Fire

by Helen Scott

  I tried to arrow my body as much as possible so I didn't hurt myself as I crashed into the water, and sure enough, a few moments later the ice cold liquid covered me from head to toe as I plunged into its depths. There was nothing to see, just darkness and only the sensation of the water over my skin as I surged toward the surface. The splash next to me a few moments later was unexpected, and as I tried to gain my bearings I called for Tessa, getting only echoes in return.

  A masculine gasp sounded to my right followed by Griff's voice calling out to me. "Finn! Where are you?"

  "Here." I swam toward his voice, the cold water making my muscles tense up and stiffen even as I tried to move.

  "Where's Tessa?" His voice tinged with fear and urgency that I hadn't heard in a while.

  "I don't know. I can't see anything down here, can you?"

  "No, but I can make light if we need it," Griff said, voicing an idea I'm sure we both had even though we knew it was illegal and risking the death penalty if he was caught doing it.

  We weren't allowed to use our skills anywhere except our home world. That was especially true if we were visiting other worlds. We might be able to get away with it on the origin world, but if we were caught using magic outside of specified training areas like Griff was suggesting, then it was an automatic death sentence. It was why Dres hadn't used his ability to manipulate air to stop Tessa from falling. With the queen and her advisers right there, they would have no choice but to sentence him to die for saving the one thing that could save us all. It was stupid and fucked up and assumed that we were children that needed to be controlled to prevent us from hurting ourselves when most of us were well past a century old.

  "Do it," I said quietly, and watched as flames came to life above the hand that he had sticking out of the water. It was the only light in the cave, and as my eyes adjusted I dove down, hoping against everything that I would find Tessa alive. The light dissipated much too quickly under water, and I was left searching a small radius at a time for our woman as I dragged Griff around from section to section.

  I wasn't sure when my mind had decided that it was okay to think of her as ours, or even mine, but there it was. Without his light I didn't stand a chance of finding her, but he couldn't keep his flames alive under water, so the search was almost futile. The only chance I had was using echolocation, but that wasn't a skill I was well versed in having never needed to train it. It also required me to be completely submerged, which would mean leaving Griff.

  "I'm going to try something. I'll be right back." I let my body slide beneath the surface. I saw the light from Griff's flames fade out and knew he was trying to conserve energy. Without wasting another moment I called the water to me, forcing the transformation in my body that allowed me to swim underwater without requiring oxygen or artificial flippers. As the magic within the waters of Atlantis washed over me, I knew the change was complete.

  After I closed my eyes, I focused on the different sensations against my skin. I could feel the water, the sounds of the edges splashing against the walls of the cave reflecting back to me. A moment later I let out a high-pitched clicking sound, and as it went out and returned to me, my body and mind worked in unison to create a mental vision of the cave until I found an opening near the bottom.

  I moved toward it and through into a tunnel system, my body acting on autopilot as I kept clicking and swimming, narrowly avoiding walls and stalagmites that were pointing up from the floor like miniature mountains. The further I went into the tunnel the more I felt the water pulling at me, as though it knew where I needed to go. If I wasted too much energy trying to fight it, then there was a small chance that I wouldn't be able to continue using the echolocation I had been up until that point, and that could be disastrous for Tessa and Griff, not just me.

  When I gave in, the water seemed to sense it and pulled me along, faster and faster until I was rushing through tunnels and barely avoiding knocking myself out on the walls, ceilings, and occasionally the floor. The current was strong and swift as it moved me, at least until it deposited me into another cave like area. This time I could sense light though. My echolocation didn't work outside of water, and that meant that the flat line I could feel above me had to be the surface, and the dim light that was steadily growing as I swam toward it was, hopefully, sunlight.

  After I breached the surface, I opened my eyes to find one solitary shaft of sunlight streaming in from somewhere high above the edge of the water. It gave enough light to see my surroundings but wasn't an escape route, unless I grew wings or something. The way the light was coming in I knew it was facing away from the sun, which meant that it would disappear that much faster.

  I scanned around the open area, and my heart froze in my chest. Tessa's unmoving form was washed up on a beach-like area on one side of the cave. Without a moment to lose I took off toward her, splashing through the water and moving as fast as I could to get to her.

  When I was close enough, I realized that she wasn't just unconscious as I had hoped, she wasn't breathing. Her back didn't move at all with each breath she should have been taking. I rolled her over onto her back and began administering CPR. I blew into her mouth just as I had been taught and did the chest compressions counting all the seconds that I was working on her with growing worry.

  As she coughed up the water that was in her lungs, I wanted to cry with relief. There were a few more tense moments as she caught her breath but eventually her eyes opened. Those beautiful mismatched orbs stared up at me as her hoarse voice asked, "What happened?"

  "There was some kind of earthquake, and you had to jump over a gap in the temple to get out, but you fell. Do you remember?" I pushed some of the still wet hair away from her face.

  She nodded slightly, her gaze going distant as though she was reliving the memory of what had just happened. "There was a turtle, the one from before. It saved me."

