by Terry Spear
She whipped around to do the same to the other guard’s sword. His face had lost all its color as his mouth gaped wide, and his blue eyes couldn’t grow any rounder. He tried to pull his sword out of her reach, but too late.
A puddle of shiny silver metal dripped on the floor. All that he held was the leather grip.
Both guards backed away from her as the men holding the silver fishnet didn’t advance. She felt a bit of triumph until four elves ran into the room armed with reeds and those wicked tranquilizer darts.
She dashed across the white marble floor with its dizzying blue streaks and dove for the screen of water that led to the outside.
At once she realized a new mistake as the floor gave way to a canal full of water. Immediately, she sank in the ten-foot deep, clear warm water. Her heart pounded furiously with surprise. In a panic, she clawed her way to the surface, expecting to drown because of the weight of the soaking wet gowns.
But the gowns she wore weren’t weighted down with the water, as if they were engineered for swimming.
When she surfaced, men shouted.
“The water drowned the high elf!”
“No, there she is! Shoot her!”
Five darts penetrated the water near her, disappearing below her. She dove under the clear aqua water and swam through the canal. Would it continue to stay within the confines of the river elves’ castle or would it take her safely beyond their reach?
With as much endurance as she could manage, she remained under water as long as she could. Finally her lungs screamed for oxygen, and she had to surface.
Again, the canal bordered more castle rooms. Through the waterfall screens that rolled off each of the openings, male elves watched her.
“She’s here!” one of them shouted.
“Where are the dart masters? She’s right here!”
“She has to be some kind of a mermaid,” one of the men shouted. “We can’t shoot her or risk having trouble with the mer-people.”
She totally agreed. She’d vote to have that river elf in charge. For some distance, she swam on the surface. Then as the dart masters appeared at the window, she dove under. She feared she’d never escape the river elves at this rate. Not unless she got lucky and the canal moved away from the buildings soon.
They watched her every move and the dart masters were undoubtedly chasing her down again. If they tranquilized her in the water, she’d drown for certain.
Forced to surface again for air, she rose to the top and broke through the warm placid water.
“Toss the fishnet, now!” one of the men said.
Her heart nearly stopped. If the tranquilizers didn’t do the job, the net surely would.
She dove under and swam out of the net’s harmful reach. But while she still swam deeply in the canal, they attempted again. The silver mesh hit her arm, but she slipped on past, her heart racing with fear.
Without a choice, she rose again. This time, the roar of ocean waves crashing on a beach caught her ear. If she could reach the sea, she might make it.
“Where’s the net? She’s here!”
“No, no, don’t throw it!” a male elf said, pointing at the water behind her.
Now what? She dove under and swam for several feet, then something touched her foot. The net?
She turned to look. Not the net. A redheaded mermaid with green eyes, a silver tail, and a very curious stare.
Mermaids drowned sailors. That’s what the myths said. But Persephonice wasn’t a sailor. Would the mermaid just be curious and leave her alone?
The mermaid grabbed Persephonice’s foot and examined it as Persephonice tried to pull away. Not good. She had no abilities she could use under the water. And the mermaid could easily drown her as strong as she appeared.
Persephonice tried to kick loose. The mermaid tightened her hold. Her eyes narrowed and a wicked smile turned her mouth upwards a notch. Persephonice’s lungs begged for air. But the mermaid had a determined strength of her own and wasn’t letting go. Did she think Persephonice was a strange mermaid? Or did she not care whether Persephonice drowned?
Then to her surprise, another appeared in front of her, only this one was male. Like the female, he had long red hair and green eyes; only his fishtail was more bronze in color. He touched Persephonice’s cheek and smiled.
She motioned to the surface and in desperation signaled she needed air.
He grabbed her hands, sending a charge of panic through her. He kissed her lips. That she hadn’t expected. And then he breathed air into her lungs.
Suddenly excruciating pain radiated through her leg as the mermaid sank her teeth into Persephonice’s calf. She tried to cry out and kicked the mermaid in the head.
Before the mermaid could retaliate, the merman dove for her, evidently angered the mermaid had hurt his new plaything.
At once, Persephonice rose to the surface.
At least a hundred river elves clustered along the waterfall screened windows, watching her in silence. The merman and mermaid’s tails slapped the surface of the water as they wrestled with each other.
“What did she do to them to make them fight?” one of the elves asked.
“She bewitched them to fight each other,” one said.
“Who’s got the net?”
“No, don’t use it now. She’s still too close to the mer-creatures.”
In the distance, freedom loomed. She could smell the sandy beach and the fishier odor from the ocean’s depths. She dove under again and headed away from the mer-creatures toward the ocean. Maybe if the mer-creatures fought long enough, they wouldn’t notice her escape.
Then all at once that blasted silver fishnet sank in the water, covering her from head to foot. In the next instant, the merman caught up to her. He grabbed hold of the net, attempting to free her from it as she tried to get loose.
