by Renee Hewett
“How did this happen?” Graham examined the table full of documents and the wall with more facts and figures but knew it would save time to just hear the specifics from his officers.
“While we’ve continued to guard the site over the years, it seems our system has become somewhat lax. Our active patrols go out there at scheduled intervals, and we believe the cultists sent the grindylows in when they knew our patrols wouldn’t be out there. Until a team went out at an odd interval and caught them in the act. They tried to stop them and almost got killed in the ensuing attack by a mob of them. That’s when we looked into it and realized the pyrosome barrier had been depleted. Soon after, the tremors began.”
And if that were an accurate indication, it would only be a matter of time before the Old One woke and created full earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis; a cascade of natural disasters and then… something even the best intelligence couldn't predict.
“So, what are we doing now to prevent that?” Graham asked, looking around the room.
“We have all of our summoners at the Old One location, using powerful magic to keep the barrier up, but they're quickly weakening; it's extremely taxing. Our next step is to go into the grindylow camp, and get them to surrender the pyrosomes, by any means necessary.”
“Starting with peaceful diplomacy,” Willow said. Graham had automatically turned toward the voice, as he would with any other speaker during the briefing, and the glance of her had his stomach dropping. He wanted to be with her so badly, but knew he was doing the right thing. It would be impossible for them to be together, and he had to focus on the operation and then on his family.
The second officer responded to her. "Of course, we recognize the Federal Paranormal Unit's request for peaceful negotiations, but if it's impossible, then we won't hesitate to use force. It's for the greater good."
Graham hoped it wouldn’t come to that, because wiping out a whole community was not on his list of what he wanted to leave in his legacy.
“Based on the information we’ve gathered, we can piece together that the cultists want our sea pickles, and that they’re using the local grindylows population to harvest them. What they’re offering in return is unknown.”
"Could be intimidation."
“Could be.” They agreed.
They went over the plan of action, from peaceful plan A to non-peaceful plan B. Either way, they needed to find the pyrosomes and get them back to the Old One crater as quickly as possible. And if the pyrosomes weren’t in the area anymore, then the whole world would be in danger.
As the others filed out, Graham and his parents stayed last. He was alone with them for the first time in years. He watched his father stand from his chair, using a cane and the table for support, and Graham couldn’t avoid seeing how weak and frail he was.
“It’s good to see you, son.” The words were raspy, not at all the powerful voice of the man Graham knew to be his father.
“Likewise.” Graham was having difficulty finding his words. His father had always been the strongest man he’d known, and he was facing the reality that his father was mortal for the first time.
“Your mate seems like a very nice woman, smart too.” Graham cursed Monty as he hugged his mother. He knew Monty’s job was to report back to them, but he’d hoped that bit of gossip hadn’t traveled so far yet.
“False alarm, she’s not my mate.”
His mother’s face turned up in confusion. “But…”
“With all due respect, Mother, she’s not.” He spoke as firmly as he could, more firmly than he ever had with his parents before. “I’m here, without a mate, and I’m not going out there to find one. I’m back for good now. You should have told me what was going on with father and the Old One. I would have come back immediately.”
His father cleared his throat. “You had a mission on land, and that was finding your mate. That was the duty you needed to attend to. You can’t just not have a mate. How will you be a true leader with no mate and no heirs?”
Graham hated the way his father’s voice shook with sickness and emotion. It made Graham not want to fight him, but that didn’t mean he’d bend to his father’s will.
"Royalty throughout history has passed down titles to family members. You know there are cousins, others, I can name as my heir. My own progeny isn't necessary."
“No, but a mate and children are good for you.” His mother’s blue skin had paled, and he saw the horror in her eyes. “You can’t be alone.”
"I won't be alone. I have advisors. I have staff. And here and now, I have an operation to lead. Goodbye, Mother, Father. Wish us Godspeed and success."
9
The people of Ursanis could breathe underwater without issue, but they’d long ago created underwater air and pressurized dive suit technology for the mates who joined the community and didn’t have those physical advancements. Willow and Risa both donned the suit and mask over their faces and ears and tuned into the communication channel.
The group headed out. The location of the Old One was not far from the city in a crater just to the north. Willow could make out colors as they approached, rays that reminded her of the northern lights.
The boundary of the Old One where the pyrosomes had made up the magical barrier was now reinforced by the Ursanis sorcerers in their polar bear forms. They had guards with them to prevent grindylows from interrupting their ritual or stealing any more pyrosomes.
The briefing had explained that they couldn’t keep it up for long. They were exhausting themselves, and the sooner they recovered the magical ghosts to take their place in the crater, the better.
Somehow during their trek to the crater, Graham had ended up at Willow’s side. Her initial shock had worn off, and she had progressed to irritation toward him. It annoyed her to see him, and she wished he would stay at the front of the group with his people and just ignore her presence.
