The Mermaid's Madness

THE KELPIES RACED THROUGH THE WATER toward the black wall ahead. Some of the undine had fallen behind, unable to match the kelpies’ speed. If Danielle’s silent urgings had increased that speed, so much the better.

“This is fun!” Snow still appeared wan and weak, but she was smiling. She lay with her feet through one of the loops of the kelpie’s harness, clinging to another loop. “Danielle, can we get a kelpie for the palace?”

Danielle’s stomach clenched as they neared the coast. Even from this distance, Morveren’s song was strong enough to make her shudder. Danielle knew little of magic, but even she could hear the power in that voice. Morveren sang a chorus of anger and despair. Danielle could almost hear the individual souls Morveren was using to feed her power.

“Anyone have any wormwax?” Snow asked. When nobody spoke, she closed her eyes and said, “I could have used a longer rest, but I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.” She began to hum a quiet harmony to Morveren’s own song.

“By the emperor’s blood, the mermaid sails as poorly as my brother!” Varisto stared at the wreckage of Morveren’s ship. She had crashed the ship directly into the archway in the wall, all but blocking the way. The water around the shore teemed with undine.

One of the undine broke away, hurling a spear. It bounced off of the kelpie’s thick hide, but others quickly followed. Another spear tore through a merman’s leg, and he dropped from the harness with a scream.

“Nothing so crude.” Snow spoke in a broken rhythm, humming between pauses. “She’s heightening their fear and hostility. Nudging them into attacking of their own will. I can protect this small group, but I don’t have the lungs to fully counter her song.”

“She’s turned them against us.” The mermaid who spoke wore a necklace with two oysters, a symbol that appeared to denote some kind of rank. She sang a shrill command, drawing the kelpies to a halt.

“She’ll do worse than that, Nevidhal,” said Lannadae. “She enslaved my sister to a human soul. You saw how she’s changed. Morveren intends to rule this tribe through Lirea, and to do the same to all of us. You have a duty to protect your queen.”

Varisto’s eyes were wide. “You think my brother was the only one given spirits to guard him? We were each bound to the empire as children. Gustan was given the spirits of the air.”

Varisto stripped off his shirt, revealing a jagged brown tattoo on the left side of his chest. “I was bound to the rock of the earth.” A geyser of steam shot into the sky from beyond the wall. Varisto bared his teeth. “And in this part of the country, if you crack the rock, you’ll find fire.”

The archway began to collapse, enormous blocks of ebony stone plunging into the water and crushing Morveren’s ship. More steam rose from the water, and Danielle glimpsed orange fire flowing beneath the waves, pouring forth like syrup. The undine fled, seeking the safety of deeper water. Even Morveren’s magic couldn’t hold them here to be boiled alive.

“That’s what happened here all those years ago, isn’t it?” Snow stared at Varisto. “One of you unleashed fire over the land.”

“There was a rebellion, back when the empire first began to crumble.” Varisto never took his eyes from the shore. “From what I’ve read, it was a very short-lived rebellion.”

Smoke rose from the wreckage of Morveren’s ship. The land shook again, and flames raced to engulf the ship. Varisto’s gaze appeared to reflect the fire as he watched it burn.

“Take us around to the edge of the wall.” Danielle pointed to the right of the palace. “Just be thankful we have clothes this time.”

“What was that?” Varisto spun around so fast he nearly fell from his kelpie. “My spirits told me of your intrusion, but they seem to have omitted certain details.”

“We can’t follow Morveren onto land,” Nevidhal said. She brought her kelpie around until she faced Danielle. “Even if we could, her song is too strong.”

“Get Lannadae away from here and keep her safe.” Danielle jumped down from her kelpie. The water was shallow enough her toes touched bottom. She pushed to the surface and grabbed the kelpie’s rear fin for support.

The air rippled from the heat. The smell of sulfur was stronger here, and the steam left droplets of water on her skin and hair. The water was warm as well, though not unpleasantly so. But anyone swimming toward Varisto’s fire would be boiled alive.

