by Katie Cherry
I can tell by the look on Nathan’s face, however, that he is still wary of every move Gorg makes- but I guess one of us should be that way. We should be able to make our way through whatever situation comes with me being open and Nathan being suspicious.
Gorg leads us to a large, old stone castle that is completely submerged. It looks out of place down here in all the green and blue. We then enter a spacious dining hall and sit down at a large table. Gorg then leaves to go alert the cooks and we are left alone. Nathan looks across the table at me. I can tell by the look on his face what he’s thinking.
“No!” I say.
“But now’s our chance!” he insists.
“If we leave, then we will tick off the King, and he’ll send a bunch of mermaids after us. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“You don’t know that,” he argues.
I sigh. “We have a better chance here. In fact, maybe we should make friends with the mermaids. Then we wouldn’t have any reason to fear. In fact, we would have powerful allies. Not only that, but maybe we could get the King to lend us his Trident so we can end these dang Challenges. I know, I know, it’s a stretch, but it’s better than just delaying the inevitable! If the King wants to kill us, then he will kill us. If he wants to be friends, then I think we should give that a try first!”
“…You’re right, of course,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry.” He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair. He smiles a little. “I guess I’m just… freaked out. I should be more calm and collected… like you.”
I laugh a little. “Ha! Calm? Collected? Not even close! I’m just in survival mode, I guess. My thoughts and emotions are honestly everywhere. Plus I just get the feeling… we should be here.”
Nathan raises an eyebrow. “So now you’re getting special feelings?” he mocks.
“Well… let’s call it a sixth sense. I just feel… like this is where we need to be right now. And it’s not just for the Challenge, either… Never mind, I can’t explain it.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s a dragon thing.”
I shake my head. The memories of how I lost the ability to be a dragon flash through my head. “No. I… I can’t be a dragon anymore, remember? That part of me was stolen away.”
“Just because you can’t turn into a dragon doesn’t mean it isn’t still a part of you,” he insists. I’m amazed at how much his words comfort me. I laugh a little at myself.
“To think that a few months ago I was just living my life, trying to be normal… and now here I am, wishing I could be a dragon again. I didn’t even believe in dragons before I came here!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy how much this place has changed us,” Nathan comments. “To think that my best friend is part dragon and it doesn’t even freak me out at all… I’ve accepted it… it’s pretty weird when you stop and think about it!”
“I agree!” I laugh, trying to ignore the burning feeling I got in my chest when he called me his best friend.
I suddenly hear a deep voice behind me, near the hole where the door used to be. “Dragon, did you say?” I whirl around, but whoever it is is still in the shadows.
“What… who are you?” I demand, my heart pounding in alarm. A tall merman swims forward and emerges from the shadows. The light from the underwater torches reflect off his iridescent scales. They sparkle and I can see little rainbows in every scale on his tail. I gasp. I then notice the beautiful golden crown on his head and realize that this must be the King. I quickly get out of my seat and kneel, figuring that this must be the proper way to greet a King. Nathan rapidly follows my lead.
“No, please. There’s no need for that. You are my honored guests. Let us treat each other as equals.”
Nathan and I stand and wait until the King sits down in our seat before we sit back in ours, playing it safe despite his words.
“So… how much did you hear?” I ask, a little embarrassed. He smiles, and I notice that his teeth are much whiter than the other mermaids’ we’ve seen here.
“Almost all of it. I heard you say that you feel that you two were meant to be here, as well as everything following that. I had heard whispers of rumors that there was a Dragongirl among us in Zilferia, but no one knew who she was or where she came from… so hopefully, you may deem me worthy to hear your story.”
I start to reply, but he stops me. “No, I won’t make you say anything now. I must first have someone destroy the little metal things following you, for I do not want anyone else to hear what either of us has to say. Just because they are not recording at the moment doesn’t mean they won’t again at a moment’s notice. Plus, I think it is fairer if I tell you my story first, and you two need to eat- I am quite sure that you are hungry after eating hardly anything yesterday.” I stare at him in bewilderment. He can see the cameras that broadcast the Challenges to the Villagers? Not only that, but he clearly had mermaids following us yesterday. And we didn’t even notice! I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with just how powerless Nathan and I are in this whole situation.
The King claps his hands, summoning a few servant mermaids, drawing my attention to his fingernails, which look more like claws. I shudder. The servants enter, bearing silver dishes piled high with fish, crabs, and other such seafood. There are also several different sauces they bring out to flavor it all to our liking. These are followed by a huge platter with an even bigger swordfish on it. There is seaweed and other vegetables laid out around the gigantic fish, and they even have dressing.
Nathan and I dive in as the King begins his story. I’m amazed at how much I enjoy the fish- especially since I’ve never liked fish in the first place. But that’s all changed now that I’ve had this seafood spread. I can’t remember ever eating anything quite so good. Therefore, it isn’t too much of a surprise when I realize I’m eating too fast. I make a conscious effort to slow down and listen to the King’s story as well as eat.
