by TR Cameron
“She likes muscular guys so you have to join the gym?” He sighed and she laughed again. “No, really, I get it. Relationships are hard. Even if I had time for one, I’d probably think twice before getting involved.” She stood with her drink in her hand. “Come on, let’s wander. We only have a single day on board and I want to see what the fuss is all about.”
They’d eaten, slept, eaten a little more, and spent time relaxing in the sun in the interval between when they’d boarded and when night fell the next day. According to the maps they’d been given, the ship was about as close as it would be to New Atlantis, which meant the moment had come for them to part company.
The number of passengers moving around in unexpected surges and stops prohibited using a veil, and they drew more than a few strange looks as they strode through the least populated hallways to reach a position on the side of the ship near the back. She assumed the attention had as much to do with the black uniforms they wore as with the large packs on their backs and doubtless, people would seek out the ship’s crew to report them. By the time anyone bothered to investigate, however, they would be gone, and they’d been careful to cover their tracks.
A note was pinned to their door to tell the staff they’d be sleeping in that day and they were on the list for the first shore excursion. Zeb would contact the cruise line after it had departed that stop to inform them that they had been required to leave the ship and come home.
Fyre was more than ready to go. He’d sent her various sensations of anticipation all day, and she’d been able to experience his joy at being in the water and hunting fish a couple of times. The trip was worth it for that alone, as it showed her a playful side of him she’d only had hints of before. She made a mental note that she needed to find a friend with a deep-sea fishing boat so they could make it happen for him more often.
They were at about mid-height on the ship and on a level filled with cabin portholes at their back and a simple rail separating them from the water far below. It was low enough to avoid attracting any further attention from the guests but high enough to avoid running into the areas that were designated for mainly crew members. She gave Tanyith a fake smile that likely failed to hide her nerves. “So, are you ready for this?”
He nodded. “There’s nothing to worry about. You simply focus on keeping your own air and boosting your speed, and I’ll give you a backup layer of oxygen in case you falter. We can surface and refill at any time if there’s a need. After only a few hours of magically assisted swimming, we’ll be safely at our destination.”
She laughed. “Safe might not be the right word.”
“True that. But at least we’ll be out of the water. Kind of.”
Cali tried not to think too closely about the fact that they traveled to an underwater city. It’ll be fine. The place existed before me so it’s not about to collapse into ruin merely because I’m there. She shook her head at her own fears. “Okay, let’s do this.” She summoned the mental model of herself and imagined her magic seeping into her muscles and lungs and spreading around her to enclose the air she’d need for the first leg of the journey. They’d avoid going too deep too fast since she had so little experience with this particular magic. When she felt like she had done all she could to prepare, she sent Fyre the command to go.
The Draksa abandoned his veil as he dove, his wings tucked tightly against his sides. The moonlight shimmered on his metallic scales as he splashed directly beneath them and again, a feeling of joy washed over her through the channel that connected her to him. It was impossible to be worried with that flowing around her, so she laughed and leapt over the railing, straightened her body, and pointed her toes. Tanyith was an instant behind her and several feet to her left.
She knifed through the swells with barely any impact. Her concentration remained focused, and the combination of the force shield and the uniform her parents had provided for her kept her as warm as if she’d been indoors on a chilly day. The bubble surrounding her allowed her to keep her eyes open, and she located both Tanyith and Fyre when they approached on either side. The earpieces and radios they’d found at the bunker were already in place, and her friend’s voice came through loud and clear. “Is everything good?”
Cali grinned. “Perfect. This is amazing.”
He nodded. “Excellent. Now it’s merely an easy swim to New Atlantis, where nothing but rainbows and happiness awaits.”
She laughed. “Don’t jinx us. We could use a few rainbows.”
Tanyith led, swimming much faster than any non-magical would be able to, and followed the directions given by the GPS Diana Sheen had provided. She followed him, and Fyre swam in circles and loops around them. He often darted aside to investigate something before he returned to do more watery acrobatics. His happiness filled her, and between that and the unreality of traveling through the deep water, her worries remained far away. It was a perfect moment in time where the only requirements were to enjoy herself, keep her arms and legs moving, and maintain the body-shaped bubble that surrounded her.
The constant pull on her magical resources was notable but not of any real concern. She used less to maintain the spells than she had in the pool and actually seemed to improve her efficiency as they swam. Darkness reigned above and below, and she wished she could see the features on the bottom of the ocean. Another time, she promised herself. There was nothing stopping her and Fyre from making a habit of deep swimming as long as she could find the time. And for this, she’d make every effort to do so.
Everything was perfect and she all but lulled herself into a sense of complacency that disintegrated abruptly. Concern and aggression flowed to her from Fyre and shattered her good mood. She looked about wildly to find the source of his worry, but she couldn’t locate him. “Tanyith, something’s wrong.”
He pulled up and swam to her side. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. Fyre’s upset.” A moment later, they saw what had agitated the Draksa when a figure out of her nightmares emerged from the shadows. “Holy hell. Do you see what I see?”
