Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) (16 page)

The cool part was seeing a few hundred of them erupt from his mouth when he did vomit. A few onlookers applauded.

We were travelling southwards again. After the hammerhead attack, the commander decided we would continue as planned, but take an alternate path in case the Atlantic army was waiting to ambush us along the main current.

Unfortunately, the path was inside a canyon—a barren world with little daylight. I relied on vibrations to guide me, feeling the steady current of the surrounding army, the occasional fish—transparent and creepy at this depth—but little else. No mammal in its right mind travelled this low. Breaching happened in regimented shifts, and we had to hold our breaths for longer than was comfortable.

Other than not being attacked, the only good thing about the canyon was its cooler climate.

Onlookers abruptly stopped clapping as Officer Strymon drifted over. Spio and I fell silent, as though the swarm of copepods we’d left behind was nothing unusual.

He lingered beside us, darkness masking him from view.

“Those of you I have indicated are free to breach,” he said.

The group behind us broke towards the surface. Strymon began to move on.

“What about us?” I said.

It had been nearly a quarter-tide. With the depth adding pressure to my lungs, I desperately needed air.

“You have just gone for breath, darling. His Majesty’s army is no place for greed.”

“We haven’t!”

He ignored me, turning away.

“You can’t skip us,” I said.

His smug aura challenged me to watch him do just that.

“Officer,” said Spio. “If two of your soldiers black out in the middle of a canyon—”

“Silence!”

Ripples told me Strymon had dropped a hand to his longblade.

I clenched my fists, wanting to argue but knowing that would be stupid. After a moment, Strymon continued along the line.

The blackness seemed to thicken around us.

“Spio,” I whispered, panicked. “I need air.”

We would get in trouble for breaching out of order. Was that Strymon’s plan? It was either that or pass out and get carried to the surface.

“Hey,” whispered the merman in front of us.

He held something out—plant-based, flat, the size of my palm.

“Kelp buoys,” he whispered. “I brought a couple in case of emergencies. It’ll make your head spin like an otter, but there’s enough oxygen to get you by a little longer.”

I said nothing, feeling him out. He seemed genuine. He waited for one of us to take the buoy.

“You are a noble and wise specimen,” said Spio, accepting the offer.

The merman reached into his bag for a second.

I hesitated to take it. I’d never heard of inhaling kelp buoys. Was he trying to dupe us? Poison us?

“What’s your name?” said Spio.

“Anthias.”

“Spio. Pleased to meet ya. This is Lysi. She doesn’t get out much.”

I stuck out my tongue and took the kelp buoy from Anthias’ outstretched hand.

“There’s no air in here,” I said, turning it over.

“It’s compressed because we’re so deep,” said Anthias. “You need to suck on it. Trust me, it works.”

I heard Spio inhale from his. “This tastes like a fart.”

A short while later, we passed over a shipwreck. It was invisible to the eye and ear, but noticeable in the impurity bleeding from it like a carcass. The presence of that much iron grated my skin and stung my scar like a fresh burn.

As usual, I let the pain remind me why I hated Adaro.

His fault,
I thought.
His fault we’re at war. His fault humans think we’re monsters. His fault I’m not with Meela right now.

I’d wanted an update from Spio on the treason plan. But the chance for that wouldn’t come on a trip like this. The further we travelled, the more convinced I became that this was my way home. How soon after the plan was executed would I be able to take off to Eriana Kwai?

My eyelids fluttered. My muscles had become distinctly sluggish since inhaling the buoy.

“Ssspio,” I said, my tongue not responding. “I need … mph …”

He mumbled something I couldn’t understand.

“Guys,” said someone in front of us.

I grinned. It was that nice merman. What was his name?

“We’re surfacing,” he said. “Think you can make it?”

I nodded. Or, I thought I did.

“Guys?”

“Lysi,” said Spio. “I can’t … I can’t see.”

I blinked, realising I couldn’t see, either.

“None of us can,” said the nice merman. “We’re in a canyon.”

Surfacing was a long, slow process. We had to do it in stages to give our bodies time to decompress. My eyes stung as they adjusted to the sunlight.

