Bladder’s face rippled and distorted through the lens of water and shrank as Sam sank like a gargoyle. Shooting downwards, rock heavy and solid, he twisted to look at his captors, but couldn’t focus through the whirling sea. Two, no, three faces; one a lovely girl, her expression all surprise as he slipped from their hands. Sam wasn’t drowning or struggling like a human. That threw them, which was good, but it was hard to be glad about it as the sunlight faded away. Only the swishing of tails in the water told him his kidnappers had followed him into the darkness.
When he hit bottom, Sam glanced up first, but when he couldn’t see his captors in the darkness he peered around. The blackness of The Hole was nothing compared to the murkiness underwater. Sam attempted to run, but the water pushed back at him and he had no idea which way to go.
He stumbled across a rock, and a fish erupted from the dirt, glowing like a small sun.
Bioluminescence. He’d read about that in science class.
He followed as fast as he could, but it darted away and its small light receded, leaving him alone.
Then another circle of light came towards him.
Sam moved forward to meet it.
‘There he is,’ a voice bubbled ahead.
Sam turned, the push of water slowing all his movements. Arms caught him and dragged him along, faster than he could go by himself.
He sailed at great speed. Glowing creatures came out of rocks and sandy holes to peer at him as he floated past them.
Bladder lurched to the side of the boat and stared into the water until Sam’s shrinking, panicked face disappeared.
‘Sam?’
All he saw was the glint of scales and a girl’s face.
Sirens!
Bladder flung himself into the water and dropped towards the retreating light.
The sounds of the new world drowned out the noises above, and there were many of them. It wasn’t like the echoes of sewers. In those, all Bladder heard was the slosh of water resounding off concrete, and the clicking of his own paws against the bricking. The ocean broadcast with more life. The distance rumbled with the sound of two huge hearts pounding. Closer were smaller hearts, and they vibrated the water, creating a steady dance. He could hear all their heartbeats as if the water not only amplified them but conducted them, turning them to a tribal orchestra.
Below him, four hearts beat, one of them familiar, fast and worried. Sam’s heart. Bladder lost the fading glow, but the drumming was strong enough to lead him.
As he sank and the water blackened, he noticed the creatures around him growing brighter, casting their own light, like underwater angels. A few fish and an eel moved in his wake and shone.
When the gargoyle hit the bottom, he could just make out the outline of rocks and things slithering in the dark. Something struck at him, trying to sink fangs into his leg. A chip of rump fell away, but the wounded creature slid back into the dark. With a broken tooth, Bladder hoped. He gulped. He could cope with things that bit, but what else was down here?
Bladder stopped to listen. Pattering heartbeats all around, playing musically. The loudest of them all, Sam’s heart, carried to him. He followed its call through black water.
A slick-tailed girl slipped in front of Sam, a glowing eel curled around her neck.
He guessed she was a siren. He understood why sailors were drawn into the sea by them: even Maggie wasn’t as lovely with all her glamour. The girl glowed, looking angelic. It was the most deceitful magic he had ever seen.
She moved closer to him. ‘You sank so fast; I haven’t had time to give you Breath. Do you need Breath?’
Sam stared at her. ‘Breath? You mean for me to breathe? No, I’m good underwater.’
She raised her eyebrows in an expression that Sam recognised as disbelief.
He realised her desire to let him breathe meant they didn’t mean to kill him. At least there was that.
Then a black cover dropped over his face, four strong arms bound him and he felt himself dragged again along the ocean bed.
Bladder was close enough to see the tailed creatures tie Sam up. Glowing fish and eels shone around them like multiple moons, but the gargoyle was slow compared to the shimmering creatures with long tails, and they carried Sam away before Bladder reached them.
He stood on the sea floor where Sam had been and sighed, except it came out as a large bubble. A flurrying dark shape approached and Bladder flinched as something large and shadowy slipped in front of him. He recognised the shape. Wilfred, Amira and Hazel had turned to something similar.
‘Hello,’ the dolphin said.
Bladder jumped. He hadn’t understood the sea-changed shifters, so he’d expected he wouldn’t understand anything else underwater either. ‘Hello.’
‘You look a little lost. What is something of your type doing here? We don’t see many statues in this part of the sea. Are you from Atlantis?’
Bladder found it hard to shake his head, the water put up so much resistance. ‘No,’ he said.
