by Zoe Chant
*GET BACK!* His roar knocked his sister head-over-tail backward in the water. *I told you to get her into the city!*
The Master Shark hurtled toward them, growing larger every second. He was further away than Neridia had thought. She’d been deceived into thinking that he was nearly on top of them, just from how big he already looked.
Which meant…he was actually even bigger.
*Please, John!* Neridia pulled on the mate bond, desperate to get him to listen. *Not even you can fight that thing!*
His sister paddled upright again, matching John glare for glare. *I’m not leaving you. If you want to get your mate to safety, then you’re going to have to come too!*
John snarled, but turned. To Neridia’s relief, he started to swim, herding his sister before him.
Neridia flattened against John’s sister’s neck. The sea dragon’s tail lashed through the water, fighting the drag of the dwindling air bubble. It was clear that she was tiring.
Neridia risked a backward glance. The Master Shark was catching up. His streamlined body was even more perfectly adapted for this environment than the sea dragons. He was close enough now that she could see his tiny, flat eyes. His jaws gaped wide enough to swallow the whole world.
*Swim!* John’s teeth snapped at his sister’s trailing fin. *For the sake of all the sea, SWIM!*
“JOHN!” Neridia shrieked as his fluid body doubled back on itself.
John flashed toward the Master Shark like a bolt of electric blue lightning, claws outstretched. The shark’s triangular teeth clashed together like a portcullis descending, but John darted out of reach just in time. Fast as a snake, he whipped round, seeking to entangle the shark in his coils.
The Master Shark bucked like a bull trying to shake off a rider. John might match him in length, but the shark was at least five times his own mass. Even though the dragon clung on with every tooth and claw, he couldn’t keep a secure grip on the writhing monster. His coiling tail slipped, coming within range of the shark’s twisting mouth.
“No!” Neridia cried out, as the Master Shark’s teeth cracked through John’s scales, sinking deep into his flesh.
With a jerk, the shark flung the sea dragon aside. Without hesitation, John twisted round. Blood trailing behind him in a dark cloud, he threw himself straight into the shark’s path again.
Her mate was going to get ripped to shreds.
*Don’t!* Neridia aimed the thought at the Master Shark like a torpedo. *Please, stop! I’ll surrender, I’ll come with you, just don’t hurt him!*
She had an odd sensation of her mental plea bouncing back unheard, as if she’d shouted at a brick wall. The shark didn’t give any hint that he was even aware of her attempt to communicate. The sea dragon and the shark closed with each other again, and the sea turning red around them.
*Do something, Neridia!* John’s sister pleaded. Despite her brother’s command, she’d slowed again, clearly reluctant to leave him. *Fling him away on a tidal wave, command a whirlpool to swallow him, freeze the very blood in his veins! If you’re the Empress, you have the power!*
“I don’t, I’m not, I’m not!”
John tumbled out of the swirling cloud of blood again. This time, it took him a moment to right himself, his previously-fluid movements stiffened by pain. There were deep puncture wounds in his side, and one side of his tail-fin had been shredded. But despite his wounds, his scales glowed brighter than ever.
He wasn’t going to give up. He’d fight for her to the last drop of blood in his body.
Neridia reached for him, praying to draw that indomitable will into her own frail soul. John’s head jerked round, his eyes widening in surprise. She felt him reach back in return. Their souls met, joined, like clasping hands.
The mate bond blazed up between them, bright and fierce as John’s markings. Neridia shook as if she’d stuck her fingers in an electric socket. She’d thought to draw strength from him…but instead he seemed to be taking it from her.
She knew how his pain was suddenly washed away, his strained muscles moving freely once more. She knew how the touch of her soul filled him with renewed resolve.
*My mate,* his voice whispered in her mind. And then, more strongly, *My mate!*
He swirled to face the Master Shark head-on, his great chest swelling. The shark lunged for him, maw gaping, but John didn’t move.
Instead, opening his own jaws wide, he sang.