“Help by taking your people away from here,” Danielle shouted. “Sing as loud as you can to help them block Morveren’s song.”

Lannadae started to protest, but Nevidhal said, “Lirea and Morveren have taken their battle beyond our reach. We must get you away from here.”

Danielle kept her smile hidden. Already Nevidhal and the other undine began to treat Lannadae as a royal instead of a banished criminal. She and Talia helped Snow down, and together they swam toward shore, giving the pillars of steam a wide berth.

Several undine tried to attack, but most were more concerned with escaping the liquid fire crawling through the sea. Those who approached were easily knocked aside by Talia. Varisto bellowed at another, raising his ax to frighten the merman away. Morveren’s magic worked against her now, inspiring the undine to greater panic.

“Wait.” Danielle stared at the distant tower. She knew what she had to say. She had known since she spoke with Beatrice, back at the boat. She bowed her head. “Talia, try to get into the tower. If Morveren is too strong—” She swallowed. “If we can’t stop her, you’ll have to kill Lirea.”

“I know.” Danielle drew her sword, trying not to hate herself. All Lirea had wanted was to be with the man she loved. Instead, she found herself discarded by her prince and enslaved to her grandmother’s magic. “This is only the beginning of Morveren’s plan, and too many people have already died. You saw her crew. Other undine transformed like Lirea. She said Lirea’s children would be the start of a new race, but do you think she’ll stop there? How long before she creates more of those knives? How long before the undine who follow her begin hunting human souls? Without Lirea, Morveren’s scheme falls apart.”

Approaching on land, her vision blurred by clouds of steam, Danielle could imagine the palace as it had once been. The wall that separated the moat from the open sea angled back, forming a five-sided barrier around the palace. Observation towers stood at each corner, surrounding the larger structures in the center. There must have been other buildings, now completely wiped away by fire and magic. All that remained was rippled black rock, leading to the crumbled ruins of the wall. In some places the wall still rose high enough to block her view, but most was little more than broken blocks of stone.

Even here the steam scalded her skin. Danielle wondered how many undine had been caught by Varisto’s fires, not to mention the fish and other sea creatures. She could see crabs scrambling over the rock, but many more would have perished the moment the fire poured from the rock.

Once they crossed through the broken wall, Danielle spotted Morveren hovering outside of Lirea’s tower. Her air spirits kicked up swirls of dirt and rock as they held her aloft. On the ground, Morveren’s transformed undine surrounded the tower with weapons ready.

“You don’t understand,” Morveren shouted. She clutched the cup with Gustan’s spirit in her hands. “You’re dying, Lirea! Let me save you!”

“I can reach the tower.” Talia hadn’t taken her eyes from the undine standing guard. “Once I start climbing, can you stop them from putting one of those spears up my—”

Danielle joined him, following a curved path that would hopefully draw the undine away from Talia. “Snow, we can keep the undine busy, but you’ll have to deal with Morveren.”

Snow was still pale, but she smiled as she plucked the largest mirror from her choker. “Mirror, mirror, in my hand. Drag that mermaid back to land.”

Morveren squawked as she fell. Her air spirits raced to catch her, slowing her drop, but she still hit hard enough to knock the breath from her chest.

“You realize we’re badly outnumbered,” Varisto commented, readying his ax. He took up position in front of Danielle as Morveren’s undine ran toward them.

Talia had already split away from the others, running along the edge of the moat toward the tower. A few of the undine turned to follow, while the rest continued toward what they perceived as the greater threat.

A silver blur buzzed past Danielle, catching one of the undine in the shoulder. He fell, tripping another. Snow grinned and threw a second of her steel snowflakes. This one took a mermaid in the arm. It also came awfully close to taking out Danielle’s earlobe.

She turned to Morveren, who had risen from the ground and begun to sing. Snow countered the melody, but this close even the dissonance of their songs was physically painful, like a knife scraping along Danielle’s bones.

Varisto settled into a low stance, ax ready. “Stay behind me, Princess. I’ll protect you and your friend for as long as I can.”

