Chapter Thirteen

The Trials of Terror

 

 

T

he water left a pleasant tingle in her nostrils and gills as Mira took her first breath in the Ebb Sea. She blinked then twisted around to take in her surroundings as Kay appeared behind her. There were tall plants sticking up from the sandy floor, where large fish were lazily swimming about. Near some large rocks were cages where several crabs crawled over each other, looking for a way out of their traps. Next to them was a series of wooden poles coming down from the surface, extending back towards the shallow waters in two rows: the fishing docks.

Mira turned to her brother, who was looking about with a glimmer of wonder in his eyes that Mira felt in her heart. She smiled as she moved her webbed fingers through the seawater, marveling at the way it made her skin feel. Oddly, she felt lighter in it than she ever had in the lakes she’d visited, despite the layers of clothes she was wearing.

The water tasted as different as it felt. She had learned that ocean water was salty, and she reveled in the taste of it on her tongue as she breathed it in. It was good.

“Welcome to the exact spot where I found out I was a merrow,” Kay said, swimming around her towards the dock. His cloak, still around his neck, billowed behind him. He looked up at the surface. “Let’s go up for a moment. Follow me.”

Mira pushed herself up through the water after her brother. Their heads broke the surface at the same time, right under the barnacle-covered wood of the dock. They swam towards the shore, for they could hear the steps of the fishermen walking about above them. Once they reached the rocks, they carefully peeked over the edge of the dock to see the southern coast of Rook in action.

It was quite a different scene from the one they’d left in Crispin. There were gruff-looking fishermen at a dock down the shore tossing large fish from a boat into crates on land. The few buildings she saw over the rocky shore all had smoke coming from their chimneys, and merchants wove in and out of them under the warm glow of the afternoon sun.

“So this is your town,” Mira whispered.

“It was,” Kay corrected. “Demetrius is here, somewhere.” He stared wistfully at the throngs of people at the market before turning back to Mira, his jaw set with determination. “Right. Are you ready?”

Mira thought for a moment, then said, “When do you think they’ll reel in those crab traps?”

“What?”

Mira grabbed his arm and dove back into the water. She pointed at the large traps at the bottom of the sea, where a few crabs were crawling around.

“Oh, could be days.” Kay watched her with confusion.

“Then come and help me empty one of them,” Mira said. “We need a place to keep our cloaks and shoes.”

Kay hurried down after Mira and helped her open one of the traps and carefully tip it over to let the two crabs that were caught inside to escape. They took off their shoes.

“This is either really weird or genius,” Kay said, cramming his boots into the trap.

Mira chuckled. All she knew was that she couldn’t stand swimming with her boots on. She watched her toes transform into glimmering silver fins and kicked them with a sigh of relief. She unclasped her cloak and handed it to Kay, who finished storing everything away and locked the trap closed again.

“All right,” Mira said, facing her brother. “Now we’re ready.”

They swam into the depths of the sea. Every once in a while, Kay pulled out Peter’s compass from his pocket, making sure that they were still headed east. If they weren’t swimming straight for a legendary monster in the very waters that were ruled by the Empress of the Sea, it might have been quite an enjoyable adventure. The rocks jutting out of the seafloor and the seemingly endless kelp soon gave way to coral reefs that were brilliant colors Mira had never seen before.

They came across animals that Mira had only ever read about and some that she didn’t even recognize. Seahorses swam lazily among the waxy plants, a squid shot out of sight, and even a pair of stingrays glided under them along the smooth sand.

The further they went, the deeper they swam. They stayed within sight of the seabed, trying not to be noticeable by swimming in the throngs of underwater plants and creatures, but this proved to be harder than they thought. Soon, they reached a stretch of water where barely any form of life was on the ocean floor. They were so deep that they could no longer see the rippling surface of the ocean. Somehow, they could still see their surroundings as clear as day despite the lack of sunlight.

Mira lost track of time—how many minutes had passed? Or was it hours? Was it still sunny, up on land? She had no idea how long they had been swimming, but oddly she was not tired.

She didn’t know how far they’d traveled before a sense of unease crept its way into her heart.

“Kay,” she said softly. Hearing her voice sounded strange in the pressing silence of the deep waters. “We must be miles into the ocean by now, but we haven’t seen a single other merrow here, aside from ourselves.”

Kay looked around at the vast emptiness.

“I’m not complaining,” he muttered. “But you’re right. It’s more deserted than Nesston.”

“There aren’t even fish swimming about anymore. Where’s Amara’s empire?”

Kay pointed straight ahead. “Might be there.”

