by Brandon Witt
“That is true unless they wait until we are at rest and descend upon us then. We know that we should not readily trust the Volitan. That seems like an unnecessary risk.” Though Lelas was tense, she did not draw close to Nalu for comfort or in fear—not that I would ever expect such actions from her. She simply held onto her mate’s hand and continued to search within the darker sections of seaweed.
An image of us cowering in fear accompanied the sense of aggression that Wrell dispersed among the group.
This time, Therin sounded more determined than anxious. “Wrell is right. The Volitan do not respond favorably to any display of weakness, even if it comes in the form of respect. We have no guarantee how they will receive us, but I believe our best chance is to continue. Of course, the other option is to forsake this plan and leave the Volitan entirely. As we have already intentionally come within their proximity, they are likely to pursue us as we flee.”
As much as I hated to admit it, their reasoning was sound. Even if I didn’t think they were right, I would be outvoted. However, the way it was, I didn’t really see any other option besides continuing either. Having learned to control my fire or not, the water rippled around my clenched fists, bubbles shooting upward. After a couple of seconds, I managed to calm my nerves and unclench my fists. “Okay, then. Here we go.”
The five of us began swimming through the kelp once more, Wrell taking the lead. Within a few more feet, the colossal strands of plants were so dense that we were weaving through in single file. Therin fell in behind me, and I couldn’t help but feel a wave of sentimentality at his fatherly act of protection.
Wrell opened himself up to each of us, letting every sensation he experienced be shared. Each ping he felt as he became aware of another Volitan echoed through us all. While I appreciated being kept in the loop, the constant barrage of stimulation combined with my own apprehension only served to increase my stress level.
The merger of the increasing density of kelp and the fading light of dusk caused a strange parallel sensation as we threaded through the giant kelp strands. I was fully aware we were still in the ocean and the shapes that swam and darted around us were fish and other sea life that made their home in the kelp forest. However, the image of an actual forest kept superimposing itself over our reality. The tall masses of seaweed shifting to swaying trees over our heads, the hazy light shafting down between the leaves. The fish morphing into bats and ravens. The awaiting Volitans becoming some lurking monster that could spring out at us at any moment.
“Brett, you must calm yourself.”
Therin’s voice caused me to flinch, my muscles clenched so tightly I was certain I would be sore for days.
“You’re beginning to lose control of your power again.”
I glanced down. Sure enough, the water was hazy with steam around my hands. “Sorry. I’m kinda having a surreal experience here. It’s freaking me out.”
Lelas responded, having heard my response to Dad. I wondered if all the Volitans could hear me as well. “What do you need, Brett?”
“I’m not sure. I just can’t shake the feeling we’re coming into something bad. Sorry. I’ll get myself under control.” I forced my fingers to unclench and shook my hands rapidly to get some of their excess energy out.
“We are all together. We are going to be fine.” A huge piece of kelp slipped back into place as Lelas swam under it, blocking her from view.
I didn’t answer her. I whipped back the kelp, sending it rippling all the way up. She was right there, still swimming onward, Nalu and Wrell ahead of her. Everything was how it should be.
Fuck! I had to get a hold of myself.
Therin’s voice broke in once more. “Do not reply again. The Volitan may be listening, and we do not want them to sense any weakness or fear.”
Perfect. Just what I needed. My dad commenting on what a wimp I was turning out to be. Weak and afraid.
As if reading my mind, he spoke a final time. “We all have fear. It speaks of your courage that the majority of your fear is not for your own life. Calm yourself. Envision when we have finished with the Volitan and know the vampires’ location. See those you love whole and safe. It will focus your mind.”
I did as he said. I even had a little success, though the double-world thing only increased as we continued ever farther into the forest. It was enough to get my fire back under control. Of all times to be close to erupting into flames.
Another kelp forest came to mind. The morning of Rodrigo’s funeral. Before we’d figured out what was going on with me. I’d destroyed a huge portion of the kelp bed and the creatures that lived there. This was not going to be a repeat. It couldn’t be.
I quit trying to picture everyone making it out safely and instead poured my focus into my ability to control water. While still not perfected, I’d been getting ever better in the constant practice with Wrell since leaving the Scarus. If we found danger, I’d use that. It would stop whatever was happening and didn’t run the risk of destroying everything and everyone around me.
We continued to weave through the kelp forest. Having reached one of the swells of the hills, we started swimming higher. Even though we were a little closer to the surface, between the darkening of the sky and the shroud of seaweed around us, things continued to get darker and more sinister. The buzz in my head from Wrell having contact with the Volitan was so constant that I was struggling to tune it out, its presence continuing to heighten my nerves.
When it felt like we would travel through the kelp for eternity, we arrived. Wrell’s presence in my head vanished, instantly relieving some of the tension. It came back a moment later when I swam around Lelas and saw what was in front of us.
Déjà vu washed over me, and Therin was leading me through the kelp to a large meadow where Syleen and the other elders of the Chromis tribe waited in the sunshine. Even in the bright of day, I’d been such a nervous wreck I’d burst into a ball of flame, taking a puffer fish with me.