“I don’t want to bore you with a tale of my childhood, so I will shorten it considerably and tell you only what I believe is necessary for you to know to understand where I’m coming from. …Believe it or not, I was not born into royalty as most rulers are, and my life was not an easy one. I got into a lot of trouble and stupid, dangerous situations where I almost died were it not for the help of a creature the rest of the mermaids loathed.
“A human. His name was Alexander, and he was young- about your age.”
“Wh- what?” I exclaim, choking on shrimp I had just put in my mouth. I finally force it down my throat and am able to speak. “Did… did you say Alexander?”
“Yes… why? Does this boy have significant meaning to you?”
“Yes,” Nathan replies for me. “That… boy… is actually her father.” I nod, still shocked to hear that my actual father had been down here, dealing with these dangerous creatures.
“Hmm…” The King says thoughtfully. “That is very interesting. You may have to tell me about this after I am finished,” he decides before continuing. “Alexander saved me from a Mako shark and from then on we were friends, although we never told anyone else since it was pretty taboo. He visited me regularly for years. I haven’t seen him in probably about… sixteen years. The last I saw him, he told me that he was the King now and he was married, and his wife was pregnant. He was so excited and said he had a lot of places to go to spread the word to all his friends, so he didn’t stay long.
“Once he stopped coming, things got worse down here. My grandfather was the leader of the mer-warriors, so when he died, I was put into his spot, since my father had passed previously. I quickly became the mermaid King’s closest advisor and even friend. About a year after Alexander disappeared, we began to be attacked by the humans. They threw bombs into the water that filled it with black gunk that clogged our gills, making it so we could not breathe.
“The humans had declared war against us, so we had no choice but to respond in kind. After a few years, the other King, my friend, died and appointed me to reign in his stead since he had no chi
ldren. The war has calmed down recently, so we were cautious, knowing the humans would never give up so easily. And then, a few weeks later, what do we find but eight humans swimming around in the water talking about finding my people? Everyone demanded that we kill them all outright, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t forget my friendship with Alexander, and you eight reminded me of him, for he could breathe underwater as well.
“Unfortunately, I must still show my people that I am strong and will lead us to victory, so… I had to kill at least a few of them, to send a message that we are not to be trifled with.”
Nathan looks as sick as I feel. “Were… were any of the ones you had killed wearing… red?” he chokes out.
“No,” the King says. We both breathe a sigh of relief. “But I had my warriors kill one of the orange ones and one of the black ones- the proud ones that thought they could take us on. We left alone the ones who either respected or feared us- and your friends, the red ones, were fearful of us. They were no threat.”
I try not to think about the two people he had killed. I swallow and ask, “Why are we here, then? You said you left alone those who didn’t want to attack you. Well, Nathan and I didn’t want to attack you, or even find you! We were just minding our own business. Why did you drag us here?”
“You two intrigued me, as well as reminded me of my lost friend. You acted just as he did when I first saw him here- playing, exploring… carefree. I thought that maybe you two could also be the peaceful solution to our problem- that I could send you back to your people and convince them to stop attacking us. I even dared to hope… that you two could help me forge a friendship between our people, if at all possible.”
“I… see,” I say thoughtfully. Was this why I felt that we needed to be here? To form a friendship with the mermaids?
“Now then, what is your story?” he asks.
So I tell him the highlights. I tell him about the Games, the Dragon Council, the Sohos, Thaddeus and what he told me about my parents’ condition, my Gifts, the Dragon Hunters, and even about me being part dragon- at least until the Dragon Hunters stole my dragon part from me.
When I finish, the King looks thoughtful. “These ‘Dragon Hunters…’ do they dress differently than the rest of the humans? Do they wear all black and cover all of their body- even their hands?” This question seems a little strange, but I answer that they do. “Ah… that makes more sense. They are the ones attacking us. I should have known that our assailants were not Alexander’s people. Hmm. They seem to be the scourges of every race, don’t they? But you… promised the Sohos and the dragons that you would destroy this scourge, correct?”
“Well… no,” I say guiltily. “I… I didn’t ever tell them for sure that I would. I just… chickened out, I guess. These Dragon Hunters scare me,” I admit, staring steadfastly at the table, my fists clenched.
“Hmm… it seems to me that you cannot avoid them. This is your fight. Think about it,” he continues when I glance up at him, confused and scared. “They tracked you down, did they not?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Then they dragged you into this, whether you like it or not. If you do nothing, then they will likely just kidnap you again regardless- next time with more people, so they will not leave you alone. They will have learned their lesson.”
“But… I have guards now,” I weakly retort.
He laughs. “You really think that one or two measly humans will stop them when they have hundreds? If they wanted to, they could use force to grab you rather than stealth. Therefore, the best course of action you can take is to attack them before they get to you and your friends. Do not let what happened here happen there,” he advises.
I gulp, fear of them overwhelming me. “I… I… I can’t. What do you think I can do that you and your armies cannot? What can one girl do against hundreds of men?”
