Dark Oceans (Ocean Series Book 1)

by Rhonda Nelson

  "Where are we going?" Luke called over the echoing footsteps on the smooth cold tunnel floor.

  "I'll explain later," Kelsie replied, doubling in speed. It amused her that she was running faster than Luke. She stopped suddenly at the large grey door that stared gloomily at her, something slammed into her, flattening her against the door, plunging them both inside. "Luke!" she protested angrily, pushing him off her.

  "Sorry! Sorry! You stopped too soon – what are we even doing here?" Kelsie blinked, trying to see him clearer. She still couldn't believe that this tall figure use to be a tiny little goblin...

  "Why are you staring at me?" Luke asked nervously. Kelsie averted her eyes quickly and dragged him down into the large dungeon. "What are you doing?" She didn't reply. Instead she motioned her head towards the unconscious body on the ground. The woman was lying perfectly still, just as she had before. "A-Kelsie..." Luke seemed lost for words.

  "We're rescuing her," Kelsie said straight to the point, her eyes leaving no room to debate.

  "A-Kelsie..."

  "What?" she snapped irritably.

  "Is that what I think it is?"

  "She's not an 'it'" Kelsie said defensively. "She is a person – and we are rescuing her, whether you like it or not."

  "But it's a monster! A killer! When we save her, she'll go around killing more people!" Kelsie hesitated. He could be right...but she couldn't bring herself to leave this mermaid stranded on land, far away from home. It would plague her forever.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  "It doesn't matter," Kelsie said angrily. "If you don't want to help me, then fine. But I thought you were my friend."

  "I am!" Luke replied, sounding shocked and hurt.

  "Then help me." Luke let out a shaky breath and lifted the mermaid up gently in his arms. Kelsie watched in satisfaction and followed him out of the dungeon, carefully shutting the door behind them.

  She sneaked along the cool tunnels and catacombs of the underground dungeons, the green fire light twirling on wooden torches. Luke walked in front of her, his body was lean and muscular, and he stood over a head taller than her. That felt incredibly weird...and she still hadn't properly seen his face yet. They ran smoothly up the iron staircase and out onto the mosaic encrusted floors of the castle.

  "Stop," Kelsie whispered, gesturing to the guards that stood at the entrance of the castle. They froze in a small alcove, squished up together as the guards suddenly turned around their swords brandished.

  "Who goes there?" an elf shouted, blindly waving his sword in all directions. He had black bushy eyebrows that were completely out of proportion to his face. Kelsie narrowed her eyes at the elf and hurled daggers from her mind into his.

  He screamed and tumbled to the ground, clutching his head and writhing in agony. Next to her, Luke focused on the other elf, who was shouting insults into the darkness. Suddenly he shrieked like a girl and collapsed on the floor.

  "Great. Now we've woken up the entire castle," Kelsie muttered grimly.

  "Alltalosns never go to sleep," Luke said helpfully.

  "Whatever, let's just go – follow me down to the stables." Without waiting for him, she rushed out of the alcove and ran quickly to the royal stables. A fountain churned to the left of her as she saddled two dark brown horses. Luke climbed on one, putting the unconscious mermaid in front of him, holding her securely.

  "I still think this is a bad idea," he mumbled. Kelsie glared daggers at him and ignored his comment. She gracefully mounted her horse and cantered left through the quiet streets to the sea.

  "Kelsie!" Luke yelled at her from behind. She turned around, trying to focus on him in the night air.

  "What now?" she said impatiently.

  "Soldiers!" She froze, her eyes spotting the bright yellow torches in the distance. A group of ten soldiers were marching towards them.

  "Go! They won't be able to catch up with us!" Kelsie called, galloping rapidly down the cobbled path, almost hitting a drunk pedestrian in the middle of the road.

  "Watch where yer goin'!" She continued to gallop and jumped over a style, into a field full of thistles and weeds. She could hear Luke catching up with her, she took the chance to turn her head to look at him in the moonlight. Her breathing hitched. He looked so unfamiliar...his eyes were a sparkling blue like a calm sea, he had tousled blond hair that suited him perfectly. And the other thing? He was undeniably handsome. That was just creepy. Kelsie shivered. He didn't look like Luke anymore, only his personality remained the same.