  To anyone else that would have sounded like complete insanity, but I was Atlantean and our sea creatures were anything but normal. "Did it hurt you?" I quickly looked her over for any bleeding or bruising.

  She shook her head.

  I sighed with relief. Not only were our sea creatures extra smart, but some of them were extra devious as well. In fact, I wouldn't put it past a turtle to use people's preconceptions of turtles being gentle creatures against them. Not that that mattered now.

  "Are you okay to rest here while I look for a way out?"

  Tessa nodded again, and I turned to dive into the water. "Wait, how did you get down here?" Her voice came out sounding frail, as though she couldn't quite believe how close she'd come to dying.

  "You know, I don't remember. I was so focused on you falling that I'm not sure what happened," I said as I turned back to face her. It was a degree of truth. I had an idea what had happened, but I wasn't sure about it.

  "Oh." She paused, her gaze narrowing on my face, as though she could tell I wasn't being completely honest with her. "Is everyone else okay?"

  "I think Dres and Kai are, but Griff is stuck in the water we first fell into. I'm hoping if I can find a way out of here that we'll be able to get back up to the temple and rescue him because there is no way he could survive the trip through the tunnel to this part of the cave system."

  "I'm sorry," she said with tears suddenly streaming down her face.

  "For what?"

  "For not making the jump, for putting you and Griff at risk, for the way I've been treating you."

  I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before going over to her. "Listen, Tessa, there is nothing for you to be sorry for, but Griff is a meathead sometimes, and I don't want him to sink because I took too long figuring out a way to save him. So, let's just get past this part and then we can all have a chat with some coffee and chocolate, okay?"

  I was worried that I'd sounded patronizing, and that wasn't my intention, but I was getting more and more concerned about Griff and his ability to stay afloat in the other cave. When she just nodded, I took that as all th
e signal I needed and jumped in. The water was icy as it closed around me once more, but I was our only hope of getting out of there, and if I didn't find a way out then all five worlds would be doomed.

  9

  Tessa

  Finn had disappeared under the still surface of the water what felt like hours ago. I had been racking my brain up here trying to see if I could see my own way out, but the truth was, the tiny hole in the top of the cave had to be what equated to a few floors up, and there was no way either of us were getting up there without some serious magical help.

  My mind flicked back to the turtle. I knew it had been the same one I'd first met when I landed on Atlantis, but how had it found me and communicated with me? All I remembered was screaming bloody murder as I fell, then the cold, followed by the urgent feeling to grab hold of whatever was in front of me and not let go. The turtle's shell had been hard under my fingers and his skin was leathery, but once I'd grabbed on it moved with surprising speed. I don't remember blacking out, or I guess drowning, but evidently, even with the speed of the turtle I wasn't Atlantean enough to have grown gills and survived. I was just glad that Finn had found me and brought me back to life.

  As though there wasn't enough going through my mind at that moment, purple filaments appeared in my peripheral vision. A blue dragon with strange frills appeared, and it was bigger than any I'd ever seen before. It was also looking directly at me as though I was an unusual visitor in its home. It reminded me a little of the one I'd seen outside the house the guys owned on earth, only frillier. It came toward me with a snake-like grace, and even though I knew consciously that its feet were moving, I didn't hear a sound.

  It was about the size of a miniature horse or a pony. It was certainly stocky enough to be a pony. The animal moved closer to me and for the first time I was nervous, unsure what this meant in terms of magic or being the Key. The last thing I expected was for it to rub against me like a cat. Its wings were tucked against its back and its scales were soft against my skin and clothes.

  So you are she, the one who will save us? The voice resonated in my head, echoing around like someone was shouting at me from a long distance.

  "That's what they tell me," I muttered. I was unsure if I was losing my mind or not, after all, I didn't know how long my brain had been without oxygen during this whole fiasco.

  I'm not talking about the demons, child of man. I speak of my brethren. We are being slaughtered and you are the only one who can stop it.

  I turned sharply at the dragon's words. "What?"

  Before it could respond a great splash sounded, and I turned to see Finn erupting out of the water. When I turned back, the dragon was gone.

  "There's another tunnel at the bottom which leads to the ocean, but I don't know if you can make it," he gasped out, clearly out of breath, making me wonder how long he'd been swimming.

  "You can help me though, right?" My mind was still reeling over what had just happened.

  "I think so. It's not going to be fun though," he said as he eyed me up and down. "You'll want to lose as much as you can from your outfit. Swimming in clothes is a lot harder than a swimsuit, let alone compared to me."

  Fuck. This was going to suck given how cold the water was, but what other choice did I have? I supposed I could sit here and wait to be rescued. Maybe Finn could find the hole in the ceiling of the cave and drop a rope down or something? That could mean sitting and waiting for days while they searched for something that looked to be about the size of a watermelon and found rope long enough to reach all the way down here.

  "Any idea where that opens to?" I asked pointing to the rocky opening above us.

  "Not the foggiest," he said with a shrug.