‘Well, you should visit. They’d love you.’
Bladder gave a strained smile. ‘My friend’s been nabbed and I saw ’em drag him off that way.’
‘Ah, yes, the palace guards. He must be in a lot of trouble to be taken by them. They can be nasty if they think you’re a threat.’
Bladder grimaced. ‘Palace guards? They’d be takin’ him to the palace then?’
‘Sure, it’s only ten minutes that way.’
‘Ten minutes? I’m on it.’ Bladder walked in the direction of the dolphin’s nose.
The dolphin studied the gargoyle’s legs. ‘At that pace, though, maybe a couple of hours. And you really shouldn’t go without an invitation.’
Bladder tried to run, but it didn’t make him any faster. A couple of hours? What could happen to Sam in a couple of hours?
Sam couldn’t see, but his other senses kicked in, and what he noticed most was the warmth of the water. Up in the boat, he’d sat bundled up in his coat and waterproof leggings, but still the wind had licked his face with an icy tongue. He’d spent most of his time rubbing his nose, and he was thicker skinned than the average human. When he fell out he’d felt the shock of freezing water as he sank, but he’d been so worried about his abductors he hadn’t spotted the change in temperature.
But, bound and blinded, he had time to notice these things, and the water was warm. Certainly not what he expected the sea to feel like, especially at such a depth (he’d learned in science that it was cold and wet). The other thing he spotted through the fabric of his head bag was a growing luminescence. The colours became stronger and brighter, and he could just make out the outline of a set of doors or a gate with lights bordering a path towards it. He couldn’t sniff – that would give him a noseful of water – but he knew it must take a lot of magic to keep lights shining under the sea. Also, there were voices, lots of voices.
Sam clenched his fists. Wherever he was, he was surrounded by underwater people. More sirens?
In front of the gate, someone yanked the cover from his head and the strong arms let him go. He dropped to his knees on the sand and golden swirls coiled around him.
The girl swam forward and called for the guards. An armed man with a fish tail waved to her. He opened the gate and pointed his spear at Sam. The half-fish, half-girl swam forward and Sam’s escorts forced him inside.
‘Marée, child of Eulimene, welcome,’ the guard said. ‘The queen awaits your arrival. You have brought the traitor?’
Bladder pushed on through the water. He was exhausted. It was like rolling a boulder uphill. He glared at the smug fish that flittered by him, using their aquatically efficient tails to taunt him with their speed.
‘Whatcha doin’?’ called a choir of small silver fish.
‘I’ve gotta get to the palace,’ Bladder said.
‘Ooooh,’ the fish chorused. ‘Why you going to the palace?’
‘I have to find a friend. He’s been taken there.’
‘Do you have an invitation?’ they sang together.
‘No.’
‘Oooooh,’ the fish repeated. ‘You’re not going very fast.’
‘Thanks for pointing that out to me, I hadn’t realised.’ Bladder rolled his eyes. Even that felt difficult underwater. ‘Still, it’s a matter of life or death. I think.’
He’d obviously offended the small fish. They shot away in the direction he wanted to go. He growled.
He leaned on a rock and tried to pant, making more bubbles. The silver fish returned, followed by a dozen or so flat, wide bodies: stingrays.
The largest ray lurched forward. ‘The little guys say you’re off to the palace, said it was life or death but you’re not making good time.’
‘Not in the slightest.’
‘Well, me an’ the boys thought we could help you out.’
Bladder studied the ray. ‘You could? Seriously?’
‘Yeah, you look heavy, but we can relay you there. Save you a bit of time.’
‘You’d do that for me?’
‘Why not?’ the ray asked. ‘Life or death, right?’
‘Yeah, it really is.’
In this way, Bladder managed to surf towards the palace. He was glad he had four legs – he had to crouch or the water pushed at him – but the rays made as steady a surface of themselves as they could.
‘We don’t have an invitation, so we’ll leave you here,’ said the largest ray. ‘The palace gate is just beyond those rocks.’
Bladder turned to the glowing pearl gates. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’
‘Your funeral. I wouldn’t go in if I didn’t have an invitation. Think it may be death or death.’
‘Bit of a thrill seeker, that one,’ another ray added.
