Sea Dweller (Birthstone Series) (24 page)

 “The picture on the door moved,”
Sai said.

“What?” I glanced at him, my
hands still on the rock. Was he hallucinating?

“One of them,” Sai whispered.
He reached up, putting his hands over mine, and purposely turned the rock a
little more. This time, I saw it. Several sections of the door, sections that
had appeared to be solid, had shifted.

“Keep turning it!” I said,
but I didn’t need to ask. Sai’s warm hands remained over mine, pushing at the
rock, twisting the images on the door with every turn.

 The section containing an
image of a winged man rotated around two other moving pieces, like a puzzle
coming to life. An image of a mountain moved. Then a carving of what looked
like a sun. Piece by piece, with every turn of the key, the door shifted until
the key stopped turning. The water was still though the air around us seemed to
tremble slightly.

I dropped my hands and backed
up to better view the door. Only then did it make sense.

“It’s a tree,” I said. “My
lineage.”

Each piece of the door had
come together to form a swirling tree. Twenty branches sprang from its trunk,
curling in every direction, made from the original images. I touched along the
curves and twists of the tree in awe and ran my fingers up to the top of the
trunk from where the branches began and trailed downward. It was there I
noticed a new indentation in the shape of a hand centered in the middle of the
trunk.

“There’s something written on
it,” Sai said, noticing my fingers pause.

I leaned down and tried to
decipher the words in the dim light.

“Only the blood heir will
enter,” I read.

Sai smiled at me, sincerely
this time, his eyes dancing with the light of our Sea Gems.

“No matter what, don’t come
in after me,” I told him, reaching for my sword.

“I can’t promise that.” Sai
pulled out his spear and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “But I’ll
keep watch outside in the meantime.”

Nodding, I squeezed his
fingers, needing one more moment of human contact before I faced whatever was
beyond the door.

Facing forward, I lifted my
hand to place it into the imprint. I hesitated only a moment but it was enough.
I was a mere inch away when a surge of water slammed me against the door. Sai
crashed into the wall next to me and a splash in the dark tunnel we’d come
through confirmed my worst fears.

We were no longer alone.

Chapter 19

“Don’t move,” he said with a
voice as rough as gravel on blistered toes.

“It’s too late,” Sai said,
glaring into the shadows. I hoped our intruder couldn’t hear the slight tremor
in his voice. “Only Aylen is allowed to enter. You don’t have the bloodlines.”

“And what’s going to happen
if I pass through that door?” the man asked, laughing. He mimicked Sai’s last
sentence and swam forward, the shadows melting away from his face and revealing
his features.

His hair just touched his
shoulders in light brown, dripping locks. His eyes were dark and his face had
the appearance of having been unshaven for days, but even in the dim light, I
could see a different pallor in his skin. Sea dweller skin. And it was then
that I noticed he was holding on to something. Or someone.

“Faema?” Sai said, shock
registering in his voice. The top of a golden blond head bobbed up out of the
water and the man laughed as a small figure thrashed in his large arms.

“I couldn’t very well bring your
mother, could I, Aylen? She wouldn’t do as I say. But your little friend here.
. .” He chuckled again. “She’ll do anything to spare her neck. Smart people,
these Vairdans.”

“What can Faema possibly do
for you?” Sai asked between clenched teeth.

“She’s going to let me know
what’s behind that door.” He shook Faema as he said it and she whimpered. “But
if anything happens to this one, you can go in and make sure it’s safe for me.”
He swam forward, hanging on to the back of Faema’s neck with one meaty hand
while wielding a knife in the other.

As he pressed closer, I
fought down a swell of panic threatening to consume me and forced a snide
laugh. “You’re all they sent?” I asked. “There’s three against one here. What’s
to keep me from pressing my hand to that door and going in right now?”

He held the knife against
Faema’s throat. Her eyes grew wide and she stopped resisting. “You, wouldn’t
want to witness the death of your little friend, would you? And I don’t think
you know what a Warrior Gem can do. I have a distant bloodline to you sea
freaks, but I’m a direct descendant of the Warrior Gem discoverer. I keep one
on me at all times. You have no hope of overwhelming me with your little pink
stone and mommy’s old sword.”

I glanced at my mother’s
sword in my hand and wondered how he knew where it had come from. “What you’re
really saying is that they only had one sea dweller traitor who could follow us
down here. So they had to settle for you.” I smirked at him, hoping he couldn’t
see my fear. I needed to buy myself more time. I hoped my sarcasm could do
that.

“You apparently like
torturing your friends,” he said, pressing the knife into the sea skin covering
Faema’s body. It split slightly against the sharp blade, exposing her bare
throat.