Neridia clapped her hands over her ears, deafened by the power of his voice. The music exploded outward like a shockwave, tumbling even the Master Shark’s massive bulk backward in the water.
Neridia didn’t understand the thundering melody, but in her soul she knew what John was saying:
This is my mate, mine, mine alone! You shall not take her!
The Master Shark was beaten back by the tearing maelstrom of notes. Every muscle in John’s body was taut with effort of his song. Slowly, as if battling against some vast weight, he raised his front feet. His claws spread wide.
The sea parted.
At John’s command, a deep chasm sliced through the ocean. From surface to sea bed, the water drew back, trapping the Master Shark on the opposite side of a dry, widening canyon.
Neridia trembled, and felt the sea dragon beneath her tremble as well. Half-seen across that impossible chasm of air, the Master Shark was just a dim, wavering silhouette.
Then the megalodon turned, and was gone.
Chapter 24
“I told you,” the Knight-Commander said through gritted fangs, “to be discreet. If that is what you consider being discreet, then sea help us all if you ever take it into your head to be obvious.”
Almost, John wished he was back facing the Master Shark. The megalodon’s teeth were far less pointed than his superior’s sarcasm. Fixing his eyes on a point somewhere above the Knight-Commander’s scaled shoulder, he endured.
“I wanted you to bring your mate here quietly, without anyone noticing.” The Knight-Commander swirled around the underwater audience chamber, his emerald eyes glowing with barely-contained anger. “And now all of Atlantis is in an uproar! Dragons are already composing poems about your poem! Everyone is agog to meet the female who inspired such a show of power! What in the sea possessed you?”
The harmonics made it clear it was a rhetorical question, so John held his tongue. Had his superior asked directly, he could have explained that it was not a matter of what had possessed him…but who.
It was her power, not mine. I merely provided the words to enact the Empress’s will.
His neck-ruff raised slightly, despite his efforts to maintain an appropriately contrite and solemn expression. He still felt half-drunk from the incredible surge of her soul through his.
Oh, my mate, my heart, my Empress. In my arrogance I thought I understood your glory. Now I know I have barely begun to sound your depths.
The moment of connection had lasted only a brief moment, but it had been long enough for them to drive back the Master Shark. Now their souls were parted again, like their bodies.
The Knight-Commander had insisted that John report to him immediately, in the fortified ziggurat that housed the headquarters of the Order of the First Water. Neridia, meanwhile, had been taken to the golden towers of the Imperial Palace, as was only appropriate. With the increased distance between them, the mate bond had returned to its usual tenuous link.
John was not certain whether he was sorry or grateful for that. Experiencing her true power had been like swimming in the very sun itself.
“Are you smiling, Knight-Poet?” the Knight-Commander demanded.
John hastily flattened his neck-ruff again. “No, sir.”
“Good, because there is nothing to smile about.” The Knight-Commander paused, his own expression turning more thoughtful. “Except for the fact that the Master Shark did indeed attack you.”
John blinked. “Sir?”
“Even though I cannot reveal the cause of his attack, I can still use it as leverage ag
ainst him on the Sea Council.” The Knight-Commander tilted his head at the unmistakable bite-wounds on John’s flank. “It is good that you are clearly marked by his teeth. The Master Shark inexplicably flying into a murderous blood-frenzy, attacking the noble Walker-Above-Wave as he returned on a routine errand…yes, it is a story that the other Lords will find convincing. I will be able to oust the Master Shark from his seat on the Council at last.”
“Would it not be simpler to tell the Sea Council the full truth?” John ventured. “They will learn it anyway, when the Empress-in-Waiting claims her rightful place.”
The Knight-Commander gave him a long, penetrating look. “I am the Voice of the Emperor-in-Absence, Knight-Poet. I hold the safety of Atlantis in my claws. That means that I must plan for all eventualities. Including the possibility that your mate will not be able to take the Pearl Throne.”
Despite himself, John’s neck-ruff rippled again. “I assure you, sir, there is no risk of that.”
