We circled the arena, looking for the others. It took longer than I’d expected, but only because they were half-buried in a cluster of seagrass. I spotted Dane’s blue tail first. It was harder to see Starla’s dark green fins against the grass.
Starla emerged, clutching another token and shell. We dove to her, surrounding her just in time to see the gold shell form a belt that attached to her waist.
“Whoa. I guess there’s no stealing of tokens.”
I held up my wrist.
“Not without maiming us.” I held up the one at my throat. “Or worse.”
Her eyes grew wide. I nodded to Dane.
“Someone already tried.” I patted the pearl at my throat. “For this.”
Dane’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s why you came looking for us.”
“Yes. Things are getting dangerous. And our next clue is something I have to do alone.”
Starla handed her clue to me and I read aloud.
Human-made and human-found, find it lying on the ground.
“This is the first one I don’t get. Obviously, something scavenged, but what?” I exhaled, looking into my friends’ thoughtful faces. “I’ve got to go. Stick together, okay?”
“I’ll swim with you to the top,” Dane offered, swimming closer to me.
I shook my head.
“It’s a one-person job, and you know it.”
Dane’s face was unreadable, but I knew he wasn’t happy.
“Swim fast.”
I nodded, then gave Starla a quick hug.
“Don’t let anyone touch her.”
Dane and Rip nodded. Then I shot straight up, going as fast as I could. If anyone was watching me or knew I had two tokens . . . well, I didn’t want to give them a chance to catch up. I was five hundred meters above the seabed when I finally slowed, glancing around.
A mistake.
Stingrays and sharks were patrolling the area above the Trial. I hissed through my teeth. None had spotted me yet, but I needed to move.
Now!
I tried to imagine myself as dark and murky looking, invisible from the swirling sea around me. I knew it was a long shot that I could do camouflage magic, but I had to try something. The water was getting rougher as I approached the surface. I could see it glimmering above me. A flash illuminated the waters around me.
Lighting.
It was storming above.
And I was wearing an awful lot of metal.
I propelled myself upward as quickly as I could. I felt the cold air as I emerged, spinning to look in all directions.
There!
I was falling back into the water when I saw a circlet of gold hovering high above the steep waves, twenty meters to my left. I dropped back into the water and sped toward it, diving down as I went. I’d need to go down to build up enough speed.
I started swimming up again. This time, I could see the token above me, faintly glimmering against the dark and stormy sky. I knew I was aiming for the right place.
I screamed as a stingray’s tail slashed against my back. I froze, momentarily unable to move. The pain was too intense. I was sinking fast, losing valuable momentum. But that wasn’t the worst part.
My blood is in the water.
It would not be long until a shark noticed me. Perhaps only seconds. I had to swim, no matter how much pain I was in.
Swim, Tri. Right now. Swim for your life!
I saw the shark swerve in my direction as I gathered all of my strength and swam for the surface again. I dug deep, finding a reserve I didn’t even know I had. My inner voice was cheering me on as I burst through the air and grasped the circlet in my hand. I was suspended in the air for a moment as the gold lifted away from my hand, settling on my head. A shell fell from thin air into my outstretched hand.
And then I plummeted, falling like a bird without wings.
I didn’t dive back in like a swan. I plunged into the shark-infested waters like a stone or a hunk of meat. I was too stunned by what had just happened to do anything but let gravity do its work for a moment. Then I saw the sharks bearing down on me from multiple directions.
I could see the thin trails of blood spinning out from my back. That stingray had cut deep, and it hadn’t closed up. I was about to be shark bait.
At last, I woke out of my stupor. I dove, harder and faster than I had ever swum before. I had my weapons, but I knew I could never fight off a full-sized shark. Who was I kidding?
I was chum.
But I tried, if only because my friends were waiting. And I wanted to live. I wanted to live and I wanted to win.
I must have reached some sort of a magical barrier because I felt a tingle as my hand passed through. At the same moment, a snub-nosed shark slammed into something hard beside me. An invisible force field, designed to protect us from the deadly predators circling above. The shark had been going for my head, apparently. I turned back just in time to see an enormous shark bite down on my unprotected tail.
I knew it was over in that instant. I would not be Spark. I would not even survive the next few seconds. I wanted to be brave but I wasn’t.
I screamed in terror and pain as my blood filled the water. I was pulled backward, up out of the protected zone. I was pretty sure it was a great white, like Beazil. But this was no friend.
This was my end.
Say goodbye, Tri. You did your best.
Something whooshed by me, and I felt myself released from the razor-sharp teeth. I was dropping again. I landed against a warm body and was quickly cradled in strong arms, with a voice whispering to me again and again to stay with them. To stay awake. To live.
“She’s awake.”
I was lightheaded and woozy. I clutched my stomach, certain I was about to throw up. I saw Dane and Starla on one side of the bed. I turned my head and saw Rip waiting on the other. Annaruth leaned over me.
“Shh, it is all right. You are all right, my brave one.”
She was working on me, I realized. I could feel pain, but also heat. Magic. I could feel my flesh doing something very strange. It was weaving itself back together under her hands.
