The Serpent's Ring (Relics of Mysticus) (24 page)

“You have never surfed properly, unless you have made friends with the waves,” she said, staring at the calm sea.

“Do you like to surf?”

“Why do you look so surprised?” Lazonia asked. “Do you want for me to show you how mermaids surf? We have some time. The others are still chatting inside.”

Evan nodded his head yes, kicked off his flip-flops, and dashed into the calm ocean. Water circled his ankles, and it felt like a lukewarm bath.

“A little anxious, are we?” shouted Lazonia, still standing on shore. “I need to call Himinglaeva. We won’t be able to surf without her and her sister Hefring. They will make the water rise into a wave.”

Careful not to touch the water, Lazonia cupped her hands around her face. A soft breeze came from her open mouth and skimmed over the surface. It rushed past Evan and arched down into the sea.

“What was that?” said Evan, still staring at the place where the wake ended.

“I just placed a call, of course.”

Before Evan could blink, Lazonia leapt head first through the air. She sliced through the water, and with a flick of her tail, she was gone.

“Hey, where did you go?” hollered Evan, spinning around and around. He was facing the shore, when something from behind erupted with a loud rush. He turned quickly and saw, from the still water, a great wave arose. And there was Lazonia, skimming along with it. Her tail barely visible, as her upper body shot through the wave’s barrel.

“Are you ready?” came a whisper. Evan looked around, but didn’t see anyone.

Suddenly, water rose up around his waist. With a mighty splash, Himinglaeva appeared, giggling.

“Whoa, you startled me,” said Evan, grasping at his racing heart.

“Sorry, I could not help myself,” laughed Himinglaeva. “Would you like to surf?”

“I’d love to, but I don’t exactly know how.”

“I will be there to give you a little nudge when it is time to stand.”

“But, I don’t have a surfboard.”

“You can body surf.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“Now, swim to just over there,” she said and disappeared.

He swam out and waited and waited.

“What am I supposed to do, now?” he asked, but the wave had vanished.

“Evan, what are you doing out there?” yelled Claire, approaching with Sigurd.

“I’m about to catch a wave,” grunted Evan, trying not to look ridiculous.

“There aren’t any waves. And you don’t have a surfboard,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll take your word for it. Here,” she said and created a surfboard out of some driftwood. She slid it toward Evan, who directed it his way.

“Thanks!” he said after catching it. “Can you make one like this for me at home?”

Evan heard some gurgling, and then the water near him rose up ten feet high. It didn’t roll forward. It just continued to rush upward, forming into an ideal wave.

Lazonia appeared off to his side. “Lie down on the board and paddle!”

Water surged forward with his body, lifting him. He felt an extra nudge into the back of his legs. He popped up; his feet were steady on the board. “Water hands” held him in place, helping him gain balance. He positioned his feet like he had seen surfers do on TV and stuck out his arms. The wave traveled toward the shore, and when it was still a little ways out, it stopped going forward. Evan was surfing the endless wave.

“Don’t think. Allow your body to relax,” instructed Lazonia, appearing beside him, moving along the crest.

Evan let go, released his thoughts, and coasted along the pipeline.

“Looking good!” yelled Claire.

“This is epic!” shouted Evan.

“Evan, let’s see if you can do this,” Lazonia hollered from the other side of the tube. She skimmed along, rushing to the wave’s lip. She took off into the air, using the wave as a ramp.

“Sure, you can do that because you have a tail, and you’re body surfing. It’s different on a board,” declared Evan, safely maneuvering along, traveling up and down.

“You have to try it,” said Lazonia. “Himinglaeva, rush him up the wave!”

“No, no, that’s all right … Whoa!” And he was swept up the arc and shot into air.

Exhilarating, thrilling, breathtaking! He didn’t want to come back down. So, he didn’t. He held himself up above the wave, controlling the board with his mental powers. He twisted and flipped, barely even touching the crest.

