go quite high giving extra protection to the city. We can call the citizens inside during an attack and keep everyone safe. Only the strongest dolphins, and of course the king and queen are physically powerful enough to leap over the top and out to the ocean.”
“What about sharks?” Spike asked.
“There has never been a shark inside our walls, and as long as I’m around, I plan to keep it that way.”
Lilliana grew nervous as they approached the gates. Last night there had been many angry fish on the other side of that gate. Would they still be there? Would they still hate her?
Lance nodded to the guards at the gate and they opened outward. The current carried them through the gates and into the wide ocean. Lilliana felt colder now, and her heart beat a little faster. She hadn’t realized how safe she had felt inside the tall walls. They protected the main city from the ocean’s currents, from dangerous creatures and everything else. Out here there was so much more.
Lilliana looked around. The view today reminded her of the city around her own castle. There were fish herding flocks of shrimp and schools of tiny fish swimming in tight little groups. There were bright red scallops along a path made of large smooth stones.
“Why is there a path along the floor when fish swim above?” Lilliana asked.
“The path is ancient. It dates back to the beginning of Star Shadow and legend says that a king brought his horses down to visit Star Shadow. The king of Star Shadow had to build the stone path to keep the horses from ruining the coral. I don’t know if the legend is true, but the path makes a good map for our young and it keeps hungry fish from getting too close to the king’s shrimp farms.” Lance pointed his sword towards the flocks of shrimp on the hill.
“I didn’t think horses could live under the sea.” Was this why they knew what to feed Spectrum?
“Well, we haven’t seen them for a while. The last time they were here they were being led by one of the witches, but that was before the shark problems and long before your time here.”
Spectrum was looking at Lance intently. He moved in front of the sailfish and stopped with his feet firmly on the path.
Lance continued swimming and almost poked him with his sword, but stopped short and asked, “What now Snickers?”
Spectrum tossed his head and glared at the fish.
“All right, Spectrum. Anyway we need to keep moving,” Lance swam to one side and tried to go over the big horse, but Spectrum swam in front of him and stopped again. He shook his mane and whinnied.
Lilliana was a little nervous. It looked like Spectrum wanted to fight Lance, and doing that right here was definitely not a good idea. She looked around and saw that many of the village fish had gathered to watch. What could Spectrum want from Lance?
“The horses?” she asked. “You want to know about the horses?”
Spectrum blew warm water in Lance’s face and nodded his head.
“Fine, but we need to keep swimming. You’re gathering the wrong type of attention here,” Lance said and he gestured them along the path.
Spectrum sank to the floor, but he moved no further.
“A little help princess?” Lance asked.
“I’ll try,” Lilliana swam to Spectrum. His hooves were now set firmly on the path and he snorted water through his nostrils in an agitated way. She climbed on his back and whispered in his ears. “I want to go home and be safe. I’ll make sure Lance talks about the horses that visited, but you have to make sure I get home.”
Spectrum lowered his head and began to move forward. Lilliana relaxed and patted her horse’s withers.
“The ocean horses were a large breed and not the type of animal you’d want to mess with,” Lance began. “They were very large. Larger even than Spectrum and they were always deep blue. The same color as Pierce when he’s really ticked off.” Lilliana thought about the sailfish the night they had been captured. Lance had looked dark grey, but Pierce had been a deep blue. In the king’s chambers they had both been pale blue and sometimes spotted. That was where they most looked like brothers.
“The horses would always travel in groups, like schools, even when they were not under a king’s command, and they had their own leader.”
“There was a horse king?” Spike asked.
“No, they didn’t have a city or court, and no horse was ever anointed with a crown of light. They traveled from place to place eating large patches of sea grass. On Merhill we were very surprised to find a pale horse, but we thought maybe he was just an ugly defect. Sometimes a sailfish is born with the wrong colors too, but it doesn’t often live long. We just assumed Spectrum was the same way--- no offense mate.”
Spectrum snorted and blew hot water at the fish. Lance was unperturbed.
