Beneath the Earth

by Laura Greenwood

  The others thought for a moment.

  "What about going back to the house and thinking there?" Flint suggested. "We'll be more comfortable, there's less risk of an angry kelpie suddenly appearing and Rónán can go for the shifted swim I'm sure he's longing to go for."

  "Please," Rónán responded. "It's been a long time."

  Macey rested a hand on his arm, trying to send him as much comfort as she could. Spending that long without shifting was pure torture. She could completely understand why he wanted to swim. Plus, she also wanted to see him in his selkie form. She longed to see the graceful and powerful way she was sure he could swim.

  "Yes, let's do that," Macey agreed. "We can make a better plan then."

  The others agreed and she prepared herself to travel the Staran again. Though this time she'd be with Flint and Cam who'd travelled dozens of times before.

  They all linked hands and they stepped towards them. But the closer they got, the greater Macey's sense of foreboding grew. Somewhere deep within her, she was convinced the Staran weren't going to let them out quite where they wanted to go.

  Twenty

  They were thrown out of the Staran in a tangle of limbs.

  “What the bleeding waves was that?” Macey asked breathlessly, struggling to sit up. “That’s never happened before.”

  Her head was spinning and she had to blink several times for her vision to return to normal. Only then did she see where they’d landed.

  She gasped.

  Seven stone thrones surrounded them, the same ones they’d sat at when they’d defeated Self-Doubt.

  “Why are we here?” Amber whispered into the empty room, scrambling to her feet. “What are we supposed to do here?”

  They gathered in the centre of the room, all slightly unsteady on their feet from the turbulent journey on the Staran.

  “Why did they bring us here?” Cam muttered, walking over to the throne that had his name carved into the headrest.

  Rónán cleared his throat. “While you all seem to know this place, I have no clue. Anybody want to fill me in?”

  Macey took his hand and led him to the throne bearing her name. “These are the Wardens’ seats. We’ve been here once before, when we defeated Self-Doubt. Back then, we had help though. Now, I have no idea what to do or why we’re even here.”

  Suddenly, blue flames flickered into existence above each of the thrones. Macey jumped back, her water magic roaring to life inside of her, ready to fight the fire. She smothered her powers, somehow knowing that these flames weren’t there to harm them.

  “What the….” Flint exclaimed and reached out to touch the fire, but before he got close enough, the flames disappeared as if they’d never been there in the first place.

  “Well, that was anticlimactic,” Izban drawled, but then his eyes widened and he picked something up from his throne. “Look, there are notes!”

  Macey checked her own throne, and there it was, a tiny, scorched piece of parchment.

  KELPIES.

  That didn’t make any sense. She knew that she was a kelpie, she didn’t need a mysterious message to tell her that.

  “Kabouters and kludde,” Jared read aloud.

  “Ceasg,” Amber said, looking at her piece of paper just as cluelessly as Macey felt.

  It turned out that they all had a different species on their parchments. Cam had na fir ghorma, the storm kelpies, Flint had the sìth and Izban had…

  “Prophets?” he asked incredulously. “How many prophets do we know besides Malan?”

  Macey frowned. “The cù sìth gave me a prophecy, but she’s dead. Unless she’s returned as a ghost dog, Malan style.”

  “Fedelm!” Amber exclaimed. “The woman who met us at the pub when we went to see Nessie. Who brought our men back to us.”

  She blushed a little, probably thinking of how she’d reunited with Izban by snogging a lot.

  “I never even properly met her,” Izban complained. “She appeared out of nowhere, told us to follow her, and then suddenly we were in a pub in Scotland. She never even told us her name. Why am I the one who’s got to find the prophets?”

  “Wait, what do you mean? Find them?” Cam asked, looking at the mage thoughtfully. “Are you thinking that we each need to find the people on our papers?”

