by Terry Spear
She stormed off the teleporter platform as white lights still swirled overhead, indicating that the teleporter had just been used to bring someone into the ship. She headed for the automated control panel, the only other object in the all white room. With a quick punch, she poked the button that would send her back to the exact spot she’d been picked up from.
The transporter light remained red. She poked it again. “Work, you fool thing! Work!”
The door to the room slid open with a whoosh. In the doorway, a guard robot stood, polished silver metal, langolar-looking features otherwise, with his laser gun still holstered.
She quickly poked a new destination. Guard droids meant one thing. The person they came for would be locked into a cell or room. Here, she couldn’t use her skills to get free. And if she fought him, he’d use the laser on stun to convince her to mind.
A view-screen came on against one of the walls. Her father appeared, sitting in his office at his desk. His black hair was cut butch so he looked harsher than usual. His green eyes were dark and stormy, but he appeared more haggard. Hadn’t he slept well after abandoning her?
“Daughter,” he said.
She bowed her head in greeting, though she couldn’t contain the scowl on her face.
“Do you feel better?”
“Return me to the elves’ world. You left me there to perish or fight to survive.” At least that’s what she assumed. “I’ve grown attached to the people. You have no use for me. Leave me behind for good.”
He ignored her wishes. “The council voted that you have another chance at choosing a lifemate. You have proved your worth this time, but you will be required to take extensive weapon’s training to ensure you are a suitable overseer and lifemate.”
“Prove my worth?” Persephonice’s voice grew shrill. They’d left her on a violent, unobservable planet to prove her worth? She had no doubt her people acted the barbarians and not the elves.
“I say again, Father, I wish to return to the elf kingdom. They have made me welcome. I have used my abilities to help the people there. I’m grateful to you for showing me that I had a reason for living again. But now that I’ve found my calling, I will not abandon it.”
Her father shook his head. “I see we will have to refresh your thinking.”
Brainwash her? Oh no they wouldn’t. She glanced down at the teleporter panel. The light had turned green. She bolted for the teleporter platform.
“Persephonice!” her father shouted, the anger in his voice meant to dissuade her next action.
Simultaneously, the guard robot stalked forward. She punched the button on her wristband and smiled when the platform turned ice blue, and then everything became black.
***
Horrified and wanting her back at once, Dracolin couldn’t understand how Persephonice could just vanish into thin air. She’d seemed so happy. It was as if some evil entity had snatched her up and taken her away, only it had happened so quickly he hadn’t seen it occur.
Balon, Prince Cronus, and Prince Zorak must have been watching them from nearby as they ran across the courtyard toward him.
“What in the world happened?” Zorak asked. “In all my high elf years of magic training I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“We found her at the River Ro.” Dracolin headed for his weapon’s room.
“Here we go again.” Balon hurried after him.
“I’ll get the dragons ready,” Zorak said.
“What happened?” Cronus asked. “Did you say something to upset her?”
“No, nothing. I was kissing her and she suddenly…” Dracolin rubbed his chin. “The band she wears around her wrist suddenly glowed green and it seemed to frighten her. She tried to remove it. I…I didn’t know what was wrong and just watched her. Had I known what would happen next…” He shook his head. “I would have cut the cursed thing from her wrist.”
“Where are we going?” Balon asked.
“The place where the river was blocked. The place she was headed when we found her.”
“You think it has something to do with her people?”
“Yeah, I do.” Dracolin grabbed his favorite sword. “They abandoned her, not caring anything about her safety. She belongs to our kingdom now.” To me.
***
Not good, Persephonice thought when she found herself in water…but not just any water, the ocean. She’d miscalculated and when she’d meant to set the teleporter settings to the shadow elf courtyard near where she’d stood with Dracolin, she’d screwed up the distance. Math wasn’t one of her better subjects.
She studied the cliffs rising above the sea from a distance. She was approximately a mile and a half or maybe farther out. Before she swam for the shore, she unfastened her wristband and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean.
If her people tried to teleport her back to the ship, they were out of luck. Hopefully a mermaid wouldn’t put it on…unless it was the one who had bitten her.