Soon the seabed rose to greet Sam and his escort. The terrain was nothing like the rocky grey world where he’d sunk; this was a world of living stone. Rocks had been carefully positioned and covered in seaweed and anemones, sea cucumbers and polyps, which octopus gardeners tended.
His guards dragged Sam towards a door. On either side coral growth filled the water, growing up and up to create walls. The door itself was made of pearls and barnacles. A trident-carrying sentry stood on either side. As they saw the group, they opened the gates.
A squid swam to greet them. ‘Her Majesty awaits you in her chambers, Marée, child of Eulimene, and … it.’ The squid glared at Sam.
‘Thanks,’ Sam replied.
The squid raised its non-existent eyebrows, its big eyes assessing Sam with unblinking curiosity. ‘It has manners at least.’
‘Come on,’ Marée said. ‘We can’t keep the queen waiting.’
Sam agreed it wasn’t a good idea. In his experience, queens could get quite testy, and there were a lot of guards around with stabby, pointy tridents.
On the other hand, he didn’t get the impression the queen was going to offer him tea and cake.
‘I want to walk,’ Sam said.
A guard pointed his spear at Sam.
‘I’m not a traitor, whatever you say,’ Sam said. ‘And you’ve seen me walk – I can hardly run.’
Marée, child of Eulimene, nodded. ‘This is true. Untie him.’
‘But, my lady …’ a guard started.
‘I am sure if he turns out to be lying you can deal with him.’
The guard sliced through Sam’s ties, making sure to whisk the sharp blade very close to his nose.
Marée, child of Eulimene, watched him with a fierce and furrowed face. ‘What are you? You’re not human. You breathe underwater and your ears don’t hurt?’ Her hair floated around her face. ‘You sink, yet do not feel the water pressure? What creature are you?’
Sam struggled against his remaining bonds. ‘I am human, but I am also part gargoyle.’
‘What is a gargoyle? And why do you serve the sirens?’
Bladder stared at the gate. It was being watched over by two angry-looking guards. He wasn’t going through there. The wall was nice and high, but he couldn’t swim and if he tried to climb, he’d be seen. Bladder looked for a nice dark section of wall, maybe shielded by more of those large sea boulders.
Sam had no chance to answer. Another door opened and he was forced inside the throne room.
At the far end, the queen sat on a throne the size of a dining table. She was larger than an angel, and sunlight pouring in from the sky created a halo around her. Her crown was made of shells and starfish, and a trio of blue pearl ropes hung from her neck. Her tail stretched beyond the foot of her throne and was the colour of the sky at sunset, glorious pinks and oranges. It changed with the light.
She was attending to a seal. The seal’s snout was trapped in a plastic ring holder and the poor beast looked thin and dishevelled; not at all like the sleek, shiny creatures Sam had seen swimming near the pier. The queen pulled off the plastic, stroking the animal’s fur as she did and speaking in a soft, soothing voice. The seal did a grateful, celebratory turn in the water, bowed and thanked Her Majesty before speeding away.
The queen looked down the floor straight at Sam. ‘You have fetched him, Marée? Well done, good servant. Come forward, boy,’ she said.
Sam stepped towards her, feeling heavy as he pushed against the water.
Marée swam next to him, but stopped when she came to where two more trident-wielding guards stood before the throne. Sam wondered how long it would be before they poked their weapons into him. Marée bowed and stared at Sam, bobbing her head downwards. It took him a second to realise she wanted him to do the same thing. Sam bowed.
‘Queen Amphitrite,’ Marée said, ‘I present to you the traitor.’
‘Easy, Marée, child of Eulimene. He is not of our kind. He may be the enemy, but he may not be treacherous.’
Sam gave a twisted smile.
‘What is your name, boy?’
‘Samuel Kavanagh,’ Sam said.
‘Well, Samuel, child of Kavanagh. You are not in the grip of the sirens’ spell and yet you let those poor bound creatures take you to them. What errand do the sirens have for you?’
‘I’m not on an errand for the sirens. I thought you were sirens,’ Sam said.
One of the guards hit him across the face, the force slowed by the water. It still hurt.
‘What! Do I look like a siren?’ The queen stood upright on her tail, looking taller, and she clenched her fists.
‘I don’t know what sirens look like,’ Sam replied. ‘The book didn’t have any pictures.’
