by Zoe Chant
She wound both hands into his neck-ruff, taking a deep breath. When he sensed that she was ready, he dove. He could still taste the panic rising in her throat as the ocean closed over them.
*Only a moment,* he reassured her.
Swimming as fast as he could without risking unseating Neridia, he joined his sister. There was a slightly awkward moment transferring Neridia from his neck to hers, but at last his mate was safely settled in the bubble of air.
Neridia gasped, drawing a huge, shaking breath. She said something, but the words stayed trapped in the air around her. From the relief pounding down the mate bond, John suspected it had been something she would not care to repeat telepathically.
“What approach are we taking?” his sister asked in song, once Neridia was secure. “The Pearl Gate?”
John shook his head, answering out loud since there was no need to include Neridia in this particular conversation. “Much as I would like to bring the Empress-in-Waiting home in glory, we must take a less visible route. The Knight-Commander does not want rumors of her existence to get out before she has been presented to the Sea Council.”
“He’d better not hope to keep it secret much longer than that. The screams of outrage will be heard across the entire city.” She flicked her tail, propelling herself through the water. “Let’s take the Broken Road, then. It’s usually only used by us dancers, and there are no air runs scheduled for today. It should be empty.”
John hummed a note of agreement. Dropping back a little, he curved to bring one eye level with Neridia. *I must range ahead, and check that our path is clear. I may need to move out of your sight, but do not fear. I am always but a thought away.*
Neridia nodded, though her racing heartbeat pounded down the mate bond. The bubble of air surrounding her seemed very small and fragile. He could sense her fearful awareness of the cold water pressing down all around.
He wished that he could comfort her, but he had no words to do so. How could she find the ocean claustrophobic? To him, it was freedom.
Rolling away from her, he dove. And at last, at last, he could swim unhindered.
Chase and Dai had occasionally teased him about the way he had to be carried on their backs whenever Alpha Team had to race to the site of an emergency. The pegasus and red dragon could not help pitying anyone who could not fly as they did.
He’d always smiled, and said nothing. They were like children proudly hoarding a shiny piece of glass, having never seen a diamond.
Now, John flew with a freedom that his winged colleagues could not even imagine. No ungainly flapping, no constant fight against gravity; he moved as easily as thought. With the merest twist of his tail, the slightest flick of a webbed foot, he could stoop faster than a striking hawk, or hover more gracefully than any hummingbird.
The entire sea was his, and it was vaster than any sky.
He closed his nostrils, holding his last breath of air safe in his vast lungs, and spread his neck ruff to better taste the water through the hidden gills underneath. He had been forced to breathe the harsh air and chemical-filled waters near human cities for so long, he had almost forgotten how sweet the sea could be. The pure water was like a benediction through his gills, washing him clean of the reek of humanity.
But he could not allow himself to become distracted by the ecstasy of being home again. Alert for any danger, he probed into the dark depths with short, wordless notes. The echoes bounced back to him, allowing him to feel the shape of the unseen ocean floor as easily as if he ran his hands over it.
His echolocation revealed nothing larger than a tuna for half a mile around. The tumbled rocks of the sea bed hid no lurking sharks. Nonetheless, he stayed on high alert, circling under and around his sister and Neridia as they too descended.
Down the mate bond, he sensed Neridia’s fear rise the deeper that his sister carried her. Although the ocean was fairly shallow around Atlantis, it was clear her human eyes were struggling to cope with the dim sunlight filtering down from the mirrored surface high overhead.
*All is well,* he reassured her yet again. *Look, I am here.*
He concentrated for a moment. A tingle ran over his scales as his phosphorescent patches lit. The glowing lines swirled over his shoulders and down his flank in twining spirals, more intricate than any human tattoo.
*Oh!* Neridia gasped.
*Try to look impressed at how sparkly he is,* his sister told her, dryly. *Males do so love to show off.*
*I am not showing off. I merely thought to light the way.* Nonetheless, he was unable to help feeling a certain masculine satisfaction at Neridia’s reaction to his markings.