The Knight-Commander blew out his breath, a trail of bubbles rising from his jaws. “That remains to be seen. She still has not shifted.”
“I am confident that she will, sir. When she ascends the Pearl Throne, it will doubtless unlock her true form.”
The Knight-Commander rumbled deep in his chest, still looking unconvinced. “We shall see. But not immediately. I must calm both the city and the Sea Council before flinging yet another shockwave at them.”
John flexed his webbed feet, pushing himself off the mosaic floor. “As you command, sir. I shall ensure the Empress-in-Waiting remains out of sight.”
“No,” the Knight-Commander said firmly, blocking his path to the exit in the ceiling. “You shall keep yourself out of sight, Knight-Poet. If you go out into the city now, you will be mobbed.”
“A crowd cannot tear words from my throat,” John said, perhaps a shade too tartly. “I am capable of holding my silence, sir.”
The Knight-Commander’s eyes narrowed at his insolence. “I have seen no evidence of that, Knight-Poet. Need I remind you of your vow of obedience to me?”
John clenched his talons, fighting back the instincts that urged him to knock the other sea dragon aside and swim straight to his mate. “No, Knight-Commander. But-”
“Then you will remain here, in Order’s headquarters, until you can show your scales again without causing a riot.”
The Knight-Commander’s harsh, forceful notes brooked no argument. Though his blood seethed at being separated from Neridia, John’s honor prevented him from arguing further. He forced himself to bow his head respectfully.
The Knight-Commander’s melody smoothed a little at the show of deference. “I sympathize with your impatience, Knight-Poet. But this is for the best. Your mate must stay in the air-locked parts of the city, and your own wounds will heal faster in salt water. Stay, rest, and you will be ready to resume your duties as her bodyguard all the sooner.”
“May I ask who will guard the Empress-in-Waiting in my absence, sir?”
“You need not fear.” The Knight-Commander flowed up toward the door. “I shall deal with her personally.”
Chapter 25
Where’s John?
Neridia leaned out the tower window, feeling rather like Rapunzel. She couldn’t guess which of the distant, gleaming buildings far below currently housed her mate. There was no-one to ask, either. The two silent, towering knights who’d escorted them to the opulent tower top room had remained outside the door. When Neridia had tried the handle, she’d discovered that it was locked.
Still, if she couldn’t get out, at least no one would be able to get in. Although the tower windows were glassless, the sheer golden walls would be impossible for even a ninja to climb.
No one could swim in, either. An enormous air bubble covered the building, from base to pointed spire. John’s sister had told Neridia that this wing of the palace was used to house high-ranking whale and seal shifters who couldn’t spend all their time underwater like the dragons and sharks could.
She was safe in Atlantis at last. But she didn’t feel safe.
She hadn’t forgotten the Master Shark’s warning about an unknown, powerful enemy lurking in Atlantis. Although after the shark lord’s attack on John, she was no longer quite so sure that he’d been telling the truth. If he really was on her side, surely he wouldn’t have tried to kill her mate. Maybe the Master Shark had been behind the attacks on both her and her father after all.
But he’d sounded so sincere when he’d spoken of his oath-brother…
Neridia didn’t know what to think. The only thing that she knew for certain was that she needed John at her side. He was the only person in Atlantis she could trust completely.
Well, nearly the only person.
“Look at this inlay!” John’s sister ran an admiring hand over a intricate end table carved from coral and set with precious gems. “See how the slices of opal catch the light. And these mosaics! Have you ever seen such pearls?”
In human form, John’s sister stood only a few inches shorter than Neridia herself. She wore the briefest of bikini tops and a short, green-and-blue patterned sarong, exposing the lush curves of her body without a hint of self-consciousness. Her long, braided hair was exactly the same deep indigo hue as her brother’s.
Even though her coloring and features echoed John’s, she couldn’t have been more different from her sibling. Instead of John’s solemn reserve, his sister bubbled over with enthusiasm and energy. She was in constant movement, practically dancing around the room as she tried to see everything at once.