But he wasn’t. He was staying by her and Risa and explaining things as they went along. “You can see the pyrosomes that are left here, but the population is vastly depleted. Their natural bioluminescence is enhanced by our magic, making them glow even more. Our summoners recharge the magic in the pyrosomes during an annual ritual, and it’s kept the Old One sleeping for centuries.”
“If the summoners are getting tired, why didn’t your people call in backups from one of the other Old One locations or wherever people with this magic live?”
“Because there aren’t others with this kind of magic. It’s unique to us, as over the centuries magic has evolved and changed, branched out into specializations.”
As they watched the summoners, they saw movement in the crater, seeming as though the rock itself was rippling. Seconds later, the movement projected out into a tremor. This one stronger than before.
It created a ripple in the water that pushed them back. Those in bear form were able to dig their claws into the ground, but those who weren’t already shifted, including all those in their operation party, struggled to not float away. Willow and Risa grabbed on to a rock jutting out of the crater. The rock started to crack and fall away, and Willow held on to Risa while trying to find something else to grip.
Instead, she felt a hard tug at her waist.
Graham had fastened a carabiner to her belt, which was attached to his own. He’d used a device to anchor himself into the rock and was shouting at her, but she couldn’t hear him. Risa held on to Willow, and she hung on to Graham, and in just over a minute, it had passed.
But they watched as it continued on to Ursanis. The dome took the impact, but the threat was clear. "If these keep getting bigger the city will be the first casualty of the Old One." This time she heard Graham but was at a loss of what to say. If he were her mate, she would want to comfort him, but as an ATTF representative, her focus was on the job.
Their party had been thrown all over and needed to regroup.
And they needed to not waste another moment. They need to get the pyrosomes back, now.
I guess this was my lesson in never making an assumption about a job.
They swam past the crater to the grindylow village. As Willow peered through the plastic facemask, she saw the gills on the side of Graham's neck working and felt envious. She would love to be in her moray form, but it wasn't the time for that. Diplomacy first.
The grindylow village looked like a slew of sandcastles, but Willow didn't get much of a look at it before they were swarmed. The ambush came out of nowhere with no warning. Willow realized that she'd had no idea what to expect from the grindylows, and fast tiny octopus with sharp snarling teeth was not what she’d been prepared for.
The little bald demons flew at their group, their humanlike arm appendages holding various items they intended to use as weapons, and their short squid legs propelling them in seemingly random directions. Had she not heard Graham shouting for everyone to maintain their human shapes and not engage the attackers, she would have been in her moray form showing the little grindylows what a mistake it was to mess with her.
She covered her face and hovered low alongside Risa. She glared up at Graham, waiting as he held his hands up to show the grindylows he had no weapons. He spoke to them in a loud, commanding voice. “We are not here to go to war with your people. We are here to speak to your leaders.”
The little monsters continued to swarm them, but at least none were inflicting harm. They were using scare tactics, trying to get them to turn around. A loud screech from behind sounded, and their little gibberish noises ceased.
The swarm parted, and a slower pack of grindylows approached them, their tentacles propelling them at a more even pace. Their skin looked saggier, perhaps more wrinkly, than the others, and the way the others fell back in deference led Willow to believe these were their elders.
To her surprise, Graham spoke back to them in their grindylow language that sounded somewhat like dolphins crossed with a creaking door.
For those who didn’t understand, Monty translated. “He’s telling them that we’re here for the Will-o’-the-wisps, and they’re saying they don’t know anything about it.”
Willow watched as the first, the one in front of the elders, turned to call forward one from the initial swarm. “He’s asking what the youngers know of it.”
Willow observed the younger one gesture, pointing at the Ursanis party, pointing at the grindylow village, gesturing to the water above them. "He says that it's time for the grindylows to take what they deserve. That the prosperity the Ursanis have should be theirs for the taking.”
The elder growled a low and threatening sound. They seemed to grow in size and loomed dangerously over the younger. Willow wondered if they would strike the other, especially when their faces pulled back into a vicious snarl, revealing all their pointy little teeth, and they bellowed out in a deeper yell than before. “The elder is telling them that they’ve endangered us all, that they were told lies by the strangers, and that we’ll all die for their lack of respect for the sacred ground of the Old One.”
In perfect timing, another tremor rocked the world around them, stronger than the other small ones before. This time, there weren't rocks to hold onto, and as the water swirled around them, they were all taken into it. All around her, Willow saw Ursanis peoples and grindylows. The grindylows shrieked in terror and tried to cling to one another, but Willow kept her calm.
Once the maelstrom started to settle, everyone regrouped and made their way back to their original positions. The grindylows, though, a significant majority of them, didn't stop at their initial meeting point. They streamed forward, around the village, toward a nearby cave mouth.
The water seemed to have a life of its own, tossing Willow and her friends around like they were chaff in the wind, and she had to close her eyes to stop from becoming too dizzy. She was of the water, though, and unlike the grindylows, she knew this tempest would pass, so she simply rode it out, trying to stay near the others.
