WITH THE MERLONS DRIVEN away, the rest of that day and the long night were nerve-racking but uneventful. Tiaret prowled the deck, never allowing her concentration to waver. The students, sages, and sailors did not go more than a few minutes without looking over the side of the ship at the water, wondering when the attackers would return.
By morning, there was still no word from Sharif and Gwen. Vic’s stomach twisted itself into knots of worry for his cousin. Logically, stranded out here with the merlons planning new ways to sink the damaged ship, he was in a lot more danger than Gwen. But he had already lost his mother, Uncle Rip, and Aunt Fyera. He wasn’t sure when — or if—he would ever see his father again, not to mention Earth. He was in a strange world in the middle of a bizarre, unpredictable war. Gwen was all he had left, and she had been gone so long….
By the next afternoon, a lookout on the tall mast pointed toward a storm brewing on the horizon. The wind picked up, blowing directly toward them. Vic smelled a metallic odor in the breeze. The storm did not seem natural.
Without Captain Dimas, the crew seemed disorganized, but Kaisa, who had been on more voyages than even the first mate, proved ready to make decisions. Her first decision was to put Tiaret in charge of security. Though the girl from Afirik was no older than most of the students, she had more experience in battle than anyone else onboard. Putting to use what she had learned in the Grassland Wars, Tiaret began planning immediately and collecting weapons. Kaisa assigned half of the crew to Tiaret and set the other half to work preparing the ship for bad weather.
Vic and Lyssandra worked together to lash down any remaining loose equipment and supplies. Tiaret came up behind them, moving as silently as a savannah cat. “We cannot avoid the storm, but we can prepare to fight. I have already posted guards belowdecks, in case the merlons try to break through the hull.” She strode off to continue her work.
When they finished their preparations, the telepathic girl pointed out at the sea. Under the lowering gray skies, enormous writhing creatures rose and sank, their massive coils slithering over and around one another. Vic was fascinated in spite of himself. “Tell me those aren’t —”
“Sea serpents? Yes. The merlons herd them and train them.” She indicated the waters directly below them. “I am more concerned with what is swimming beneath the ship.”
The bubble of death spell had dissipated, and the sea had returned to its normal green-blue — which meant the Golden Walrus was once again vulnerable. Vic saw human-shaped shadows gliding deep, as if afraid to approach too closely. They made no threatening moves. Yet.
Uneasy, Vic said, “You’ve been on a lot of voyages. I guess you’re used to stuff like this.”
The telepathic girl shivered. “Not at all. This is hardly a… typical training voyage. I have never experienced such danger, except in dreams.”
Vic let out a long breath. “Well, you look as cool as a snow cone to me.”
She put a hand on his arm, read the meaning of his thought, then gave her head a rueful shake. “I am not cool right now. I know that you, and the others, consider me to be a… distant person. I have friends, but I keep myself apart.”
“But why? You don’t need to keep yourself apart from me.”
She shook her head. “It is because of my telepathy. I see things in my dreams and in visions when I am awake, things I do not wish to see. It is easier not to become attached, to put up barriers, keep everyone at a distance. I am afraid, but I do not bother to show it anymore.”
She crossed her legs on the deck, put her elbows on her knees, and held her head in her hands. Her dark copper curls fell forward, hiding her face from Vic. “Sometimes I cannot escape the images that come into my mind. But for now my thoughts are filled with what my eyes have recently seen — flying piranhas, sailors dying, storms, sea serpents, and attacking merlons.”
Vic cast about for something comforting to say; in the end, he settled for patting her awkwardly on the back. “Maybe you need to replace those images with something nicer.” He kicked himself mentally. How stupid was that?. They were in the middle of a crisis, didn’t even know if they were going to live until the next day, and he was telling her to think pretty thoughts? Great way to make her feel better!
Vic was pleasantly surprised when she moved closer to him without turning her head. “Tell me about the place you come from, Viccus. It must be full of wonders, since you and Gwenya wish so much to return there.”
“Not that your island is so bad, but it’s not home. And my dad’s there. I know I can’t go back right now, but if he could be with us, like he wanted, maybe I wouldn’t miss home so much.”
Vic leaned toward her until their shoulders were touching, and he thought of the things he missed about Earth. “I guess we do have our share of wonders, now that you mention it. Nothing like the nifty magic system here in Elantya, mind you, but we’ve got some pretty neat stuff.” He tried to think of his favorite kitchen appliances. “Like microwaves that can cook meals really fast, and they can make popcorn in three minutes. Everybody in the house can smell it!”
“Popcorn?”
He chuckled. Of course she didn’t know what popcorn was. “Just try to pick up as much as you can while I talk.” He described cars and jets and the amazing speeds at which they could travel.
She glanced at him. “Truly?”
“No kidding. And we have this power called electricity that doesn’t come from crystals or magic or mirrormills. We use it all sorts of ways, like to make our microwaves run, light our houses, play music, talk to each other from far away, send email, refrigerate foods so they don’t spoil, even open and close doors. And we have lights you can turn on or off just by clapping your hands.”
Lyssandra’s shoulder was still touching his, and Vic could tell she was drawing the pictures from his mind as he spoke. The telepathic girl gradually began to relax. “And this eelegeeleg —”
“Electricity.”
“Yes. Could it power a ship such as the Golden Walrus?”
“If the battery was big enough.” Then he thought of something else she would enjoy hearing about. “Another cool thing we can do is tell stories with pictures made out of light. We watch the stories in movie theaters, or we can watch them at home on something called television.”
“And these are also powered by eeleg-tricity?” Lyssandra asked.
“You catch on fast. We have lots of oceans, and I love to swim in them, especially during the summer. And we have mountains that are so high that they’re covered with snow in the winter. You know snow — ice, frozen water?”
