Ankyra Sound empty churches with soulless curses

"You do remember, then," Akantha murmured appreciatively as Caiaphas spoke in a language that wove through her ears, and calmed the roaring swell pummeling her heart. The adrenaline of their fleeting altercation still ran rampant throughout her body but she was wisened enough to let it fade without having to express it violently. But in this shared language, the news of the Nereides fate was shared and Akantha, pragmatic to a fault, merely released a soft sigh of disappointment. No, the Nereides would never die; the Mothers made them anew, time and time again. But their hour in the Teekons was no more. 

She narrowed her eyes at the accusation, but brought no further argument against the matter for the nonce. Enervation prevailed in the former Queen's eyes, blunting what little hostility may have been provoked by her trespass. However, before Akantha could reply and explain herself, Vaati's thunderous words drew from her a cold, hard stare. He departed in a trot and loathed as she was to let such disrespect go unpunished, she steeled her resolve and returned her focus to Caiaphas. 

"I ruled Soteria—the isles beyond the sound—for nearly three seasons uncontested. I scented you on the borders and hoped that, perhaps, you had taken up the mantle in my absence," she did not need explain the obvious, of course. Caiaphas was a Siren, yes, but harbored no love for the Nereides of old. The amazon's eyes flit up to the distant cliffs with a frown as she continued, "We were small, but unified. We lost Meteora, and a few Sisters, in a blizzard; it was all I had to keep the rest alive, and safe. Drageda did not take kindly to our proximity, so I was forced to brook a treaty with them stacked heavily in their favor. I did not have warriors, but young neophytes and boys." 

"It wasn't my intent to disrespect Rusalka, but I presumed my welcome on the basis of your presence alone and for that I apologize," she inhaled and flicked the tip of her tail. Akantha, not a woman predisposed to lengthy conversation, appeared discomforted by how much she had committed to voice already. But she perservered. 

"If the Nereides are no more, as you say, then I offer myself to you. I've no designs of leadership, simply an ache for the familiar."