say Olivia gave it to you... but... Isn't that how we all get ours? Because someone wanted to name us, out of love, out of affection, out of recognition of our existence? Olivia gave you that name because, power or no power, you were enough for her.”

  The whale had to dodge another wave. Silas was about to fall again.

  “And who cares how you got it? It's yours because you accepted it, because you carry it with you!”

  Silas gritted his teeth. The salt water burned his eyes and throat.

  “And if that's not enough! Then I, Jasper “The Eagle” Gloom, captain of the Rambling Herald and member of the Kraken Bay pack, recognize you, Silas!”

  “As if I give a damn about that!”

  The whale let out another growl. “You have mastered the fire within you! You have shaped your own truth! The sky sings your name, the earth keeps it in its roots, and the wind spreads it among the stars.”

  Despite being chilled to the bone, the rage that ignited in Silas could have burned him alive. “Don't repeat those words! You have no right!”

  “My great-grandmother taught them to me. I thought that-”

  “Those words mean nothing if I can't master my power!”

  “Well, now's your chance, you idiot!”

  The whale spun in the middle of the waves and Silas was shaken until he had no more strength to hold on. He was about to sink again.

  “I know I'm asking a lot of you right now, but I'm doing it so that you will survive. And you should also know that, whatever happens, I will not let you die here.” Despite the raging sea, something in Jasper's words resonated within him. “The sea is what it is. It is no enemy, it has no will to destroy you,” the whale's voice soothed. “It is force, rhythm, chaos, life... Fighting against it is useless. What you have to do is learn its language. Now, follow me and listen.”

  Before a wave swallowed them up, Jasper dove swiftly, dragging him down into the depths. As they descended, the roar of the storm was left behind, as if closing a door separating them from the world above. The crash of thunder became a distant, vibrating echo, drowned out by the aquatic emptiness that surrounded them. Silas, still clinging to the whale's body, felt the pressure increase, the light gradually disappear, and in its place, an overwhelming silence was born. At first, he closed his eyes and held his breath, clinging even tighter.

  Suddenly, the whale began to sing. It was a deep, undulating song, a combination of long notes that spread like echoes in a vast cavern as well as short, bubbling ones.

  The whale spun gracefully in the liquid gloom, descending into a current that flowed with less violence. He spiraled, slowly, letting the current surround him, as if dancing.

  Still clinging to Japer's back. Silas let himself be carried away by the whale's song and gentle movements. At any moment he would stop breathing, but, for some reason, that no longer bothered him. Letting himself be carried by the pressure of the water he let go of Jasper and his body was suspended in the void.

  Then he felt it. First it was his back: a stretching sensation, as if his spine was lengthening and his skin was becoming supple and thick. Then his arms, which dissolved into long, strong fins, while his legs melted into a powerful tail. His chest opened to house new lungs, larger, slower, capable of holding the wind in a single breath.

  He positioned himself next to Jasper whose body was much longer.

  “Well done,” he said with a note of genuine pride that caused Silas to feel awkward. He swam faster now, in line with the deep currents that vibrated like ocean arteries.

  “How will we find the ship?” Silas couldn't imagine finding anything in the middle of that vastness.

  “All in good time. We must feed first, otherwise we won't last long likes this. We could take a smaller form, but I think it's too soon for you.”

  They swam through a corridor of dark, dense water, dotted with tiny sparkles: schools of translucent fish that flickered as they passed, sponges that pulsed very slowly, jellyfish floating like lanterns from another world.

  “What do we eat?” asked Silas.

  “Krill,” Jasper replied. “Millions of little lives, a feast suspended in the darkness. During the night they are near the surface, but the storm may cause them to take refuge in the depths. Watch.”

  An instant later, Jasper ascended in a graceful impulse and spun in a spiral, opening his maw. A silvery cloud surrounded him: the krill shoal fluttered like glittering dust. Silas watched in wonder as the giant body moved in slow circles.

  “Now you. Open your mouth and let the generous sea feed you.”

  Thus they spent the night, floating and feeding, unhurried and aimless, while up above the gale continued to rage. Every now and then they had to ascend for breath, and it was not until after dawn, when the sun seemed to float over the water, that the dark clouds began to disperse.

  Silas looked in all directions. There was no sign of the ship. “How will we find them?”

  “Being a whale has its advantages,” Jasper resumed his singing and sounds scattered across the water.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Have you ever traveled by wagon and asked for directions?” Jasper didn't wait for an answer. “This is the same thing. I'm communicating with other whales who may have seen the ship. You can help me.”

  Silas remained alert, listening to every sound Jasper made. Once he had figured it out, he joined him. He felt the vibrations traveling down the currents, bouncing off the invisible walls of the abyss, caressing schools of fish and lighting up sleeping creatures.

  “There they are,” Jasper said suddenly. Silas thought he was referring to the ship, but in fact the first thing he heard was a series of deep, harmonic chants, responding to that of Jasper. Four colossal silhouettes emerged from the gloom of the ocean. Majestic, calm whales, they swam in formation, with a slow, powerful presence. Like them, each had scars, white spots on their fins and huge, dark eyes.

  As the whales saw them approaching, they began to utter a series of playful sounds: high-pitched chirps and soft moans, as if they were laughing underwater. One of them swam in circles around Silas, expelling a swirl of bubbles that enveloped him. Another gently tapped him on the back with its fin. Despite their size and ancestral appearance, those playful gestures reminded him of a group of mischievous children.

  Jasper and Silas followed them back to the surface and the world around them erupted in a shower of foam and light. One of the whales rose in a colossal leap, spinning on itself before crashing down with a roar that seemed to shake the ocean. Another mimicked it, and then another. Next was Jasper and then Silas, letting his body propel himself upward with all his might. He didn't know exactly what he was doing, but an inexplicable joy blossomed inside him as he dropped his full weight onto the water.

  The whales sang again and with gentle nudges of their heads and circular motions of their tails, invited them to join their group. They advanced in an almost ceremonial formation, with the whales on either side, escorting him and setting the pace with gentle, steady ripples. Every now and then, one would slip under Silas and gently propel him forward, others would spin close, brush against each other and jump, with no intention of abandoning their games.

  The sun continued its ascent toward the center of the sky, as its trembling glow spread over the now more serene surface. By then, Silas was beginning to fear that the ship had not weathered the storm. The terrified image of Olivia's face clinging to the railing to keep from being swallowed by the waves came to his mind and his heart shrank. He shook his tail furiously, splashing the other whales as he tried to erase the thought from his mind. One of them seemed to understand that something was wrong, and gently brushed against him in an attempt to calm him down.

  “There, over the horizon!” Jasper suddenly exclaimed between joyful moans that were echoed by the whales. “I've never seen anything more beautiful.”

  Silas raised his head. Among the flashes of the surge, he saw the dark silhouette of the Rambling Herald appear, bobbing calmly in the vast immensity of the sea.

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