  Izban groaned in frustration. “Am I the only one who can see the obvious? Those are all friends and allies we’ve met over the past few months. Whoever brought us here, whoever sent us these messages, they want us to find them and probably get them to help us defeat the Mahoun. They know we can’t do it on our own. Just because we’re the Seven Wardens doesn’t mean that we have to fight the Voice alone.”

  “Wow, he’s actually talking sense,” Jared snickered, but immediately shut up when the mage shot him a very dark look. He turned serious. “What do we do when we find and convince them to help us? We still don’t know where the Mahoun is or how to get to him. Or how to fight him, even. As much as I like the idea of getting our allies together, this isn’t a very good plan.”

  “The Staran brought us here,” Macey said thoughtfully. “And now we got these messages. Someone is helping us. Should we just assume that they’ll keep helping us? Should we trust them to bring us to the Mahoun when the time is right?”

  Flint shook his head. “I don’t like this. This could all be one gigantic trap by the Voice to split us up and then capture us one by one. So far, the only person who’s occasionally helped us is Malan. Why would someone else suddenly start assisting us without even introducing themselves?”

  “Maybe it’s Malan.” Jared shrugged. “He loves playing games, maybe he just wants to make it all more interesting.”

  Macey huffed. “Well, if this was him, he’s certainly managed to confuse us. Not that he ever not confuses us. He’s never said a straight sentence to me, not one simple, easy to understand word of advice.” She paused for a moment and twirled her piece of paper between her fingers. “But I don’t think this is Malan. He wouldn’t want to miss seeing the confusion on our faces. He loves to show off, while this is someone who doesn’t want to be seen or thanked. A mystery benefactor. Or, as Flint said, a trap.”

  “We were eventually going to ask for help from our friends anyway, weren’t we,” Amber said, absentmindedly reaching out for Izban who took her hand. “Maybe this is intended to give us a little push in that direction.”

  Macey ran her hands through her hair. She really didn’t know what to think. There were so many possibilities and questions racing through her mind, but none of them stood out as the solution to this strange riddle. What Flint had said made sense. The Voice had tried to split them up before, and had managed to capture Macey in the process. Still, that theory didn’t sit right with her. The way the messages had appeared in the flames… that was a beautiful, intricate magic, and she couldn’t imagine the Mahoun wielding that kind of power. His magic was likely more crude, more violent.

  “Let’s go in pairs,” she decided. “That way we can go everywhere quickly, but aren’t alone.” When nobody protested, she quickly continued. “Cam and I both have water beings, so we’ll go together. Izban and Amber, I don’t think I’ll even try and split you up. That leaves Flint and Jared. Rónán didn’t get a mission, but maybe it would be best for you to join Amber? Maybe the ceasg will appreciate a selkie coming to visit.”

  She didn’t want to say that it was a bad idea for Rónán to come with her. As liberal as her family were, they probably wouldn’t like her bringing a selkie back home. Especially not her selkie boyfriend.

  He seemed to understand, giving her a smile and a nod.

  “What are we going to do exactly?” Jared asked. “I’m sure the kabouters are going to support us, but where are we going to meet? Am I to ask all their best warriors to come with me? Or just their mages? Who do we need?” He sighed. “Why is everything so complicated?”

  Macey shrugged. She didn’t know any more than the incubus did. “The Staran brought us here. Let’s as
k it to bring us where we need to go? And if it doesn’t, let’s meet at Malan’s house. He’ll probably lead us in the right direction just to get rid of us.”

  Jared chuckled. “Yes, you may be right about that. Maybe I’ll pick up some waffles for him while we’re in Belgium. If we don’t see the prophet, we can always offer them to the Mahoun. Maybe he’ll give up in return for waffles.”

  “This is getting silly,” Izban growled. “Let’s go. I wish our phones worked here but as they don’t, let’s leave a message with Malan should something happen.”

  He stepped towards the large door they’d come through, pulling Amber with him.

  She waved at Macey, unperturbed by her boyfriend’s sour demeanour. “See you later!”

  As soon as the couple had stepped through the door, they disappeared, swallowed by the strange magic surrounding this place. Macey walked over to Cam, who was staring intently at his piece of paper.