He sounded as amazed as she felt. “Who would have thought there could be more than one?”
The time for talking ended as the tentacles of the giant octopus reached for them.
Chapter Eighteen
Cali swam toward the bottom to dodge the grasping appendage. The giant suckers on the tentacle crossed in front of her face, and she almost lost control of her magic at the sight. She focused inward for an instant to lock her spells securely in place. Losing her air or her speed during a massive freaking octopus attack would not be a good thing.
The creature was astonishingly fast in the water. She’d thought the one at the docks was quick but it had clearly been hampered by being out of its element. The tentacles whipped and swayed, seemingly without resistance. She dedicated herself to avoiding the attacks while she wracked her brain for options.
“Uh, I’m at a bit of a loss here.” She dodged another swipe. Fyre flashed toward the beast, aiming for its eyes, but it rippled away from his talons. She wondered for a second why he hadn’t frozen it but then realized his breath attack probably didn’t work well underwater.
Tanyith swam beside her and fluttered to a stop. “I guess it’s time for some on-the-job training. You’ll want to change the dimensions of your bubble and pull it in tight around your hands. That will free you to cast. There’s likely to be a little leakage since it isn’t truly closed, so you need to create a slight outward flow. You’ll lose some air but we have enough to last this fight and then we can surface. I’ll keep you guarded while you do it.”
She noticed bubbles were already forming at his wrists. He summoned a full-body force shield and used it to protect himself against the incoming tentacles. His other hand flicked blasts of shadow magic, which seemed unhindered by the water, to intercept those that tried to sneak around it. Between him and Fyre, who continued to slash at the aggressor as he rocketed past in assault after assault, they held the creature mom
entarily at bay. But without her help, the two had no chance to defeat it.
Okay, Cali, exactly like he said. She imagined the bubble that covered her drawing back from her hands. When the cold water met them, it was a shock and she almost lost her concentration. She snatched at it and stabilized her mind, then pictured magic flowing into them to warm them. In her mental picture, they began to glow gold. Setting up the outward pressure was easier and in a few seconds, she had it. After a few more moments to ensure all the magical threads were carefully secured in her head, she turned her attention to the octopus. Her fire magic wouldn’t be useful and she’d already tried to slip into the first monster’s brain at the dock without success. It was doubtful that this would be any different. So, force it is.
When the next appendage whipped at her, Cali made her move. She burst from behind Tanyith and used magic to rocket through the water as fast as she could swim. A twist and a wriggle took her past the limb, and she flipped onto her back to watch it make another attempt. Perfect. She aimed at another tentacle, and when the striking one swooped, she caught the two together in a band of force, then added more all the way to its torso to bind the limbs into a single unit. She had time to say “Ha!” before an appendage she hadn’t noticed drove into her spine.
She was thrown forward and the breath knocked from her lungs. Panic surged as she struggled for oxygen. Only Tanyith’s shout saved her from losing it. “You’re fine. Keep your spells working and the air will be back before you know it.” She nodded and waited while she scanned around her for incoming attacks. When her body unclenched enough that she could breathe again, she turned to face the monster.
“Okay, you bastard, let’s see how you feel about this.” She sent force blasts at its eyes and it twisted to avoid them. It was strangely beautiful how her magic rippled through the water like torpedoes and trailed bubbles the entire way.
Her partner said, “That’s the solution. I’ll get on its left. You stay here. Tell Fyre to close on the opposite side from me. When it turns away from one of us, the others can attack. Once we wreck its eyes, it’s sure to run. Er…swim.” He relocated quickly as she sent the message to the Draksa and received approval in return. They were each forced to dodge the thrashing limbs as they moved into position, but none connected.
Fyre was apparently impatient as he dove in for the first attack. The octopus twisted away and snapped its tentacles at the Draksa, who performed a beautiful swoop to pass between them. Cali saw the opportunity and pinned another two together with more force magic so the creature now had six arms instead of eight. Awesome. After another few hours of this, he’ll be down to four. She shook her head and focused on Tanyith, waiting for him to act.
He fired shadow blasts at the monster’s eyes with one hand while he maintained the shield with the other. The octopus shifted its head subtly to avoid the blows, and the man cursed at it. He stopped the bolts and instead, made a series of gestures that culminated in the creation of a long stick with sharp points at both ends composed of shadow magic. She was impressed and even more so when he added a blast of speed to drive the weapon toward their agreed target.
The giant creature thrashed to avoid the spear and turned its head to face her. With a small request to the universe to help her this once, she extended both her hands and sent a flurry of force darts at it, one from each finger, then repeated the attack as she swept her aim across to where she judged its eyes would be when it moved. It screeched when her magic struck true, spun, and surged away. The massive tentacles propelled it far faster than they could follow. As if I wanted to follow, anyway. She asked, “Is it done with us, do you think?”