  Even then, she hoped it wouldn't ever change. She remembered the time when his expression had become...almost evil looking. Sighing, she slowed down as they reached the sandy beaches that were full of dry seaweed and loose pebbles. The tides moved rhythmically in and out. Slowly...slowly...slowly...

  "What if the mermaid tries to kill us when we put her in the water?" Luke asked tentatively. Kelsie bit her lip, wondering what to say.

  "We'll just have to hope she doesn't," the memory of the mermaid attack was suddenly fresh in her mind. Luke nodded; his blue eyes worried. He got off his horse and tenderly carried the mermaid down the edge of the dark blue ocean. The mermaids' eye flitted as if she could already sense the sea next to her. Kelsie and Luke locked eyes with each other.

  "Be prepared to run away," Kelsie whispered, though she didn't know why. Luke silently nodded...his hands trembled slightly at the thought of the oncoming attack. "Ready?" Kelsie asked, her heart beat unevenly.

  "As always," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. Carefully, he placed the mermaid into the ocean and ran back as a green glow surrounded the mermaid. Kelsie watched from beside him, holding her breath, counting the seconds slowly in her head. The mermaid still didn't move, though Kelsie could see her legs changing and molding together. A shimmering smooth seals tail transformed her whole body, her skin looked healthy and not as dry as before. Her chest rose and fell gently and evenly. And then she opened her eyes.

  "Lords and Ladies! Welcome to the fourth and final Millay challenge – today will be the decider for the winner of the entire games! Remaining to play is the few twenty contestants out of the one hundred. All of them shall fight to the last man standing – there are no rules, just slaughter."

  Alyssa downcast her eyes and stared at her feet. Kelsie hadn't even returned from Alltalos yet, and she was beginning to think something was wrong. "Contestants! Take your places!" her father bellowed into the hot afternoon arena. A bead of perspiration dripped down her forehead from the heat. From the royal box she could see the twenty remaining contestants standing a wide circle with a twenty-meter gap between each one. She saw Ben out of all of them, avoiding her eyes. A pang of hurt washed into her, but she scolded her feelings. There was no way he could return them, and she had promised herself to get over him. She didn't need him, and he didn't need her. Simple as that.

  The drums suddenly sounded and wild war cries filled the arena. It was like watching a complete massacre, every man for themselves. No rules, no regulations. Blood soaked into the dry ground. Her hand flew to her mouth, to stop herself from being sick. Quickly she averted her eyes. "You are so like your mother," the voice suddenly yanked her out of her thoughts.

  Spinning her head round, she stared at her father. "What about my mother?"

  Frederic's eyes hardened; his expression turned stern. "She always hated fighting, couldn't stand it. She loved the battle strategies...but the fighting itself...she couldn't bear it," his voice was quiet and distant. Alyssa felt a strange urge to give him a hug...though she didn't, since he had never given her a hug before.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  "Where is she now?" Alyssa asked desperately. "Why isn't she here?"

  Her father's jaw clenched; his eyes swirled with an unidentified emotion. "She's dead."

  Alyssa's lower lip trembled. No! That couldn't be right! Elves can't die, there must be some other reason. "It was a mermaid attack," her father continued blandly. His tone said to drop the conversation. She
couldn't breathe, it felt like her stomach had just been taken out of her body and her heart trampled on multiple times. "She meddled with things that weren't her business, and she paid the price."

  Anger flared up in her. "How can you just say that?" her voice rose louder, trying to be heard over the roar of the spectators. "Don't you even care?" She trembled in fury; she didn't understand how her father could be so heartless.

  He met her stormy grey eyes, unwaveringly. "I care," he said slowly. "-about my kingdom. The welfare of my people – and if anything disrupts the peace, they shall suffer the consequences."

  "What are you even talking about?" Alyssa spat, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Her father didn't reply, which annoyed her. He waited ten full seconds until he answered her.