That had been nothing compared to this experience.
Even as we moved into the clearing, shadows from the hundred feet of kelp over us fell upon all who were present. And the group waiting for us wasn’t a few mermaids and mermen with pretty-colored tails and the attitude problem of overly pious church board members. The forty or more mers that crowded on the opposite side of the darkened meadow didn’t wait in a polite row but took up the entire space, their mass of bodies looming above us nearly halfway up the height of the kelp. And each one of them was a replica of Wrell. A wall of heavily muscled warriors, dark tattoos swirling over their torsos, lionfish quills unfurled, giving them the appearance of having misplaced, tattered wings. The barbed spikes ran down their spines, long and erect to the point they were visible even though they faced us head-on. As if their bony armor wasn’t enough, each had spears and blades in both hands. While they weren’t pointed in our direction, it was clear they could be sent flying through the water and pin us to the ocean floor.
From the corner of my eye, Wrell’s quills rose in a matching display. He didn’t raise his spear either, but no minutia of his being hinted he was in any way intimidated by the show of strength.
Wrell might not have been impressed, but I was. Without turning my head, I looked over at Lelas. If things went poorly, how were we ever going to get her out of here safely? How would any of us get out of here, for that matter? Staring back up at the wall of quills, muscle, and weapons, the answer to that was obvious. We wouldn’t.
She was over halfway across the meadow before I noticed her swimming at a relaxed pace. Between the shadows and the distracting Volitan wall, she was easy to miss. The mermaid swam toward us upright, her rippling fins allowing her to glide effortlessly closer to us. Like the others, her dorsal spines were rigid, towering over the back of her head a foot or more. Strangely, she carried no weapon. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, leaving her naked shoulders and breasts to glisten softly as she passed through the few sections unclaimed by shadow.
/> Though she wore no jewels or adornment like Akamaii, the identity of the female held no doubt. She was the leader of the Volitan. Her lack of blades gave more threat than if she’d been laden with weaponry—her tribe so adept at killing that not only could the queen meet strangers unarmed, but she could do so alone.
The queen was less than ten feet from us when she stopped. Across the expanse, the wall of Volitan shifted, though I couldn’t tell what the mers had accomplished in their adjustment. I needed no proof they were doing nothing just for show. Each action had a purpose, and I was willing to bet it allowed them to be more effective should the need arise to slaughter the five of us. It would take them less than half a minute to kill us all. They wouldn’t even need to use all of their weapons. One group toss and there would be nothing left for us to do.
I saw Wrell swimming away, the sunshine highlighting his flexing muscles as he distanced himself from the cluster of Volitan mers, the queen in the center.
For a second, confusion distracted me from the peril we were in. Taking my gaze off the Volitan army, I turned to look at Wrell. At first, Nalu was in the way, hovering slightly above him, making it look like Wrell’s quills were coming from him. Wrell drifted forward less than half a foot. At his motion, the mer lifted their spears and trained them on our group’s Volitan. He stopped instantly but did not return to his original position. Nor did his own quills and spines lower around him.
At a gesture from the queen, the army behind her returned to a semblance of ease.
Again I could see Wrell swimming away from them, a faint hint of aggression accompanying his departure. This time I realized the vision came from the queen. A reminder that Wrell was never to approach them again.
The action took me by surprise, though I should have expected it. I’m sure the others had. Speaking through images and emotions was something I’d related to Wrell specifically. I’d forgotten that it was an aspect of his tribe, not just an idiosyncrasy.
Wrell offered a picture of us in front of Akamaii, the cavernous chamber displayed behind her. It seemed lifetimes ago that we’d left the Scarus.
Before he could communicate further, the queen cut him off with a swipe of her hand. She showed him returning to our small line of misfits. She let that image sink in, then showed him moving slightly behind Nalu. Another wave of her fingers and a solitary spear rose across the meadow, the female that held the weapon near the top of the fortification of bodies.
No more talking from Wrell.
Still not lowering his quills, Wrell swiped his fins in such a way that he drifted backward, coming to a stop beside Nalu. With a small bow of his head, he then slid farther back in compliance.
Without moving, Therin’s voice broke into our minds. Though not actually audible, after the time of quiet fear through the forest and the command of visions, the words were loud and abrasive. “We mean no disrespect. We merely seek—”
This time a combination of movements from the queen cut him off, a second spear rising in the background.
Nalu and Lelas weren’t going to say anything, and I sure as hell wasn’t either. Though I couldn’t see their eyes, and I was certain the Volitans were watching for their queen’s commands, I could feel their eyes on my naked body, inspecting my legs. If they’d had members of their tribe taken, the last thing they needed to see was a reminder of the captors.
The queen seemed content to simply stare at us. Only her head turned slightly as she passed over our small group, and her fins fluttered softly, keeping her in place. Both of the spears in the background remained poised.
I was convinced she was going to turn her back on us and drift away as her people riddled us with spears, when she provided another vision—Lelas swam forward and paused within arm’s length in front of the queen.
No sensation accompanied the scene, but the directive was clear.
Pausing only an instant, Lelas flicked her tail and started to move toward the queen.