“Can you put her back under?”
“No, wait.”
Dane squeezed my hand and leaned in.
“What is it?”
“Did we win?”
He choked out a strangled laugh. I realized his eyes were shining because he was holding back tears. I looked at Starla and she nodded. Her eyes looked suspiciously red.
“Yes, we won.”
I lay back down with a smile.
“I’m not dying, am I?”
“No, Tri. You aren’t. But only because Dane saved you.”
I smiled at him. I was feeling unaccountably happy. I winced as the pain rose up again, but I kept on smiling. I honestly couldn’t stop.
“You did?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Now it was my turn to laugh at him. I stopped pretty quickly because it hurt. The laugh turned into a moan. I knew they were going to drug me again, and I had questions, by Triton!
“So, when can I swim again?”
“Don’t worry, you have two days to heal up before the final battle. And now, if you don’t mind, I think you should rest.”
“Can I eat something first?”
I was nauseous, sure, but I was still hungry.
“No, Katriana. Just rest. Rest and heal. You have a lot of Mers counting on you. More than you could ever know.”
“But—”
Annaruth waved her hand over me and that was it. I went out like a light. A two-legger light, not a magical light. Because those generally never turned off.
Darkness.
It was nearly black in the tent when I opened my eyes next. I was alone, my cot partitioned off with hanging cloth sheets for privacy. It was quiet.
After a moment, my eyes adjusted and I saw the shape slumped in a seat by my bed. His hand held mine loosely. His eyes were closed, barely visible under his hoo
d. I realized he was sleeping.
“Dane?”
He didn’t stir. But a shape at the foot of my bed did.
My eyes grew wide when I saw who it was. My hackles rose. I hated that she had seen me sleeping and totally vulnerable. For a moment, I wondered if she had come to slit my throat.
I forced myself to keep my tone light.
“Thalia. Have you come to see if I was okay? That’s so touching.”
A sly smile crossed her face. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“Of course, sister dear. Why else would I be here?” Her eyes slid to Dane’s sleeping form. “I wonder if you even know how devoted he is to you?”
“He’s my friend. I told you. Maybe you don’t know what true friendship looks like.”
“Friendship, my fins. He’s in love with you.”
“If you say so.” I decided to look bored. Her words were making my heart pound, but there was no reason for me to let her know that. There was something threatening in her eyes, though. “Why are you really here?”
She tossed her shining blonde hair.
“Mother thinks we should have killed you years ago.”
“Child murder isn’t generally smiled upon, Thalia. No matter how rich you are.”
“You never really were a child though, were you? You always knew you would win the Trials.”
That made me angry. How dare she? I was just a little girl who had lost her father. And I’d never known anything! I’d dreamed, yes, but dreams were all I had!
“I was a child. I was a lonely, frightened child.”
“Oh, boo-hoo. You never lacked for anything. You always knew you were better than everyone else.”
I was almost too angry to speak. Thankfully, Dane did it for me.
“Get out of here, Thalia, or I’ll report you. The Med tent is off limits, as you well know.”
She glared at him.
“Who do you think you are, anyway? If you want to go slumming, that’s fine with me—”
She was cut off with a flash of light from his hand. He’d magicked her into silence, I realized. Her eyes were wide with fright and something else.
Recognition.
She rasped out a few words, her fingers dragging at her throat.
“I know who you are! I know!”
A heavy hand came down on her shoulder.
“And if you tell anyone, your life will be forfeit.”
Thalia turned to see Annaruth behind her. She sputtered a few times as Annaruth tightened her grip. But when the High Priestess lifted her eyes to me, her gaze was soft.
“I’ll see you out, and then we can discuss what your punishment should be.” She gave me an arch look. “As for you, you need to stop waking up. I’m going to have to double the spell I’m using.”
She lifted her hand and I sank into myself.
When I woke, all I could remember was that Dane had been there with me all night. But it was little more than the fragments of a mostly forgotten dream.
Chapter 21
“Are you sure you are okay?”
I nodded, back in my tent for the first time since the scavenger hunt. I was wearing my tunic, but Annaruth had made a few magical adjustments in addition to repairing it. It was still the same soft, old, familiar fabric. But if you touched it with any force, it stiffened into a hard shell.
My tunic was now armor.
I still planned to wear the pieces Dane had given me. They made me feel safe and protected. We were preparing ourselves now. I’d slept most of the past few days.
“What did I miss?”
“Well, Beazil went crazy when you didn’t come back. Annaruth had to come and show him a vision of you. He was about to tear the tent down.”
I swam over to scratch Beazil’s cheek and just below the jaw, right where he liked it. I pressed a kiss to his scratchy skin.
“You are a true friend, Beaz.”
I swore I heard him softly harrumph.
I tossed him a crab leg as I swam back to my side of the tent. Dane had brought over a small feast early that morning. I was so hungry, I could have probably eaten all of it. But of course, I would never keep it all for myself, even if it was tempting.
“Is he ready?”
Starla jerked her head toward Beazil.
“What?”
“This is it. The final battle. And familiars have to fight.”
