Fire (The Mermaid Legacy - Book 2) (19 page)

I’d ended the conversation, realising that Thanh wasn’t about to go against Mitra in any way, he was far too in awe of her to think straight.

When I’d finally crawled into my capsule to sleep, Thanh’s comment about Mitra wouldn’t let me rest. She was completely bonded to me and yet she was able to think and make decisions and lead on her own. Sabrina’s prediction about the two of us achieving great things together sat uncomfortably with the horror Mitra had brought about; if those were the kind of great things Sabrina was talking about, I wanted no part in them… What disturbed me the most though was that despite all of my misgivings about her, I truly liked Mitra. We’d only had the day to get to know each other and yet I still felt like she was my best friend. I felt safe with her, strong with her, right...somehow.

The problem I had was that part of me was delighted with her behaviour, part of me felt she’d done exactly what I wasn’t brave enough to do…punish the humans for their atrocities. The human part of me was horrified by the thought that I had the right to stand as judge, jury and executioner over anyone.

I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, my dreams drenched in confusion and longing for Merrick.

The dream that woke me was another one of Merrick.

He was healthy, the muscle rippling across his stomach and back as he led me, smiling, through the blue. He was showing me his favourite place in the ocean, something he’d promised he’d do. In the dream I was excited, excited to see what he so wanted to show me and excited to be alone with him. The water darkened around us as he led me through the entrance of a cave
.

There was no light whatsoever and my heart began to pound as his hand slipped from mine
.

“Merrick,” I screamed, only to have resounding silence pound on my ears
.

A golden glow lit the centre of the cave and as I swam toward it I realised that it was a set of huge golden eyes…Mitra’s eyes…She turned from me to look deeper into the cave. I followed the light, swimming at the side of her head and staring in horror at a vortex of skeletons that swirled around a single figure covered in sores
.

I woke with a jolt when the figure looked up and I recognised Merrick’s face beaten to a pulp.

It was pre-dawn again. None of the other Oceanids were awake as I slipped from my capsule, unable to tolerate its claustrophobic confines any longer. I lingered in the arena trying to settle the fear that still wrapped long hungry tentacles around me. The worst part of the dream had been the hope that I’d have that experience with Merrick. It was something I’d longed for when he’d spoken of his home in the blue as we got to know each other in the heat of the mountains.

Neith’s men were formidable, organised and brutal. My army was a shambles, and how we would get the Oceanids battle-ready in time I just didn’t know.

Tears spilled into the water around me as I struggled to believe I’d one day feel Merrick’s arms around me again, one day follow him happily into the beautiful places the ocean held.

Alexandra?

I tried to push Mitra away, wanting to grieve the loss of my dream and the hope of winning as I faced reality.

Alexandra, Defender of the Ocean
.

What do you want?
I replied belligerently.

Come here
.

Leave me alone, Mitra
.

Come here, you must see
.

I slipped out of The Haven and almost swam directly into her before slipping into the gap behind her neck.

She swam quickly away from The Haven and further towards land than I’d been before.

Where are we going?

Home

We reached a very dense part of the forest where Mitra paused. The water around us thrummed and I watched in amazement as the ‘forest’ came alive with dozens and dozens of Zmija moving aside to allow Mitra and me entrance. They closed behind us as she swam, eventually stopping at a sandy area that was surprisingly devoid of life compared to the throng we’d just swum through.

She thrummed again and out of the sand wriggled hundreds of miniature Zmijas.

Home
, Mitra repeated.

Why are you showing me this?

It is your home now too
.

Tears welled in my eyes as the little Zmija curled around me in slippery ribbons, their thoughts racing through my mind as they welcomed and accepted me.

We spent an hour or so in the protection of the Zmija and in that time Mitra coaxed from the midst of my humanity the Oceanid part of me that had been suppressed all my life. In that time I fell in love with the sea.

On the way back to The Haven Mitra nudged me as I learnt only she could, in the direction I needed to go.

