Spio cleared his throat. “Not that I’m trying to discount your detective work, but that still doesn’t tell us where the prison is.”
“Hang on,” said Meela. “They said where it was. Something Peaks.”
Multicoloured flames licked the sky, trying to spread as far and wide as possible.
The serpent backed away, disappearing behind the wall of debris and smoke.
Not only had we lost Adaro, but we were also about to lose the serpent. We had to get around this mess and keep following.
The helicopter wove around the column of smoke, presumably finding a clear spot to rescue the crew.
“It was something like…” said Meela. “Ugh, I remember reading the word in one of Tanuu’s textbooks, but I can’t remember the details. It’s from Ancient Greece.”
“Again,” said Spio, “nothing against your sleuthing skills, but basically everything this side of the waves is named for Greek history.”
“Peaks …” I said, recalling something from when I was a kid. “There’s a range east of Utopia. We passed through when we moved to Utopia from Eriana Kwai so I could start training.”
“Are you talking about the Nereids?” said Spio.
“That’s it!” shouted Meela so abruptly that I clutched my heart. “The Nereid Peaks!”
“That’s the place they mentioned?” I said.
Meela nodded. “That’s where our queen is.”
We stared at each other, the beat of silence alive with adrenaline.
“You need to go there,” said Meela.
“Now?” said Spio and I together.
Meela looked desperately towards the retreating serpent. “After you’ve made the decoy. Go as fast as you can and get Evagore.”
“What about you?” I said.
“Once I have the serpent, I’ll find the nearest ship and tell the Americans to meet us at Eriana Kwai.”
“Once you—? Mee, you can’t do that by yourself!”
I tried to process what she was saying. How was I supposed to let her throw herself into danger like that, swimming up to a ship full of humans?
“I’ll have the serpent with me for protection,” said Meela.
I cast her a look of horror.
Spio glanced between us, then said evasively, “In the way of bodyguards, the serpent’s a pretty good one to have.”
“It might be invincible, but Meela isn’t.”
“You have to trust her, buddy. From what I’ve seen, Meela can fend for herself as well as you can.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came.
“Lysi, please,” said Meela. “We’re out of time. Trust that I can do this.”
I wanted to trust her. I knew how much this meant to her. But I was so afraid of losing her.
Meela pointed eastwards. “I think that’s it. I think that’s where he’s going.”