Persephonice dove under and began to swim toward shore. She smiled, thinking about how surprised her people would be to see a wet mermaid sitting on the teleporter platform, until something touched Persephonice’s foot.
Instantly, her smile vaporized.
Chapter 23
Persephonice swam as fast she was able under the water as a wind stirred the ocean’s surface into white caps. Out of the corner of her vision, she thought she saw movement. If any merfolk spotted her, would they attempt to deter her for Prince Aquarian?
She glanced back. To her distress, she saw the mermaid who had bitten her before. The mer-creature swam a hundred feet away and watched her with narrowed green eyes. Even if the prince of the merfolk had declared Persephonice his, the mermaid didn’t seem to care for the idea.
Still, the situation could be to Persephonice’s advantage. If the mermaid didn’t want to have Persephonice found, she wouldn’t warn the others, nor would she attempt to stop her.
Persephonice continued to swim in the direction of the shore, while the mermaid paralleled her path, but never drew any closer.
Movement to Persephonice’s left caught her eye and she shifted her attention in that direction. Another mermaid. Would the two gang up on her? Or would this one be more loyal to Aquarian and try to stop her?
The mermaid studied Persephonice from her hair to her sandal-covered feet, then she made a noise under the water, calling for her people’s help. She warned them the mermaid with legs had returned, but would soon reach the shore.
Persephonice could only hope there were no merfolk within the range of the mermaid’s call. And then she smiled as she had an idea.
She copied the mermaid’s voice and sent out a new message. “My mistake. The mermaid with legs has already reached land, and it is too late for us to stop her now.”
The mermaid grinned, raised her red brows, and wiggled her finger at Persephonice as if to say, “Naughty, naughty.” Then she sent out the call again. “The mermaid with legs is very clever. She can mimic our voices, but she has not made it to the shore yet. As Prince Aquarian has ordered that no mermaid is allowed to apprehend her, I beseech any merman in the area to aid me in stopping her.”
Another call sounded in the water, as Persephonice continued to swim for the rocky beach. Her heart pounded, as she feared she wouldn’t escape the merfolk this time.
“Three of us are on our way, Mercedes. Prince Aquarian gives you permission to detain her if you can until we reach you.”
Persephonice called back, “It is too late. She is running up the beach now.”
The mermaid dove for Persephonice using her powerful tail and replied to the merman, “I’m attempting to detain her at once. She is still half a mile from the land.”
The mermaid grabbed Persephonice’s arm, but she twisted free. Even if the mermaid couldn’t keep a grip on her, Persephonice feared the mermaid could delay her long enough that the mermen would soon arrive, and she’d never escape them.
The mermaid dropped back and se
ized Persephonice’s leg, but she quickly kicked free. With a powerful flip of her tail, the mermaid dove for Persephonice again. This time she grasped a handful of Persephonice’s hair. And that hurt.
Persephonice grabbed her hair, trying to free it from the mermaid’s strong grasp. Then to her horror, she saw three mermen swimming fifty yards or so from her. All three wore determined looks on their grim faces. She could see fighting them would be a losing battle.
She cried out to the roc, griffon, sphinx, elves, and dragons, not sure they could hear her cries muffled by the density of the water. And then she realized, not once had she surfaced for air.
“Hurry!” the mermaid screeched. “I can’t hold onto her for much—”
A shadow drew over the water, like a large bird of prey flew overhead, searching for its next fish feast. Everyone looked heavenward.
Dragons!
Persephonice called to the dragons, “Help me! Take me to Dracolin!”
“Hurry!” the mermaid pleaded as she clung to Persephonice’s hair.
Persephonice yanked her hair free and bumped into a merman’s chest. She gulped in a mouthful of fishy saltwater, but didn’t gag, as she should have done. Before she overcame the shock of what had just happened, the merman grabbed her arm. She quickly twisted free.
“Her hair! Grab her hair!” the mermaid screeched.
Persephonice grabbed her own hair and held it in a ponytail as the shadow passed over them again. The merman reached for her hair as another dove for her leg.
