Luna bowed her head and shook her head, mumbling, “No. Not Harmony. She was so scared... so good. Why her?”
David bent down and kissed the top of Faren’s head. “I’m so sorry for everyone you’ve lost,” he whispered.
Luna cuddled up to Faren and wrapped her arms around her waist. She fell asleep mumbling about the innocence lost on Seneca that dreadful day.
* * *
The next morning the first selkie poked his little gray head into the shipwreck and looked around. Faren tugged on David’s arm. “David, wake up,” she said, still groggy. “The selkies are here.”
By that time many of the ship’s occupants had awakened and were wondering what was happening.
“Is Furia gone?” a mer asked.
“She’s still out there,” another said in response. “Don’t go outside.”
“We can’t stay here forever,” the young blonde floating next to Faren replied. “We have to go out sometime.”
Mers swam out into the open and cautiously followed the seals back to the island. They climbed ashore, tired and terrified of every noise.
Faren and Luna helped Cindel from the surf as David crawled onto the beach. All around them mers looked for lost loved ones and selkies reunited with friends.
“Run!” Cindel screamed. She bolted for the forest, dragging Faren behind her. “She’s close. I can hear her thoughts.”
The intense whirring started up as Furia rushed from the tree line. Mers and selkies scattered. Seneca was abuzz with screams of the terrified once again.
This time the beast did not wait for the moon to bring them out into the open; she followed her victims back into the dense vegetation. Faren, Luna, Cindel and David ducked into the underbrush and waited. Faren looked around for the sea demons, but the only ones hiding nearby were mers and selkies. Looking back, she realized she didn’t see any swimming to the island either.
Cowards.
A mer crouching among the buttress roots of an old canopy tree a couple of yards away screamed when Furia plucked her from the ground. Faren didn’t linger to see how the situation turned out; she didn’t have to. No one survived Furia’s hunger.
She and Cindel jumped up and ran from the underbrush with Luna and David right behind them. They passed many others on the way, and when the beast drew closer, many joined them.
Then all went deathly still. The only thing Faren could hear was the soft patter of dripping leaves from an earlier rain shower.
All of a sudden, Cindel’s expression changed. Where fear once resided, anger erupted. Before anyone could stop her, she ran back through the forest, refusing to slow down when Faren screamed her name. Mers and selkies stared at her, looking dumbfounded by her impulsive behavior.
“Cindel, where are you going?” Faren called. “Have you lost your mind? Get back here!”
The mer refused to listen.
“I’ll get her,” David said, already moving. “I’ll get her, baby. Please, stay here.”
“You can’t go out there!” Luna screamed, running up behind the couple. “You’ll be killed.”
“I won’t allow my sister to sacrifice herself, knowing there was something I could have done to stop her,” she shot back. “I dare you to get in my way again!”
Faren passed other mers and selkies hiding among the ferns and shrubs on her way to the beach. As soon as she emerged from the forest, she looked around for Cindel. It took a couple of minutes, but when she spotted her, her heart skipped a beat. The young mer was climbing up the side of a cliff with a dagger clutched between her teeth.
“Get down here! What are you trying to prove?” Faren screamed up at her. “You’re going to get us both killed!”
Cindel kept climbing.
“Faren!” David cried, running up behind Faren. “She can’t hear you.”
“That little brat can hear me. She’s choosing not to listen like always.”
Cindel took the dagger out of her mouth and looked down at them. “Í can hear you, loud mouth. Who can’t?”
Faren raised her eyebrows and gestured toward Cindel with an I-told-you-so expression. She dashed toward the cliff, picking up a spear without slowing down.
Cindel cried out when she slipped on some rocks halfway up, but somehow she found the strength to hang on. As her family and friends watched, she regained her composure and forced herself to keep going.
“Cindel!” Faren shouted at her again.
“I know he’s dead!” Cindel screamed.
“You know who’s dead?”
“I know our father’s dead.” She kept reaching for the next handhold. “No one else is going to die. I can’t stand this anymore!”
David and Luna joined Faren at the foot of the bluff as she gazed up at the girl she was sure had finally snapped.
“Cindel, please come down,” Faren begged. “Dying won’t bring Father back. It won’t bring anyone back.”
“I know that! That isn’t why I’m up here!” she screamed. Even as she spoke, she continued to climb without looking back. “I don’t plan on dying!”
Faren watched as Furia stepped from the forest where she had been hiding, now chest-to-face with Cindel as she scurried up the massive rock. She howled once and reached for Cindel.
Faren screamed, “Leave her alone!” and scrabbled for rocks to throw. She threw them as quickly as she could at Furia, doing her best to distract her. When the monster started toward her, Faren stood her ground.
David forced his way in front of Faren. He raised his spear and jabbed at the beast. “Get back!” he cried, shoving her and Luna out of the way.
Faren watched her sister climb. She was almost at the top. When Furia turned back to her, Faren picked up a lancet and hurled it as hard as she could. It buried itself deep in Furia’s lower abdomen, but the monster only slapped Faren with one of her massive tentacles as if she were more of an irritation than a threat. Faren flew ten feet and landed in the sand disoriented.