Danielle raised an eyebrow. A silent request brought the crabs skittering toward the approaching undine. Morveren had spread scales over the bodies of her warriors for protection, but those scales ended at the ankles. The first undine yelled as he fell, a large crab clinging to his toes. Another followed, and more crabs swarmed onto the bodies. Soon more than half of Morveren’s undine were busy stomping and stabbing Danielle’s reinforcements.

“Thank you for the kind offer of protection, Your Highness.” Danielle stepped forward and raised her sword. Varisto merely grunted.

The first of the undine threw her spear as she ran. Danielle ducked, barely recovering fast enough to parry a downward slash by a second mermaid. Danielle grabbed her sword near the tip, using both hands to brace the weapon as the mermaid pressed down. The enchanted glass wouldn’t cut Danielle, but even so she was no match for the mermaid’s greater strength. Varisto stepped sideways and struck the mermaid’s shoulder with the butt of his ax before turning away to intercept another attack.

Danielle stomped her foot, feinting at a merman. They were strong, but as Talia always said, footwork was key to fighting. The undine had possessed feet for less than a day. She swung hard, trying to keep them back and off-balance.

Varisto let out a tremendous shout as he smashed a spear, then kicked a merman in the stomach. “If need be, I can destroy this place. My spirits can crack the land, destroy the tower, send us all into the hot sea.”

“If they go, we all go. All but the flying fish-woman over there. My spirits are strong, but I’m afraid they’re much less discerning than my brother’s.”

Talia drew two knives from her forearms without breaking stride. She threw one with each hand as she ran, and two of the undine fell. Another tripped over the body of his companion, leaving only two between Talia and the tower.

She started to run between them, watching as they both drew back to swing. Talia bent backward, sliding to the ground as their attacks passed over her. They managed to avoid striking one another, though. Talia’s luck was never that good.

Talia kicked out the knee of the mermaid to her right, then rolled away to avoid another spear thrust. She grabbed the spear and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Stepping in close, she slammed a knee into his crotch.

Mermen might keep their equipment hidden within their scales, but there was only so much those scales could do. He dropped, groaning. Talia snapped a kick to his cheek, then turned to plant her heel in the nose of the other merman.

Talia slipped her toes beneath a dropped spear. She waited until he was almost upon her, then kicked the fallen spear up into her hand and dropped low.

Soon Talia was scaling the tower wall, circling around to the ocean side in order to keep the tower between herself and Morveren. All it would take was one of those damned air spirits to rip her from the wall and dash her onto the rocks.

When she reached the window, she pulled herself up to peek into the tower. Lirea sat on the far side, her legs pulled to her chest and her head buried in her knees. Another of Morveren’s transformed mermaids was with her, her body between Lirea and the window.

“Sorry, Danielle,” Talia whispered. “I don’t intend to wait.” She pulled out her last knife, the one Beatrice had given her. Moments later she was through the window, balanced on the balls of her feet. Raising her voice, she said, “Excuse me, but you’re in my way.”

The other mermaid spun. As Talia had hoped, the movement exposed Lirea. Talia was already throwing her knife. The blade spun across the tower, only to veer right, sucked out the window by one of Morveren’s spirits.

“I am tired of those damned things.” Talia ran, but a gust of air knocked her into the wall. Her shoulder scraped stone. The other mermaid was coming at her with a sword.

“You see?” the mermaid said as she attacked. “The humans will never stop trying to kill you. Morveren is the only one who can save us.”

“She can give you back your prince.” Nilliar swung again, cutting Talia’s arm. “It won’t be like before. You have to let Morveren complete her spell. Gustan still loves you, Lirea.”

“No, he doesn’t,” said Talia, scooting backward. The wind was weaker here at the wall. So long as she kept her body pressed to the stone, the air spirit couldn’t do much more than push her from side to side. Of course, that severely limited her options. If she kept backing up, the wind would either push her out the window or toss her down the steps. “He never did. You know that, deep down.”

