Called

by E J Pay

  I turn to see how close they are. 100 yards, 95 yards, 85 yards. The mammoth creatures with their inky weapons are gaining on us fast. Again, I spot Gwen. She sees the octopi, and is swimming with all her might toward me and Pisces. But can she get to us in time to help? Do I even want her too? I am not sure how I feel about Gwen right now, but I know I am not ready to let her sacrifice herself for me. I let go of the reins with one hand to wave her off and try to shout amid the furious noises all around me. Pisces makes another zag, this time even closer to the safety of the Army of Atlantis. I am not prepared for the move and I pay for it. I am flung out of the saddle just as Pisces changes direction. The rein in my left hand breaks and I am tangled in a leathery mess, trying to free myself and swim away.

  Pisces turns and swims straight for my sinking figure. But in his haste, he is struck directly in the right eye with a slimy black ink blot. I feel his pain as he flies backward several feet. In desperation, I reach for the small knife in my waistband and cut at the leather strap that is binding my arm to my leg. An ink blot hits my arm, and a steamy mess raises up from my armor. I dropped my knife as pain hits me. Somewhere behind me I hear a cry. I turn my body to face the familiar voice and see Gwen racing toward me. Can she possibly get to me? I feel Pisces doing all he can to locate me with his one good eye and our mental connection. I am not sure which way to turn. Gwen has gained ground and is still able bodied. If she can get me out of this ridiculous leather strap, together we can help Pisces and make it back to the Army. It is a long shot, but it is all I have. I swim toward Gwen as best as I can. In less than two minutes, Gwen reaches me, mace in hand, ready to fight. “I am here for you Evelyn. I am here for you,” she manages to say between heaving gasps for breath. Relief sweeps through me as she reaches for the leather strap that twists around me. Ink blots spray at us through the water. Gwen turns and yells at the enemy octopi, her useless words muffled by the barrage of noise all around us.

  I feel panic sweeping through Pisces behind me. I turn around in time to see an over-sized, great white shark rocketing upward toward my faithful friend. I open my mouth to scream, but cannot get a sound out before Pisces has been catapulted upward by the terrific beast. I wriggle with super-human strength until I am free from the leather strap. I shoot through the water, leaving Gwen holding the strap behind me. She swims after me as fast as she can, the swarm of octopi gaining ground.

  I reach the great white just as he and Pisces initiate a battle. But Pisces is wounded. The ink blot that hit his eye has left him blind on that side. He needs me to see for him.

  Pisces, I am here. I reach out to his mind with mine so he knows he can fight with me. I am instantly repulsed by an inward feeling emanating from the fish.

  NO! Evelyn, stand down!

  The great white barrels into Pisces’ left side and underbelly as my friend is distracted by my presence. By now, we are above the main noise and confusion of the battle against Ceto. Pisces swings around and plants his side armor directly on the right side of the shark’s head. The great white shakes it off and turns to go at Pisces again. How can I not help him? Rare abilities or no, I am not about to let him die. I make my decision.

  I crunch my body into a ball and hold my shield above my head. Just below the strength of my shield, I hold my mace, the ball trailing along my back. I hear the scuffle moving above me. I wait until I sense Pisces’ position. Gwen is within two arm’s lengths behind me. I propel my body upward, straightening my body as I do so. My shield moves powerfully above me as I stretch out my left arm. I ready my right hand with my mace, elbow bent and raised with my clenched fist ready to spring from behind my shoulder.

  When I feel Pisces near enough, I move the shield aside and swing with all my might at the great white shark directly above my head. The heavy, spiked ball makes powerful contact with the shark just behind his right fin, grazing the fin on its way to its mark. Blood from the shark fills the water. In the blinding red that surrounds me, I lose sight of Pisces. I reach out to him mentally, but he is blocking my communication – still trying to keep me from the battle. I feel the water above me swirling as the two injured fish again resume their fight.

  I swim downward to get out of the blood and get a better view of the battle above. I am met by Gwen who has her mace up and ready to fight. She drops her shield as she reaches me and takes hold of my right arm. “What are you doing?” I ask her, pulling away. I am too concerned about Pisces to worry about running for my life with Gwen.