“Now, you’re just showing off,” Lazonia teased and splashed water at him.

He laughed and stumbled a bit, but he didn’t crash down; the wave cradled him as he fell. Slowly, the water became flat and calm. Two wave-girls emerged from sea foam: Himinglaeva and her sister, Hefring.

“Thanks. That was insane,” said Evan.

“No problem. May I keep the board?” Himinglaeva asked, and Evan slid the board over to her. “Thank you, Evan. I am going to try this. It looked like a lot of fun.”

“An experience I’ll never forget,” Evan said and trudged for the beach.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

FLY AWAY HOME

“I HAVE TO ADMIT, YOU have skills, little bro,” said Claire, as Evan reached the shore.

“Who knew, right? I don’t suppose you have a towel handy?” Evan asked, shaking water from his hair.

“No, sorry,” shrugged Claire.

“Ah, it’s alright. I’ll air dry.”

Dunkle and Barfel bounded along, kicking up the sand. They were followed by Aegir and Ran, and behind them came a long trail of people.

“Is
everyone
coming to see us off?” Evan whispered to Claire.

“I’m pretty sure they are,” she replied.

It didn’t take long for the large group to congregate. Evan tried to calculate just how many had arrived. He was tired of all the attention and had hoped for a quiet send off. But that apparently wasn’t going to happen.

“Sigurd, I have a surprise for you. A gift from Evan and me,” announced Claire. Sheepishly, she glanced over at Evan, who smiled. She led Sigurd closer to the shoreline and pointed toward the horizon. “Sigurd, watch over there. Evan, are you ready?”

Evan nodded and focused. A large area of water rumbled, and a warm glow materialized from below. A golden fin broke the surface. Eventually, the entire gilded whale-pod emerged. Claire stepped forward and gracefully waved her arms. As Evan held the gilded whale up in the air, Claire transfigured it into a giant sphere, rapidly spinning on its axis. With apparent ease, she stretched out the ball, forming it into a great Viking ship. As Evan carefully returned the gilded boat to water, it continued to spin around.

“It might not be enchanted, but it’s made from real gold. Do you think you can track dragons in it?” Claire asked.

“Are you offering me the use of this vessel?” questioned Sigurd.

“Yes, it’s yours. Evan and I can’t exactly take home a ship made from gold; too many questions would be asked,” she said casually.

Sigurd lifted Claire and spun her around, her feet swinging in air. She giggled like a lovesick puppy, and Evan rolled his eyes. Eventually, Sigurd set her down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Thank you. I believe it will serve me well,” Sigurd said and turned to Evan. “And thank you, Evan. I wondered how I was going to be able to sail the seas without a ship.”

“No problem,” said Evan. “I guess since we left our glass ship back on the island of giants, we had better make something else for us to travel home in. Come to think of it, should we go back for our ship?”

“Please, allow me to take care of it for you,” offered Sigurd.

“What will you do with it?” Claire asked.

“I will offer it to the giants, to bargain for peace and safe passage onto their island. You would not believe how difficult it is to trap dragons while also being hunted by giants.”

“I’m glad it’ll help you,” said Claire, staring at the sand. She then lifted her arms. “Okay, I better make another glass ship.”

“Wait, wait!” yelled Dr. Irving, scuttling closer to Claire and Evan. “There is a better way to travel home.”

“Should we create another submarine?” Evan asked curiously.

“No, no. You two have not yet discovered the full depth of your powers,” said Dr. Irving. “Please, allow me to demonstrate.”

With that, he stepped back and raised his arms. He lowered them, and along with his movements, feathers sprouted out from his entire body. His arms transformed into wings, and his legs morphed into talons. He now had piercing eyes, a sharp beak, and a tail made up of red-brown feathers edged with white. He was an oversize hawk!

“Whoa, one of us can do that?” Evan asked.

“Yes, I believe the person with the power of transfiguration will be able to,” Dr. Irving said, looking at Claire.