Lyssandra smiled. “My mother came from a world that has snow and ice for many months of the year. She has told me, and I have seen images, but I have never gone through a crystal door to visit it.”
“In these mountains I like to go skiing or snowboarding.” He remembered family vacations he had gone on years ago — Uncle Rip and Aunt Fyera sitting by the fire in the ski lodge, his dad holding his mother’s hand while they rode the ski lift to the top of the slope, his mother breezing down the mountainside without using any ski poles, Gwen struggling with her first skiing lesson, falling in the snow and trying to get up but only wallowing in deeper, his own early attempts at snow-boarding.
Catching an echo of the images, Lyssandra seemed fascinated. “But how —”
“We strap smooth boards to our feet and slide down snow-covered hills.”
“And these are powered by eeleg-tricity —”
“Nope. Skis don’t need electricity to run. Just gravity. But sometimes we use electricity — well, engines, really — to get to the top of a slope. We sit in special chairs that are tied to a rope and a pulley, like the ones that raise a ship’s sail. Once we get to the top, we can start the run back down.”
Lyssandra looked strangely at him. “But if you wish to be at the bottom of the hill, why do you go to the top of it? Simply to slide down?”
“You’re missing the basic concept here.” Vic laughed, lost in this reverie about Earth and family. “Because it’s fun.”
Lyssandra’s face grew troubled again. “Does your world have wars? Or are you safe from enemies like the merlons?”
“Oh, I think every place has wars, sooner or later.” Vic decided the telepathic girl needed some serious cheering up. She had too many visions of terror swirling around in her head. He would just have to provide some better images for her, so he hurried to add, “What if I tell you a story about a war you’ll be very interested in?”
The quiet girl’s eyes regarded him dubiously. “If you say so, Viccus.”
Closing his mind to storms and sea serpents, merlons and flying piranhas, Vic slid his arm around Lyssandra’s shoulders and concentrated. He hoped she would be able to see some of his favorite vivid pictures.
“This war starts a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”
IN THE STORY, the hero had just entered a deep, dangerous trench and was attempting to destroy the villain’s fortress. Evil henchmen chased the hero, intent on killing him. All seemed lost when —
Something hit the side of the ship with a thump.
Instantly alert, Vic and Lyssandra scrambled to their feet and looked over the rail. Tiaret came running. They were relieved to see that the noise had been caused by a broken yardarm that the churning waves washed against the ship.
Then Lyssandra gasped, and Vic’s breath left him in a rush. Immediately below them, a merlon climbed onto the broken yardarm and floated there.
Tiaret sounded the alarm with a loud, piercing whistle. “Merlons!”
The unnatural storm was almost upon them. Cold droplets spattered from above. The ocean had turned a dark gray, and in it Vic could see the shadows of swimming merlons. The sea serpents were closer now, much closer, yet they hovered at a distance, waiting.
Shouts carried the word around the ship. All remaining students, sages, and crew took up whatever weapons they had and stood ready to fight. Just before the wallowing ship slid into the trough of a wave, Vic caught a glimpse of something large in the distance coming toward them. A sea serpent? Another school of flying piranhas? He couldn’t be sure. A distinct chill was in the air. Rain began to fall.
At a signal from the merlon on the floating yardarm, scores of aquatic warriors surfaced and swam toward the ship. It looked like a final assault.
As the ship crested the next wave, several merlons began to scramble up the hull. With dread, Vic glanced out toward the additional looming threat of the sea serpents, but the rain fell harder, and he couldn’t see the enormous creatures clearly. The raindrops were fat and cold and heavy, like a barrage of small water balloons. In less than a minute his hair and tattered clothes were drenched.
With a sound like two cars colliding, something large and heavy crashed against the side of the ship. The scaly, sharp-jawed head of a sea serpent rose up. In a flash of lightning he saw that armored plates were strapped to its head. The serpent had rammed the training vessel.
Another impact struck from the opposite side. Vic could see three more greenish sinuous serpents streaking in, guided by merlons. A sailor called from belowdecks, “That last one cracked our hull! We are taking on water.”
“Get everyone out of the hold!”
The Golden Walrus dropped into another trough in the waves, and the first merlon set foot on deck. As before, Tiaret welcomed it with her teaching staff. Reeling from the blow, the creature stumbled backward and grabbed a handful of Lyssandra’s long wet hair, yanking her off her feet on the rain-washed deck. Vic’s reflexes took over. Without thinking, he sprang forward and kicked the attacker soundly in the center of its forehead. With a high-pitched squeal, it let go of Lyssandra’s hair. Tiaret smashed the merlon again with her teaching staff.
Another merlon appeared over the side of the ship, and Lyssandra snatched up a chunk of broken wood and clubbed the creature, while Vic pushed it backward. The merlon toppled into the ocean just as the Walrus floated to the top of another wave.
“Sheesh, why don’t they just wait an hour?” Vic panted. “We’ll all be down under the water soon enough.” The sinking ship already tilted at an alarming angle.
“Look there!” Lyssandra pointed off into the storm.
Vic squinted through the punishing rain. A great boom echoed across the water, followed by another and another. Water ran into his eyes and mouth and streamed down his back. But what he saw made him laugh with relief.
“Look — they’re here! They made it.” Vic gave a joyful shout. In the distance, but getting closer by the minute, a group of Elantyan guardian galleys sliced like swift knives through the rough water. They were firing bright flashes, like magical cannons, at the sea serpents that drove toward the disabled ship.
At the prow of the lead galley stood Sharif and Gwen, waving to them. As the boom of cannon fire came closer, the merlons gave up the battle and dove back into the ocean. The survivors aboard the Walrus cheered.
“Well, I asked for the Elantyan cavalry.” Vic grinned. “Looks like they’ve arrived.”