“‘Friend’ is a relative
term,” I began, still suspicious of how Faema had become involved. Sai cast me
a warning glance. Faema always managed to bring out the worst in me.

The man sighed. “Seeing as
we’ve been waiting for you to lead us to the necklace for a while, time is getting
short. The king is impatient to meet his granddaughter and to have his new
stones, and I want to get back to the mainland and away from this lousy little
island. So, let’s just throw this one behind the door and see what happens.” He
shook Faema once more and pushed her ahead of him, pointing the knife at her
back. A Sea Gem glowed from her palm but otherwise, her hands were empty.

“Open the door, Aylen,” he
said, waving his knife in my direction.

“We don’t know what’s behind
there. I’m the only one supposed to enter. Whatever is behind that door could
hurt her,” I protested.

“You’re not going anywhere
near the necklace and if your little friend doesn’t go in first, I’ll make sure
she dies out here. Wouldn’t you rather she took her chances behind that door?”
He shoved her, hard. Water splashed in my face as she fell forward. I seized
the moment to tighten my grip on my sword and dive underwater. With every
fragment of nerve and strength I could summon, I used the door to push off and
lunged myself toward the man. The Sea Gem offered me speed, but it wasn’t
enough. From somewhere above, a green glow lit the tunnel and I knew I would
instantly be outmatched. With his Warrior Gem, the mainlander was stronger.

He dove under water to meet
my attack, deflecting my sword with a quick twist of his knife. I watched,
helpless as it flew from my grip and sunk beneath my reach. Grabbing my arm, he
twisted it behind my back and pinned me to his body. I could hardly struggle
against his painful grip. Once more, he rose to the surface, laughing.

“Stupid. Just like your
mother. That’s the last time I get taken advantage of for being nice.” He
looked at Sai and grinned. “She’s gutsier than you. Don’t worry, though. I
probably won’t do too much damage to her. Her relatives on the mainland want
her intact. Somewhat.”

Sai remained silent, visibly
shaking with wrath. He began to shift and I knew he was preparing to attack,
but meeting his eyes, I managed a small shake of my head. He paused, his
forehead wrinkling.
Wait
, I thought at him, praying he would understand.
Beside him, Faema cowered and he turned his attention to her. She gripped his
arm for support and for once, I didn’t blame her.

“Stand aside sea people, or
princess gets hurt.” The mainlander shoved his way forward, snickering when
Faema squealed and threw herself further against Sai trying to get as far away
from her captor as possible. I remained motionless, one of his foul smelling
arms still around my neck.

“Open the door,” he
commanded, pointing to the indentation on the door with the tip of his knife.

“I can’t. You’re choking me,”
I said, coughing on the tightened grip around my neck.

He snarled, bringing me
closer to the door. “I’ll make it easy for you. Press your hand on the door or
I’ll cut it off and press it there for you.”

I closed my eyes and brought
my right hand forward, the fingers on my other hand clawing uselessly at the
thick arm twisting around my neck. I didn’t see Sai slowly reach for the spear
strapped to his back but I felt the mainlander’s arm tighten again as he
whipped around to face my friend.

“Don’t even think about it,
island boy. Her grandfather wants the necklace more than he wants her alive.
You try anything and she’ll be the first to die.”

I gagged, fighting for air
and the mainlander loosened his hold slightly. “Now open the door!” he yelled,
his voice bouncing off the walls of the tunnel and reverberating in my ears.
Sai stood frozen, unsure of what to do. I cast him a pleading look, once more
trying to give him the message to be still. I could only hope that once the
door was opened, there would be a means of escape.

When he twisted me around to
face the door again, I didn’t hesitate this time. I thrust my hand forward and
pressed it to the indentation. A sharp pinprick pierced through my sea skin and
into my hand and I felt a trickle of blood escape my palm. It trailed down the
door and immediately, the wall began to move.

The sound of solid earth
falling and grinding together filled the tunnel as the door slid to the side,
disappearing into the mountain wall. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it
finally opened, but I wasn’t prepared for what lay before me.

Beyond the door was a vast
cavern hollowed from the inside of the mountain we were beneath. Much like the
outside of the mountain, the closest walls rose to a peak high above our heads,
glittering with jewels arranged in intricate patterns, reaching from the bottom
of the room to the top. The inside tip of the mountain opened up just enough to
reveal silvery rays of moonlight through a canopy of trees stretching over the
highest point from outside the peak. When the door had opened, water had gushed
into the room, forming a river. Now the flow had abated, leaving a canal around
a small island inside the chamber. Beyond the island and deeper into the
recesses of the chamber, the flow of water led to a large, black pool. The
depths of the chamber extended far beyond my vision and the inner walls of the
mountain left much of the chamber in black shadows. The dark corners contrasted
sharply with the twinkling light just beyond the door. I couldn’t help but
wonder what lurked inside.