  "I suggest that you stay away from things that you know nothing of," his deep voice was cruel and commanding. Alyssa shut her mouth, knowing that it would do no good to argue with him.

  The sun glared down on his head as he battled through the streams of warriors. Hot thick crimson blood dripped down his shirt and arms from the wounds of the contestants. The vile sounds of swords clashed painfully in the air, the war shouts had slowly turned into panting as the men sweated and brutally battered one another to unconsciousness. He met an oncoming strike and battled with the elf for a few moments until he got bored and stabbed him in the gut.

  The wounded elf screamed and fell to the ground at his feet, his eyes rolling back into his head. Suddenly, something pushed him from behind, making him stagger forwards. He felt something slip out of his pocket but there was no time to pick it up. Ben quickly spun around and slashed with his golden dagger at the opponent's abdomen. A heavy steel sword blocked it though it shook from the pressure. He looked up and met Prince Tristan's pale fuming eyes.

  "Fight! Fight! Fight!" the crowd chanted in excitement; the roar of clapping thundered in his ears. They circled each other warily and Ben realized that they were the only contestants left. Heracles lay unmoving on the ground, blood splattered his forehead and his armor was hanging loose, showing off some very unattractive arm pit hair.

  "I'll show you that I will not be defeated by some peasant hybrid."

  Ben stopped circling. His grip tightened on his sword. "What did you say?" he replied forcefully, glaring right into Tristan's eyes. The arrogant Prince smirked and stopped to face him. The crowd around them were shouting at them to fight, but Ben ignored them.

  "I said: peasant hybrid," Tristan told him slowly as if he were speaking to a toddler.

  Ben's eyes flashed. "You can't hide yourself from me, Benjamin," Tristan spat sinisterly. "I know who you really are – a monster." The words hit him directly in his chest. But instead of feeling anger, he felt an unwanted feeling of understanding. He was a monster...Tristan was right. He shouldn't even be in this competition – it now felt like he was cheating.

  He had disgraced his name, too many people knew who he was. A monster. A monster...monster...monster... "See?" Tristan said smugly. "And monster's need to be destroyed. In case you haven't realized, I can kill you right now. It works both ways – Mermaids can kill you since you're half elf, but Elves can kill you since you're half mermaid." Ben felt like the blood had drained from him, leaving him with an empty shell. He slowly backed away as Tristan advanced on him. He couldn't bring himself to kill him.

  "And you know what the best bit is?" Tristan said casually, twirling his blade in his hands. "I can kill you, but you can't kill me. A hybrid like you can't kill Elves, even though you can kill the hags of the sea. But I can kill you, since half of you is still vulnerable to this Elfish blade." Ben looked around him desperately, there must be a way out of this.

  "Accept your death," Tristan whispered. "You should be glad that I'm ridding the world of one less monster." His footsteps drew closer and closer. Ben remained where he was, much to the pleasure of Tristan. He prepared himself for the final blow...he deserved everything he got. He was a monster...he had known that all along, but never accepted it.

  "Fight! Fight! Fight!" the crowd screamed hysterically. Ben stared one last time at the top box, his eyes met Alyssa's stormy grey ones. He remembered sitting with her on the bed...telling him tearily what Tristan had done to her... Anger stirred up inside of him, his eyes opened in a new light. As Tristan's sword came down upon him effortlessly, he blindly threw his dagger in the air...meeting his target.

  Cheering...clapping...booing...filled his ears. He felt like everything was underwater...everything in slow motion. His felt his head fall on the ground beneath him...someone was screaming his name...with such despair, such horror... Poison from the deadly sword dripped into his heart...slowly dying...slowly...slowly... Lights, bright lights he could see. Everyone was screaming...talking...shouting... A flash of blonde hair...he felt something touch his hand. And then his eyes closed peacefully.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  "There it is!" Luke yelled excitedly, standing up in his saddle. He pointed euphorically at a small peaceful village that was settled in the middle of a valley. Kelsie forced a smile for him, but she didn't meet his eyes when he turned to look at her. It had occurred to her that this may be the last time she saw him. "You'll visit, won't you?" Luke asked, a beam stretched across his face. His blue eyes shone with happiness.

