Merfolk
Aislynn was pressed against the back of the sphere, terrified. Her companions lay about her as well, their arms and legs extended, trying to find something to steady them. Behind them lay the dark, gaping gullet of the serpent, while above and below they could make out rows of razor-sharp teeth and no fewer than four sets of long fangs, their curves locked around the edges of the sphere that held the serpent’s jaws at bay. Out the front of the sphere, between the forward set of matching fangs, Aislynn stared at what they all could see for themselves, the dim, distant surface of the ocean passing swiftly overhead. Small bits of ocean debris would occasionally flash past them with unthinkable speed as the serpent drove relentlessly onward. Now and again, the creature would shake the globe in its mouth, tumbling the occupants painfully about. It would release its jaws, trying to gnaw into the orb, but each time its long fangs failed to penetrate the sphere. Then it would once more rush onward through the ocean, frustrated with its efforts.
Inside, the wind of the air above, displaced into the sphere by Aislynn’s magic, had become a gale with the speed of the serpent, over which they had to shout to be heard.
“So, now I suppose we just wait until your magic fails?” Gosrivar shouted, his voice even more nervous than Aislynn had remembered.
“We’ve got to do something,” Obadon called back. “Valthesh! What about your magic?”
“Well, on the positive side, I think there’s a very good chance I could get this creature to let us go,” Valthesh responded quickly.
“And?”
“On the negative side, if this monster did release us, then our little protective bubble would sink to the ocean floor.”
They all looked down into the dark blue abyss below.
Valthesh raised her eyebrow. “Anyone think we have much chance of walking out from the bottom of the ocean?”
“So what are our choices again?” Gosrivar asked through chattering teeth.
“We can wait until the monster eats us as we drown,” Valthesh replied, “or . . .”
“Or?”
“We starve on the ocean floor.”
Aislynn closed her eyes. She could not get the pavilion back on the Merlock Atoll out of her mind. There was something familiar about it; something she had seen before but that hovered on the edge of her memory.
Suddenly she remembered.
“Everyone, cover your ears! Now!” Aislynn shouted over the rushing wind around them. She reached forward with her hand against the wind, pressing it against the cold surface of the orb around them. She closed her eyes against what she knew was coming.
THON! The sphere suddenly rang like a deep bell, its surface blurring under her touch. The noise within was horrendous, reaching into their bones and filling their heads with the sound. The serpent reared, dragging the orb backward through the water and sending everyone tumbling forward.
“What are you doing?” Obadon demanded. “You’re going to get us all killed!”
“Silence!” Aislynn responded at once, holding up her hand.
The silence of the depths engulfed them.
“Again!” Aislynn said, pressing her hand against the cold, curved wall.
“No!” Obadon reached out to stop her.
THON! The sphere once more resounded with an awesome thunder that rattled them down to their core. Obadon fell back, shouting against the sound as he brought his hands up to grab at the pain in his ears.
“Quiet, everyone!” Aislynn shouted, then fell silent. The serpent adjusted the grip of his jaws around his prize, the scraping sound of its teeth grating against the exterior of the sphere. Then the gentle rush of water running past them resumed, though slower than it had been. The serpent, it appeared, was warily making slow circles in the water.
“What is it you think—”
Then a distant sound penetrated their globe. Quiet and indistinct but nevertheless audible—a thon.
“Is that—an echo?” Gosrivar asked pensively.
“It’s possible but I don’t think so,” Aislynn said with a hopeful smile. She reached out her hand one last time, ringing the surface of the dome at last.
The answering thon sound came more quickly and louder. Then it was followed in quick succession by two more answering sounds—from different directions. Within moments the sea around them was ringing with the same sound.
The serpent began circling closer now, its movements more swift.
“What was that all about?” Obadon demanded.
“I used to sneak down out of the tower at Qestardis when I knew my mother was going down to the sea,” Aislynn explained. “At the base of the sanctuary, there was a special dock for receiving—”
Suddenly, a brilliant light exploded in the water ahead of the serpent, its thunderous sound shaking them all from their already unsteady stance. The monster reeled back, a terrible roar coming from deep within its throat.
Aislynn looked anxiously out the globe. There, emerging from the dim waters beyond, came what seemed at first to be a school of large fish. Within moments, however, their shadow forms resolved into heads, arms, and flanks that tapered to long, sleek tails ending in wide flukes. The long, greenish hair on their heads waved behind them as they swam with determined speed. They wore a dark, fitted armor around their torso, from which jutted incredibly muscular arms. Each of them held a long trident in their hands, the shaft of which ended in a glowing jewel.
“Famadorians!” Obadon shouted.
“By the Elders!” Gosrivar breathed.
The serpent suddenly twisted, writhing around and then rushing forward through the dark waters. Aislynn fell backward with her companions, pressed by the accelerating serpent once more against the back of their globe.
The Famadorian creatures, however, easily kept up with the monster, several of them drawing close enough to the bubble to shine their lights on the faeries. One pressed its face against the surface of the globe for a closer look.
Obadon gasped.
