by Sarah Noffke
On the banks of the lake the trevor beetles were moving closer to the water, darting high above the surface. Azure sank all the way under the water, submerging herself completely. She held her breath, looking up at the surface. Her chest burned from the lack of oxygen, but she still didn’t return to the surface. She’d rather lose brain cells to oxygen deprivation than have her face eaten off by trevor beetles. Priorities were important.
A stabbing pain screamed in Azure’s arm. She whirled around to see something unexpected. Staring at her through the murky water was something beautifully terrifying. A mermaid with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth was looking at her with a terrifying stare. The creature’s black hair billowed in the water, now laced with Azure’s blood. She reached for the wand in her pocket as she broke the surface, swimming toward shore as fast as her arms and legs could propel her. Once in the shallows she pulled her feet under her and strode through the water, the current trying to do her a favor by pushing her forward.
She felt a sharp stabbing pain on her ankle, and Azure broke into a run. She wasn’t going to be eaten alive by insects, but rather by a mermaid. No! The pretty sea creature grabbed her by her injured ankle. She fell to the sandy beach, swallowing a mouthful of the gross lake water as she did. Azure rolled over and held the wand up at the mermaid, who was dragging herself forward on her stomach using her claws. Her hungry green eyes glowed, and faded. The mermaid tilted her head side to side, lowering her lips over her pointy teeth, confusion on her elegantly beautiful face.
“You’re a witch,” the mermaid exclaimed, her voice high-pitched.
Azure didn’t answer, but took this opportunity to pull her legs up as she backed by using her hands.
The mermaid spit to the side. “I knew something about you tasted off,” she said.
A violent throbbing brought Azure’s attention momentarily to her arm, where she found a set of teeth marks. Blood ran down her forearm and puddled in her hand. That fish with a face nearly took a chunk out of me! Her ankles were scratched in several places from the beast’s sharp claws, which were piercing the sand as she pulled herself forward another foot.
“What is a witch doing here?” the mermaid asked, twisting around and sitting on her bottom, pulling her emerald-green tail in front of her. The waters of the lake rocked the mermaid slightly. Azure backed up another foot, only too aware that the trevor beetles could be nearby.
The mermaid’s demeanor shifted dramatically. Instead of looking hungry and murderous, she looked curious.
“Wait, you don’t want to eat me because I’m a witch?”
The mermaid laughed. “Everyone knows that eating witch will make you violently ill. As it is, I’ll probably vomit from the small amount of your blood I ingested.”
“Oh well, then I guess I’m safe from the trevor beetles,” Azure said, pushing to a standing position, her arm aching from the action.
“Trevor beetles aren’t affected by witches’ blood, just sea creatures. That’s why you’re usually safe around water,” the mermaid replied, flicking her tail in the water, playing with it.
“You’re not going to eat me? Well, maybe you can apologize for the injuries,” Azure snapped, looking at the wound on her arm.
“I’ll do you one better. Wrap that seaweed over there around your injuries—it will counteract my venom. If you don’t, you’ll start hallucinating within the hour,” the mermaid explained, pointing at a mound of seaweed on the shore.
Azure looked at the mermaid with a great deal of skepticism. Only a moment ago she was running through the water to evade this sea monster. Now the creature was casually offering her homeopathic remedies? Still, the wound on her arm felt like it was on fire, so she moved over to a patch of seaweed and wrapped it around her arm. It immediately soothed the laceration, cooling it and easing the pain.
“You eat humans, huh?” Azure asked. “That must be why this place is deserted.” The lake was large, extending for many leagues. The visibility in the immediate area made it hard to see the other side of the lake. A hazy smog sat on the far side of the greenish waters.
“I usually eat fish, but since the humans depleted my home, I’ve resorted to eating them. The forest and its creatures have started to rebel against their wastefulness, and they rarely come out of their borders anymore. If the rogue dryads catch them they’re screwed.”
“They’ll turn them into statues, right?”
“You’ve heard of one of their ways of punishing those who violate their laws?” the mermaid asked.
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Azure told her, shivering at memory.
“The rogue dryads have been growing angrier. If they catch a human depleting the forest around the lake, their sentence as a statue will be quite long. Actually, I’ve heard a rumor that they’ve been trying to break into the Land of Terran to punish the humans for what they’ve done. However, I learned that from a sea turtle and they aren’t always reliable sources.”
“What if someone were trying to regrow the forest?” Azure asked.
“Maybe they are trying to calm the dryads, or even reduce a statue’s sentence. But it’s just as likely that they’re simply running out of resources, so they’re trying to restore the areas they’ve ruined. Terrans can be very shortsighted,” the mermaid remarked.
Azure wiggled her nose as a foul odor passed in the breeze.
“Yes, it does smell here, thanks to the receding waters. The tide goes down and leaves sea life abandoned on the shores.”
“That’s awful,” Azure said, but was struck by an idea. Not a good idea, It’ll steal much of my energy.
The mermaid was smiling but sadness brooded under the surface. Her tail flicked in the dark waters. This was her home, and Terrans were taking so much from it. It would break Azure’s heart if this happened to Virgo.