“I can change us into an animal?” said Claire, sounding both shocked and amazed.

“Yes, you should be able to. And there is something else I need to say before you leave,” began Dr. Irving. “Use your powers wisely, especially once you are home.”

“You mean we get to keep them?” Evan asked in awe. And the professor nodded. Evan continued excitedly, “I guess I hadn’t thought about whether we’d still have them once we were home.”

“Do not use them in front of others. Humans might not be able to see the magic you perform, but they will be able to see the results,” added Dr. Irving.

“I don’t understand. People won’t be able to see us use our powers?” Evan asked.

“No. Not unless you wish for them to. Magic should not be seen by mortals, nor should anything related to Sagaas. For example, your parents would not be able to see Dunkle, unless he allowed them. And if you use your power to say, throw a rock, then your parents would see the rock in its new location but have no idea how it got there.”

“What if we changed ourselves into birds? What would they see?” Claire asked.

“Again, unless you allowed them to see you in bird form, they would see you in your human body,” said Dr. Irving. “And if you speak about your time here in Asgard, they will not hear a word you are saying. They will not even see your lips move. The gods were very careful when they decided to hide Sagaas from mankind.”

“Awesome,” said Evan, looking at Claire. “What are you going to change us into? How about a dragon or something? That would be cool.”

Claire said nothing. She stood motionless as if pondering Evan’s question. “I suppose I could turn us into dolphins or something.”

“I would recommend flying; your journey back would be much faster and less tiresome,” advised Dr. Irving.

“Right,” Claire said and looked down at Dunkle and Barfel. “Do you have any thoughts about what you would like to turn into?”

“I agree with Evan: a dragon would be rather nice,” said Dunkle. “But, I suppose it does not really matter, as long as we once again return to our imp form.”

“All right, I think I know what to do,” said Claire. “Don’t move. I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Wait a minute!” interjected Evan. “Maybe Dr. Irving should change us. I mean, no offense, but Claire doesn’t really know what she’s doing.”

“Claire will be fine, Evan,” said Dr. Irving, still in his hawk form.

Evan continued to stare at the professor, marveling at how strange it was to hear his proper English accent come from the beak of a human-size bird. Indeed, Evan was so mesmerized he hardly noticed when giant wings started to emerge from his own back.

“So, you decided to manipulate your own DNA and added wings to your human form. Very nicely done, Claire,” appraised Dr. Irving.

“I have wings!” declared Evan, stretching his neck to better see his new black feathers.

Dunkle and Barfel had become imps with wings. Dunkle’s wings matched his greenish-blue body and Barfel’s were red-orange. They too were admiring each other’s new wings.

“You look like an angel,” said Sigurd while approaching Claire.

Evan looked her way and noticed that she sort of did. She was still wearing the white dress with pearls, and her white wings were stretched out to her sides.

“And
you
look like trouble,” Lazonia said teasingly to Evan. She circled around him and ran her fingers over his slick feathers. “Be careful on your journey home. Do not fly too close to the water. I have a feeling there are a few bull sharks out there who would love to knock you out of the sky.”

Aegir interjected, “I will see to it that all of my sea creatures abide by my wishes. None of them shall hurt you.”

“Sir, I was wondering about what happened to Dufa?” Evan asked, as he was reminded of the rogue wave.

“She has been dealt with,” said Aegir. “You could say she will be grounded for a very long time. No more tsunamis for at least a decade. And on her behalf, I am sorry she tried to drown you.”

“Thanks,” said Evan, feeling extremely awkward. He then looked at Dr. Irving. “I suppose we should leave the Serpent’s Ring with you.”

“It must not be kept in Sagaas. It is prudent for you to return the Serpent’s Ring home with you,” said Dr. Irving.

“But, what will we do with it? Should we return it to your lab?” Evan asked.

“No, that would not be wise. You must find a new place to keep it,” added Vor, as she stood next to her hawklike husband.