The King looks at me seriously. “Do not underestimate the power of one. One can easily hide amongst the hundreds, and no one would notice. You could sneak into their own home and strike them where it counts.”
“What… what do you mean?” I ask, my brain stuck on the image of me surrounded by hundreds of black cloaks.
“Kill the one in charge, and the rest will not know what to do. Of course, you’ll likely have to kill the one that is next in line as well, but one girl with the power of a dragon at her command should be able to do that, don’t you think?” I smile a little, feeling encouraged and like… I could maybe do this… all for the first time.
“Well? Do you think that you can go back to your people and then on to the Dragon Hunters and strike them at the core?” He presses.
“Well, I… might be able to… but there may be a problem getting back to our people,” I say.
“What is it?” he asks, concerned. “Were the two of you outlawed? Cast out from among your people?”
“In… a way,” I say. “We cannot return until we’ve completed the quest they gave us… to retrieve a certain object.”
“Oh? And what is that? I am willing to help you find anything you need in order to stop this war.”
I glance across the table at Nathan. He looks surprised that I’m going to ask for it, but he gives me a nod, lending me his support. I take a deep breath. “They… they sent us to find the Mermaid King’s Trident,” I finally say, looking up to see how he will react to this. He looks thoughtful and doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. I clear my throat. “Um… do you… have the Trident?”
“Of course I do,” he says. “It has been handed down from generation to generation. Each King has used it at least once, to prove that he is worthy to be King.”
I swallow and force myself to say what I must. “Would… would you be willing to lend it to us?”
“And let you hand it over to our enemies?” he says with an accusatory tone. I gulp and look back at the table again, every muscle tight; ready to flee. We wait for another couple of minutes before the King says anything else. When he does, it’s not what I was expecting.
“…Very well.” I jerk my head back up and stare at the King in shock. He smiles. “You may have the Trident. However, there are some things you must know about it. I will be right back,” he says, getting out of his seat and swimming out of the room. I stare at Nathan and he does the same, his eyes wide.
“We… we did it,” I say. “We got the Trident!”
“Well, I wouldn’t go jumping to conclusions just yet,” Nathan warns. “You never know, he may be going to get it just so he can kill us with it or something. I mean, doesn’t it seem too good to be true? We just ask the King for his powerful weapon and he just hands it over? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was lying in order to keep us here while he arranges our deaths.”
“Oh, you’re such a pessimist!” I say, not giving much care to what he said. “Why would he do that? He seems nice enough, plus he was friends with my father!”
“Or so he claims,” Nathan mutters. “Whatever. If he’s going to kill us, there isn’t much we can do about it anyway.”
The servants return while the King is gone and clean off the table. He returns just as they’re leaving. When he swims into the light, I gasp as my eyes immediately cling to the magnificent weapon in his hand. The Trident’s gold metal glimmers in the underwater light, nearly blinding me for a moment. It’s nearly as big as the King himself- about a foot taller than me. The Trident has a dark green glow around it, adding to the feeling of ancient power emanating from it.
“Wow…” I murmur, stunned by its simple beauty and immense power.
The King smiles. “The reason I am not too afraid of you having this Trident is that it won’t matter if it falls into the wrong hands. Its power can only be unlocked if you know the… password, I suppose you could call it, and if you are a mermaid friend. I have declared the two of you official mermaid friends, so I will now tell you the password, in case you need to use it- which I hope that you will not.
“This Trident was forged for the first King
- King Demeter. The King did not want its power to be used for evil, so he had the smith- the most talented our race has ever seen- make it so that it would respond only to a King or King to be, and only if they were a mermaid friend. An extra precaution was put into place- they also had to say the password. The word which he chose was his own name. Once you say it, and all other requirements are fulfilled, then it will obey you no matter what. Obviously, since none of our enemies are mermaid friends, we have nothing to worry about. However…”
“What is it?” Nathan asks.
“The power in the Trident is great- enough to overwhelm you if you are not prepared. And I’m sorry to say, but the only way to prepare you is to give you a taste of its power. Therefore, I will have to use it on you- with your permission, of course.”
I give him my permission, figuring it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if I should need to use it, then I should be prepared. Nathan takes a little longer to agree, but he eventually decides to trust me and warily submits. The King has us kneel before him, side by side. He then points the Trident at us and says, “Paralyze.”
I instantly can’t move a muscle. I can still think and breathe, but it’s shallow and automatic. “Release,” he says, and we’re instantly in control again. The mermaid King gazes at us sadly. “I… I’m sorry, my friends. This one… this is the necessary one. It… it will hurt.”
I find that this is an understatement when he again levels the Trident at us and says, “…Torture.” My body is wracked with torment, screaming in pain as I throw my head back and shriek. It mingles with Nathan’s cry as well. My back arches uncontrollably as every cell in my body seems to burn, and some even feel like they’re exploding. Tears roll down my face, and I’m powerless to stop them. I don’t care to stop them anyway. “End,” I finally hear.