“This… way…” The elder grindylow spoke two words in slow English, passing their glance over Willow and Risa as they did so. Willow shivered, knowing that the trouble the cultists had caused would make strangers even more unwelcome than before.
“They’re not unfriendly”—to Willow’s surprise, Graham had arrived at her side—“and I’ve assured them that you and Risa are our guests, that you’re allies, and that you helped us apprehend the other strangers.”
“And they believed you?” Willow asked.
“Enough to ignore you and focus on the task of returning the pyrosomes.”
10
Even the tremors hadn't affected Graham in the same way that looking at a vast cavern full of pyrosomes did. Shit. They had to have been doing this for a very long time. This was a colossal fuckup.
“This place is bigger than a football stadium, or even two.” Risa’s voice went over the comms headset.
Under normal circumstances, the sight of the pyrosomes floating around, glowing their soft pink, purples, and blues, would be something beautiful to observe. In their current situation, though, it looked like an insurmountable task.
He pulled up his communicator and spoke into it. “I’m going to need every able-bodied citizen who can to come to the east-end grindylow cavern and help us. Have them bring any net or net-like item they have.”
The person on the other end of the comms device asked for clarification. “Yes, we’ve found the pyrosomes, and now we need each and every Ursanis person who can breathe or put on a breathing suit, to get out here and help us return them to their proper place. And we need nets, and anything that can be used as a net. We need to be able to transport multiple pyrosomes at a time.”
Graham stood in front of the group, staring at the vast expanse filled with the pyrosomes, knowing his people likely felt intimidated by this task and it was up to him to rally them. "We can do this. We can right this mistake and move forward to make sure it doesn't happen again. Our people grew complacent as our population expanded. We focused on caring for our people and their ever-changing needs and desires, making our real purpose, guarding the barrier, seem less and less real to each generation. But we're going to rectify this."
The elder grindylow repeated a similar statement to their people. They were full of anger that their younger generation had done this, but like Graham, they were putting the priority on fixing the situation. Harsh punishment to those who did this would come later.
“Hey.” Willow spoke up, looking between Graham and the elder grindylow. “Your youngers, they, uh, look like they want to just flush the pyrosomes out and hope they go back…”
The elder flew off toward their young to stop them before the pyrosomes floated away. “Thanks,” Graham told her, feeling stronger for having her next to him. He tried to reason that she was a competent FPU agent, and that was reason enough to feel like that.
But he also knew that wasn't the truth. She was his one true mate; she made him whole. Through both tremors, his thoughts immediately jumped to her. As the prince, he should be thinking about his people or the damage that the Old One would be causing the rest of the world if not stopped.
But as a man, he wanted her. He wanted her to be safe. He wanted her to be beside him. He wanted her help in political matters and her heat in his bed.
All the more reason to make sure she leaves after this. The memory of his frail father was so fresh. He was going to have to figure out how to say goodbye to him, eventually, and become king. He couldn't have a vulnerability like Willow, a threat of heartbreak that would put him in a position of not being able to lead his people. The sooner she’s gone, the better. Then I can focus.
Speaking of focusing, he started to direct his team and the grindylows into a daisy chain, lining them up so that they would be able to pass nets of pyrosomes down the line. They had only the few nets that they'd brought with them
before the rest of the Ursanis people arrived, but it was enough to start the flow.
They had mainly grindylows collecting the pyrosomes in the cavern as they were faster. From there, they alternated a few grindylows with Ursanis people. The grindylows could take one net each to the person who could hold multiples while handing them off to the next set of grindylows.
Willow, Risa, and Monty helped him direct the operation, and set up the new grindylows who trickled in, as well as the backups from Ursanis. There were so many. Eventually, the daisy chain of people and grindylows was long enough to go from the cave to the Old One crater with just an arm’s reach between them.
Time was still tight, but he started to feel optimistic. It was working. A sense of relief settled over Graham as he watched the grindylows flitting around, handing off the nets to his people. He made his way down the line, all the way to the crater where he watched the nets being emptied into the barrier and the pyrosomes rejoining the others.
“Will this work?” Willow spoke just to him on a direct comms channel. “It will take a while to get them all back here, and their magic was just to sustain the slumber. With the Old One waking, will more need to be done to return him to sleep?”
"Once the barrier is back in place, we'll pool our magic. As long as the barrier is there, we won't have to worry about depleting ourselves. We just put it back to sleep and let the pyrosomes get back to doing what they do best.”
As he spoke, Graham’s attention turned to something above them, a speck coming down from the surface. “What is that?”
They didn’t have time to figure it out as another tremor hit. Helpless to do anything but hold on to Willow, he grabbed her and hugged her close. In the maelstrom, he couldn’t see the grindylows or the Ursanis people also being thrown around, and he couldn’t know how many nets and pyrosomes were let loose, but he could feel Willow’s arms around him and that alone gave him enough strength and conviction to instantly restore order once the swirling waters calmed again.