“There’s no way to tell,” Tanyith replied, “but if someone was controlling it directly, I think the damage might have broken the connection or something. We should probably get a move on, in any case.” He gestured upward and she followed him to the surface. The influx of air was incredibly welcome, and when they dove again, both kept their hands free in case the monster reappeared.
The rest of the trip to New Atlantis was as tense as the first part had been joyous. Fyre’s wide path around them was no longer for fun but rather to provide an early warning if anything dangerous should appear. Where before it had felt like they made good speed, it now seemed as if they’d never arrive.
Still, when the city appeared in the distance, she couldn’t help but feel awe at the sight. The huge sparkling dome filled with lights from within was the centerpiece, but all around it were other things that had apparently fallen victim to the curse of the Bermuda Triangle. Portions of boats, both modern and historical, rested beside pieces of airplane fuselage. She wondered why they would surround the city with so much junk, but as they moved closer, she realized the truth.
“That’s not junk. It’s part of the city, isn’t it?” She had seen lights sparkling inside several of the shapes, which suggested a presence within.
Tanyith laughed. “So I’ve heard. Atlanteans have always been quite adept at taking what the sea offers and putting it to good use.”
She frowned. “So are they using what simply came to them or are they taking the stuff themselves? It would make sense if there wasn’t actually anything supernatural about this place but rather a race of magical scumbags who think they have the right to steal whatever they want.”
He sounded thoughtful. “Well, much of that is old and probably predates the city itself. So it might be a combination of the two. I won’t go out on a limb and claim they’re innocent of any such thing, but it’s also too big a jump to assume they’re guilty of all of it.”
Cali didn’t have a problem thinking them guilty based on her experience with Atlanteans thus far but kept the protest to herself. Fyre descended to swim directly in front of them, apparently confident that any danger had passed, and he adjusted his angle until they moved toward what looked like an opening in the sphere a little below the horizontal midpoint. The city resembled a snow globe, with the bottom half filled with dirt, the surface on the centerline, and sky above. It made sense they’d have the “land” where the surface area was largest.
As they approached, she noticed the many connections between the surrounding objects and the dome. Tubes of clear material spanned them, which would allow people to swim from one to the next. Each terminated in the “underground” portion, though. From the surface of the city, the passages would remain unseen.
They entered and swam through a tube of their own. It was lit with some kind of iridescent moss that seemed to be alive and was clearly carefully maintained. Finally, they broke the surface in something that appeared to be a receiving zone. Water covered a crescent-shaped area bounding a dock that looked as if it had been built from wood salvaged from multiple sources. At each end of the structure, portals sparked into being with impressive regularity.
I wonder why they need the tubes, then? She asked Tanyith that question as they climbed the stairs to the wooden platform.
“I’m certain only select people are allowed to portal here. I don’t know if they prevent others from doing so by magic or by force.” He gestured toward several clusters of individuals in armor who carried spears and radiated authority. “Maybe some of both.”
She scowled. “We need to make sure we have a way back in before we leave. Having to swim is beyond annoying. If I never see an octopus of any size again, it will be too damn soon.”
Fyre snorted his agreement. He radiated a weird jumble of emotions—interest, concern, and trepidation of some kind. She patted him on the back. “It’s all good, buddy.” She yanked to adjust the backpack on her shoulders. It was remarkably heavy on land, a fact she’d forgotten during the time in the water.
“So, do you need to do something to contact these people or what?” she asked.
Tanyith shrugged. “They said they’d be watching. I presume it means they’ll get in touch with me. I guess we’re on our own for the moment.”
Cali looked at the grand staircases that led from this boundary a
rea to the main portion of the city itself. They gleamed in white and pink and reminded her of coral she’d seen in expensive fish tanks.
With a shake of her head, she said, “Well then, let’s see if we can find out what’s up with these jerks and how to force them to leave us the hell alone.” With that, she set off to make the long climb upward.
Chapter Nineteen
The first thing Cali noticed when they reached the surface was the strange illumination that emanated from the top of the dome and spread gently over everything. Certainly, it wasn’t the sun, not this deep down, but it felt very much like it. The second thing was the large central spire in the distance, positioned directly under the glowing area. It stood far taller than any of the other buildings and seemed to increase in size the closer one got to it. She pointed it out to Tanyith. “From what I’ve read, that’s the palace, right?”
He nodded. “It goes along with what little I know about the city. The Emperor or Empress’s palace is in the middle, the nine around them, and the rest of the upper crust around those. There are four circular streets, one separating the palace from the nine, the next separating them from the rest, and one that bisects the gentry area. Nine streets radiate through them from the first one to the outer shell, each exactly the same angle to the next.”
She laughed. “What did you do, read an atlas?”
“No. I looked at a map. Perhaps you should try it sometime.”
Fyre snorted, and she flipped them both off. “Okay, then, where do you think we should go?” Now that they’d reached the top of the staircase, it became clear that they would stand out like sore thumbs in their black uniforms, so she added, “Somewhere to put different clothes on, obviously.”
He nodded and pointed to what appeared to be public restrooms to the left of the stairs. “Let’s have a look there.”