The merman floats closer, fists clenched, tail lashing, all his eyes going narrow. “You think you can ignore me?” He’s at arm’s length now, teeth snapping at the water with every word. “I’ll break your hands so you can never clean again. I’ll break your?—”
He never finishes the threat.
Cassius moves so fast the water in the room booms. He brings his dagger down on the merman’s skull, hard enough that I feel the shock in my own teeth. The merman’s head whips forward, crashing into the table, sending bones and forks spiraling through the water.
Cassius grabs for the key at the merman’s throat, but the merman is faster than I thought. He whips his tail, catching Cassius in the side, sending him reeling against the wall. A gasp slips from my lips, but I don’t even have time to process what just happened. The merman spins, teeth bared, and now his eyes are on Cassius, on his dagger, on the threat.
“You brought friends,” he says, voice gone low and slick.
I leap forward with my dagger, aiming for the merman, hoping to catch him off-guard. He barely turns, striking my arm and sending my dagger spinning away, falling onto the sandy ground.
“Let the men play,” he growls.
Cassius doesn’t reply. He circles, arms out, his posture loose, but his eyes never leave the merman’s neck. I see the plan. He wants to get the key, get me out, and get out alive. Unfortunately, the merman sees it, too.
He laughs, a horrible sound. “Think you can fight me in my own home?”
The next second is all movement.
Cassius feints left, but the merman blocks him, tail a battering ram. They circle, testing each other, and every time Cassius tries to get close, the merman swats him back, using his size and reach. The merman is bigger, stronger, but Cassius is quicker, smarter, using his power over the water itself to angle and dodge. Still, it’s a losing battle. Every time the merman lands a hit, Cassius shudders, just a little.
He’s getting hurt. The merman is going to kill him. I have to do something!
My dagger is right there on the sand. If I could get it, if I could help… I want to, but the chain only gives me a few feet, and the fight is moving too fast. I try to edge toward it, but the ball won’t budge, and the scraping sound nearly gives me away.
The merman catches me looking. “You want to help him?” He laughs, not taking his eyes off Cassius. “Stupid human. Stupid little girl.”
He swings at Cassius, claws out. Cassius blocks it, but barely, the blow spinning him sideways. The merman is on him in a second, grabbing Cassius by the throat and squeezing, hauling him off the floor. Cassius claws at the grip, trying to break it, but the merman’s hands are like stone.
“Leave him alone!” I shout, but the merman doesn’t even bother to turn and look at me, he just keeps his focus on squeezing the life out of Cassius.
I reach for the dagger, stretching until my shoulder nearly pops from the socket, and just barely get it. I angle it at the chain, try to wedge the blade into the lock. It doesn’t work, not even a little. I want to scream, to throw the dagger, but I don’t trust myself to hit the merman, and not Cassius.
Cassius kicks at the merman, hard, and finally gets a hand free. He slams the dagger into the merman’s arm. Blood clouds the water, slow and dark. The merman howls and drops him, tail thrashing. Cassius lands. He stumbles, but doesn’t go down.
He raises his hands. The water around him starts to move, at first just a shudder, then a rush. I see it, the magic. He’s making the water dance. He brings his palms together, and a funnel of current slams the merman into the far wall, hard enough to crack the stone. The merman staggers, dazed, and Cassius hits him again, another rush of water, sharper this time, like a battering ram of ice.
The merman tries to push off the wall, but Cassius is ready. He flicks his wrist, and a dozen darts of water shoot from his hand, slicing into the merman’s skin. They leave lines of red and white, deep, but not painful.
The merman roars and charges, jaws wide, teeth snapping. Cassius sidesteps, but the tail catches him again, this time in the gut, folding him double. The merman grabs Cassius’s hair, slams his face into the table, then pins him down. A scream slips from my lips, but it only brings a smile to the merman’s mouth.
“You’re weak,” the merman says and grins wider, blood dribbling from his lip.
Cassius’s eyes flick to mine. I see the plan, the plea.
I take the dagger and throw it.
It arcs through the water, slow, almost floating, but the merman doesn’t expect it. The blade catches him in the shoulder, not deep, but enough. He jerks, loosening his hold, and Cassius rips free. He dives, grabs the merman by the throat, and shoves him back against the wall.
Cassius’s hand glows, a shimmer of blue energy radiating out. The water around the merman starts to swirl, faster and faster, like a whirlpool that’s all teeth and pressure. The merman screams, but the sound is sucked away by the spinning current. Cassius’s face is twisted, rage and focus, and I realize I’ve never seen him look so alive.
The merman claws at his own neck, eyes wild, and Cassius steps back, to make it easier for his magic to attack. Thewhirlpool closes, slamming the merman against the wall again and again, bones crunching, blood smearing the stone.
Finally, the merman goes limp, body slumping to the floor. The water stops moving. Cassius staggers, almost falling, but catches himself on the table. The merman isn’t dead. I see his chest moving, slow and shallow, but for now he’s unconscious.
Cassius locks eyes with me. “Are you okay?”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