But their efforts proved futile as she felt her body slowly being pulled from the canal.
As she reached the surface, the merman clung to her and scowled at the elves. He screeched at them, and Persephonice’s translator implant worked to translate his words. “She is mine!” he shouted.
“Where is our translator?” one of the elves hollered.
“I think he wants her. But he can’t have her. She’s too dangerous.”
The merman splashed his powerful tail into the water, sending the water flying at the elves in a mighty wave.
Several lost their footing as the water swept them into the room.
“He really wants her. Why don’t we let him have her?”
“No. She uses a dangerous magic. What if she returns here to destroy us? She knows the way to our castle.”
It was nice to know someone wanted her badly, except she figured the merman meant to keep her in the water forever. And what if he wasn’t around to give her another breath of fresh air? Besides, at least one mermaid had it in for her.
On the other hand, she figured the river elves weren’t going to be very charitable toward her either. Though she figured they’d keep their swords away from her for a while.
The merman tore at the net with his sharp teeth and opened a ten-inch hole. But certainly not big enough for her to get free.
“Knock him off the net!”
“No! Do you want to cause trouble for our fishermen?”
Cause more trouble, she wanted to shout. Then she wondered what would happen if she spoke to the merman? Instinctively, she feared the merman, who seemed to want her for himself, would even want her more if he knew she could speak his language.
Would it aid her, or create more problems for her? He still struggled to tear holes into the net as she watched the handsome half-man, half-fish’s muscles work.
Only one way to find out what affect her mermaid’s words would have on him.
Chapter 7
Persephonice reached her hand through the hole and touched the merman’s arm in friendship. “Thank you,” she said, speaking in his language, glad the translator in her ear allowed her to
do such a thing. Anything she could do to encourage him to continue his efforts to free her before the river elves took her hostage was worth trying.
“By the gods, she’s half mermaid!”
They’d pulled her halfway out of the water, but with the merman clinging to her, the elves seemed unsure how to proceed. Give her to the merman? Or keep her for themselves? Until they figured a way of getting rid of her permanently.
A river elf hurried into the room. She recognized the scientist at once. “Oh my, it’s…it’s Prince Aquarian.”
“Translate the mer-creature’s words!”
“He’s not saying anything,” the scientist said.
“Pull her up some more.”
When they lifted her higher, the merman thrashed about worse. Again, he ripped a hole in the net with his strong teeth.
“He wants her,” the scientist said.
“He hasn’t said anything!” another river elf said.
“He doesn’t need to. His actions say all he needs to, concerning the girl. He wants her.”
The merman screeched again.
“He says, ‘Release the mermaid or suffer.’”
The men’s mouths gaped open. Then one said, “She can’t be a mermaid. She has no fishtail.”
“And she has to come up for air. We all saw that.”
Another shook his head as he held onto the fishnet. “She spoke in their language already.”
“Really?” the scientist said. “What did she say?”
“Now how would we know that? You’re the translator.”
“She does look like them otherwise. And she can swim.” The scientist rubbed his smooth chin. “He believes she’s a mermaid. Or maybe half-mermaid. But he definitely wants her.”
Persephonice wasn’t sure what to do. Going with the merman wasn’t the solution. She couldn’t even fight the female. No way could she fight the strength of a male. Yet if she stayed with the elves, they’d no doubt terminate her.
And then she wondered if she could melt the fishnet. With the panic rushing through her blood, she hadn’t even considered it. She touched the net, but the metal wasn’t the same as the swords. Nothing happened.
The merman screeched again.
The scientist’s gray blue eyes widened. “He’s calling for help. Either release the girl at once or haul her in. Trouble will be here shortly.”
The king suddenly appeared. “You were to drown…what is the merman doing?”
“He wants her, sire,” the scientist said.
“She is a mermaid, then.”
“Maybe half.”
The king adjusted his crown. “He can’t have her. She’s a magic user. Pull her in. We’ll figure out another way to deal with her.”
Persephonice begged the merman to aid her. “They’re taking me away from you! Save me!”
He clung tighter to her and screeched for help again from his brethren.
Persephonice knew she was still on the river elves’ terminal list. But she felt some relief to know she wouldn’t have to face the mermaid with the sharp teeth again. On the other hand, she didn’t mind making trouble for the river elves because of what they planned to do to her.
They hauled her into the room as several of the elves jabbed at the merman with staffs. Soon the water broiled with activity as mer-creatures swam to the surface. Screeching filled the air as they screamed in anger along with the merman.
Many of the elves covered their ears from the deafening sound. Two carried Persephonice farther back into a room where a woman squealed out and ran away.
“Take her to the cells.”
“Yes, sire,” one of the men said.
“What about the mer-creatures?” the scientist asked.
“They’ll leave as soon as they don’t get their way,” the king said. “I rule here. They don’t.”
“Bring her back to me!” Prince Aquarian sang out.
Persephonice cried out in her most woeful mermaid voice, “Save me!” She’d fix the river elves. See if they’d have an easy time fishing after this.