Mira’s heart skipped a beat as she followed Kay’s finger to see the shadows of spikes rising up from the ocean floor. She gulped as they approached a great city with towering buildings that were surely taller than any Mira had seen on land. They were made of stark white stone, making the whole city look like a collection of spiky icicles.

But it couldn’t have been Amara’s empire. It was even barer than the laketown in Nesston, for not even a single living plant was growing over the empty buildings. There was an unsettling sort of black vine that had crept over the bases of the buildings, like the tentacles of an octopus, only lifeless. Mira shuddered as they swam through the buildings. The words, ghost town, came to mind.

“It feels…evil,” Mira whispered.

Kay nodded. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They picked up their speed. The waters beyond the city were just as lifeless, though Mira noticed more of the dark creeping vines running along the sand below.

“What are those?” she wondered aloud.

Kay wrinkled his nose. “Not sure I want to find out.”

It wasn’t long before they reached a space where the ocean floor appeared to drop into nothingness. They stopped there, glancing at each other with open mouths. Despite the miles of darkness that stretched out below her, a rush of excitement ran straight through her.

They had reached the Myrkness Trench.

The Fabler’s notes were true. They were really headed towards the Grimmir—towards the cure to everlock sleep.

They swam over the trench slowly and silently, as if the endless abyss could suck them in if they made any sound. It was unnerving, swimming over total darkness. Mira tried to keep her eyes on the other side, where the rocky surface reappeared and seemed to extend into an infinite world of blue.

A movement below her caught her attention. She froze.

Kay, wait.

She didn’t dare speak aloud. She grabbed Kay’s arm and they stopped, staring at the creature below them.

A small animal was swimming out of the trench. Mira squinted at it, trying to see what it was. It was a ghostly creature, its white skin nearly translucent. It stopped for a moment, facing Mira and Kay. Then it began to circle around them.

It was when the creature turned that Mira saw that it wasn’t a small fish at all—it looked more like a shark, the tell-tale triangular fin jutting out the top of its body, but with bulging black eyes that Mira wished she’d never have to see again. Its rows of crooked, sharp teeth were visible even from several feet away.

“We have to get away,” Kay said. “It’ll eat us alive.”

Mira didn’t need telling twice. They sped forward. To her dismay, the trench was much wider than she had expected when she first laid eyes on it. Now that they were directly over it, the darkness seemed to go on forever, the opposite end of the trench appearing to inch away as they swam towards it. Mira twisted around to see the shark following them slowly. What was it doing? Perhaps it wasn’t interested in hunting them, after all…

But then another shark appeared directly in front of them. It seemed to come out of nowhere, its translucent skin almost making it blend with its surroundings.

“This way!” Kay grabbed Mira’s arm. They swam to the right but were met with more sharks—a group of them this time.

It’s an ambush.

Kay’s words sent a shiver down Mira’s spine.

As if right on cue, a swarm of sharks rose out from the trench below them—like bees out of the hive—darting straight for them. With sharp whips of their tails, the ones surrounding Mira and Kay attacked.

“Hurry! Swim up!” Kay yelled, swimming towards the surface that they could no longer see.

Her heart beating furiously, Mira followed her brother. There were so many sharks tailing them that their rapid swimming sent a buzzing sound through the water, filling Mira’s head and muddling her thoughts.

“They’re getting closer!” she screamed.

Kay whipped his head around, his eyes widening as he spun, searching for an escape. “Follow me!” he yelled before changing course.

Mira obeyed, tailing him in a big arc as the sharks kept close behind. When he began diving straight down towards the trench, she screamed, “What are you doing?”

“Trust me!”

The sounds of the sharks were getting louder. Clicks of their snapping teeth reached Mira’s ears. She whimpered, picking up her speed to reach her brother.

They were inside the trench, the darkness encasing them, the rocky walls getting closer together so that Mira began to feel suffocated.

“Kay, they’re still behind us!”

“Good!”

Before Mira could react, Kay stopped and spun around, holding out his arms. Mira swerved around him and gasped as a massive whirlpool appeared in front of his hands, stretching widely between the walls of the trench. Before Mira knew what was happening, the sharks swam straight into it, disappearing before they could reach their prey.

Kay groaned, his hands shaking against the force of the portal he’d just summoned. When the last of the sharks disappeared behind it, he dropped his hands, breathed, “Let’s go before any more of them find us,” and bolted up towards the light. Mira followed in a daze.

They stopped only after they lost sight of the trench behind them. Gulping down water, her head dizzy, Mira blurted, “Where did you send them?”

Kay flipped over and floated horizontally, stretching out his arms as if he had just plopped into bed.

“The abandoned city with the pointed towers.” He glanced at Mira. “Well, not so abandoned anymore.”