“Anyway, if it had just been the horse at Merhill we would have left you alone and watched for others of his school,” continued Lance, “but we weren’t sure what you were, princess, and the tunnel is off limits to mermen. We thought we were either under attack by something new, or our boundaries were being tested by the merpeople.”
The stone path wound away from the city walls and down a sandy slope. The coral here was attached to small rock outcroppings and was spaced further apart, and the schools contained fewer fish. Lilliana looked ahead and saw two huge boulders on either side of the wide path, and past them was the wide blue ocean.
“What are these stones?” Lilliana asked.
“That, dear beastie, is the fountain gate. We shall pass through and find the fresh stream on the other side of the gate flowing into the trench. Then we are out of Star Shadow and on our way.”
Lilliana’s heart raced. She was really going home. The boulders were even larger as they grew closer. Far away they looked like large rocks, but now that they were right next to them they each looked big enough to contain a whole castle. They were a pale brown color with flecks of gold through them. Lilliana tasted the metal in the water, but she tasted other things as well. The boulders seemed to hum as they approached, and they reminded Lilliana of one of Konrad’s mechanical inventions.
“Is it safe?” the princess asked.
“It’s safer than Merhill and the kelp forest at the moment. Safety all depends on your perspective,” Lance said.
“My mom says I shouldn’t go to the trench, but my brothers tell me to play there all the time,” Spike said. “My brothers call me barracuda bait too, but they don’t mean it.”
“You may feel the boundary vibrations now, but you’ll feel better on the other side,” Lance said. “Just follow me.”
Lilliana and Spike followed Lance to the end of the path and through the fountain gate. As they passed between the rocks Lilliana was reminded of the cliffs by her home. They were tall, majestic, and they seemed alive with magic. Once they were on the other side the sun seemed to change places. Lilliana looked back at Star Shadow and frowned. All she could see on the other side of the gate was deep blue ocean. Gone was the wide stone path and gone were the coral outcroppings. There were no fish, small or large, visible on the other side. Perhaps they were going the wrong way, but Spike and Lance seemed perfectly content and unperturbed.
“Excuse me, but what just happened?” Lilliana asked.
Lance kept swimming and spoke over his shoulder, “We’ve passed through the gate and out of our territory. The trench is up ahead.”
“I know we went through the gates, but what happened to Star Shadow? Everything that was there is missing now.”
“It’s still there,” Spike said. “You just don’t see it.”
“That makes no sense. When I walk down a path and look behind me the path is still there. This time I looked and it isn’t there.”
“Did you hear the humming?” Lance asked.
“Yes, why?”
“That means the king’s power is still protecting our country. Actually it’s the power of the Morning Star. King Nereus asked for the Star’s protection on his p
eople and all of our land. The Morning Star told him what to do to create the fountain gate.”
“King Nereus created those stones?”
“Not exactly. He followed the directions of the Star.”
Lilliana looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Your language is so perfect I forget sometimes that you don’t know our stories. This is a good one, and it’s even better because it’s true. At one time barracudas ruled the trench. They were vicious to the people of Star Shadow, but they also kept out sharks, giant squid, and other nasty predators. King Nereus didn’t want to disturb the barracuda nest, but he didn’t want them prowling our paths at night either. He spoke to the Morning Star, Lord of all creation, and the Star answered. He told the king to come down and place two stones on the ground. He told him to place one at his head and the other at his tail and to lie there from dawn until dusk.
“The king took two stones from his chest of treasures. Neither was a jewel, but they had gold dust on them still. He came at night with ten of his bravest dukes and duchesses, the dolphins. He had them place one stone at each end and watch over him while they waited. Some of them were inside the boundary, but most were outside. The barracuda watched too, but they didn’t know whether to attack or not. As soon as the first rays of the sun touched the rocks they began to hum and to grow. They grew very quickly and were soon taller than your cave. The barracuda began to swim in circles around
The Prophecy of Atlantis Page 19