  “The shield is too heavy. I’m faster without it,” she answers. I looked wide-eyed over her shoulder as I see the swarm of octopi upon us. We have just a few yards left until we will be overtaken. I drop my shield for greater speed. Gwen still has ahold of my arm. She is frozen with fear and incapable of letting go.

  “Gwen,” I yell, “let me go to Pisces!” Then I see the look of determination on her face.

  “I’m sorry, Evelyn, I can’t let you do that. You are too important” is her calm and firm response. Is she in on the plan to keep me from fighting? Can nobody let me help in any way? Gwen drops her mace and I am amazed at her foolishness. How can she fight without a weapon? In an instant, she wraps herself around my body, swimming around from behind, never letting go of my right arm. Her right arm crosses the front of my body until it reaches my left arm and holds on tight. I am trapped. Even her legs are entwined around mine. I fight against her grip, reaching out to Pisces instinctively for his help. But Pisces is silent. Soon, the octopi are on us. Gwen refuses to let me fight. I am certain the octopi are on their way to help the shark with Pisces. A seasoned battle fish such as Pisces is a great trophy. Why can’t I even help him?

  In complete aggravation I send a mental, raging scream out to the octopi to stop! To my surprise, they all stop – around Gwen and me. What have I done? The next thing I know, the octopi close in around us and everything goes black.

  Chapter 20

  We are moving quickly through the water and have been for several hours. Gwen’s arms and legs are still wrapped around me, their strength all but gone. Her protective posture is like a blanket in the blackness. I am wrapped by Gwen and she is wrapped by several octopi. Two or three at least. Neither of us has spoken since we were captured. We each have an octopus tentacle firmly clasped over our mouths. At times I even find it difficult to breathe.

  Finally, I feel that we are moving downward. The water around us is getting colder and darker. We come to a stop. I hear voices and sense sea creatures talking to one another. Like the consciousness of the octopi, the sea creatures’ minds are new to me. Maybe sharks, maybe eels. Definitely not sea creatures found in Atlantis.

  The pressure around my body relaxes as the octopi release Gwen and me. I fall to a stone floor of a cave. Poor Gwen. She has been holding onto me for so long that her limbs are completely limp. An octopus picks her up and carries her in its many tentacles. Fingers grow grotesquely from the ends of each tentacle. He is a two-worlder. His transformation is almost complete. Gwen is unconscious and the octopus two-worlder swims with her through a door at the back of the cave. My own arms and legs tingle like mad as I lie on the stone floor. I feel its unyielding cold, even in these frigid waters. My voice is hoarse and cracked when I finally speak to our captors.

  “Where are we? Why have you brought us here? We cannot possibly be worth anything to you.”

  “Oh, you are worth much more than you know, Dearie,” I recognize that voice. No, I recognize that consciousness. It is the shark who attacked Pisces. As my eyes adjust to the greenish light of the small cave we are in, I turn my face upward toward the great white shark. His eyes are glossy black and his nose large and pointed. I see rows upon rows of sharp teeth in his massive jaws. His tremendous, scar-covered body hovers in front of me as I speak to him. From where I sit, I cannot see his right flank – the one I hit with my mace. The memory of it still brings me some satisfaction. A smile creeps onto my face.

  “What do you smile at, child?” the shark co
mmunicates angrily down into my eyes. Those eyes on that body I saw attacking my protector. My entire body goes from cold to hot in a matter of seconds and I feel the water around me heating up with my anger.

  “What have you done to Pisces?!” I shout. It is the shark’s turn to smile now. A low, rumbling chuckle starts from deep within his throat and grows and grows until a full bodied laugh erupts from his massive jaws. “Pisces?! Pisces?! What have I done to Pisces?! Let me tell you, little child, that Pisces friend of yours has been a thorn in my side my entire life! I only gave him what he deserved!”

  “Did you leave him there alone with no one to help him? Was he alive when you left?” The questions are moving beyond my unwilling lips without my permission. Having seen the first strikes of this behemoth of a shark, I can only imagine the worst for my friend and guard.

  The rumbling chuckle of the shark remains within his throat this time. He is working hard to restrain himself. “You don’t need to worry about Pisces. He didn’t suffer long.”