Before she’d made it out of reach, Nalu grasped her wrist, stopping her progression. At his movement, every spear rose once more behind the queen.
This time she didn’t motion them back into place.
Lelas turned her head to look at her mate. Enough time passed that it was clear they were speaking, but it was not shared with anyone else.
With an expression that made it seem like he was ripping his heart from his chest, Nalu let go of Lelas’s wrist. Their fingers entwined briefly, the tips of their fingers the last to touch as she began to close the distance toward the queen.
Watching the pain and fear flicker across Nalu’s face made any remaining barriers to my acceptance of him crumble.
When I turned my attention back to Lelas, she was nearing the queen. The contrast between them was nearly laughable, if it hadn’t been so terrifying.
Next to the queen’s muscular girth, Lelas looked like a fragile seahorse swimming toward a ravenous shark, the small thing only hoping it would be considered too insignificant to bother with.
My irrational fear over Lelas since leaving the Scarus hadn’t been misplaced at all. It was Lelas approaching the Volitan queen. All by herself. Not that Lelas was really in any more danger than the rest of us, but having her so close to the queen made it nearly impossible for me to control my fire. My logical side told me that, if anything, she was safer by the queen. No way would the Volitans risk accidental harm to their queen.
When Lelas stopped in the location she’d seen in the queen’s vision, the spears in the background returned to their resting positions, save the two pointed at Dad and Wrell.
Being wiser and more patient than I would have been, Lelas simply waited, allowing the queen to set the pace.
At long last, I saw the vision she offered to Lelas—the five of us small and silhouetted in a vast, empty ocean.
Lelas’s tone was just as I expected it to be, steady, clear, and even. “We are seeking answers to tragedies that have struck our family. Already we have found that other tribes are also being afflicted.”
She paused. Though I wasn’t sure if it was due to giving the queen time to respond or if she’d noticed the shift in the wall of warriors in the distance. About half of them swam or drifted down to be on the same level as the queen and the five of us. As they did, they moved forward, gradually taking spots across the meadow behind the queen.
Though their number was cut in half, the wall remained at the same height and breath. Their fins flared to such an extent, it almost appeared as if none had moved.
A sense of impatience wafted through me, and it took a heartbeat to realize the feeling had been endued by the queen.
Perfect. Bring down half your army and then get irritated when your visitors aren’t sure what to do. Bitch.
Lelas continued, amazing me at her control and tenacity. “May I make an inquiry…?” She stumbled for a moment, and I realized we didn’t know the queen’s name. “If it would not offend the queen.”
Another flash of impatience.
And I thought Syleen had been bad.
“Has the Volitan tribe suffered any losses? Have any of your number been taken? By vampires, perchance?”
The queen bristled at Lelas’s words. Her spines flared even more, and her fins trembled, in anger or surprise, I couldn’t tell.
I saw the wall of Volitans fully intact once more, their strength accentuated in the vision. Pure offense enveloped the scene.
Anger, definitely anger.
Every Volitan’s spears rose in unison at their queen’s display.
“I meant no offense.” Lelas made no motion, and though her voice didn’t quaver, a hesitation underscored it that hadn’t been there previously. “We have lost those we love to capture. We have also learned the Scarus believe vampires have taken some of their family as well.”
For a second, I thought Lelas was going to launch into the story Akamaii had told us about the deal the mers had made ages ago with the vampires. She didn’t.
The queen continue
d to posture, staring daggers at Lelas.
To her credit, though, Lelas didn’t continue to speak, but did nothing more than tilt her head down in a show of respect.
To my left, I saw Nalu start forward. Much as Nalu had done to Lelas, Wrell grabbed his arm and held him in place.
A number of the raised spears pointed in our direction.
The tension was so strong that I expected my fists to begin boiling the water around me. Hell, I almost expected it from everyone. Somehow, I managed to keep my body in check—probably the knowledge that one misstep and I’d watch my best friend die in front of my eyes.
I hadn’t thought there could be anything worse than knowing what had happened to Sonia when she died, but seeing this happen would prove me wrong. All because the bitch queen was insulted we thought a vampire could best her. Having been on the receiving end of what vampires have to offer, my money wouldn’t have been on the queen.
Therin’s words were so quiet it was almost as if I was making them up in my own mind. “Truly, Queen of the Volitan. We mean no slight to you or your tribe. We only seek knowledge and anything that may help return our people to safety.”
After another tremulous eternity in silence, I saw us—Lelas, Nalu, Therin, and I—swimming away from the kelp forest. Wrell was nowhere to be seen.
At the vision, Lelas’s head jerked up. Even from my limited view of her face, I could make out the incredulous expression she gave the queen. “None of us came here to offend the Volitan. Least of all Wrell.”
The queen repeated the vision and shoved the sense of finality over us.
Beside me, Therin moved as if to gesture toward the queen, but Wrell cut him off with an image of us swimming away, him floating beside the queen.
The queen shoved another vision over his, replaying the departure of Wrell’s last interaction with the Volitan. Though there were no words, it was clear she was referring to her proclamation that he never return. There were consequences to be paid.