“Oh, the palace is more splendid than I could have ever imagined.” John’s sister spun on the spot, arms opening as if she wanted to embrace the entire building. “I could spend all day just in this one room.”
“Just as well,” Neridia muttered. “Since it’s looking like we’re going to. We must have been here for hours.”
Where’s John? What’s taking him so long?
Part of her wanted to reach for him down the mate bond…but she didn’t dare. Not after what had happened last time.
He parted the whole sea.
The vast rush of energy between them had been as terrifying as a tsunami. Neridia was scared that if it happened again, she’d be swept away entirely.
She could still feel him somewhat, at the back of her mind. She knew that he wanted to come to her, but was prevented from doing so. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t worried or angry about it. Still, his frustration and impatience vibrated down the mate bond, setting her own teeth on edge.
Neridia sighed, turning away from the window. “I wish John would get back. I don’t see why he couldn’t have reported to the Knight-Commander here.”
“From what I’ve heard, the Knight-Commander hates wearing human form,” John’s sister replied absently, busy admiring the intricate mosaics covering the walls. “He only shifts for two reasons: duels, and talking to non-dragons. If he could, he’d probably spend all his time in the sea.”
Neridia leaned back against the windowsill, though she really wanted to be pacing around the room. Seeking to distract herself from her irrational nerves, she asked, “Is that why you all speak English so well? You learn it in order to communicate with other types of shifter?”
John’s sister nodded. “We cannot speak each other’s languages in our true forms. A shark cannot sing like a whale, nor a dragon bark like a seal. And most shifters can only communicate telepathically with those of the same type. If we wish to speak to each other, we must do so in a human tongue.”
“So do you have a human nickname, like John does?“ Neridia asked hopefully. “He said I wouldn’t be able to pronounce your real one, but it seems rude to keep thinking of you just as ‘John’s sister.’”
The sea dragon shrugged one shoulder. “My duties mean I don’t have need to meet with other types of shifter all that often,” she said, sounding a little regretful. “When I do, people just tend to refer to me by the literal translation of my name. Third
Dancer of the Mirrored Void.”
“Um,” Neridia said, cautiously. “Is there a short form of that?”
Third Dancer of the Mirrored Void laughed. “That is the short form. My full name is rather longer.” Her turquoise eyes brightened. “But you could give me an air name!”
“Me? Why me? Can’t you just pick one for yourself?”
“Oh, no.” The sea dragon looked shocked at the suggestion. “Names have to be given, not taken. And air-names can only be given by land-dwellers. I was terribly jealous of my little brother when he won his. Ever since I was a little hatchling listening to fairy tales, I always dreamed of walking the fantastical lands above the waves.”
“Why didn’t you?” Neridia asked.
“It is not permitted. The Sea Council says we can’t risk too much interaction with the dry-landers, for fear of another Dragon War. Very few of us ever walk the land.” She clasped her hands together, fixing Neridia with entreating eyes. “I never thought I’d have the chance to win an air name. Please, please give me one!”
“Well…okay.” Neridia quailed at the thought of trying to come up with a name worthy of the strong, vibrant woman. “Um, do you have a preference?”
The sea dragon’s forehead furrowed seriously. “I would like something that matches my brother’s, so that everyone will be able to tell that we are family. Is there a female form of his name?”
“Jane Doe, I guess,” Neridia said dubiously. “But I’m not sure it really-“
“Jane Doe,” the sea dragon said, with great satisfaction. “How exotic. Yes. I shall be Jane.”
Neridia rubbed her forehead, biting back a groan.
I just named a fifty-foot-long sea dragon Jane.
Oh well. At least she seems happy about it.
“I cannot wait to tell my little brother that I have my own air name now.” Jane danced over to Neridia’s side, peering out the window herself. She sighed. “Though I suppose I will have to wait awhile yet. No doubt all the knights of every Order will have their jaws full quelling this pandemonium.”