Fire (The Mermaid Legacy - Book 2) (17 page)

“Because you are a child,” Azura answered in horror, “and we protect our children from such horrors, we don’t thrust them into it.”

“But what if I want to fight?” Conway persisted. “What if I want to kill Neith and anyone else who has hurt my family?”

The Oceanids seemed too shocked to react at first, Conway’s words sending horror crawling across their faces.

“Right.” Azura rose from the group. “That is enough, young ones, you will be coming with me,” she instructed firmly. “Alexandra, you will have to find a replacement for me as I will be looking after the asset we are so desperately trying to protect.”

I nodded. “Sure, Azura.” I wanted to add ‘good luck’ as I watched frustration swirl around several of the children. I understood that frustration more than they knew but I couldn’t help but agree with the pod on this one, the thought of having the children in the battle made my stomach churn in dread.

We practised the first formation with just the twelve of us before the larger groups were brought back. Their leaders spent some time explaining what needed to be done and demonstrating the type of speed we required.

Once everyone was in position again I began calling out words and watching in stunned amazement as the whole formation flowed almost perfectly down the sides of The Haven and into the arena.

The arena itself was an absolute mess though, the groups mingling with each other and losing the rigid structure that would enable us to move flexibly as a corporate whole.

“Now what?” I muttered to Dad as the Oceanids milled around us.

“Now we have a lot more training we need to get done, Alex. We will train them on how to access your talents but until the actual battle, we won’t be able to practise the use of those talents.”

“But how are we going to control it? How are we going to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing? It could all fall apart…” My stomach twisted in anxiety as Oceanid faces around me registered, each one weighing heavily on my mind as I thought of the danger I was leading them into.

“What did you think war was?” he asked simply. “It’s never perfectly choreographed, stuff happens and people react and hopefully the enemy is slower or less prepared than we are.”

How do I protect them?
I wondered, trying to picture a scenario where we won. I’d mentioned the idea of armour to the council the night before and had been assured by Azura that the Oceanids in charge of clothing everyone would be able to help me. As the pod muddled through varying moves I scanned the crowd looking for Azura again.

I found her conducting a story lesson with the children, some of whom were doing their utmost to watch the chaos in the arena rather than concentrate on Azura’s distraction.

She led me at once to an older Oceanid who was clearly struggling to follow Dad’s fluid movements.

“This is our tailor, Sini. He is in charge of clothing all of us.”

Sini looked terrified.

“We need something to protect the Oceanids,” I began, “something hard but flexible.”

He explained that they already had a type of protection if anything tried to bite or touch them.

“What about if a Mizrak is thrown at you?”

His complexion paled at the question as his eyes worriedly darted from me to Azura and back again.

“We have never had to think about this type of thing before,” Azura explained patiently.

“ I am aware of how different this must be for everybody,” I replied, smiling at Sini. “We must think differently though and Mizraks will most certainly be used.”

Sini argued with me that it was impossible to create a hard armour. “We would be as inflexible as…as crabs,” he told me. “It can’t be done, Alexandra, we will need to find another way of protecting the Oceanids.”

Even if my army used their talents, all it would take was a few well placed Mizraks and we would fall. If I could stop Neith from getting to that point, we just might have a chance at winning.

I left my unsuccessful conversation with Sini and drifted above the throng of Oceanids until I found Thanh, asking him to follow me outside of The Haven.

Mitra greeted me enthusiastically and Thanh warily.

It’s OK, I’ve asked him to come here
, I thought to her. She immediately backed away from him but still eyed Thanh suspiciously.

“How are you doing that?” he asked.

“What?”

“Getting her to move away from me without speaking to her.”

I shrugged. “I just think it and she seems to understand me.”

His eyes bulged at my answer and he stared at me in shock, his mouth hanging open comically for a few moments.

“What?” I demanded. “Isn’t that how you communicate with Allentia?”

He shook his head. “No, not at all, I have to verbally tell her everything. But the way you do it is how the ancients used to communicate with them – an art that has long been lost” His face took on a reverential expression. “Does she communicate with you the same way?”

