by E. G. Foley
Its underwater cannons were still bubbling, having just delivered the broadsides that had rattled the citizens’ teeth in their heads.
“What is that?” Lil whispered.
Peering over Sapphira’s shoulder, Pro-Pom gasped. “The Flying Dutchman!”
“Oh, boy!” Lil cried eagerly. “You mean Captain Davy Jones has come here, to Poseidonia? He’s a legend!”
“Not the good kind, though.” Sapphira turned uneasily to her tutor. “What’s he doing here?”
Unfortunately, the moment the words left her lips, she realized she already knew the answer…and her blood ran cold.
No…it can’t be. The orb?!
But hadn’t Pro-Pom warned her what would happen? “That thing cannot stay here. It’s too dangerous. It’ll lure every would-be tyrant in the Seven Seas…”
Jones certainly qualified. He had a crew of half-shark mutants recruited from among the souls of drowned sailors he was cursed to collect. They said his cannons could shoot Greek fire on underwater foes, while he kept normal gunpowder for enemies above the surface.
He had full range of all the Seven Seas due to his function, and he was not the sort anyone wanted for an enemy.
Her heart began thumping. She suddenly felt queasy. Turning away in shock, she barely heard her tutor mumbling, “I don’t see too much damage down there. Maybe Captain Jones is just trying to get everyone’s attention.”
“Well, he’s certainly succeeded at that,” Lil said. “Don’t worry, Wallace. He’s trouble, all right, but whatever he wants, I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Sapphira knew better.
Her stomach was in knots as she watched a squadron of palace mer-guards hurrying out to counter Jones’s infamous forces and keep order in the frightened city. She was relieved not to see Tyndaris among them; as the chief royal bodyguard, he must stay next to Father.
All the while, the pirate’s monstrous half-shark crewmates came pouring out of his ghastly ship, leaping over the sides of the dire vessel and swimming toward the palace.
Sapphira hid her terror as she finally found her voice. “Stay here,” she ordered. “I need to find out what’s going on.”
“I’m coming with you!”
“No! Stay back, Liliana! It’s too dangerous.”
Lil scowled. “I’m not afraid!”
“Stay,” Sapphira ordered, brooking no disobedience. Then she left their classroom with Professor Pomodori hurrying along beside her. “Has he ever come here before?”
“It’s been decades since he called at the palace.”
“Liliana, I said stay back!” Sapphira suddenly shouted, noticing her little sister following her from the corner of her eye.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” the little princess shouted, swimming right behind them.
“His crew will give you nightmares!”
“I’m not a baby! I want to see Papa.” Lil folded her arms across her chest with a full-on stubborn-princess glare.
Sapphira rolled her eyes and hurried on. In short order, she arrived at the throne room.
“Your Highness!” Standing next to her father, Tyndaris looked over and glared when he saw her. “You shouldn’t be here!”
Both were in the midst of giving orders: the king to his advisers, the commander to his soldiers.
“What’s all this about?” Sapphira demanded, ignoring the order, and praying she was wrong—that there was some other explanation.
“It seems we have a visitor,” King Nereus growled.
“Professor, please take the princesses away. For Your Highnesses’ own safety, you girls return to your quarters,” said Tyndaris.
“Take her somewhere safe,” Sapphira objected, “but this is something I’ll need to deal with someday when I am queen. It won’t do, hiding from it.”
Tyndaris cast her father an imploring glance. “Sire?”
The king looked over at his daughters and hesitated.
Before he could give an answer about whether or not Sapphira could stay, the shark men arrived and blocked the exits from the throne room.
Oh, they were hideous, she thought. A mockery of the beautiful merfolk. Originally wicked sailors who had drowned at sea, they had managed to stave off eternal damnation by agreeing to crew for Davy Jones.
But they then became as cursed as their captain. He was doomed to gather drowned souls of bad men forever, while they became monstrous blends with the arms, legs, and torsos of men, but the heads and tails, fins or tentacles of various shark species or some other aquatic creature.