Schools of small fish swirled around him, drawn by the shimmering blue-green glow. Normally a knight on patrol would swim dark, so as not to alert enemies to his presence, but at the moment Neridia’s fear was a greater threat than any hypothetical lurking shark. He could feel her imminent panic retreat a little as her eyes fixed on his luminous form.
*Look.* Seeking to distract her further, he curved down so that he swam only a few body-lengths above the sea floor. He brightened his glow as he twisted around a jagged, broken pillar of stone.
*That looks carved.* Neridia’s mental tone was startled. *Is that writing?*
*Yes. We are swimming over what was once a coastal village.* John wove in and out of the ruins, the wake of his passing stirring the seaweed blanketing the shattered buildings. *All this was once part of Atlantis. When the island sank, our ancestors were able to keep the capital city intact, but the outer parts of the land had to be sacrificed.*
She stared at the irregular lumps and rocks of the sea bed with new eyes. *How long ago was this?*
*Many thousands of years, as humans reckon time. I do not know the exact count.*
Neridia was silent for a while, as his sister carried her over the ruins of millennia. *We have legends of Atlantis,* she said eventually. *Humans, I mean. A lost island, sunk by some ancient disaster.*
*Your legends hide a kernel of truth,* he sent back. *But it was no disaster. Our ancestors sank Atlantis deliberately.*
*Why?* she asked.
*Fear,* his sister said.
*War,* he corrected. *The Dragon Wars, remembered by humankind only as whispered legends of battling gods. The dragons of the land grew jealous of our beauty, our wisdom, our treasures. They allied with humans and sought to invade our home. Our ancestors retreated beneath the waves rather than see all that they loved laid waste by flame.*
*They chose to hide from the outside world instead of learning to live within it,* his sister added, her mental tone sad. *And so they divided our people. Not all inhabitants of Atlantis were shifters. Our human kin were forced to flee to other lands, exiled from their own home.*
John shrugged, the motion making his light ripple over the sea bed. *They made new homes. Some of the greatest human civilizations owe a debt to sea dragon blood. It was a necessary sacrifice.*
His sister snorted, silver bubbles trickling from her flared nostrils. *I am sure that is what our honored ancestors told our unfortunate kin. Strange how the sacrifice is always judged necessary by the one who is not making it.*
*Funny, that,* Neridia agreed, a hint of bitterness darkening the thought.
There was not much John could say in response. With a sweep of his tail, he moved ahead again, scouting out the way.
The ruins around them became larger and more complex as they swam onward. John led his sister along the sea floor, so that the ancient structures hid them from any unfriendly eyes. He kept alert to the background murmur of sea dragon song, listening for any hint of warning from the knights patrolling Atlantis’s borders.
None came. The knights’ songs were routine, speaking only of passing fish and idle gossip. Much of this latter was speculation about their own presence. From what he could overhear, the Knight-Commander had not informed even the Order of the First Water that the Walker-Above-Wave was returning, let alone who he was bringing with him.
; It felt wrong, all wrong. The Empress-in-Waiting should have been greeted with a sea-shaking chorus, every inhabitant of Atlantis calling out to bid her welcome. She should have been coming home in triumph and glory. Not like this, creeping through the mire like a crab scuttling into a hole.
John clamped his own jaws shut on the song that wanted to rise in his throat. The Knight-Commander knew the political currents of Atlantis better than he did. Much as it went against the whispers of his own heart, he was honor-bound to trust in his superior’s judgment.
Still, he could at least try to make the moment more appropriate. Deliberately, John picked a route that followed ancient, twisting roads overhung by coral-encrusted ruins. The sunken land was starting to slope upward, the waters brightening as they became shallower.
Though they were not yet within sight of the city itself, the sea teemed with life. Fish scattered at their approach, darting into empty windows to hide from the greatest predators in the sea. A giant octopus shifted color to match the carved wall it clung to as they passed by, faded hieroglyphs rippling across its skin.