“I think so, although it’s not a conscious thing, I sort of ‘hear’ her at the very back of my mind…does that make sense?”

He shook his head again, “It is a wonderful and formidable talent you possess, Alexandra, Defender of Men.”

“OK…” I tried to brush his awe aside. “Thanh, I want to use the Zmija in the attack on Neith.”

His eyes bulged again and I could see him warring with the new-found respect he had for me and his real opinion.

“Tell me what you think?”

“We don’t usually involve other species in our fights,” he replied, going pale.

“Why not?”

“The ocean is a dangerous place as it is and if we teach animals to attack Oceanids in a fight scenario, how are we going to un-teach that principle later?”

I nodded. “That makes sense, but the Zmija are intelligent aren’t they?”

He nodded. “Very intelligent, far more than we are even.”

“What other creatures in the ocean are as intelligent or more so than we are?”

He listed several whales, dolphins and even some sharks.

“Could you communicate with them sufficiently to co-ordinate an attack with them?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried…have you spoken to Aoi about this yet?”

“No,” I admitted, ‘but I will later on today. In the meantime please organise as many Zmija riders as you can to meet me here after dinner this evening.”

He looked uncertain.

“Thanh, do you think for one moment that Neith isn’t already doing this? I saw him kill a Mami-wata for not controlling the colossal squid that lives in the depths of Ferengren. Look,” I went on, trying again to placate him, “I just want to try something with the Zmija this evening. If it works, I’ll present the idea to the whole council. If not, I’ll scrap it completely.”

“I fear you are meddling with things you don’t fully understand, Alexandra, Defender of Men, and that is always a dangerous thing to do.”

I grinned at him. “What are rules if they’re not there to be broken?”

He shook his head. “Rules keep us safe, Alexandra.”

Our conversation was interrupted by Mitra as she sped around us encapsulating us in the circle of her coils, throwing her mane up and letting out a shriek of anger.

What is it?
I asked.

Stranger
, she replied, the word tinged in fear and fury.

Despite her angry protests I drifted up and out of the protective coils of Mitra’s body, an energy ball arcing between my palms as I prepared to meet our enemies.

To my surprise I found an array of Oceanids forming a wide semi-circle in the kelp.

The Oceanids directly in front of me were veiled in a shield of bubbles that obscured their appearance, allowing only glimpses of the shimmering colours and ornate ornamentation that covered them.

“Who are you?” I addressed them, forcing the nervous energy that seemed amplified by Mitra’s fear into focused analysis of everything around me as I mapped their every movement.

Their leader swam through the flurry of bubbles and up to where I hovered above them. Apart from the water we all swam in he had an additional and seemingly independent layer of liquid that surrounded him, accentuating his size and musculature.

“We are the water sprites that have heeded the call of The Haven. Who are you?”

I addressed all of them. “I am Alexandra, Defender of Men and the leader of the resistance against the abomination of Ferengren. Thank you for coming and welcome.”

It’s OK,Mitra, they are friends
.

She moved aside unwillingly, keeping her huge teeth-lined snout close to the entrance of The Haven, her angry golden eyes sliding intently over each Oceanid as they entered.

Each pod that moved into The Haven wore the markings of their environment and gave me an immediate idea of their strengths as I tried to slot them into our battle plan.

The pod following the water sprites were dishevelled and wild, and they spun through the entrance to The Haven with about twenty dolphins.

I glanced purposefully at Thanh, who simply nodded and followed them into The Haven. I was delighted to have more Mami-wata, hoping that as a collective whole we’d be a force to be reckoned with.

The next pod made my skin crawl. They were deep-sea Oceanids, creatures who found safety in the very darkest parts of the ocean. They were clearly uncomfortable in the light, shielding their eyes and cringing every time Mitra or one of the other Oceanids moved. That they had chosen to heed our call for help added a particular solemnity to the gathering, not least because their strange appearance reminded me of what lay in the depths of Ferengren.