“How dare you enter this palace without the proper protocol?” Spear in hand, Tyndaris swam angrily toward them, putting himself between them and the royal family.
His subordinates did the same, spears bristling.
“Settle your fins, friend,” a gruff voice ordered.
The leering, black-eyed shark men parted to admit their captain.
Liliana let out a small gasp when he entered. Sapphira put her arm around her sister as the dread captain of the Flying Dutchman swaggered into their midst.
Davy Jones was younger than she had expected—not an old man, but maybe about thirty, with slightly bluish-tinted skin, a short devil’s beard, and wild black hair that floated about his head when he swept off his tricorn hat.
Striding into the throne room on human-style legs, his feet encased in black knee boots, he cut a flamboyant figure, his long, dark pirate coat flowing out behind him.
He wore a cutlass on his hip, a flask around his neck, and a ruthless gleam in his blue-black eyes. When he walked, he rattled the bones in his skull-shaped dice box, as if out of habit.
No human sailor wanted to lose a bet with him—like his shark-mates had, over the centuries.
“Pardon this intrusion, my fine fish folk,” Jones said in a loud voice. “Let me state my business and I’ll be on my way, just as soon as I get what I came for.”
“And what’s that, Captain?” King Nereus folded his massive arms across his chest.
“Oh, I think you’re well aware, Majesty,” Jones said with a glint of dangerous charm.
King Nereus just looked at him, waiting for him to explain himself.
Oh, no, thought Sapphira. Father didn’t know anything about it.
“Well, I want the Atlantean orb, of course, King! And I ain’t leavin’ till I have it.”
Father’s shaggy eyebrows drew together. “Come again?”
“The Atlantean orb, Nereus. Don’t play games. The whole watery world knows you found one of them rare baubles and have it in your possession. Well, I want it. Now.”
Her father looked baffled. Sapphira glanced back and forth anxiously between the king and the Lord of the Locker.
“You are mistaken, Jones,” said His Majesty. “No such object has been found.”
“Atlantean orb? What’s that?” Lily murmured, glancing up at Sapphira, who was paralyzed with dread.
The pirate captain turned, noticing the two princesses there for the first time. Walking on those awkward human legs of his that always made the merfolk cringe, he crossed the throne room, his menacing smile fixed on the girls.
Sapphira pulled her little sister closer as he approached.
“Why, it’s a shiny silver ball of great power, my wee minnow,” he said. “Do ye know what it can do?”
Liliana shook her head.
“It can bring a great flood across the Earth, raise the sea up over all the land to the tops of the mountains! And you know what that means?”
Again, the younger princess shook her head.
“More territory for me!” He flashed a reckless grin while a murmur of astonishment ran amongst the courtiers cowering around the edges of the throne room.
Jones’s horrid crew grinned their wide, toothy smiles, nodding at each other as though they could hardly wait to take over the whole Earth.
“Like the poet said, tadpole, better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
“Jones
, what you are suggesting…” Father said, frowning at the man like he was mad. “Millions of the landers could drown.”
“So?” The pirate king shrugged. “They’ve got no respect for the sea, Nereus. You know that as well as I, so I say, hang ’em.” His glance swept around the room, searching for those who agreed. “You ask me, it’d be a fine thing for the sea tribes to be rid of those meddling land folk for once and for all. They’re poisoning your waters.”
“Be that as it may, the matter is irrelevant,” Father replied. “You have been misled, Captain. We have no such object in our possession.”
“That’s a lie!” Dice box rattling restlessly, Jones left the princesses and marched back toward the king, who held his ground with a regal stare.
Before Jones reached the king, Tyndaris swept into the pirate’s path. “How dare you call His Majesty a liar? Apologize at once!”
“Ha,” Jones said.
“It’s all right, Commander. Do not test me, Captain,” her father warned the pirate king, his eyes narrowed.
“Beggin’ your pardon, Sire,” the pirate replied, “but you merfolk have a slippery reputation, so why should I believe you? It’s well known you’re all excellent liars. I have it on good information that an orb has been found, and mark my words: I’ll blow this whole city to smithereens before I’ll let you keep it from me!” he finished in a hurricane roar.