  “I’m not exactly looking forward to visiting the storm kelpies again,” he admitted. “Shall we go to your family first?”

  “Yes.” Macey nodded grimly. “I have a loch monster to talk to.”

  The loch was covered in thick fog that seemed to suck in the last evening light. It didn't make sense to Macey that it was almost night here already, but she remembered how the guys had told her once that time flowed differently on Earth than it did on the other planes.

  The Staran had released them at the very tip of the loch, not far from where the underwater palace was based. Problem was that she couldn't actually take Cam down there.

  "I'll try and call my aunt," Macey explained while she undressed. "She's the one with the best hearing, so hopefully she'll send my father up here without me having to swim all the way down to his home."

  Cam nodded, but his eyes were fixed on her naked skin. "You've got scales again," he said softly, pointing to her abdomen.

  He was right. Hundreds of tiny scales were covering her belly and thighs, sparkling whenever she moved. Strange. They seemed to come and go as they wanted. She shrugged. A problem for another day.

  She stepped into the cool water, immediately feeling happier. This was home. The familiar smell of the loch calmed her mind and she breathed in deep, relaxing further. She needed to come here more often. Now that she was swimming in the loch, she noticed how much she'd missed it.

  She dived, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light filtering through the water's smooth surface. She knew she only needed to partly shift, but she couldn't resist shifting all the way. As soon as her gills had sprung up along her neck, she breathed in the cool water, relishing in the refreshment it brought.

  Home.

  She took another deep breath, then started to shout in kelpie, loudly clicking in the way only her kind understood. She was calling Nessie's name as loud as she could, again and again, until she finally got a reply. The clicks were too far away to understand, but it was enough to know that someone had heard her and was on the way.

  Macey waited, treading water, wishing she could go for a proper swim and visit her relatives. She'd always been an independent kelpie, especially when she moved onto land, but still, she loved her family.

  "Maaaceeeyyyy!"

  The waves of the loch elongated the call and she couldn't help but smile. It wasn't Nessie who was coming to meet her. It was her father.

  He was a large kelpie and didn't just have one, but two antennae protruding from his forehead. It was the sign that he was the king, the most powerful of them all. Kelpie monarchy was only partly hereditary. If a kelpie with two antennae was born, it was usually raised in the Royal family as the crown prince or princess. Neither Macey nor her two brothers had two of the strange sense organs, so if a two-antannaed baby was to be born just now, they'd slip down one place in the line to the throne. Macey didn't really care; she'd never aspired to be queen.

  Right now, the king's antennae were twitching as he approached his daughter.

  "You brought a friend?" he asked as way of greeting, before gently nuzzling his head against hers. "Is he more than a friend?"

  "Dad!" Macey flicked her tail at him. "Behave. He's not met any other kelpies yet, so please don't traumatise him."

  The king laughed heartily. "It's good to see you, my daughter. I assume this isn't just a family visit?"

  His large eyes turned a little sad and Macey regretted that she hadn't been able to come for a normal visit in such a long time. Right now, she'd love to dive down to the palace, play games with her father, steal treats from the cook, check on her algae collection. But no, she had to save the world. The responsibility was weighing hard on her shoulders, but she also felt like a bit of a fool. How was she, Macey, a loch kelpie, supposed to do something so monumental? She had no clue of what she was actually doing, or what she had to do to succeed. It was all just one big mess that nobody was going to clean up but herself.

  "I've missed you," she whispered, rubbing against her father in a hug. "There's a lot I need to tell you."

  "I'm listening."

  She shook her head. "Let's return to the surface so Cam can join the conversation."

  "Cam? That's his name? I'm having trouble sensing what he is."

  She smiled. "A wraith."

  "Oh. Not met many of those. There used to be a wraith couple running a pub in Inverness, a long time before you were born, but..."

  "Dad?"