I didn’t remember breaking the surface, but I found myself coughing and rubbing water from my eyes. I slowed my breathing, letting sense trickle back into my brain.

The sun dipped low on the horizon. A lost timber raft floated in the high swells, overgrown with barnacles and teeming with life. Colourful fish plucked at the weeds, while the edible ones darted away once they realised they were under attack. Already, the mermen around me were feeding, digging fish out of hiding places and tearing edible weeds off in chunks.

Spio leaned close and said in an undertone, “Meet in the turtle’s lair when dusk reaches the apex.”

I stared at him.

“The floating piece of junk way over there. Sunset.”

“Got it.”

He dove. I drifted to the raft, too exhausted to eat.

Finally, I would get to hear about this plan. My insides churned as I wondered about the other guys involved. Would they trust me? Would I have to prove how much I hated Adaro?

I pulled myself onto the logs and rolled onto my back. I let the tropical air bathe me, for once comfortable in the heat. I thought I might catch a few moments of blissful rest before meeting Spio.

Eyes closed, I sunk into the raft, the weight of my body pulling me down, ready to sleep for days …

“Hey,” said a voice.

I opened my eyes.

An unfamiliar merman floated next to me, arms locked over the logs. His face was close enough that I felt his breath. I leaned back.

His wavy black hair fell across his defined face, hiding one eye in a strategically mysterious way.

“Yes?” I said. I couldn’t stop my voice from sounding unenthused.

“I wanted to introduce myself,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. “I’m Axius.”

“Um, hi. I’m—”

“Lysi, I know. You’re the glimmer of beauty in this male-infested place.”

I stared. He readjusted his arms in an awkward way that made me wonder if his biceps were flexing that much on purpose.

“Being here alone can be tough,” he said. “A lot of guys have at least one brother with them. I’ve got all sisters. Five of them. They’re all in reserve for the Battle for Eriana Kwai.”

I nodded. This guy projected so much confidence that I had the urge to swat it away, like a fly buzzing in my face.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “A lot of girls ask me how I managed being the only male. Sure, it was tough, but the experience has given me a deep understanding of femininity. Are your siblings still in training, Lysi?”

“Er, no. My brother’s fighting in the Battle for India.”

He waited.

“That’s it,” I said.

His eyes widened. “Sorry, I didn’t—”

“My parents haven’t died. They just didn’t want more kids.”

“Oh.”

I’d grown used to it. Families rarely had only two children. Spio was the oldest of twelve. My parents said they’d stopped after me because they felt complete after my brother and I were born. As I grew older, I came to suspect they just didn’t want to bring more children into Adaro’s kingdom.

“Puts you in a good place for inheritance, right?” said Axius. “Only two of you. Mind you, my mother’s one of the wealthiest mermaids in Utopia, so even with five sisters I still get my fair share. With my career plans, someday I’ll own the estate.”

He flashed me his fangs. I couldn’t bring myself to smile back. What did he want me to say? Congratulations? Marry me?

“If you need someone to talk to, Lysi—”

“Give it a rest, Ax,” someone shouted from the other end of the timber raft.

A few heads turned. A merman with a ponytail was grinning at us, pointed teeth glinting in the sunlight.

“What?” said Axius.

“You’re wasting your time,” said ponytail. “It’s obvious she’s taken.”

Axius took sudden interest in catching a fish beside him. It was tiny, bright orange with white stripes. Too colourful to be worth eating.

“Are you?” he said.

“I—well, I’m—”

I snatched a sardine from the water and downed it without chewing. I considered whether it’d be in my best interest if all the guys assumed I had a huge, vicious boyfriend who could beat them into blobs of algae.

“Is it that dorky guy?” said Axius.

“Who?”

Next to us, a tangle of seaweed popped out of the water.

Not seaweed—Spio’s head.

“Don’t try and swim under the raft,” he said, plucking weeds from his hair. “I lost my hat to a bladderwrack.”

He saw my expression, then spotted Axius.

“What’s up, Ax?”

Axius looked back and forth between us.

Spio must have sensed the awkwardness, because he pulled himself up next to me and threw an arm across my shoulders.

“This guy bothering you, sugarkelp?”

“No!” said Axius. “I was just introducing myself.”

