As if reading my mind, he spoke a final time.“We all have fear. It speaks of your courage that the majority of your fear is not for your own life. Calm yourself. Envision when we have finished with the Volitan and know the vampires’ location. See those you love whole and safe. It will focus your mind.”
I did as he said. I even had a little success, though the double-world thing only increased as we continued ever farther into the forest. It was enough to get my fire back under control. Of all times to be close to erupting into flames.
Another kelp forest came to mind. The morning of Rodrigo’s funeral. Before we’d figured out what was going on with me. I’d destroyed a huge portion of the kelp bed and the creatures that lived there. This was not going to be a repeat. It couldn’t be.
I quit trying to picture everyone making it out safely and instead poured my focus into my ability to control water. While still not perfected, I’d been getting ever better in the constant practice with Wrell since leaving the Scarus. If we found danger, I’d use that. It would stop whatever was happening and didn’t run the risk of destroying everything and everyone around me.
We continued to weave through the kelp forest. Having reached one of the swells of the hills, we started swimming higher. Even though we were a little closer to the surface, between the darkening of the sky and the shroud of seaweed around us, things continued to get darker and more sinister. The buzz in my head from Wrell having contact with the Volitan was so constant that I was struggling to tune it out, its presence continuing to heighten my nerves.
When it felt like we would travel through the kelp for eternity, we arrived. Wrell’s presence in my head vanished, instantly relieving some of the tension. It came back a moment later when I swam around Lelas and saw what was in front of us.
Déjà vu washed over me, and Therin was leading me through the kelp to a large meadow where Syleen and the other elders of the Chromis tribe waited in the sunshine. Even in the bright of day, I’d been such a nervous wreck I’d burst into a ball of flame, taking a puffer fish with me.
That had been nothing compared to this experience.
Even as we moved into the clearing, shadows from the hundred feet of kelp over us fell upon all who were present. And the group waiting for us wasn’t a few mermaids and mermen with pretty-colored tails and the attitude problem of overly pious church board members. The forty or more mers that crowded on the opposite side of the darkened meadow didn’t wait in a polite row but took up the entire space, their mass of bodies looming above us nearly halfway up the height of the kelp. And each one of them was a replica of Wrell. A wall of heavily muscled warriors, dark tattoos swirling over their torsos, lionfish quills unfurled, giving them the appearance of having misplaced, tattered wings. The barbed spikes ran down their spines, long and erect to the point they were visible even though they faced us head-on. As if their bony armor wasn’t enough, each had spears and blades in both hands. While they weren’t pointed in our direction, it was clear they could be sent flying through the water and pin us to the ocean floor.
From the corner of my eye, Wrell’s quills rose in a matching display. He didn’t raise his spear either, but no minutia of his being hinted he was in any way intimidated by the show of strength.
Wrell might not have been impressed, but I was. Without turning my head, I looked over at Lelas. If things went poorly, how were we ever going to get her out of here safely? How would any of us get out of here, for that matter? Staring back up at the wall of quills, muscle, and weapons, the answer to that was obvious. We wouldn’t.
She was over halfway across the meadow before I noticed her swimming at a relaxed pace. Between the shadows and the distracting Volitan wall, she was easy to miss. The mermaid swam toward us upright, her rippling fins allowing her to glide effortlessly closer to us. Like the others, her dorsal spines were rigid, towering over the back of her head a foot or more. Strangely, she carried no weapon. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, leaving her naked shoulders and breasts to glisten softly as she passed through the few sections unclaimed by shadow.
Though she wore no jewels or adornment like Akamaii, the identity of the female held no doubt. She was the leader of the Volitan. Her lack of blades gave more threat than if she’d been laden with weaponry—her tribe so adept at killing that not only could the queen meet strangers unarmed, but she could do so alone.
The queen was less than ten feet from us when she stopped. Across the expanse, the wall of Volitan shifted, though I couldn’t tell what the mers had accomplished in their adjustment. I needed no proof they were doing nothing just for show. Each action had a purpose, and I was willing to bet it allowed them to be more effective should the need arise to slaughter the five of us. It would take them less than half a minute to kill us all. They wouldn’t even need to use all of their weapons. One group toss and there would be nothing left for us to do.
I saw Wrell swimming away, the sunshine highlighting his flexing muscles as he distanced himself from the cluster of Volitan mers, the queen in the center.
For a second, confusion distracted me from the peril we were in. Taking my gaze off the Volitan army, I turned to look at Wrell. At first, Nalu was in the way, hovering slightly above him, making it look like Wrell’s quills were coming from him. Wrell drifted forward less than half a foot. At his motion, the mer lifted their spears and trained them on our group’s Volitan. He stopped instantly but did not return to his original position. Nor did his own quills and spines lower around him.
At a gesture from the queen, the army behind her returned to a semblance of ease.
Again I could see Wrell swimming away from them, a faint hint of aggression accompanying his departure. This time I realized the vision came from the queen. A reminder that Wrell was never to approach them again.
The action took me by surprise, though I should have expected it. I’m sure the others had. Speaking through images and emotions was something I’d related to Wrell specifically. I’d forgotten that it was an aspect of his tribe, not just an idiosyncrasy.
Wrell offered a picture of us in front of Akamaii, the cavernous chamber displayed behind her. It seemed lifetimes ago that we’d left the Scarus.
Before he could communicate further, the queen cut him off with a swipe of her hand. She showed him returning to our small line of misfits. She let that image sink in, then showed him moving slightly behind Nalu. Another wave of her fingers and a solitary spear rose across the meadow, the female that held the weapon near the top of the fortification of bodies.
No more talking from Wrell.
Still not lowering his quills, Wrell swiped his fins in such a way that he drifted backward, coming to a stop beside Nalu. With a small bow of his head, he then slid farther back in compliance.
Without moving, Therin’s voice broke into our minds. Though not actually audible, after the time of quiet fear through the forest and the command of visions, the words were loud and abrasive.“We mean no disrespect. We merely seek—”
This time a combination of movements from the queen cut him off, a second spear rising in the background.
Nalu and Lelas weren’t going to say anything, and I sure as hell wasn’t either. Though I couldn’t see their eyes, and I was certain the Volitans were watching for their queen’s commands, I could feel their eyes on my naked body, inspecting my legs. If they’d had members of their tribe taken, the last thing they needed to see was a reminder of the captors.
The queen seemed content to simply stare at us. Only her head turned slightly as she passed over our small group, and her fins fluttered softly, keeping her in place. Both of the spears in the background remained poised.
I was convinced she was going to turn her back on us and drift away as her people riddled us with spears, when she provided another vision—Lelas swam forward and paused within arm’s length in front of the queen.
No sensation accompanied the scene, but the directive was clear.
Pausing only an instant, Lelas flicked her tail and started to move toward the queen.