Mira let out a weak laugh. “You’re crazy.”

Kay smiled and raised his eyebrows. “You’re welcome.”

But Mira hardly heard his response. With the trench behind them and her nerves slowly calming down, she finally noticed where they were. At first, it looked like they were on the edge of another abandoned town, with oddly-shaped buildings spaced widely apart. Mira squinted at the buildings, confused. Some even appeared to be lying on their sides.

She swam towards the nearest one. Her eyes widened as she saw long, wooden structures that once held enormous sails, the splintered wood of a deck that had been crushed apart by something bigger than she could ever imagine.

They were in the graveyard of ships.

Kay, come here.

She turned and waved her arm at Kay, whose jaw dropped as he swam forward and saw the ocean floor peppered with shipwrecks, some of them broken in half, some still upright against massive rocks, and some crushed into splintered planks of wood sprinkled among the sand. Mira and Kay swam forward carefully, over the ships, around the masts, the pressing silence occasionally broken by the creaking of the old wooden structures.

“All right,” Mira whispered, her eyes darting around, “we’re here.”

“So…where’s the Grimmir?” Kay hissed. “The stories made it sound like he’d be hard to miss.”

Mira frowned. A seed of doubt planted itself in her mind. What if none of it was real? What if the Grimmir didn’t really exist, if the Fabler truly was insane, if the fairy story was just that—a fairy story?

Her doubt bloomed into a wave of fear that ran through her body and deep into her bones. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, and it left her breathless. She turned to Kay to catch his eyes as wide as her own.

“Something’s happening,” she whispered as her arms began to tremble. “I—I’m—”

“Terrified,” Kay finished her sentence.

It was like the fear filled every corner of her mind, leaving no room for anything else. The world was a blur, the shipwrecks around her were merely blotches of ink on parchment, and she could barely remember who or where she was.

A sudden wave in the water made her bump into something at her side. When she turned and noticed Kay, she found him staring ahead with a vacant expression. She grabbed his arm and felt him trembling, but he didn’t move.

An instant later, a great shadow loomed over them.

“Kay, look out!” Mira screamed.

She held onto her brother and dragged him down towards the nearest ship. She looked up from under one of the masts to see a beast pass over them and twist around, coiling its long body behind its head. Mira gasped at the sight of the monster’s face. It was pointed and snake-like, with long, narrow, gold-colored headfins that extended out from under its chin and above its milky eyes. Its scales were a dizzying blend of red and black that seemed to glimmer and change as it moved its muscular body. A golden stripe ran down its entire length on either side, like streaks of lightning flashing through a night sky. Its underside was blood-red, and its long body ended in a thin tailfin that looked like it had been ripped and shredded in places. It opened its mouth slowly, revealing four sharp fangs amidst rows of triangular teeth that reminded Mira of the dragon in the mountains.

It was the Grimmir.

Mira turned to Kay and found him still staring ahead with a glazed look in his eyes.

“Kay?” She shook him, but his blank expression didn’t change.

Something was terribly wrong.

She looked back at the monster, and a wave of terror washed through her, making her skin crawl and blurring her vision once more.

Through the fear, she still felt her fingers around Kay’s arm. He was trembling, and with a start, Mira realized she was, too. What was she afraid of? She didn’t remember. But she didn’t let go of Kay’s arm. Blinking furiously, she rubbed her eyes with her free hand, willing them to see.

As a second wave of fear ran through her body, Mira managed to think a single thought: This fear isn’t mine. As if by sorcery, her mind cleared, and she blinked away the fogginess just in time to see the Grimmir charge straight at them.

With a scream, she pulled Kay through the water, swimming out of the way just before the Grimmir burst straight through the entire ship as if it was a cloud, sending splintered wood in every direction. This time, Mira caught a glimpse of the Grimmir’s back: it was pitted along its spine, all the way up its tail to the base of its head, where a flash of gold caught her eye. It was a single golden horn, and Mira was sure that this was the horn that held the promise of breaking the cursed everlock sleep. There was only one left after the Grimmir’s years of being hunted for its powerful horns.

Panting, she dragged Kay behind another ship.

Kay, wake up! Mira thought frantically, shaking her brother.

In the distance, the Grimmir turned around again, its body slithering back as it prepared to charge at them, its milky eyes unblinking. In a moment of desperation, Mira threw her thoughts to the monster: Don’t! We’re not here to hurt you!

The beast stopped in its tracks, but only for a second. It shook its head in irritation like it was flinging off an irksome fly.