The final pod to enter was of particular interest to me. They were ornamented in glittering gold and gems that sparkled on their bodies and in their hair. The clinked as they moved, coins having been woven into their clothing.

I questioned their leader, Tallulah, as she came forward and greeted me.“The coins aren’t too heavy underwater?” I asked.

She smiled. “You like our ornamentation? It is familiar to you?”

I smiled and nodded. “Where did you find this?”

“We live in the wreck gardens. There are many treasures there although these are among the more beautiful, useful and safe.”

“Safe?”

“Yes, as humans have matured, their ability to produce beautiful things has diminished. The wreck gardens are now planted with ugly metal creatures that rot in rusted red and hold nothing but death and danger.”

“Could you take me there?”

She looked surprised. “Yes, Alexandra, Defender of Men, but what could possibly be of use to you there?”

“I have some interest in the materials the humans have used in their ships.”

“I will take you there myself,” she replied, summoning several large Oceanids to accompany us while the rest of her pod entered The Haven. Tallulah and I had the best seats on Mitra, but I was astounded at the way the other Oceanids who had been called to go with us, clung to Mitra’s side fins as we wound our way through the kelp and out into the open ocean. Once in the blue, Mitra flew through the water until it turned a deep rich velvety navy.

Tallulah directed us into the deep water, and between massive spires of black rock.

Mitra whined as we wove beneath the skeletons of dozens of ships, huge gaping wounds in their bellies the obvious cause of their demise.

As we approached one of the wrecks Tallulah murmured, “Be very careful, Alexandra, there are things in this ship that seem harmless but are incredibly dangerous.”

The ship we’d approached was a relatively recent wreck with only a few ocean creatures having settled on it. A large dark gaping wound ran straight through the hull, the metal twisted violently inwards.

I shuddered as we entered the hull.

“Do you know what this ship was used for?” I asked her as she picked her way carefully over and around the jumble of the inside.

“This was a murder boat, mostly whales,” she replied “Those are what they used to kill them.”

She pointed at a series of massive harpoons, their blades still razor-sharp.

I broke away from Tallulah and swam over to examine them. I didn’t think the Oceanids would like it at all but if we could use the harpoons as well as Mizraks it increased our odds ever so slightly. I doubted Neith would have thought of using human weapons.

“Could we take these back to The Haven? I want to show them to Aoi.”

She looked uncertain but arranged for the men who were travelling with us to tie them to Mitra.

I spent a little longer exploring the ship, finding a sonar locator and several underwater bows, all with evilly sharp spears.

“Are there other boats like this?” I asked her when my plunder had been taken back to a rather irritated Mitra.

“Yes, several,” she replied. “What do you want to use these evil weapons for? We have our own way of gathering food.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry, Tallulah, I’m not planning to go hunting any time soon. Can we take a look at the cloth makers now?”

I didn’t want to reveal my plan to her, not yet anyway. I needed to test whether it would work first and I wanted to test it in private too.

Tallulah swam quickly into a nearby wreck, inviting me to join her. Within its hull large sacks of coins were piled haphazardly in a corner.

“These can be pretty if you weave them carefully, but they are for the most part dull and uninteresting.”

“Could you weave them into overlapping rows?”

“Yes of course, although too many of them make for heavy swimming.”

“Is your whole pod at The Haven?”

“No, only those willing to fight. We have had a run-in with Neith in recent times and have lost several families to him. Some voluntarily. I only took those who feel strongly against him with me to The Haven.”

“Are there any cloth makers left here?”

She nodded, leading me through a maze of tunnels too narrow for Mitra to follow. She whined uneasily, warning me of danger.

In an old metal tanker with a deep gash running down one side and a moving garden of brilliantly coloured anemones, a series of women were happily chattering to each other as they sat nestled into a massive mound of coins. Each woman took long wavering threads and worked them deftly together, integrating the coins into various patterns and threading jewels, pearls and other man-made bric-a-brac into the design as they worked.