“He said I was most dear to him,” Lirea said, hugging herself. Tears shone on her cheeks. “He was kind to me in the beginning.”

Talia dropped onto her back, kicking at Nilliar’s legs. She missed the knee, but caught Nilliar’s shin. It wasn’t enough. Nilliar’s sword rang against the stone where Talia had been a moment before. Talia tried to rise, only to be tossed away from the wall, toward the broken edge of the floor and a long drop to the bottom of the tower. She pressed herself flat, clinging to the floor.

“People lie.” Talia waited for Nilliar’s next attack. This time, she rolled toward the mermaid and rose up on one knee, wrapping an arm around Nilliar’s waist for balance. Her other hand slid along Nilliar’s arm, reaching not for the sword but for the fingers that gripped it. She found the thumb and tugged. The sword clattered to the ground.

The air spirit attacked them both, driving them past Lirea and toward a window. It meant to throw them both down to the rocks.

Talia didn’t fight it. Instead, she added her strength to the wind, pushing Nilliar back. With her left hand, she tugged her zaraq whip from her belt. A snap of the wrist launched the weighted line at Lirea, twirling it around her neck.

Talia twisted, shoving Nilliar through the window. Nilliar tried to grab the edge, but between the wind and Talia’s own weight, her grip wasn’t strong enough.

“If it’s any consolation, I’ve never had much luck with romance either.” With that, Talia yanked the whip with both hands. Lirea staggered across the floor, and then Talia was tumbling back through the window, dragging the mermaid after her.

Snow’s vision swam. There was too much magic, too many spells to counter. Three Morverens appeared to float outside of the tower, and she couldn’t begin to count the number of undine fighting Danielle and Varisto. She closed her eyes, calling forth another burst of sunlight from her choker. It was enough to distract the undine, giving her friends a momentary advantage. But there was only so much she could do.

She could feel Morveren reaching out to the tower, trying to work her way into Lirea’s mind. Morveren was far more skilled than Snow, her touch light as air. One strand at a time, she wove her web around Lirea’s will.

Snow concentrated on the cup, trying to erect a magical wall to sever Morveren’s connection to Gustan. Without that connection, there should be a very satisfying crunch as Morveren dropped onto the rocks below. But Morveren punched through the wall with ease, widening the cracks between Snow’s imaginary bricks.

“Power is subservient to skill,” Morveren shouted. She waved a hand, and one of her air spirits broke away. Rocks and sand rained against undine and humans both. The humans took the worst of it, since they couldn’t turn away to protect their faces without exposing themselves to attack.

“Maybe.” Snow pulled out the green soul jar she had taken from Morveren’s ship. Another few days and she would have figured it out. She was sure of it.

Snow bit the stopper in her teeth spat it aside. She peered through her lashes at the faint web of Morveren’s magic laced through the inside of the jar. Closing her eyes, she reached into the bottle with one finger, ripping a hole in the bonds that had trapped this soul for over a hundred years. The freed spirit rushed past, feeling like hot velvet over her skin. There was power in that soul, but Snow allowed it to escape.

Varisto yelled as a rock struck him in the knee. Another glanced off Snow’s forehead, redoubling the pain in her skull and driving her to one knee. Blood trickled down the side of her nose. With a gentle push, she nudged the strands of the jar’s magic, sending them outward like a fisherman casting his line. As soon as those strands touched the air spirit, Snow allowed the spell to collapse back into the bottle, dragging the spirit along.

Snow could hear Morveren redoubling her efforts to reach Lirea’s mind. Shouts rose from inside the tower. Talia stumbled into the window, fighting a blue-scaled mermaid. Talia twisted, pushing the mermaid through. She fell to the ground with a scream. The drop wasn’t necessarily a fatal one, but the mermaid fell head first. Snow could hear the crack of bones breaking.

Talia tumbled out the window, clinging to her whip. The other end of the whip was looped around Lirea’s throat. For a moment, it looked as though she would drag Lirea down, but Lirea caught herself. She clutched the windowframe with both hands.