  He chuckled. "Sorry. A story for another time. I'll half-shift, if you don't mind. I don't want to show my future wraith-in-law my naked human form."

  Macey swallowed hard, but decided not to comment. It was better that way. Her father had a strange kind of humour, and she couldn't put it past him to shift and go talk to Cam while being completely naked.

  Kelpies were used to nudeness when shifting, but she'd learned quickly that other species weren't the same. She was so used to the human sense of modesty that she was almost ashamed to shift and return to Cam naked.

  She shook off the embarrassing thoughts and began the shift, slowly changing from kelpie to human. The moment her gills disappeared, she broke the surface and took in a big gasp of air.

  "Everything okay?" Cam called from the banks of the loch, quite a distance away.

  Instead of answering, she swam to him with strong, fast strides, reaching him much faster than a normal human swimmer would have been able to. It was part of her kelpie magic.

  "Who's that?" Cam asked while she was leaving the water, searching for her clothes. Cam handed her her shirt which he'd carefully folded over his arm. He was such a gentleman.

  "My father," Macey muttered. "He's the king but just behave normally. He doesn't expect formality from non-kelpies."

  Cam nodded, apprehension showing in his features. While Macey had met Jared's adoptive parents, this was the first time one of the guys met her family.

  "Is he going to come outside?"

  Macey pulled up her jeans and slipped into her shoes. Her feet hadn't dried yet and she sighed at the squeaky feeling that she was going to have to deal with for the next hour or so.

  "No, he's going to stay half-shifted," she explained. "Dad, meet Cam!" she called out and her father swam closer to the shore. His torso was human, but his back and legs were kelpie. He looked a bit like a centaur, Macey thought with a smile.

  "Cam, this is my father, Ahearn, King of the Kelpies."

  "It's good to meet you, sir," Cam said politely, doing something that was probably supposed to be a half bow.

  "And you. I hear you are a wraith? Are you perchance related to Isabella and Victor McCloughan from Inverness?"

  Cam shook his head. "No, at least I don't think so. I'm adopted, so I don't know who I'm related to."

  "I'm sure I could ask them..."

  "Dad," Macey interrupted. "We need your help."

  The kelpie king's expression immediately sobered.

  "Are you pregnant?"

  Macey laughed. "You know you're the second person who's asked me that this week?"


  Her father raised his bushy eyebrows. "Who was the first?"

  "A kabouter woman... don't even ask. Has Aunt Nessie told you what I discussed with her?"

  He nodded solemnly. "The Wardens business? Aye, she has. I'm still having trouble imagining my little foal having such responsibility. But if anyone can do it, you can."

  Macey's eyes began to sting and she blinked away her tears.

  "That's why we're here," she said quickly before she began to get emotional. "We're preparing to fight the Mahoun, the entity that has taken on the shape of the devil, and we need as much help as we can get. The other Wardens are travelling to other communities to recruit allies, but of course I came here first."

  "Of course," her father repeated. "Anything you need. You know we're no warriors, but I will give you my best mages. I would come myself, but we've been having trouble recently... No, I don't want to add to your problems. If my theory is correct, this is related to the evilness that is overtaking the world. If you defeat the Mahoun, maybe it will get better."

  Macey was about to say something, to protest that she needed to know, but Cam was quicker.

  "Thank you. We'll take whoever you can spare. And once we're done, we'll return and help. Right, Macey?"

  Again, she wanted to protest, but she knew he was right. She couldn't start fighting on yet another front. The Mahoun had to be their priority.

  "Can you call them now?" she asked her father. "We need to leave again soon. We can drop them in the place where we'll meet the other Wardens. Then we'll have to travel to the na fir ghorma."

  Ahearn looked at her in astonishment. "The storm kelpies? You're going to meet the storm kelpies?"

  Macey smiled. "We've visited them before. Their crown prince is quite nice, actually. Their king is slightly deluded, but they did offer their help, so now we're going to take them up on that."

  The kelpie king shook his head. "I'm not quite sure what to think of that. I better get the mages."