This time, Mira expected the wave of fear. Knowing that it wasn’t entirely her own, she thought of her bubble, encasing her mind in a protective wall that was unbreakable, even by a towering beast. When the terror didn’t rip through her mind this time, she turned to Kay, struck by an idea. She pushed her thoughts out to him and protected his mind, too.

Almost instantly, the Grimmir let out a chilling hiss and whipped its head this way and that, as if it were lost.

With a shudder, Kay gasped.

“Wha—”

Mira pressed her hand over his mouth. He froze and looked over her shoulder, his eyes round.

That’s him, said his voice. The sorcerer.

Mira nodded, trying to see past the monster’s menacing exterior to imagine the sorcerer that was stuck inside.

He’s blind, Mira replied, letting Kay go. He paralyzes us by making us afraid and then traces the fear. I’ve blocked him out for now.

Indeed, the Grimmir didn’t charge but continued turning its head, searching for its victims. An image of the jewel bats formed in Mira’s head, lost without their sense of smell in the Mosswoods, giving their prey an opportunity for escape. But Mira didn’t want to escape this time. Seizing her chance, she sent her thoughts to the monster.

We know you were a merrow. The Grimmir froze again. We’re not hunting you! We can help you—and we need your help, too.

With a rumbling growl that made the planks on the surrounding shipwrecks rattle against each other, the Grimmir turned its head again to search for the prey that it could not see.

If you let us, we’ll explain, Mira continued. But we need to be sure you won’t freeze us again.

It felt like almost an eternity later, but the Grimmir finally gave them a single nod. Mira held her breath as she let the bubble in her mind fade away, leaving her and Kay unguarded.

Finally, a familiar voice spoke in Mira’s head: No one has been able to break out of their frozen state before.

Kay spun around to stare at Mira, who returned his look of excitement as they recognized the voice from the conch shell.

We’re not just anyone, said Mira.

We know you’re trapped, said Kay’s voice.

The Grimmir’s tail made an irritated twitch.

How many of you are there?

Only two, said Mira quickly. And we mean you no harm. We came searching for you because we listened to your message—the one you left behind before you were transformed. We bring you something that can change you back.

The Grimmir did not move for what felt like ages. Then, the sorcerer’s voice cut through the silence:

Prove it.

We need your word that you’ll help us once we give it to you, said Kay.

Prove it.

Mira and Kay looked at each other again.

I’ll do it, Mira thought. Her heart in her throat, she slowly pulled the chain off from around her neck and let the glimmering vial hang from it in front of her. Very slowly, despite every instinct that told her not to, she made her way towards the Grimmir.

As if it could sense the vial, the Grimmir sucked in a deep breath that made a rushing sound as the water ran through its gills. Its head turned to face Mira directly, but it stayed where it was.

Mira, be careful!

Mira gulped and forced herself to swim forward, holding out the vial in front of her. She only stopped when she was just a couple of feet from the monster’s snout.

For a second, not even the water seemed to move.

Then the Grimmir thrust its head forward, revealing its rows of pointed teeth before it snapped its jaws.

Mira screamed. As she pushed herself back in panic, desperate to get away, she let go of the vial.

“Mira!” Kay shouted from behind her.

The Grimmir thrust forward again, this time snapping its teeth closed over the vial—shattering it and releasing the glimmering, crimson blood in a small cloud. With a great rush, it breathed it all in.

Mira stared into its eyes as the cloudiness swirled into pure black in seconds. For a breathless moment, she and the Grimmir stared at each other, and Mira knew it could finally see again. Then, the beast twisted its enormous body in one great sweep, its golden streaks winking as it swam off into the depths of the ocean, disappearing from sight.

Mira’s heart dropped.

“Wait!” she screamed after it, but she knew it was gone. You promised to help! she thought desperately, but she knew the ancient sorcerer didn’t care.

“Did he hurt you?” Kay panted once he’d reached her.

Mira shook her head.

“He tricked us!” Kay spat, swimming up above the shipwrecks and spinning around. “We came all this way and he just took his vial and left us!”

“He’s gone,” Mira said slowly, following him. Panic rose in her chest again. “We failed.”

“No! We can’t have—we’re so close! We have to go and find—”

“It’s useless,” Mira groaned.

Her heart was beating hard against her chest, but as she strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of the Grimmir in the distance, she felt the water change slightly against her skin. She frowned at Kay, who tilted his head in confusion.

“The water,” Kay whispered. “It’s…”

“Trembling,” Mira finished.

It was like tiny little ripples were running up her arms and making her hair stand on end. She wondered if it was the Grimmir returning to help them after all, but all hope disappeared as soon as a very different man’s voice came from behind them.

“Ah, it looks like we have finally caught our runaway urchins.”