  "I didn't think so." I sighed and pushed to my feet, peeling what I could of my clothing off as I went. When I was down to just my bra and panties, I was sure that the drag from them couldn't be any worse than a swimsuit. When I looked up I found Finn watching me, but there was no heat in his eyes, which part of me was glad for while the other part was disappointed. Not that the occasion warranted him being horny at the sight of me in my undies, but still, a little appreciation was always nice.

  "I should warn you," he said as I approached the edge of the ledge to jump in. When I stopped and looked at him, he continued. "I'm more transformed than you've seen previously, and I can withstand the cold better. You'll need to stay close to me and I'll try and pull you with me as I swim. Then we can share breaths as much as possible and stay warm as well."

  "Okay." Nerves jangled about in my belly like a wrong set of keys being played on the piano. It wasn't just that I knew it was going to be tough to make it, it was the fact that I'd already died once today. Who knew if I would survive a second time? It didn't matter though, because I knew Finn would do everything in his power to keep me alive. Holding tightly to that thought I surrendered to the events that were to come and jumped in.

  The icy water hit me like a ton of bricks and made my lungs feel like they were seizing. Frantically, I pushed toward the surface. When the water broke over my head and I was able to haul in a few breaths of air I turned to Finn, the fear of not being able to breathe again riding me hard. "I can't do this."

  "You can and you will. I'm not leaving you here." His tone brooked no argument, and though I wanted to swim to the shore, I was moving toward him instead. Apparently, my body was willing to fight for survival even if my brain had other ideas.

  The closer I got to Finn, the more the alarm bells in my head started ringing. I could see, even through the murky water between us, that he wasn't fully human anymore, and it wasn't just the gills on his neck that gave it away. Blue and green shimmered below his waist under the water along with a large fin-like structure that I could see where his feet would be. I knew he hadn't brought his battle suit with him; I hadn't seen him wear it since we made our way to the portal on earth.

  "You're a mermaid?" I blurted as my mind connected the dots.

  "That is what your people call my kind, yes. We shouldn't dawdle though as the cold will start affecting you sooner rather than later." His impersonal tone made me look up and study his face. What I found there was enough to kill any Little Mermaid-esque visions I might have had. His gaze was all predator, and when combined with the sharp teeth I could see in his mouth, I wasn't sure if I was terrified more of the water or him. "I won't harm you," he said, as though sensing my thoughts.

  "I know," I muttered. "It's just a lot to take in, that's all."

  He nodded. "We need to go, now, before your core temperature drops any further."

  I took his hand, noting that his fingers were now webbed with claws at the tips instead of fingernails. His skin was cold against my own, and I had to repress the shudder that wanted to slide down my spine.

  "Take a breath and blow it out as much as you can then take another as deeply as you can. When you can't hold it anymore, tap my shoulder and I will give you some of my breath, understood?"

  "Got it."

  Finn was cold like this, not just physically but emotionally as well, and although I had bigger things to worry about, I couldn't deny that it sparked my curiosity. I blew out the breath I'd just taken, and when I was mostly done taking a breath, I felt him move. My lips clamped shut before the water could fill my mouth and, as his arms wrapped around me like steel bands, he dove down.

  The pressure was astounding as we went ever deeper into the blackness. I had no idea how he could see where he was going, but I assumed that it was something to do with his eyes when he was in his merman form, if that was even the right term for it. I would say that this was beyond weird, but that wouldn't be true. I mean when I'd first arrived in Atlantis, I'd communicated with a turtle that was at least as big as me, so I had experienced weird enough recently that I just rolled with the punches.

  Air was burning in my lungs, but it felt like we'd only been under for a few moments, so I tried to slow my heart rate and focus on remaining calm. The fact that my heart had been hamm
ering in my chest ever since we lost sight of the surface wasn't helping matters. I couldn't wait, though, and tapped Finn on the shoulder.

  Seconds later I felt his lips on my own as we slowed in speed and he just breathed into me. We were awkward for a second because it felt a little like he was about to try and eat my face off, but I knew that no matter what physical changes had occurred, he still cared about me, and that meant the world. When my breathing had slowed down a little, he squeezed me and I shut my mouth, intrinsically understanding that he was trying to warn me he was going to pull away. As soon as he did I felt the loss, not only of his presence, even though I was still wrapped around him like a spider monkey, but of the precious oxygen that he'd been supplying me with.

  As we sped onward though, it was all I could do to hold on. I had closed my eyes a long time ago, and it had been dark for so long that it was only the occasional slowing for me to breathe that seemed to indicate any passage of time. It was because I had grown so used to the darkness that I was surprised when I noticed the first tinge of pink coming through my eyelids. I opened them and found that we were in some of the clearest waters I'd ever seen.

  Finn deftly navigated us around rocks and shoals of fish as he slowly brought us to the surface. I wasn't sure why he took the route that he did, if there was something he was trying to avoid, or if it was purely to try and prevent me from getting the bends from rising too fast. Either way, by the time we surfaced I was about ready to squeal with glee that I'd survived. The air had never tasted so good as I pulled lungful after lungful into my body.