“I’ve made up my mind.” She held her wand to the pristine blue sky, where not a cloud could be seen. Azure closed her eyes, feeling a storm brewing in her chest. That was the most necessary part for the spell—the intention. The next part was the incantation.
“Kiša,” Azure said in a whisper, the intensity still strong in her chest. She opened her eyes to see the confused look on the mermaid’s face. “Kiša!” Azure boomed, her voice like a drum, making the water of the lake vibrate.
The blue sky dimmed and clouds instantly appeared above them. Azure turned to the mermaid sitting in the shadow of a gray storm cloud.
“You… But that would have cost you greatly! To make it rain takes the power of many witches,” the mermaid sputtered.
“Or the deep reserves of a single witch,” Azure stated. This was a spell her people had performed many times to avoid droughts. It was the reason that the hills of Virgo were a dazzling green and their wells were never low. Water was the greatest gift witches and wizards could bestow.
“Young witch, you have no idea how greatly you’ve blessed my home. Thank you!” The mermaid turned on her stomach and dragged herself to the lake just as the first drops began to fall. Big fat drops that were reminiscent of the first showers of spring.
“You’re welcome,” Azure called, watching the rain patter on the shore. It wouldn’t completely heal the lake, but it was a start, a bandage. She’d do more one day, if she could.
The mermaid turned, partially submerged in the water, her head bobbing in the lake. “My name is Farrah. I’ll tell the Merfolk of your kindness.”
“Thank you. I’m Azure,” she said, and then remembering Gillian’s advice she added, “Actually, I’m Princess Azure.”
“Princess Azure, where are you headed?” Farrah asked.
“To the Land of Terran.”
A dark look crossed the mermaid’s face. “I hope you’re going there to make them suffer.”
“Something like that.”
“Well, you’d have to walk around the lake, which will put you in the Dark Forest at night fall. However—” Farrah dove into the water and disappeared. Azure, confused, batted her eyel
ids against the drops, blinking rain out of her eyes. She was soaked again. Ever would be pissed if he saw her coated in mud.
The water in front of Azure rippled just as Farrah’s face popped from the lake. In front of Azure a slippery surface broke through the water with ridges that resembled the spine and ribs of a creature.
“My friend has offered to transport you across the lake,” Farrah told her.
“What? Who is your friend?” Azure asked, reluctantly eying the thing that lurked just under the water’s surface.
“He’s a sea dinosaur, but you can’t formally meet him. Sorry. They are quite shy, which is why they are rarely spotted. Anyway, he’s perfectly safe, and crossing the lake with him will deliver you to the Land of Terran in minutes rather than hours,” Farrah said, smiling to reveal her sharp teeth. She was beautiful, if one got past the fact that she could eat them.
“Okay,” Azure finally agreed, realizing she had little choice. She needed to enter the Land of Terran soon. Her mother’s life and her crown were riding on what happened next. “Thank you, Farrah.”
“Thank you, Princess Azure,” the mermaid responded, holding her face up so the rain pelted it straight on.
Azure took a step, and remembered she was barefoot. She turned to the shore, pointing her wand at the horrible heels sitting on the bank. The effort it took to levitate the shoes and pull them to her was excruciating, but she reached out and grabbed them when they reached her. She stepped onto the back of the sea dinosaur, securing her footing on the animal’s slick skin. As soon as she was in place the creature drifted away from the shore, moving like a boat. Farrah laughed, giddy from the rain, and ducked under the water, her tail flicking the surface as she swam beside them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Azure would have fallen on her tailbone a time or two if it wasn’t for a stability enchantment she placed on herself. It wasn’t that traveling by sea dinosaur wasn’t smooth. She actually preferred that mode of transport over cars, which stopped often and went really fast. To her, there was something unnatural about strapping oneself into a small compartment and racing down concrete roads. Azure hadn’t even seen concrete until she reached Earth.
The sea dinosaur slowed as they neared the opposite shore. Farrah had swum beside them, sometimes showing off by jumping into the air and somersaulting above the water. Azure understood, though. The rain had infused the mermaid with momentary bliss. It had been worth it. Placing her hand on the soul stone around her neck, she felt its energy pulse. She would be able to draw from the stone in a pinch, but that was only advisable in an emergency. Once power was withdrawn from the stone, it couldn’t be restored.
Azure stepped off the sea dinosaur, her feet sinking deep into the wet sand on the shore. “Thank you,” she said to him, although he probably couldn’t hear her since his head was under the water with the rest of him.
Farrah’s head popped up a few yards from the shore. “I wish you luck in the Land of Terran, Princess Azure.”
“Thank you. I’m going to need it.” Azure stared down at her soaked and muddy clothes. She didn’t have enough magic to clean herself up. The most she would be able to do was a drying spell, but she doubted it would be entirely effective.
“If you ever find yourself in Mer territory, tell them you’re a friend of the mermaid Farrah. It is a currency that will earn you the instant favor of my people and their assistance should you ever need it.”
“Thank you, I’ll remember that. Best of luck to you!” Azure called through the rain that continued to patter on the surface of the water. The shower should fall for at least another hour or two, refilling the lake and hopefully revitalizing some of the plant life around the shore. Azure gave the lake and Farrah one last look and headed back into the forest.