The queen dropped back to her throne. The frown on her face softened and she laughed, causing bubbles to burst out and float up past the glowing fish. ‘Ah, you do not mean it as an insult. Well, for future reference, sirens have bird bodies and scaly feet. Mermaids, on the other hand, look like this.’ She gestured at her tail.
‘Really? Bird bodies? Don’t they live underwater?’
‘Not so much underwater as close to it, on the surface. They like the water well enough, but don’t need to be in it or under it all the time. They are more like sea birds than sea creatures. They’ll get their legs wet, but little else, which is why we don’t have as many battles with them as we could. You are more a sea creature than they, and it appears you are more innocent than we have been led to believe. If you don’t know what a siren looks like, you can hardly be working for them.’
‘It may be a trap,’ said a merman hovering next to Amphitrite’s throne.
The queen smiled, and Sam thought she looked a little like Michelle. She studied Sam’s face. ‘I don’t think so, Viceroy. Let the child of Kavanagh approach.’
Sam’s progress was slow, but the queen waited. Up close, she looked bigger and brighter.
She put out one grand hand around him – it covered his back – and pulled him gently towards her.
‘You have not given him the Breath, child of Eulimene?’
‘No, Your Majesty,’ Marée said. ‘He breathes on his own.’
‘Do you do this by magic, child of Kavanagh?’
‘No, Your Majesty. Or, maybe. It’s not a magic I have control of. I’ve always been like this. Although I didn’t know about being about to withstand water pressure until just now. I’m part gargoyle.’
‘But you look human.’
‘I’m a bit that too.’
The queen turned to the merman. ‘What are the qualities of a gargoyle, Viceroy?’
The viceroy replied, and his voice had the sing-song tone of someone presenting memorised words. ‘A drylander. Stone-skinned, able to petrify at whim. Statue-like and heavy. Can stare at the sun and exist underwater without difficulty. Hatched in The Hole. Of impkind, but records have shown them to be harmless, even friendly on occasion. During the Waves of Athens, it is known that the Gargara of Athens aided in the rescuing of eleven mermaids thrown ashore when one of Poseidon’s tidal waves …’
‘No. You. Don’t!’ a muffled voice said.
A bundle of mer-guards moved at a laborious pace into the throne room. They stabbed at something solid in their midst and a few squealed when their tails got pricked in the melee.
‘What is going on?’ the queen asked.
‘An invader, Majesty. It dug under the wall and nothing we do seems to stop it. We have slowed it only. Away! Away! Before the beast attacks you!’
‘Leave. Sam. Alone,’ the thing covered in mer-guards said. ‘Don’t. Worry. Sam. I’ll. Save. You.’ It took a struggling footstep with every word.
The guards stabbed at it some more.
‘Bladder?’ Sam called.
‘You know the invader, child of Kavanagh?’
‘It’s Bladder. He’s part of my pack. He was in the boat with me.’
‘Desist from stabbing the creature, Captain. I believe it may be justified in its assault. We did kidnap its kin.’
It took a while for the guards to slide off Bladder. One gave a last thump at the stone lion’s head with the blunt end of a spear and a perky stone ear fell off. It sank to the sandy ground.
‘Ow!’ Bladder said.
The mer-guards stared at each other and turned their spears around ready to attack him again.
‘I said “desist”, Captain,’ Queen Amphitrite breathed.
The troop retreated with sneers and pouts as Bladder collected his fallen ear and returned it to its proper place on his head. Even underwater, the ear sizzled, making those in attendance jump.
‘What is this, Viceroy?’ the queen asked.
‘This, I believe, ma’am, is a fully hatched gargoyle.’
‘They have no history of violence towards merkind?’
‘None whatsoever, Majesty. To werewolves and vampires, yes, but their few interactions with us have always been well-intentioned.’
‘Do you mean harm to us now, gargoyle?’
Bladder glared at the queen and made his way towards Sam. ‘If he’s in one piece and I can have him back, I may consider lettin’ you off with a warning.’
The queen laughed. ‘They are loyal and brave, that is true enough. I would rather be friends with you, Sir Bladder, child of Kavanagh.’
‘I’m not …’ Bladder started. He looked around. It didn’t seem worth explaining. He sniffed Sam and sneezed out a noseful of water. Sam rubbed Bladder’s mane.