The Sea King and the Lord of the Locker glared coldly at each other, eye to eye.
Sapphira’s heart was pounding, but the thrumming tension in the room proved too much for Professor Pomodori.
“Ahem! Captain, if I…if I may…I-I believe there may have been a-a misunderstanding. But perhaps I can explain.”
Sapphira drew in her breath as her tutor swam forward. What is he doing?
“I found the orb,” the old royal tutor said with a gulp. “I-I kept it for a while—but only to study it, for scientific purposes! F-for its historical significance!”
“How now?” the king uttered.
“What’s this?” Jones asked.
Sapphira wanted to cry. He was taking the blame for her!
Both Father and the captain turned to face her tutor. Pro-Pom cringed as he humbly approached the pair, trembling.
“Pomodori, how could you not inform me of this?” King Nereus demanded while Davy Jones strode over to him with a greedy gleam in his eyes.
“Hand it over, old man.”
“I can’t,” her tutor said with a gulp. “That’s just it. You see, I got rid of it.”
“What?” they both demanded.
“You destroyed it?” Jones demanded.
“Don’t be absurd,” the king snapped. “This man is a scholar, our top historian and head of antiquities, as well as the royal tutor. He’s too conscientious to have destroyed a piece of ancient history. Explain yourself, Pomodori.”
Sapphira could see that her teacher was terrified, but he was standing up for her so bravely that her heart ached. Having already caused enough trouble, she didn’t trust herself to say a word.
“A-at first I wasn’t sure what I had found,” he said meekly. “But once I had confirmed it, I knew such a powerful artifact could not be allowed to stay here. It’s too dangerous! So I-I threw it into the Calypso Deep.” Pro-Pom shook his head. “I’m sorry, Captain, it’s gone. No one can go down there.”
“Don’t be too sure of that,” Jones murmured, giving him a hard, searching stare. “You’d better not be lying to me, old man.”
“Leave him alone!” Sapphira suddenly burst out, unable to take it anymore, seeing her tutor risk himself and take the blame for her mistake. She swam forward with an air of desperation.
“Princess!” Tyndaris barked as she approached Davy Jones.
“Professor, I’m not going to stand by and watch you—”
“Princess, please! Her Highness had no knowledge of this!” the old merman insisted, sending her a sideward glance that ordered her to stay out of it.
Abruptly, Sapphira remembered her rank as crown princess. It wasn’t easy, but somehow she shut her mouth, glaring at the pirate king.
“Pomodori, I am seriously displeased,” said her father.
Her tutor bowed. “Your Majesty, I crave your forgiveness.”
“Calypso Deep, eh?” Jones mused aloud. “Very well, then. To the ship, boys! And you’re coming with me, old man.”
“Don’t you dare. Leave him alone!” Sapphira yelled, surging forward at him when Davy Jones grabbed her tutor by the arm.
The king bellowed, Tyndaris was shouting, and as Davy Jones tried to drag Pro-Pom away, Lil joined the fray with a brave bellow, both sisters holding on to their tutor’s hands to save him.
“You’re not taking him!” Lil shouted. “He’s ours!”
“Why, I have an even better idea!” Jones said, releasing Pro-Pom all of a sudden. Instead, he grabbed Liliana by her arm. “Why don’t you come with me instead, tadpole? That ought to help your father see the light.”
“Unhand my daughter!” the king roared.
Tyndaris aimed his spear at the Lord of the Locker, but was instantly surrounded by four shark men, snarling at him.
The whole throne room was in an uproar. Lil started crying as Davy Jones dragged her off; Sapphira stood frozen with horror.
“Now, now!” Jones chided, backing away toward the door. “The tadpole comes with me. That way, I have some insurance that you lot won’t try anything fishy. Don’t worry; you’ll have her back, safe and sound, just as soon as I get my hands on that orb.”
“Papa!” Lil cried.
The king raged, but the shark men stood in the way. “Liliana! Unhand her, you filth!”