You love Merrick
. It was a statement and one I knew I didn’t need to explain to her.

Yes
.

I love my young ones
.

Yes
, I replied.

We fight together to save those we love
.

I smiled.
Yes
.

We will win
.

I grinned.
Yes, Mitra, let’s do that
.

She was a formidable leader and the perfect partner to go into battle with.

I returned to the Haven to find Takimu waiting impatiently at the entrance.

“You’re ready to go?” he asked brusquely.

“Go where?”

“You’re going into the depths to choose your Mizrak.”

“Oh, yes of course…isn’t it a bit early?” I asked, watching as the light just touched the surface of the ocean.

“Yes, it’s the best time to look for one, and having a Mizrak of your own will make fighting a lot easier.”

Mitra snapped viciously at Takumi as he approached me. I eventually managed to convince her that Takimu meant no harm and should be allowed to ride with us.

She responded with a bellowing roar, shaking her mane as she did so and glaring at Takimu, and probably waking every living thing within a one kilometre radius.

What is the matter?

He thinks you weak
.

Well, he has just cause to think so, and I’m not going to be able to prove him wrong if you eat him
.

She chuckled at that, the water thrumming around us as she closed her teeth-lined mouth and turned away from him and the entrance to The Haven.

“Friendly isn’t she?” Takimu muttered as he gently drifted into place over her neck before settling.

“Where are we going?” I asked, choosing to ignore the remark.

“The valley of the Mizraks” he replied.

I thought about the word ‘Mizrak’ and Mitra shuddered.

“I don’t think she wants to go there.”

“It’s known as the valley of blades,” Takimu told me.

“That doesn’t sound very comforting.”

“It’s not,” he replied. and Mitra shuddered again.,

We left the safety of the kelp as the sun glittered in gold, rose and mauve on the waves above us. Mitra used the cover of pre-dawn to glide above the waves more than she swam beneath them.

I had no idea where we were going and no way to know when we arrived, but the soft light hid us from any prying eyes and for that I was grateful.

After a while she slowed, another shudder running through her as I stared into a darker shade of night below us. She whispered a whine of protest as I drifted away from her, my eyes struggling to adjust as we sank towards the gloom.

Danger
, she told me anxiously.

I have to do this
.

Stupid
, she replied and I couldn’t disagree with her.

A deep narrow fissure became evident as we sank, the exact proportions of it marred by an intricately jagged outline.

Takimu produced a piece of rock he’d obviously brought with him and let it drift slowly into the valley of blades.

A flurry of bubbles and a high-pitched whirring noise created a background to the confusion of sudden movement as the Mizraks flung themselves at the rock, burying their razor-sharp pointed ends into it as if it was soft butter.

I gulped.

“You need to move very slowly only following the flow of the water,” Takimu whispered. “Drift with the current and whatever you do, don’t touch them.”

“Another thing.” He grabbed at my elbow as I prepared to go into the trench. “The best Mizraks, the most powerful ones, are the ones located deepest in the trench. If you can, get one of those...” His voice petered out, laden with doubt.

“Of course they are,” I muttered to myself as I floated, parachute-style over the trench.

To my surprise Takimu whispered, “ Be careful, Alexandra. Get out alive and unharmed, we need you more than you know.”

I nodded, throwing a tight smile his way.

I relaxed every muscle and allowed myself to drift with the cool current into the trench. The Mizraks pointed in every direction, their razor-sharp tips having buried themselves into the rock so that I felt like I was drifting into the mouth of some horrible ancient monster, who, although statue-still, was watching my every move, waiting for me to be far enough within its jaws before they snapped shut and skewered me with the razor-sharp teeth that surrounded me.

The space available for movement became ever more constricted as the longer and more powerful Mizraks extended farther out into black open water. My heart was thudding loudly as fear and claustrophobia swept through me, my ears aching with the pressure and awaited sound of the whirring Mizrak before they speared through my body.