The queen returned her gaze to Sam. ‘Although monsterkind, your species is shown to be friend to the sea. It is just as occasional that humankind is shown to be friend to the sea. But it is proof it is possible, and the mer accept all such offerings. Are you friend to the sea, children of Kavanagh?’
‘I think so, Your Majesty,’ Sam said. ‘I certainly don’t want to hurt it. I just want to get the other children back.’
‘Then you are both welcome here. And I apologise, Sir Bladder, for causing you so much grief. We feared for our own and believed this child of Kavanagh was the cause of our fear.’
Bladder grimaced. ‘Sam wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
‘I see the truth of that. We thought he was with the sirens: he appeared a human child and yet their song did not call to him. Know he is safe and we want you on your way soon.’ The queen stared at her tail and flicked it a few times. ‘Sir Bladder and Sam, children of Kavanagh, the young ones you speak of are transforming into sea creatures, and the sirens continue to sing them to deeper waters. Some are near the end of their transformation. If it is completed, they will never be human again, even in mind.’
‘What? Ever?’ Sam asked.
‘You still have a small window in which you can turn them back and have them return to their true selves, but they must be close to land when they make the change. Else they will drown.’
‘I just want to find the sirens and convince them to turn them back to humans.’
‘It was not the sirens that changed your friends, Samuel. It was I that changed them.’
Sam and Bladder stared at each other and turned back to the queen. ‘You did? Why did you do that?’
One of the guards glared at Sam and lowered his trident ever so slightly. Bladder growled.
‘The sirens called them to the water. Had they entered and remained human, they would surely have died. It was the only way to save them all,’ Queen Amphitrite said.
‘Oh, thank you, thank you so much,’ Sam said.
The queen’s expression hardened. ‘It was kindly meant, yes – we would not have so many children drown – but many have already forgotten their human side and have little time to remember it.’ As Sam smiled and opened his mouth to speak, she lifted her hand. ‘You must know, Samuel, I am not inclined to remedy this. Our seas are so often depleted by humans, it seems fit to me that humans replenish them.’
Sam hung his head. He understood. If she would not undo her magic, the children would stay fish forever.
‘But the sirens?’ the viceroy said.
The queen pulled Sam close again. ‘Yes, the viceroy reminds me that the sirens must have some dark purpose for stealing human children, as well as calling you to them. And though it would be good for me to keep our waters full, I am also not in the habit of assisting sirens. They are not like gargoyles or humans; there is no record of a siren assisting a merperson. Is that right, Viceroy?’
‘None, Your Majesty. And mayhap this theft will prove evil for us also.’
‘Yes, well considered. Then, child of Kavanagh, for this reason alone I will consider helping you, but only if you can cause the sirens to discontinue their horrendous song. If you can, I will allow the children to return to their original forms when you have them all near dry land. But by my reckoning you have no more than a day to complete the task before those who have changed already are unable to return to their former shape. Even more will have changed while you have been here.’
Sam bowed low. ‘Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, so much.’
‘I will also gift you something else. If I did not, I would not be sincere in my word.’
Sam looked at her, wondering what else she could give him. Maybe a dolphin to get him back to the boat would be useful.
‘I will give you the ability to swim. Touch my tail, Samuel, child of Kavanagh. Touch my tail, Sir Bladder.’
Bladder peered at the queen’s tail and put out a paw. ‘Looks slimy.’
‘Bladder!’ Sam said.
Sam reached out too, and they both touched the beautiful tail of the sea queen. Sam’s hand tingled as a charge went through him, and he saw Bladder’s eyes and mouth open in surprise. Sam felt himself rise, floating up and away from the queen. She grabbed his foot. Bladder tried to swim back to him but his tail continued to rise.
‘Marée, child of Eulimene, you will guide this human-gargoyle back to his craft?’
‘Yes, Majesty.’
‘I do not expect to see you again, Samuel, child of Kavanagh, nor you, Sir Bladder. I would wish you the best, but if you fail, my waters will teem with life. If you succeed, I will have frustrated the sirens. I win either way.’
‘There may be other consequences, Majesty,’ the viceroy said.
‘Perhaps, but they are in Sam’s hands now.’ Queen Amphitrite released Sam’s foot and he floated again. He moved his arms, mimicking Marée and her guards who swam beside him, doing his best to catch up to the rising gargoyle swearing above him.