John sensed the delight rising in Neridia’s heart, her innate joy in the wonders of nature overwhelming even her apprehension. *Oh,* she exclaimed, head swiveling as if trying to see everything at once.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” his sister sang to him privately, in laughing notes outside human hearing. “You always did have a taste for the dramatic.”
He bristled his neck-ruff at her. “Do not spoil the surprise.”
*It’s more beautiful than I could have imagined,* Neridia said telepathically, oblivious to the exchange. She twisted round on his sister’s back, following the flight of a brilliant school of fish as they swirled around a once-proud dragon statue now worn soft by time and tides. *Is this Atlantis?*
*No.* John rose, his sister following, allowing Neridia to at last see what lay ahead. *That is Atlantis.*
Chapter 23
Neridia could barely comprehend what she was seeing.
The broken grandeur of the ruins had been impressive enough. But this…this was no ruin.
A broad, stepped mountain rose from the rolling sea floor. Thousands of white buildings clustered on the wide tiers, gleaming like pearl in the shifting sunbeams filtering down from the half-seen surface far above. Elegant arches connected one level to the next, so light and airy that it hardly seemed possible that they could support their own weight.
It was like some impossibly huge, intricate wedding cake. Vast, glimmering bubbles of air encased some parts in crystal domes, but many of the towering buildings and elegant, spiraling roads lay open to the ocean.
And, through the sunken city, the sea dragons swam.
At this distance, they were as tiny as minnows, but there was no mistaking those sinuous forms. They soared around the towers and ziggurats as easily as birds through the sky. She could see the luminescent glow of the males, winking like fireflies through the white spires. There were the darker shapes of females too, and others that were too small to be sea dragons, too big to be mere fish.
Home, whispered her strange inner voice. We are home.
Neridia felt like she could stare for a week, and still barely take in a tenth of the city’s wonders. Wide, curving streets opening out into column-lined plazas. Vast statues of dragons, ten times life size, carved into the living rock itself. A huge palace of soaring towers at the very top of the mountain, crowning the city with the unmistakable gleam of pure gold.
And she was supposed to rule it all.
The thought punctured her awestruck wonder as ruthlessly as a sword-thrust. The idea of an ordinary human—of her—put in charge of all this shining splendor was so ridiculous that Neridia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered, alone in her tiny bubble of air. “This is madness. I want to go home.”
This is home, insisted her inner voice. This is our domain. Claim it!
Neridia shut her eyes tight, trying to shut out the city, to shut out that terrifyingly fearless voice. What was she thinking? What place was there for her in this magical underwater world?
*My mate?* John’s mind brushed against hers as gently as a caress.
She opened her eyes to find him hanging in the water at her side, his luminous blue eyes anxiously studying her expression. Here in his natural element, he seemed even bigger than he did on land. The glowing spirals running down his scaled flanks emphasized his powerful bulk. Every slight movement of his finned tail, every idle flex of his ivory talons revealed his strength.
He belonged here. She didn’t.
But she had come too far to turn back now.
She took a deep breath of the stale air, straightening her spine. *I’m okay.* It still felt weird to just think the words, and know that he heard them in his own head. *I was just…it’s all just a bit overwhelming.*
His own mental tone lacked its usual deep, certain ring. *Perhaps I should not have sprung it on you all at once, without preparation. But I thought the sight would delight you more if it came unexpected.*
Underneath Neridia’s thighs, John’s sister heaved a deep, heartfelt sigh. *Please forgive my brother,* the sea dragon said privately, mind-to-mind. *He means well. But you have to remember, this is the male who once put a live and extremely angry vampire squid in my bed, because I idly remarked at dinner that nothing exciting had happened that day.*
Despite herself, Neridia had to smile. *I am really looking forward to hearing those stories you mentioned.*
*Then by all means, let us get to Atlantis as swiftly as possible.* John’s sister broadened the mental conversation to include John. *Brother? Is it safe for us to proceed?*
John swung his horned head to scan the surroundings. Neridia didn’t know how he could see anything in the murky depths, but after a moment he hummed in evident satisfaction.