Talia braced her feet against the wall and pulled, but Lirea was too strong. Morveren swooped down, drawing a knife. Snow recognized the abalone blade from here, as well as the remnants of broken spells that still clung to the knife like leeches. Talia pushed herself to one side, barely avoiding the attack.

Snow still held a mirror in her left hand. She removed her thumb from the jar, placing the mirror over the mouth. The air spirit fought to escape, but she pushed him back. Using her magic to reach into the heart of the mirror, Snow struck the glass from within.

The mirror crumbled to powder, glittering as it fell into the bottle. “Mirror, mirror, crushed so fine, lend strength to this spell of mine.”

The remains of her mirror melted into the bottle. Soon both the inside and outside gleamed like quicksilver. Snow waited, but the mirror’s power held the spirit trapped. She stumbled toward Morveren, head throbbing with every step. Another of the air spirits attacked, only to be drawn into the jar.

Morveren floated higher, this time bringing her knife toward the whip. Talia tried to stop her, but the winds knocked her against the wall, and then she was falling. She spun in the air, but the spirits slammed her to the ground too quickly. She rolled with the impact and tried to stand, only to stumble as her left ankle gave out.

She threw the soul jar. It spun through the air, and as it passed beneath Morveren, the spells within the jar reached out to entangle the remaining air spirits. The jar clinked against the tower wall and dropped to the ground, the mirror’s power protecting it from the impact.

Morveren screamed as she fell, but she caught the windowsill with one hand. She pushed the cup into the tower, then pulled herself up and through the window.

Snow closed her eyes, trying to listen the way Morveren had taught her. Morveren’s magic was easy to detect. All her power was concentrated on Lirea now, digging into her thoughts and emotions.

“You asked for this, remember?” Morveren asked. “You begged me for it. All I’ve ever done is try to give you what you wanted.”

Slowly, Snow reached into Lirea’s mind. She was gentler than the last time, but Lirea still sensed her touch. Unlike before, Lirea lacked either the strength or the will to fight one more intrusion.

Snow pressed deeper, until she began to see through the mermaid’s eyes. Morveren still held the knife in one hand. With the other, she picked up the cup and thrust it at her granddaughter. Lirea tried to push it away, but Morveren was too strong. Lirea’s hands reached out to take the cup from Morveren’s hand.

Snow could hear Gustan raging within the cup, the sounds more animal than human. She had no doubt Lirea could hear him as well. Little remained of the Hiladi prince but anger and confusion.

“I don’t want to go back,” Lirea said, but she was too weak to fight. She stared at the cup. “I didn’t want any of this.”

So be it. Snow couldn’t break Morveren’s hold on Lirea, so she would have to try something more direct. No subtle threads of magic were these; Snow seized Lirea’s mind like a rag doll, yanking her hands back. The cup clattered to the floor and rolled toward the edge of the broken floor.

“No!” Morveren grabbed the cup before it could fall. “You’ll destroy her mind!” She brought the cup back to Lirea, forcing it to her lips.

“I won’t,” Snow whispered. She could feel Morveren tightening her grip on Lirea, expending her own strength to prevent Snow from wresting control away. Lirea whimpered as something within her tore. Slowly, Lirea’s hands moved back toward the cup.

Morveren was too strong and too skilled for Snow to fight directly. Instead, Snow simply nudged Lirea’s right arm so she reached not for the cup, but for the knife in Morveren’s other hand.

Before Morveren could react, Lirea wrapped her hand around Morveren’s and shoved the abalone blade into her grandmother’s chest.

Lirea didn’t appear to hear. Or if she did, there wasn’t enough of her left to understand. Now completely under Snow’s control, Lirea crawled to the window and ordered the remaining undine to break off their attack against Danielle and Varisto.

As the pounding in Snow’s skull darkened her vision, she swallowed and sent one last command. Inside the tower, Lirea picked up the cup with Gustan’s soul. Though Lirea’s mind was in tatters, a part of her still reveled in taking the knife and slashing through the web of hair, freeing Gustan before flinging both cup and knife out the window to clatter against the rocks below.