“Mind your tone, King. You forget who you’re talking to!” Davy Jones bellowed. “One mere puddle of a lake you reign. I rule the Seven Seas!”
“Please,” Sapphira begged. “Let her go! Take me instead!”
“Oh, I think not, love.” Jones looked her up and down with an unnerving chuckle. “Can’t risk havin’ a beauty like you on board a ship full of sailors, Princess. You’ll cause a mutiny! The tadpole will do. We’ll be going now, and I don’t suggest you follow us, unless you want another taste of my cannons!”
Jones whooshed off with Lil as his hostage, his shark men covering his retreat in formation.
Pandemonium took over the palace. Father was howling vicious threats after the pirate, Tyndaris was barking orders at his soldiers, Pro-Pom was pleading for reason, and some of the courtiers and their ladies were crying.
Sapphira, however, turned tail and went tearing out of the throne room, unnoticed in the chaos. She rocketed through the nearest window hole and took off swimming at a breakneck pace over the city.
Oh, this can’t be happening.
She could not believe the Lord of the Locker had just kidnapped Liliana! And it was all her fault. Only one thought pounded in her brain. Let him have the orb.
Who cares what happens to the landers?
In the distance behind her, the Flying Dutchman resumed its barrage to keep Tyndaris and his forces at bay. The booms rocked Coral City. Sapphira felt the reverberations from the broadsides in her ribs as she raced on, desperate to retrieve the orb from the sunken temple.
All that mattered was saving her sister.
So what if Davy Jones meant to use it to flood the dry world? Not her problem. She’d never really liked landers, anyway.
CHAPTER 6
The Sunken Temple
Inside the sunken temple, the atmosphere was hushed, but the air was dank and stale and fishy, and the eerie glow from Nixie’s illumination balls barely drove back the gloom.
“I wonder what happened to this place,” Isabelle mused aloud as they advanced into the mysterious ancient site.
“Probably an earthquake,” Archie said sagely. “This whole region is full of seismic activity—not to mention the volcanoes.”
Jake stared at the barnacles growing up the sides of the temple pillars, then joined the
others as they wandered over to stare up at the giant goddess statue that loomed, impassive and blank-eyed, at the front of the temple. Huge, unlit torchieres of tarnished brass stood guard on either side of her.
“That’s Athena,” Archie said, hands clasped behind his back. “Goddess of wisdom. You can tell by her helmet and the hoop snake on her shield. As you can see there, her main symbol was the owl—”
“Let’s not use up all our oxygen on lessons, mate,” Jake interrupted with a friendly grin.
“We know who Athena was,” Dani muttered.
She and Jake exchanged a long-suffering glance.
“Oh—sorry.” Archie frowned.
He meant well, of course, but ever since Henry had appointed him as their substitute teacher in his absence, Archie had embraced his assignment, and blimey, school was never out with the boy genius.
Jake chuckled and gave his cousin an affectionate clap on the back, then he and Dani left him behind.
From there, the kids all began spreading out, following their own inclinations. Maddox climbed a pile of rubble to get a better view. Nixie studied the ancient symbols carved into the floor, and Isabelle pointed up at the frieze.
“Archie, can you read this?”
He tugged his waistcoat into place and went to assist someone who appreciated his knowledge.
Dani followed Jake, though trailing a few paces behind him as she looked around in all directions. In the dim half-light, he ventured deeper into the shadows, heading toward the right wall. He stepped over a fallen pillar and took care not to trip on the small piles of rubble everywhere that had crashed to the floor long ago. Actually…
Those crumbled rocks looked like bits of ceiling. He glanced up uneasily, well aware there was twenty-five feet of ocean above them. Perhaps visiting this ruin had not been the wisest idea, he reflected.
He shrugged off his halfhearted misgivings, though, for ahead, near the marble edge where the water sloshed, something caught his eye.
A shiny object of some sort was giving off a feeble, multicolored glow from behind a pile of rubble in the gloom.
Stepping into an ankle-deep puddle and wading through it, Jake crept closer, eager to investigate. When he reached the object, he crouched down beside it.