Rapidly, Queen Mikko started swimming downward, her mouth moving in tiny whispers.
King Elon grabbed the Merfolk Queen’s right hand and started dragging her down to the bottom of the ocean.
Father and I glanced at each other and swiftly followed.
The sand was already moving in great bursts outward, flying high in the water, creating a valley around us as the Caster Queen worked her spell.
And a great shadow suddenly loomed over us.
I looked back…and wished I hadn’t.
Faster and faster, I swam toward the bottom of the ocean, my father right beside me, the water getting darker.
The shadow of the kraken above danced on my skin like the nightmare before you die.
King Athon reached down into the sand, ripping a golden trident from the skeletal hand that appeared out of the bottom of the ocean. He lifted it high above him and started swimming up toward all of us.
Queen Mikko reached him first and swiftly turned, ascending with him.
A tentacle swept right above my head, the heaviness of the wave sending me off course. Iscreamedand rolled in the wake.
Fingers grabbed onto my left ankle in a bone breaking grip.
And my arms flew up as I was yanked back hard, the person not releasing me until I was in their strong arm.
I blinked blurrily at a silver face.
Then King Elon and I each grabbed onto an arm of a weak Merfolk Queen, who barely had her eyes open.
And we swam down again.
Father floated slightly below us, his eyes up on the kraken.
He waited. Not moving until I was next to him again.
We swam down, almost there. A few more strokes.
And suddenly…there was complete darkness.
It was pitch black. All I could do was keep swimming toward where I’d last seen my soul mate’s frantic eyes staring up into mine.
And…I slammed right into him, our heads banging harshly together. I didn’t allow that to stop me. I pressed my free hand on my soul mate’s shoulder, while I felt a constant tug on the grasp I had on Queen Alora. My fingernails dug down into my soul mate’s skin to keep from being pulled away, the Gorgon King still trying to swim down and trying to drag Queen Alora with him.
Swiftly, I wrapped my arm around my soul mate’s neck and used him as an anchor to pull on the Merfolk Queen’s arm.
Fortunately, the Gorgon King wasn’t unintelligent.
The tug from before on the Merfolk Queen lessened as he swam back up. I felt another hand land on my arm that was around my soul mate’s neck as we floated, and I didn’t know whose it was. All I could do was hang onto a grand total of three rulers.
In the dark, I pulled the Merfolk Queen closer.
My head jerked back as metal tapped it.
I instantly grabbed the trident and shoved Queen Alora’s arm on it, right before another immense wave shoved me brutally against my soul mate, with the bite of a hundred tiny, pointed teeth ripping against the back of my thighs.
Iscreamedin agony, even as we suddenly appeared in the too bright light of the pristine conference room at High Pointe.
Royals fell to the ground in a wet slap, limbs intertwined, heads banging and groans sounding.