My heart sank. This is what I’d feared all along. If only he were pocket-sized and I could keep him safe. But he was a huge target. I looked across the tent at the lazily munching shark.
“Does he know?”
She nodded.
“He’s playing it cool.”
I exhaled sharply. I swam over to Beazil. He looked into my eyes. I looked into his.
“I wish you didn’t have to do this, big guy.”
He lowered his head and I rubbed it.
“They’re going to come after you. You have to fight.”
His nose poked my belly. I felt tears welling up. If anything happened to him, I didn’t know if I could survive it.
“I love you, Beazil.”
He nuzzled me again, and I hugged him for the longest time. Finally, I swam away. I was still hungry, and I hadn’t finished putting my armor on. I felt a bit better after Starla filled me in on some of the rules. Apparently, our weapons would be magicked to freeze our opponents with contact, not to kill. But we could still be maimed.
And there was a chance that people might smuggle in a non-Magic weapon, hoping to eliminate some of the competition.
Either way, it was going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight. Alliances were apparently forming all over the place, with Rip and his friends asking Dane and the two of us to team up again.
This time, I was one hundred percent on board with that.
I still didn’t trust Jaynelle or Juno, but they had found two tokens for our team. Rip and Starla had found the other while I was at the surface.
Thankfully for me, Dane had ignored my wishes and followed me to the surface, though at a distance. Plus, he hadn’t been able to keep up.
I smiled to myself. We were quite a team. We each brought something different to the task at hand. We had a chance to make it through unscathed.
Dread was pounding in my veins. For all of my practice and bravado in the tent, now that the moment was at hand, I was a bundle of nerves. It’s not that I wouldn’t defend myself. I had done it already and I would again. I just wasn’t crazy about violence for the sake of violence. I didn’t want to fight strangers, especially young Mers. And some of the competitors really were far too young. I was not among the oldest myself, not by a long shot. But being only fourteen or fifteen in Mer years like Starla . . . well, it didn’t seem right.
Today would be a blood bath, even with the Magical weapons.
I started dressing and looked at my hands, holding the chest plate Dane had given me tightly. The freckles stood out starkly against my pale skin. Yes, I was even pastier than usual. And it wasn’t due to my injuries. I was more or less healed, with a few scars to show for my adventure. Annaruth had told me she could take care of them for me, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to let them go.
Maybe after the Trials were over, if the offer still stood.
If I was even still alive.
I closed my eyes and put my helmet into place. I looked on as Starla finished attaching her small sword to her golden shell belt. She still wore the token from the scavenger hunt. We all did. I suspected they were spelled to stay attached to our flesh until the end of the Trials or longer. I didn’t mind so much. I hadn’t seen my head piece or the pearl necklace at my throat, but the bracelet was beautiful. It might even help keep my wrist steady if I had to use my daggers in close combat.
When I had to use my daggers.
From what I could tell, the pearl necklace was unspeakably lovely, and oddly enough, the same color and tone as the pearl I had given Starla the first time we met. Pink pearls were quite rare. Annaruth had kindly trans
formed the smaller pearl into a matching necklace with gold links, which now rested around Starla’s throat.
On our team, only Dane had not won a token himself. I offered to give him one of mine, but he said it was impossible and it wasn’t right. He said I had earned them. I wasn’t so sure I believed that. He’d saved me and protected Starla. He had more than earned his share of the loot.
I’d give him the crown, I decided. As soon as the Trials were over. And he’d take it, whether he wanted to or not. Why should I get all the loot? Especially not when he’d stopped searching for tokens to save my life.
We heard a warning horn blow. It was time. The final Trial would begin soon.
“Well, I guess we’d better go.”
Starla nodded. I gave her a quick hug, then fixed her and Beazil with a hard look.
“Don’t get killed.”
“You too.”
I nodded solemnly. We swam out to meet our fate.
It was anarchy. Terrifying, loud, and chaotic. From the moment the horn blew, the arena was filled with clashing metal and screams of pain. I saw a Mer near me get hit almost immediately. He floated there, frozen in place, his face a grimace of pain.
Okay, so hopefully, a blow wouldn’t kill you, but it didn’t exactly look like it tickled either.
I stared around anxiously, surrounded by my alliance. Juno roared and plunged forward. We had no choice but to follow him, protecting his back and fending off any Mer who dared attack our flank. Starla was in between Dane and me, with Rip and Jaynelle bringing up the rear.
Our familiars were nowhere to be seen as yet. I prayed that Beazil would stay out of the fighting altogether, though I doubted that was realistic.
The crowd roared enthusiastically. Meanwhile, my stomach turned over in abject terror. This last, most bloody Trial happened entirely within the confines of the arena. That might make some Mers feel more secure, but not me. There was nowhere to run or hide. The audience was so close we could touch them, if it weren’t for the Magical force field that protected them and kept us inside.
I flinched as a young Mer bounced off the unseen barrier with a shriek.
Just then, a dark shadow swam over me. An enormous stingray had entered the field. It was followed by a great white shark and other familiars of various sizes. Beazil. I opened my mouth to call him but he saw me first.
The Mermaid Trials Page 13