I’d drifted to the bottom of the open water, the space around me so dark I could just make out the porcupine-like needles of the Mizraks closest to me.

Takimu had said I should firmly grasp the end of one of the Mizraks and pull it out of the rock and then drift upwards with it, but as I floated there it occurred to me that it may not like being pulled out of the rock and that its movement could awaken the Mizraks around it, and I would end up in shreds.

I needed to find a Mizrak that wasn’t too tightly wedged or completely surrounded by others and then draw it out of its resting place slowly.

My eyes struggled to find one that was in a position like that and when I eventually did it was huge. I searched a few moments longer for another one, unsure how I would ever learn to work with a weapon as long as my legs. None of the others were accessible and the dim light of night was brightening quickly into daylight...I was out of time. I drifted over to it and placed both hands firmly over the only part of it that wasn’t razor-sharp.

Still minutely aware of the potential for disaster if the other Mizraks felt the movement, I gave a half-hearted tug.

Nothing happened for a few seconds and then the Mizrak slid easily out of the rock like a sword from a sheath, before it began to spin in a whirring frenzy straight for the bottom of the trench.

I was holding on with both hands, feeling like water being sucked down a drain pipe. Above me the Mizraks had sensed the movement and were throwing themselves blindly across the narrow strip of water I’d only just vacated.

The Mizrak I was holding on to slowed its churning race for the sea floor and lazily buried itself into the rock again.

I could see nothing, there was no sense of up or down, left or right, there was just pressing ice-cold darkness. The only orientation I had was where my hands were locked around the Mizrak. I knew I couldn’t let go. If I did I’d get lost in this horrible dark place and never find my way back out again.

With a heave I pulled the Mizrak from the rock again and pointed it at what I thought might be the surface. It resisted at first but then shot forwards. I swam too, propelling us faster and hoping against hope that we were heading for the surface and not for whatever lurked in the depths.

A blur of movement and the whirling of Mizraks reverberated around me as I shot through shades of black into the clear water above the trench.

Takimu dived out of the way as I exited the trench darting away from me as my Mizrak zoomed around in open water trying to shake me free. It took all of my strength to hold it still as Takimu hurriedly placed a pearlescent sheath over it. As soon as it was covered in the casing of shell it calmed down, settling as still as stone and looking quite beautiful within the pale pinks, mauves, silver and cream of the shell.

I began to shake, as my body registered the danger I’d just escaped.

“You’re bleeding.” Takimu’s voice was worried as he approached me, earning a shriek of anger from Mitra.

It’s OK, Mitra
, I managed to think,
he’s just trying to help me
.

She didn’t communicate in words, but she did send a wave of suspicion racing through the water at me.

“Let’s get you back,” Takimu murmured as he helped me to settle onto my Mitra before she took off for The Haven.

A patchwork of fine cuts laced my arms, legs and torso, stinging now that I had the chance to register them.

“Where did you disappear to?” Takimu asked as he held me upright and kept me from falling off the Zmija as she alternated between flying over the waves and under them.

“It took me close to the bottom of the trench,” I whispered.

He shuddered as did Mitra beneath us.

“What’s down there?” I asked leaning against him involuntarily.

“Monsters I’m very glad you didn’t meet,” he replied as I drifted, leaving a trail of blood behind me.

“You must rest, Alex, even if it’s for an hour,” Maya insisted as she scanned my body, smiling in faint approval at the very light pink lines that laced my body.

“There’s too much to do, Maya…I can’t just lie around knowing Merrick is probably being tortured as we speak.”

“Just an hour, Alex, you can use the time to think or strategise or something. I know it looks like your cuts are all healed, but you must give your body a chance…”

I sighed, the effort of sitting up having exhausted me already, proving Maya right, for now at least.

Dad still hovered worriedly around me but I asked him to continue practising with the Oceanids, knowing we didn’t have time for even this slight delay. We would have to practice the application of talents and soon.