  "Of course," though she wondered if she was ever going to find this remote village in the middle of nowhere again.

  "Come on! I'll show you around, it hasn't changed at all: look! That's my house, over there can you see it? The one next to the tavern."

  "Oh, right...yeah," Kelsie tried to say enthusiastically. Luke didn't pick up on her mood and galloped away from her, through the entrance of the village. She quickly followed him, past the open wooden gates and into the bustling marketplace. A few people stopped walking around and stared at them, particularly Luke.

  A ginger haired boy ran up to him, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Luke! Is that really you? What the hell have you been doing? It's been ten years!"

  Luke slid off the saddle and grinned widely at his friend. "Nice to see you too, Rowan." Kelsie jumped off her horse next to them, leaning casually on one leg, her expression was bored.

  "This is no joke, Luke. The whole village thinks that you are dead! Your mother has taken it the worst," Rowan shook his head with annoyance. "Where have you been? You have no idea how much panic you have caused."

  Luke raised his hands in defense. "Look, it wasn't my choice! I'll explain everything to you later."

  "You better have a good reason," Rowan growled, staring murderously at Luke. "No sane person would leave the village on their own for ten years."

  "I am sane!"

  "That can be debated," Kelsie muttered under her breath. Rowan turned to look at her, as if only just noticing her for the first time. Well didn't she feel special.

  "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously, sizing her up. He looked down at her with a skeptical expression.

  Luke stepped in before she could say anything. "This is Kelsie, she's a really good friend."

  Rowan's eyebrow rose, his upper lip curled slightly. "Good friend, eh? What about your dear Madeline? The one you left for ten years."

  "It's not like that," Luke protested. "We're only friends!" Kelsie mentally gagged at even the thought of being something more. She would never get the image of him as a goblin out of her mind.

  "Sure, sure, and I kiss my friends all the time," Rowan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Be careful when you meet your mother again, I wouldn't like to be you right now."

  "What do you mean?" Luke said curiously. Rowan smiled mischievously, that made Kelsie instantly dislike him.

  "Why don't you go and find out?"

  "Ok then...bye..." Luke looked at him warily and then gripped his horses' reins and started walking down the wide dusty street. Kelsie trailed after him, taking in the views of the scenic village. The landscape was breathtakingly stunning, the hills that surrounded the village were dotted with dark green trees and th
ick heather. Children played happily through the streets and danced to the light beat of a drummer.

  "This way," Luke said, guiding his horse to a flower coated house, which was built out of wood and stone. "This is my home."

  "It's beautiful," Kelsie told him encouragingly.

  "Thanks..." though his voice sounded small and his eyes were suddenly glazed. He knocked twice on the door and waited, fidgeting with the hem of his tunic.

  "My boy, my boy has come home!" someone was singing merrily behind the door, even though the person hadn't even seen who they were. Luke tensed, almost as if he expected a monster to rip open the door and chew him to pieces. Not a pleasant thought... The door was suddenly flung open, revealing a pretty blond-haired woman that smiled sort of dementedly at them. Her mouth widened so far; Kelsie thought the skin would break.

  "Christian!" she called back inside the house. "I told you he would come home, I told you!"

  "Mother?" Luke said, uncertainly.

  "Luke! My darling boy!" she engulfed him in a hug and kissed him on his cheek. "And who is this pretty little girl? Another girlfriend?"

  Kelsie stiffened, she loathed it when people called her little. "No, I'm just his friend," she told her politely.

  "Of course! Come in both of you! I told him you would come back! I told him see. I proved him wrong, he said that you would never come back everyone said you were dead. But you're not!" she giggled hysterically, throwing her arm around Luke's shoulders. Kelsie frowned at them both as she shut the door behind them.

  Luke turned his head around, a look of doubt etched across his face. "Help me," he mouthed silently. Kelsie smirked at him and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

  "Sit down, sit down," Luke's mother gestured to the dusty seats in the living room, they looked like they hadn't been cleaned for at least five years. Even though a fire burned in the hearth, the room was unnaturally dark, and cobwebs glistened in the windowpane.