***
The rain dissipated as Azure entered the forest, which was as barren as the area on the other side of the lake. Actually, this stretch of forest looked to have been mowed down in places. As she continued walking, the burnt-looking trees thinned and were replaced by stumps. The humans had clear-cut this section of the woods. How could Emperor Richard have allowed this? Didn’t he realize how shortsighted he was being?
Azure’s thoughts carried her across the stump-riddled forest until a large wall came into view. Dread mixed with anticipation made her throat tighten. She was finally at the Land of Terran. “Finally” was a strange term to use, though. A series of dangerous and complex adventures had brought her to this place, but she’d only just set out that morning. How could that be the case? It felt like it had been a week since she’d dislodged her soul stone at the coronation and found out she was human. She had tried not to think of her mother, suffering from the virus, but now, as she stared at the gated wall before her, her anger overwhelmed her. Azure wouldn’t leave the Land of Terran until she’d found her father, recovered her mother’s soul stone, and punished these people for what they’d done to the forest. Maybe she’d return with the dryads so they could turn the Terrans into statues.
She paused when her feet met concrete. There was a small building with a uniformed guard standing at a window. It reminded her of the security Ever and she passed through when entering the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The thought of Ever made Azure tense. She remembered that he had been adamant about her appearance being perfect, telling her that the people of Terran were all about looks, as she scanned her mud-stained jeans and the damp shirt that hung from her shoulders.
Azure withdrew the soggy papers Ever had forged for her. She pulled her wand from her back pocket and flicked it at the papers, drying them instantly. After the small spell, her shoulders sagged slightly and she had the urge to lie down and sleep for many hours.
Aware that the guard would see her if he looked up, she pointed her wand at herself. Using a spell, which relied on a single word, was beyond her strength at this point. Invocations were easier but less effective. However, that was all she could summon at this point.
“Clean appearance for my own sake, return me to before the lake,” Azure chanted. She swept her wand over her body, conscious that the movement had to be deliberate and her focus sharp. Her clothes dried at once, and the mud around her toes and streaked down her jeans disappeared. She felt her hair tighten back into loose ringlets that fell over her shoulders. The enchantment wouldn’t last long, but hopefully it would get her through security.
She strode forward, walking like the women she’d seen in the mall. They all had an air of entitlement about them, their noses held high.
There was no one in line when Azure reached the security booth. The guard glanced up and down at her before taking a second look.
“Hello, Miss. Entering the Land of Terran?” the guard asked, shoving a handheld electronic behind him like it was something that would get him in trouble if seen.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Azure said, her hands shaking slightly as she laid the papers and her identification on the window’s counter and slid them forward.
“Where did your travels take you?” the guard asked, his eager eyes pinned on Azure.
“I-I-I,” Azure began, trying to determine where humans would go when venturing outside of Terran. “I had business in the Light Elves’ Castle.”
“You did?” the guard asked, his head tucking back on his neck.
“Well, those pesky people needed by expertise on some designs for the castle. They paid me handsomely to save their rundown fort from looking like a shack,” Azure elaborated, trying to relate the things rumor had said. Her mother had shielded her from humans, and now she knew why. She was one of them.
“I know what you mean. I’ve heard their castle is full of antiques. Like, who would want that kind of stuff when you could have brand new things?”
“Exactly. I told them to throw it all out and go with a modern look.” Azure laughed to herself. The Light Elves’ Castle was considered to be incredibly beautiful, with its ancient artwork that dated back to when the portal between Earth and Oriceran h
ad last been open thirteen thousand years ago. Throwing out those things would be a crime, but of course this human wouldn’t agree.
“Well, I’m glad you’re helping them, but you’ve taken quite the risk leaving our borders. You’re only the second person I’ve checked through the border today,” the guard told her.
Azure was certain she knew who the other person was. Charmsgood’s murderer. She ground her teeth together at the thought of the Duke of Terran.
“Have the dryads been spotted out here?” Azure asked, indicating the forest at their back.
“Oh, yes. They turned a dozen Terrans into statues last week. They had left in the morning to fill their reserves, and never returned. As you know, that’s why they’ve started bringing in the harvest,” the guard said.
Azure didn’t know and had zero idea what the guy meant, but she was going to find out. First I need to rest, she thought, feeling exhaustion cloud her brain.
“The sun is going down, so I’d better hurry and get home,” she said, wondering where she’d sleep. Witches, as nomads, were used to sleeping outdoors or wherever they could find a suitable resting place. The key was that she’d need to stay hidden. Azure eyed the wrought-metal gates in front of her. The letters “LoT” adorned the front of the gate, and behind them a pristine sidewalk with shrubbery was visible.
“Yes, of course,” the guard agreed, taking her papers and reading them. The space between his brow creased as he read the form and scanned his eyes over her identification. “Well, Ms. Candace Smith, do you have anything to declare?”
Yes, she had something to declare. That humans from Terran are monsters. “Uhhh…” Azure said, wondering what he meant.
The guard stuck his head out the window, looking her over. “It doesn’t seem as if you brought anything back with you. Is that correct, or do you have items to declare?”