The beach exploded with the sounds of mers, selkies and demons emerging from the sea. Enraged and prepared to fight, they refused to cower any longer.
“Get out of here,” one selkie screamed at Furia. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
The rest of the crowd soon joined him, chanting, “Out, out, out, out!”
* * *
Cindel hoisted herself up and over the ledge before climbing to her feet. She held the dagger out in front of her, ready to fight.
The massive beast charged, closing the thirty-foot gap separating them in mere seconds. Before Cindel could attack, Furia slapped her. The blow swept her off her feet, almost knocking her from the bluff. At the last second, Cindel reached out and grabbed the ledge before tumbling over it.
Everyone from the ground gasped in shock, and some of the females cried out.
Faren screamed. “Hang on, Cindel!”
Cindel kicked her feet against the rocky face and pulled herself back to safety before Furia could attack her a second time. Before she could stand, the monster brought her fist down as hard as she could, aiming at Cindel, who rolled away seconds before she made contact. She picked up her dagger and waited for a third assault.
The bright blue vein throbbing between Furia’s eyes grabbed Cindel’s attention. If the beast had a weakness, this had to be it.
“Furia!” she screamed. “I’m waiting for you!”
Cindel drew back her arm and hurled the weapon. The silver blade tumbled end over end, making a swishing sound as it sliced through the air in slow motion.
Furia screeched when the dagger penetrated the soft spot in the center of her forehead and sank deep into her brain. The clear liquid flowed from the wound and poured down her face; her eyes widened and her mouth flew open. The monster reached for Cindel one last time but missed. With a final gargled breath, she collapsed into the sea; Furia was dead before she hit the water.
Cindel made her way to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the mutant already melting into the waves. From the s
ilence surrounding her, an explosion of applause and gratitude erupted.
* * *
Faren watched mers and selkies hold their spears up high to honor her sister for her bravery. They hugged one another, eyes filling with tears, and ran around in excitement.
Faren couldn’t imagine being prouder of anyone than she was of her sister at that moment. She knew she was witnessing a miracle. She thought back to the dream she had shared with her mother and realized something important. Cindel’s ability to read minds at will wasn’t destined to save them; neither was the Ring of the Ancients. The courage Cindel had been harboring all these years was their salvation. Bravery was her magnificent gift.
Then Cindel stopped smiling and froze where she was, listening intently. “Faren, do you hear that?”
“Hear what? I don’t hear anything!” Faren’s blood ran cold when she noted the terrified expression on her sister’s face. “What’s wrong? What do you hear?”
Cindel began to climb down the cliff, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. “There’s another one!” she screamed. “She’s right behind...”
Those from the ground didn’t have time to react before the beast rose from the sea. It plucked Faren from the sand and knocked David ten feet away. Faren could hear the screams from the beach erupting all around her. She twisted her body until she was staring into the eyes of a larger sea demon queen; she was at least fifty feet taller than the first. Her mind couldn’t comprehend what was going on. She looked down and saw David lying in the surf. He didn’t stir. She screamed his name, but he still didn’t move.
“You have killed my child, the only heir to my throne,” the monster told the frozen mers and selkies on the beach. Her piercing eyes seared anyone within sight. “I am the queen you’ve waited for all of these years; I am Furia.”
Everyone but Luna stood transfixed. She grabbed a spear lying at her feet and stabbed the creature, but it had little effect. Furia backed up and swung one of her mighty tentacles at her. Luna jumped out of the way, landing on her stomach a few feet away.
Cindel ran up and stabbed Furia multiple times, but the beast was too busy focusing on something farther out at sea to pay the lone mer any mind. Two ships floated on the horizon, armed to the gunwales.
“Run!” Faren screamed at her sister.
“No way! I’m not leaving you.”
Pop, pop, pop. Bullets skipped across the water, ricocheted off cliff walls and riddled the sand.
Luna pulled Cindel away from the fighting. Bullets sailed over their heads, barely missing them. Mers and selkies ran when they came under heavy fire.
Faren struggled to get free, but the beast tightened her grip. She faced the humans head on, snarling and foaming at the mouth.
When a bullet struck her in the arm, the creature charged the ships. Another bullet grazed the side of her head, and another pierced her gut. The tormented creature ducked beneath the waves, still holding Faren in a death grip. She launched herself like a torpedo at the boats, ramming sea creatures and stirring up the sea floor until it was difficult to see through the sand-filled water.
A mile and a half offshore, Furia poked her head above the surface and attacked the first vessel. She pounded the surface of the water, creating a massive wave to drench the ship. It knocked many of its crew into the water. But the humans were ready. Bullets pummeled the beast, knocking her back.
Faren watched as Furia was torn open by the bullets; wounds covered her chest, arms, and head. The lethal shot came from the cannon mounted at the front of the ship. As soon as it hit its mark, Furia groaned and released Faren. She fell into the sea.
Faren swam away from the dying creature and back to the surface. A small red boat was racing toward her at full speed; the men aboard were shouting orders. Moments later, they pulled her from the water and rushed to take her vital signs.