“Go,” the mainlander growled,
pointing his blade in Faema’s direction. She shook her head, eyes wide with
terror.

“Now!” he yelled again,
charging toward her while dragging me with him. Faema closed her eyes and
nodded.

“O-okay,” she stammered.

With timid steps, she sloshed
beyond the door and waded sloppily toward the little hill of dry land. Shaking,
she crawled up and stood. Several second passed as she hugged her body and
quivered, unsure of what to do next. Finally, she turned around to face my
captor and called out, “Where should I go?”

I glimpsed movement in black
pool beyond the hill at the same time the mainlander did. I heard his breath
catch in his throat and the arm holding the knife relaxed slightly. It was Sai
who warned Faema first.

 “Look out!” he screamed.

Faema whirled around, but by
then, a monstrous green head had already risen out of the water, followed by a
slithering, scaly neck. It stretched upward for what seemed like miles and
Faema’s cries intensified the higher it rose. She stumbled backwards, trying to
move further away from the creature and landed on her back. Rolling over onto
her stomach, she covered her head, as if not seeing would make the beast
disappear.

“Faema, run!” I yelled as
loudly as I was able in spite of the large, meaty arm around my throat. I
coughed on the last word when the mainlander flexed, restricting my air again.

The monster continued to rise
out of the water, impossibly tall. I gaped at its glistening skin, covered in
razor sharp scales that bristled into long spikes down its spine. Its narrow
snout came to a point beneath red glittering eyes and around its skull was a
half-moon of four horns, curved to face forward. As the monster rose higher out
of the water, it revealed giant, leathery fins barbed with points. An angry,
jagged tail swished out of the water and crashed down again, sending streams
shooting in all direction.

“A sea serpent,” Sai said in
awe.

 I thought back to the image
on the door and lamely realized it should have been a warning. We had dismissed
it as only a legend. I stared in horror, unable to do anything other than
watch, but Sai sprang into action. He pushed past the mainlander and screamed
for Faema to move away.

“Well, good. Now
I
don’t have to kill him,” my captor sneered. I kicked at him with my bare feet,
but I knew I was no more than a sand flea on a sea lion.

Once on the little island,
Sai positioned himself so he was in front of Faema. He stood firm, spear in one
hand, knife in the other. I watched, fearful, as he looked up at the armored
creature, hovering mountains above him.

The sea serpent’s red tongue
flicked out from its lips twice, tasting the air. Its ruby eyes never left Sai
as the beast bobbed its head around, examining the intruders in its lair. Then,
as quickly as it had come up from the water, it reared up, threw its head back,
and hissed deeply from its throat.

Sai crouched down, preparing
to use his spear the moment the serpent struck at him. Faema took that instant
to crawl, on hands and knees, as far from the creature as she could get.

I felt the mainlander’s grip
slacken slightly as he watched, captivated by the battle about to begin beyond
the door. It gave me hope. I wondered if it would it be possible to slide under
his arm if he loosened his grip just a little bit.

I tried to relax, hoping to
send the signal that I was no longer a flight risk, and I forced myself to
remove my hands from the arm holding me tightly. As I shifted my fingers, I
remembered my Sea Gem, still embedded in my palm. My sea skin still encompassed
my body. If I removed it, would it give me enough space to slide out from under
his grasp?

As the serpent lunged at Sai
in the cavern, snapping its jaws and hissing in fury, the mainlander laughed.
Sai jumped clear just in time, but it was the distraction I needed. My captor
allowed his arm to slip a touch more.

Deftly, I released myself
from the Sea Gem and the extra layer of skin dissolved from my body. At that
moment, the serpent lunged for Sai again, captivating the mainlander’s
attention. Seizing the opportunity, I pushed up on his arm and slipped my head
out of his choke hold. The force sent me shooting underwater and I kicked at
his legs and hands as he reached down to grab for me. He would have caught me
if his movement hadn’t attracted the serpent’s eye.  She hissed once more,
furious at the second group of intruders near her lair and sent her tail
crashing into the water. A wild torrent of waves separated me further from the
mainlander. For a moment, I was exultant until I realized I was out of control.
Underwater, I flipped and twisted, the current pulling me deeper into the
tunnel and further from the chamber.  My lungs burned, reminding me I needed
air.

My Sea Gem! I closed my
fingers around it out of habit before I realized it was gone. I had lost it! I
forced myself to swallow down the panic threatening to consume me.