“I hope that was all,” said Spio casually, “because I’d hate to have to fight you.”

I turned my head into Spio’s shoulder to stifle a laugh.

Axius cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, Lysi. If you need a friend …”

“Thanks,” I said. “Nice meeting you.”

“I’ll let you get to it, then.” He slapped the raft like we’d just come to an agreement, then submerged.

Following a moment of palpable silence, Spio removed his arm from my shoulder.

“Back in a bit. I gotta get my hat back before the fish turn it into a vacation home.”

He disappeared with a slop of water against the raft, leaving me alone. The grin slipped off my face.

Across the raft, ponytail still stared. I turned my back to him and his friends, lying down.

The pink hues of the setting sun might have been beautiful, if I didn’t know that the world beneath was so vacant. The view in every direction was nothing but sky and ocean. Not even a shadow of land rose in the distance.

The emptiness seeped into my mood. I closed my eyes, thinking of home. When I opened them again, the sun had long set.

I sat up with a start. For a moment, the rising and falling of the raft made me think I was back in the Battle for Eriana Kwai, hiding behind the helm of Meela’s ship.

Then I felt the presence of an army of mermen around me.

Then I remembered Spio telling me to meet him.

I cursed, wondering why he hadn’t come to get me.

“Relax. You haven’t missed anything,” said Spio.

His face appeared in front of mine. He was wearing his leather cap again.

“Mph.” I rubbed away the clump of weeds stuck to my cheek. “How’d it get dark so fast?”

He slipped off the raft and submerged. I followed.

“We’re in the tropics,” he said. “Twilight is ultra short near the equator. Didn’t you learn anything in school?”

“I learned how to deliver a perfect sideswipe. Want me to demonstrate?”

He dove deeper. We swam downwards first so no one would feel where we were headed, then turned towards the floating junk. Glowing copepods, shrimp, sea slugs, and comb jellies had risen for the night, giving the illusion that we were gliding through the starry sky.

We travelled far enough away from the group that they wouldn’t hear us as long as we spoke quietly. The first to arrive, Spio and I investigated the junk raft. Weeds and slime covered so much of it that it took us a moment to ensure it was safe.

“I’m feeling nothing but rubber and plastic,” I said.

Without hesitating, Spio flung himself aboard. It rippled like a gelatinous blob, creaking as bits of litter scraped against each other.

Fish tickled my skin as they darted past me, having been ejected from their beds. I pulled myself up next to Spio.

“Ooh.” I wiggled deeper into the cushiony slime. “I might sleep here tonight.”

A merman poked out of the water beside us.

“What’s this? Secret meeting?” he said.

“No,” I said, at the same time as Spio said, “Yes.”

Spio turned to me. “He’s referring to our secret plan. Code
Murder
.”

I rubbed my hands down my face.

“And by
murder
,” said Spio, “I mean—”

“All right!”

He flashed a grin. “Lysi, this is Pontus. He’s in on it.”

“I’m more than
in on it
,” said Pontus. “I basically initiated this whole thing.”

Spio raised his hands. “Let’s not start giving credit. But if we were to, we all know this was my idea.”

The raft rippled as Pontus hoisted himself up.

A merman with a wispy brown beard and a scar blinding his left eye surfaced next.

“Ahoy!” he said.

“This one thinks he’s a pirate,” said Spio.

“Except I lost my eyepatch again,” said the merman.

I couldn’t tell if he was being serious.

“We call him Nobeard,” said Spio. “Because he doesn’t have enough scruff to earn him the name Blackbeard.”

The merman gave off some disgruntlement at this. I guessed he’d tried to avoid the nickname without success.

Then the hugest merman of all of them emerged, with arms the size of baby dolphins. I couldn’t understand why everyone greeted him as ‘Junior’, until he introduced himself as Pontus’ younger brother.

The next merman who surfaced brought me a small sense of relief.

Coho scanned the group, lingering on me. I gave him a small wave. He returned an uncertain nod. I dropped my hand, wishing I hadn’t bothered.

“Guys, meet our new member: Lysi,” said Pontus.

They all stared. I counted six of us gathered on the junk raft. Waves lapped against rubber and plastic, the only sound besides the low, indistinct murmur from the army.