“Well, what did they just say?” the king asked.
“He ordered us to take her back to him. And she responded that she wanted him to save her. I fear we’ll not see the last of this.”
Poor merman. If it hadn’t been that the living conditions would have been so unbearable, she might have liked the protective nature of the merman, and a prince at that. Yet her leg still ached from where the mermaid bit her, reminding her how deadly the mer-creatures could be.
“Why is she bleeding?” the scientist asked.
“A mermaid bit her.”
The scientist shook his head. “The girl is half mermaid. And half high elf?”
“I don’t have elf ears,” Persephonice said, annoyed.
“I have never heard of a high elf melting metal before,” the scientist said.
“Why can’t she melt the fishnet?” a guard asked.
“It must be she can only do it to weapons of war.”
Nope.
As much as she struggled to free herself from the confinement, she couldn’t budge from the fishnet. Her heart beat so hard, she was sure she was experiencing an early heart attack.
The king motioned for them to take her down a dark hallway.
She thought they’d remove her to the “facility” they were preparing for her.
But when they carried her deep into the bowels of the castle with only a flicker of torchlight poking its fingers of light into the darkness, and she smelled the strong odor of fish and felt the dampness in the air, her skin chilled with distress.
No one spoke a word, as two of the men carried her deeper into the dungeons, as that’s where she assumed they were taking her. One guard led the way, the other followed as if she was going to suddenly break free from the net and hurt someone.
When they came to what appeared the lowest level of the castle, she could see sunlight. Water from an inlet lapped against a stone ledge with a repetitive slapping sound. Moss covered the entire ten-foot flat rock.
But cells were built into the rock walls. An elf studied her curiously from one as he held onto the bars. His tangled blond hair hung about his shoulders, and his golden eyes widened when the elves tossed her into a cell across from his.
“Meet one of your own kind, elf,” the guard sneered. He hit the grate with his staff, forcing the elf to jump back or get his knuckles rapped hard.
“You must have had too much of your ale, old man,” the high elf replied. “The female is no more a high elf than you are.”
“She’s a high elf. Part mermaid, too.”
The high elf laughed so hard the sound echoed off the cave walls as if a whole chorus of high elves had found the river elf’s words highly amusing.
“Laugh all you want. But you’ll both meet your fate in a few hours.”
The men yanked at the ropes that bound the fishnet around her. Seemingly satisfied that she wasn’t going to free herself, they slammed her grate door shut and locked it. Then they stepped back to the granite staircase and stood.
She noticed then the water trickled across the floor from where the light appeared. Was the tide coming in?
She swallowed hard as her heart nearly stopped. They were going to leave them here to drown?
Her gaze shifted from the rising water that now wetted the entire floor to the walls where she could see the watermark, seven-feet high. If she could swim, maybe, she could keep her head above the water until the tide went out. She couldn’t do anything the way she was trussed up in the net.
“See if you can get yourself out of that, high elf,” one of the men taunted.
They closed a wooden door and a bolt slid shut on the other side. The muffled sound of men tromping up the steps echoed through the room and then silence, except for the lapping of the water against the walls as it grew higher, now an eighth of an inch.
“Why would they call you a high elf?” the high elf asked her.
She squirmed to
raise herself to a kneeling position. “Do you use magic?”
His eyes widened.
“Well, I can, too.” Except they didn’t call what they did, magic, exactly. They had abilities. Special abilities. Only primitive people couldn’t see it as anything but magic.
“What kind of magic?”
“If I could free myself from the fishnet, I could…” She eyed the grate, then smiled. “You promise you’ll help me if I help you?”
Chapter 8
“What are you?” the high elf asked Persephonice as he gripped the bars of his cell tighter.
“My name is Persephonice.”
He tilted his chin up. “What can a slip of a girl like you do?”
“You might be surprised.” She wriggled for several minutes, trying to free herself from the fishnet as the water inched its way up the walls.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Get my hand free. If I can wiggle out of the rope, I can poke my hand through the…” She grinned, a hint of triumph bolstering her spirit. She wiggled some more, then finally pulled her arm free. Then she shoved her hand through one of the holes the merman had made in the net. “Yes!” she said with great enthusiasm.
She glanced at the elf who was frowning at her.
“So your hand is free. I don’t see that this helps you to help me.”
She cocked a brow. “This is going to take a while. Do you have a name?”
“Zorak.”
She moved toward the bars on her knees, but fell on her face. She groaned. “A long while.”
***
Dracolin spied three river elves, younger than them near the river, climbing out of a fishing boat. They were probably trying to prove their fearlessness, having no adult supervision, as he and his companions did when they were younger. Dracolin motioned to the prince and Balon to rush the river elves, then dashed forward.
Before the river elves noticed the threat to them, the shadow elves wrestled them to the rocky beach alongside the inlet. “Where is the girl? Tell us and we shall let you live,” Dracolin said, his voice hard and demanding.