  That is all the answer I need. I know it is over for Pisces. He is dead. He is dead. He is dead because he tried to protect me. Why would the Army of Atlantis make such a trade, allowing a warrior like Pisces to protect a new recruit? I feel bile rising in my throat, the taste bitter and burning in my mouth. I vomit into the heated water around me. One of the octopi behind me pulls me back so I will not be swimming in my own filth. As the cooler water swirls around my face again, the pain in my heart awakens. From somewhere behind me, a voice, a man’s voice, calls out to the shark in front of me.

  “Tertius, you are wanted in her majesty’s chambers. She desires a report from you on your success and your prisoner.”

  “PrisonerS,” I can’t help correcting the error. I won’t forget about Gwen. With Pisces gone, she is all I have left from our battle. She is all I have left of my life on land. We are likely to die in this cold, dark, and murky place, she is all I have left at all.

  Tertius, the great white shark, makes an acquiescent grunt and heads toward the opening of the cave. He is better at obeying orders than I am.

  “Can I at least be in the same cell as Gwen?” I ask. I know she is passed out, but I need to see her to know she is okay. Tertius opens his mouth to answer me but is interrupted by the voice from the man I cannot see.

  “You are under strict orders not to communicate with the prisoner further, Tertius.” Tertius closes his mouth and leaves the room. The giant octopus that is holding me moves forward into the cave. We enter a door on the left and make our way through long, twisting tunnels in the naturally created cave-dungeon. No matter how many times I protest or ask where we are headed, all three of the octopi remain mute. After a while I realize they aren’t two-worlders. They are octopi recruited by Ceto to work as dumb minions. I try reaching out to the octopus that is holding me. I briefly touch his consciousness. It is murky and clouded – not as easy as communicating with Pisces, but I am able to communicate slowly. I decide to work on them one at a time, trying out each to see who might be susceptible to persuasive conversation.

  Where are you taking me? I ask. Surprise registers through the sea creature as he senses my question, still he remains unresponsive. I try again. Where are we going? Where are we? I feel the creature stiffen. He is struggling to not answer my questions. I’m sure your leaders would be fine with answering such simple questions, I communicate. Finally, a slow and quiet response fills my mind.

  I am not to speak to prisoner. Excellent. I got through and have the brute speaking to me.

  It’s not talking if you don’t open your mouth. I say, wondering if he will buy my explanation. He remains thoughtful for a moment and I don’t push him. I wait for him to make up his mind to speak to me.

  I guess so, He finally says. I never thought of it that way. Of course he hadn’t. He hasn’t thought about much at all. I will use that to my advantage.

  So, why don’t we start with more civilized conversation? What is your name? From the way this slow-of-speech octopus straightens his body, I can tell the thought of being called civilized is a new concept to him and one he wants very much.

  Gus, He replies. What name you? He asks.

  I’m Evelyn, but my friends call me Evie. Not true, but entering the word ‘friend’ into the conversation is a good idea.

  Evie pretty name. I call Evie you.

  Oh, no, Gus. Only friends call me Evie. We haven’t really known each other long enough to be friends.

  Maybe soon we be friends.

  If circumstances allow it, Gus. At present, you are taking me to my jail cell. It’s hard to be friends that way.

  I try harder.

  Thank you, Gus. After ten minutes, we reach the cell. It is a shallow opening in the wall of the cave that indents only three feet or so. A thick wall of ice covers most of the opening. Since I can control water temperature, I know that will work to my advantage, but I have to make sure my timing is right. Gus, where is my friend you also captured? Her name is Gwen and I am concerned for her.

  She girl you friend?

  Yes, Gus.

  Oh, she fine now. She in good room. At least I have some form of comfort there. I don’t think Gus is capable of lying. It would use up too many brain cells.

  The giant octopus sets me down gently in the jail cell.

  My watch not now, he says. Murphy not talk too much. Even to me! I sense a hint of humor in Gus’ mind. I can’t see where his mouth is to find his smile, so I give him a smile of my own.

  Goodbye, Gus.

  Goodbye Evelyn-soon-friend. This is going nicely.