*The way ahead lies clear.* Flicking his tail, he soared effortlessly up, leading the way. *We will enter by the-*
He broke off abruptly, his head snapping round as if he’d heard something. Underneath Neridia, every muscle in his sister’s back went tense. Both sea dragons stared back the way they’d came.
*What is it?* Neridia turned to look back herself, but couldn’t see anything in the dim light. *What’s wrong?*
*Go!* John swirled back, every talon bared to the full extent as he stationed himself behind his sister. *Get her to Atlantis! Now!*
Neridia jolted back, nearly sliding out of her bubble of air as John’s sister surged forward. She’d thought they had been swimming quickly enough before, but now it became obvious that they had been going at the sea dragon equivalent of a leisurely walking pace. She grabbed at the dragon’s trailing mane, clinging on for dear life.
“What’s going on?” she yelled.
*One of the border guards just spoke to a comrade,* John’s sister responded, even though she’d forgotten to use mind speech. *Wondering why the Master Shark is in such a hurry to reach Atlantis.*
*What? They let him through?* Neridia’s pulse spiked with fear. *Why didn’t they challenge him?*
*Because he is the Master Shark!* The sea dragon’s head wove through the water like a snake as she increased her speed still further. *And since the Knight-Commander hasn’t seen fit to warn his knights about your existence, let alone that the Lord of Sharks is after you, they have no reason to deny him entry! And now he is here!*
Neridia twisted, straining her eyes to try to see through the deep blue sea. John wasn’t following. He’d spiraled up to hang halfway between the sea floor and the surface, facing away from them, his intricate markings blazing as bright as neon signs.
He was so huge, so fierce, that some of Neridia’s panic eased at the sight. He was a sea dragon, a sea dragon Knight, born and trained for battle. He was armored in plated scales, and armed with teeth and claws and powerful magic. Surely no shark, not even the biggest great white, could get past him.
Then sh
e looked past John’s glowing form, and saw what he faced.
The Master Shark wasn’t a great white shark. He could have swallowed a great white whole, in a single mouthful, without pausing.
In a flash, she understood the reason for the Master Shark’s oddly-proportioned face in human form, with its prominent brow ridges and heavy jaw. It was a face from prehistoric times, echoing his true form. No wonder John had been so certain he had to be commanding the plesiosaur shifter assassins. Like them, he was a primitive throwback, a relic from another age.
An age of giants.
“Megalodon,” Neridia breathed.
The biggest shark ever to swim the sea. Eighty feet of muscle and teeth and bottomless hunger.
And John hung motionless, right in his path.
Hands numb with shock, Neridia tugged at John’s sister’s mane to get her attention. *John isn’t following us! He’s planning to fight!*
*What? Of course he’s not-* The sea dragon’s mental voice cut off as she glanced over her shoulder. *What in the-BROTHER!*
Faintly, Neridia heard John sing something back in return. His sister hissed something that was very definitely a dragon swearword.
*What did he say?* Neridia asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
*That he would cover our retreat,* the sea dragon said grimly, swirling to a halt in the water.
Neridia shrieked as the sea dragon started fluking back toward her brother and the rapidly-approaching Master Shark at top speed. *What are you doing?*
*I’ll be dry-beached before I let my little brother hurl himself down the Master Shark’s gullet just to slow him down!* The sea dragon’s teeth bared in a snarl. *You’re meant to be the Empress-in-Waiting, so act like it! If anyone can stop the Master Shark, it’s you!*
*Me?* Every muscle in her body was rigid with fear. *What do you expect me to be able to do?*
John’s sister didn’t get a chance to answer. Ahead of them, John himself spun around, the luminescent lines on his body blazing with fury.