When a young medic brought out the foreign equipment, Faren wasn’t afraid. “Her blood pressure’s 123/82,” the medic shouted to another soldier, “and her pulse is good under the circumstances–105.” He stuck an odd-shaped instrument in her mouth and waited for it to beep. “Temperature, 98.2.”
Another soldier wrapped a warm blanket around Faren’s shoulders and sat down beside her. “You’re safe now,” he said in a soft tone. “We’re the Royal Bahamas Defense Force; we’re here to help you.”
Faren turned away to see the coastline getting bigger. The mers and selkies scattered around the beach stopped whatever they were doing to watch the boats come ashore. She could see David, Luna and Cindel waiting for her by the surf, and relief flooded through her when she saw they were safe.
Chapter 16
Secret Society
THE SOLDIER CARRIED FAREN ONTO THE beach. “Miss…” he asked almost shyly. Faren nodded, and he set her gently down on the beach, her legs folded in the sand. She couldn’t have taken another step to save her life. But it was all right. There was peace, at last.
Cindel rushed ahead of David and Luna and threw her arms about her. “I never thought I was going to see you again,” she cried, sobbing uncontrollably. “Promise me you’ll never leave me again.”
“I promise I’ll never leave you.” Faren lifted Cindel’s chin and smiled. “It’s us against the world, and that will never change.”
Cindel wiped her eyes and grinned. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“All right,” Cindel managed through sniffles. “I believe you.”
Luna hugged them both. “Thank the Spirit you’re safe,” she said softly. “We made it... We made it.”
Faren smiled at her friend, tears in her eyes. “We made it,” she whispered.
David watched them, so proud of Faren, so grateful she was back. She was so deserving of the love of her sister and friends. Of the world.
She caught his look and then her smile was just for him.
“We’ll leave you two alone,” Luna offered, taking Cindel’s hand. “I love you.” She gave Faren another hug, and she and Cindel walked away hand in hand.
“Now I get my turn,” David said with a smile.
“You came back,” Faren whispered as he knelt before her. “You didn’t leave us to fight alone.”
He took her into his arms and held her. “I love you. I’d risk anything to be with you,” he whispered. “I love everything about you, and the world you’ve brought into my life.”
Wrapped in each other’s arms, Faren and David watched the sea. Even following the violence that had rattled the peaceful island, Faren knew Seneca would always hold a special place in her heart. Not only could she still feel her mother’s presence here, this was where Cindel had shown her true colors. Those were memories she would never forget.
She laid her head against David’s chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. The comforting sound soothed her troubled soul. His salty scent reminded her of whom she was with and how lucky she was to have found him.
“Faren,” a woman whispered.
Faren turned to see Harmony’s parents standing behind her. Shiloh’s face was tear stained, and Rowan’s hopeful expressions tore at her heart.
“Have you seen Harmony?” Shiloh asked. “I can’t find her, and I thought maybe you knew where she was.”
Faren had no idea what to say. The right words eluded her. All she could think about was Harmony’s pretty face–her kind heart and eternal loyalty. And the way she called to her mother right before she died.
David stood and helped Faren to her feet. “She fought... and died like a warrior,” was all she could think to say. “I’m so sorry.”
Shiloh turned her head away as if that would stop the devastating news. “My baby,” she mumbled.
Rowan looked too defeated to show much emotion. His emptiness was evident.
“I hope you still come to see us,” Shiloh said, forcing a small smile. “We don’t want to lose you, too.”
Faren found her voice and reached out to the mother so lost in despair. “I will, I
promise,” she said, holding her tight. “Harmony was very brave. She was perfect for this world.” Faren could feel Shiloh’s body trembling against her own. She clung to the mer who had taken her into her home as if she were one of her own.
“Come on, Shiloh,” Harmony’s father said, gently bringing her away from Faren. “Let’s get you home.” He looked over at Faren again and said, with a grief-stricken smile, “I’m glad you’re safe, honey.” He wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and led her away.
Faren watched them for a few more minutes. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how severe her own hurt was, Faren couldn’t begin to imagine what they were going through.
“Harmony was one of the kindest mers I knew,” she said. “The suffering she must have endured is too terrible to think about.” Faren shook her head and looked down at the sand, unable to speak another word.
“I’m so sorry. I wish I knew what to say, but I know there aren’t words strong enough.”
David stroked her face and hugged her again. They stood there for the longest time. Now was one of those times Faren needed to be close to David the most. Now, when she was the most fragile, he was the rock that would help hold her together.
“Miss Sands… Faren,” Servio said, breaking them away from their private moment. “We’re so glad you’re safe.” He surprised her with a hug of his own. He looked at David and put his hand on his shoulder. “And as for you… what you did for us shows character. Although we weren’t there for you, you were there for us… for me… when we needed you most.”
Salene took Faren’s hand in her own. “We want you to know that you don’t need to meet in secret anymore. You’ve proved to us your love is real, and we wouldn’t feel right if we stood in your way.” She smiled at David. “You will always be welcome in Atlantis.”
“That goes for Pavire, as well,” the dark-haired council member said, joining the conversation. “You have also earned our respect. As a matter of fact, I’d be honored to shake the hand of the human who fought so hard for our freedom.”
The mer extended his hand to David and smiled when his new friend returned the gesture.
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