  As two of the octopi slide away back through the cave’s hallway, nobody put a door on my cell. At first, I think this is neglect on their part and very good luck for me. However, the third octopus, Murphy, remains at his post next to my cave entrance. With a one-on-one guard system, I am not sure who would ever need a door. But I do wonder what they would do if they ever had more prisoners than octopi. I try valiantly to reach out to Murphy despite Gus’ encouragement to the contrary. I find, however, that Gus was right. Murphy isn’t big into communication. I touch his consciousness but he gruffly pushes my efforts away.

  I settle in for a long night but my body has had enough. From the battle with Celia to the trek across the ocean to this new dungeon, my body has given all it can. I lay down on my jail cell floor, hunger pains tearing through my stomach, and settle in for a very fitful sleep.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I have been searching forever. Finally, I find what I am looking for. As I enter the room, the now familiar warmth greets me like an old friend. The fear that I have been holding onto dissipates. I know I am in the right place.

  Just as it always does, the glowing orb pulsates warmth and brightness in the space before me. But this time there is something different. This time I can hear it speaking to me. Yes, yes it is speaking to me. But what is it saying? It is more of a feeling than actual words. I strain to listen.

  Then, just as they always do, voices come screaming into the room. I recognize more of them, some I still do not know. The voice of the orb grows faint. I reach for it, knowing the entire time what the consequence of this action will be. I sense someone near me. Someone familiar. They are reaching out too. Panic grips me again and I know I have to be the first to reach out to the stone. I stretch out my arm, my fingers barely skimming the surface of the ball in front of me. I see flashes of light. Images shoot through my mind. Images that I do not understand and cannot entirely see. Suddenly, the orb bursts into a giant, glowing ball, pushing me backward with the thrust of its growth. Just as suddenly, it contracts again, this time into a size that can fit into the palm of my hand. Its glow is gone as is its brilliance. Instead, it falls to the floor as a heavy black ball. I lunge forward and grasp it desperately with my hand. My fingers curve around the fist-sized ball in a grip that cannot be broken.

  Once again, I realize with dread that I can no longer breathe.

 
; Chapter 21

  Evelyn-soon-friend. Evelyn-soon-friend. You up now. You meet majesty.

  Gus? Is that you? I shake myself from the terrifying paralysis of my dream.

  Yes, Evelyn-soon-friend. I Gus. I take you now meet majesty.

  Gus, where is my friend, Gwen? The one you said was in a nice room? Is she okay? Is she strong this morning? Can she talk? Can I see her?

  Many question, Evelyn-soon-friend. I know she good. You Gwen friend good. Now come. Now you see majesty.

  Gus, I want to see my friend, Gwen.

  You see majesty. Maybe majesty take you see Gwen.

  Reluctantly, I peel my body off of the jail cell floor. My entire body is stiff and sore. In my stomach, I feel intense pressure. I am sure it is hunger, like my body is trying to force its way to some source of food since I am not going to provide it. Instinctively, I press my hand to my abdomen to stifle the hunger pains. As I push, I feel a little pop. A tickle. The corners of my mouth twitch upward in a humored expression.

  You think Gus funny, Evelyn-soon-friend? I not try be funny.

  Oh, no, Gus. It wasn’t you. I felt a little tickle when I was getting up, that’s all.

  Oh. Okay, now, Evelyn-soon-friend. You come me and majesty give you good food.

  That piques my interest. I pull myself up to full height and prepare to follow Gus to meet this majesty person – probably Ceto. As I leave, he reaches two of his tentacled arms out to me, wrapping them securely around my mid-section. The little spot on my stomach that felt the pop, feels another. This, coupled with the giant arms wrapped around me, forces out a small giggle.

  Okay, Gus. This time, you tickled me. I feel Gus’s pleasure, and we head down the hallway to my next destination, exchanging small talk on our way. I learn all about life for Gus and his interaction with the two-worlders. His feelings are neutral as to war and which side he is working for. He is merely following the orders of the first to ask him. I wonder how many other species of sea creatures live in this way. Following the opposition solely because they have never been given a different choice. Would he follow Atlantis if given the option? Would others?