The creature’s face was horrific to look upon, for though he appeared, in most respects, to have the upper body of a faery, his face had only a thick ridge where the nose might be, while large gill flaps extended upward from the back of his jaws to either side of his head. His features were blotchy but smooth, with his black eyes set far apart and a wide mouth that smiled at them from a jutting jaw and sharp, pointed teeth. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the face left them, undulating quickly into the dark waters around them.
“Oh, this just keeps getting better,” Valthesh muttered wryly.
Another light flared in the water to their right. Aislynn felt the orb quiver around them, shivering with the convulsions of the serpent. The monster screamed, the shrill sound cutting painfully through Aislynn’s magical globe. Two more bursts flashed, illuminating for a moment scores of the underwater warriors circling around the serpent. Then the behemoth shook again with the blow, thrashing his head. Aislynn and her companions slammed from one side of the globe to the other, painfully colliding with the curving walls and one another.
Suddenly the motion stopped.
“We’re freed!” Gosrivar exclaimed.
Aislynn looked up. Their globe was slowly falling away from the serpent’s gargantuan head. The long fangs snapped but not at them, for their rescuers continued to pass quickly through the water in great arcs around the beast, their tridents firing bolts of blue-white lightning into the creature’s scaly hide. The serpent recoiled, snapping its huge jaws at its attackers. The sea warriors scattered, then schooled together as a second group charged in a sweeping arc around the serpent. Their lightning flashes seared the creature’s underbelly and it reared back in pain.
The flashes, however, were getting dimmer and more distant.
“Aislynn,” Valthesh said, “was this part of your plan?”
“We’re descending again,” Obadon said grimly. “I’m hoping there is a bottom to the sea.”
As the light dimmed, Aislynn could make out darker forms moving about the globe. In a moment, large, pale hands reached out and pressed against the globe. The light from their tridents was dimmer now, but they still provided sufficient illumination for each of the faeries to make out the hideous faces once more.
“What are they?” Obadon asked.
“Merfolk,” Gosrivar offered in a contemplative voice. “Famadorians of the sea. I have heard stories of them but did not believe them to be true.”
Aislynn gazed out. The surface was a dim lighter blue that was rapidly darkening. She folded her arms as she spoke. “They are taking us deeper.”
“And may I point out something more disturbing still?” Obadon said quietly.
“What is that?” Aislynn asked.
“They are Famadorians—but they are Famadorians who appear to have the power of magic.”
“Then,” Valthesh offered, “it would seem that our situation has not greatly improved.”
The seabed rose up beneath them as the mermen glided swiftly over trident-illuminated sands. Aislynn had no idea how long they had been traveling. She knew she was hungry but had no way of equating it with the hour of the day.
“How did you come by that trick?” Obadon asked absently as he watched their gentle progress over the bottom of the sea.
“What trick?” Aislynn asked back.
“Making that noise—calling these merfolk—how did you come by that?”
Aislynn smiled. “I tried to tell you before. When I was young, I used to sneak out of the sanctuary. My mother, Tatyana, would go down to the private docks of the First Estate and had her guardians clear it of all eyes and ears. They eventually caught me and gave me a long scolding and swore me to silence. But this sound was how she called the merfolk to her and conversed with them. They always had valuable news of the comings and goings of the Argentei fleets.”
“You should not have told us,” Obadon complained with a frown. “It was a secret of your house.”
“If you did not wish to know, then you should not have asked. Besides, I felt it necessary to tell you,” Aislynn responded. “You may tell your house masters what you wish, provided we get home alive. But here—now—we are our own house and you are the only brothers and sister that I can count on. Much depends on what is about to happen. I cannot do this alone. Are you with me?”
Gosrivar smiled. “I should have died a number of times today—I think my time may be borrowed from you, Princess Aislynn. Yes, I am with you.”
“Obadon?”
The Argentei warrior considered for a moment, then spoke. “I am a spy, Aislynn.”
The Princess raised her eyebrow. “You perform your duties remarkably well, Obadon. I did not know.”
“I, too, am a Seeker but trained in a hidden place in our land. I have powers as you have, though, I observe, not nearly as powerful or refined as Shaeonyn has shown. I have kept this from you as it was my duty.”
“And why do you tell us now?” Aislynn asked.
“Because I see a greater truth,” Obadon replied. “You must know this about me to use me effectively and you must use me to stop Shaeonyn. The Argentei Seekers also feel the wind drawing them into the Kyree lands and fear what they may find there. I am with you—for the greater good of House Argentei.”
“Well enough,” Aislynn said, then turned to the Seeker from Mnemnoris. “And you, Valthesh? Are you with me in this?”
Valthesh opened her mouth to speak and then caught the sound in her throat. She gazed on Aislynn for a time, slowly closing her mouth before she looked away.
Aislynn smiled sadly, her voice gentle. “Your silence is acceptable to me, Valthesh. Whether you are not yet ready to give your answer or you fear the answer you must give, I value you all the same.”
Valthesh looked up at Aislynn but held her silence.
“Something is happening ahead of us,” Obadon said, moving toward the front edge of their bubble.
“It’s getting lighter,” Gosrivar observed.
“We are nearly there,” Aislynn nodded. “Just as I had hoped.”