Before she understood what was happening, claws grabbed her shoulders and pulled her from the water.
The merfolk broke the surface of the water and one of the mermen cried out, “Release her to us or suffer the consequences!”
Dracolin hollered to her from the dragon’s back that held her as they flew over Darkland Forest again headed for the Shadow Elves’ kingdom, “Persephonice, are you all right?”
“Yes, thank you so much for rescuing me.”
“You are welcome,” Prince Zorak said as he maneuvered his dragon in lower to speak with her.
“And thank you for aiding me, Prince Zorak.”
“You helped save my life. Forever, I shall be grateful. In gratitude, my father has gifted Racer to be your dragon companion. Though Dracolin doesn’t know the dragon’s language, my father wishes you and Dracolin to use Racer’s services whenever they’re needed. And by the looks of it, he’ll come in quite handy to get you two out of tight fixes.”
She smiled.
Dracolin hollered, “For now, we are returning to my kingdom, but I have to know if you’ll vanish like that again.”
“I have no intention of doing so again, Dracolin. I have dismissed my people and told them you are my new lifemate. Here I shall remain forever as your overseer.”
She was certain she heard Dracolin sigh deeply with relief. But when he didn’t respond, she said, “Dracolin?” She feared maybe he didn’t wish her to be his lifemate after all. Maybe a female shadow elf would appeal more to him.
“I’m still not sure what a lifemate is expected to do exactly, but I’m willing to take forever to find out.”
The dragons finally arrived at the treed kingdom and let her down in the center of the courtyard where she’d vanished from in the first place. Dracolin slipped off the dragon’s back to join Persephonice. She smiled up at him as he took her hand in his. “You don’t know what you’re getting into making a promise like that, Dracolin.”
“I believe, my magical mermaid, I have had a taste of what is to come in the foreseeable future.”
“And you don’t mind?”
Dracolin’s lips rose in a slow smile. “As Balon said, our world has been rather dull of late. Besides,” he said as he nudged her toward the entertainment, “if you didn’t choose me for your lifemate, the princes would still be vying for your attention. Things could get violent. A war could result. Better to keep the peace, I always say.”
She shook her head and laughed. “I bet you say that to all of the girls.”
“Only to one.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, warming her through and through. Now she knew she belonged in this world, a place her kind would never have envisioned as hospitable. A place where the people took her in despite having lost her lifemate. This was her new home where she would finally be an overseer, even if the job and her lifemate weren’t quite what she expected.
But then again, what could she expect? Being a land-bound mermaid and all?
She slipped her arm around his waist, and he kissed the top of her head.
“First, we get you cleaned up and into a new gown.”
***
So for the second time that night, Persephonice was bathed and clothed in a new gown. This one was a topaz-colored gown that made her skin and hair fairly shine. Tiny green leaves were embroidered around the neck and sleeves, highlighting the color of her eyes. Ladies had fastened a wreath of flowers to her head like a crown, though no one wore their hair down but her. She sighed deeply as she turned away from the mirror, feeling less like a mermaid and more like a fairy princess.
When she rejoined Dracolin, who’s eyes widened in admiration as his gaze drifted from the top of her head to her ivory sandaled toes, and back to her eyes, he motioned to the entertainment.
The male and female elves danced together as couples, then looped together with others in intricate patterns.
“I want to do that. Teach me,” Persephonice said.
Dracolin frowned at her. “I don’t dance.”
She raised her brows at him. “What about Balon?”
Balon said from a distance, “Best dancer…” He paused for a second as Prince Cronus cleared his throat. “Almost best dancer there is.”
Dracolin pulled her toward the dancers. “You know, you are a spiteful vixen.”
She laughed. “You love me for it.”
Together they danced, maybe not perfectly, but it felt right, just the same. Whoever would have thought a shadow elf and a langolar…
She took a deep breath, perfectly content to be with the warrior figure, who clutched her tightly to his chest. Whoever would have thought she’d be an overseer on a primitive planet and he, a shadow elf, her protectorate?
###
About the Author:
Award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Heart of the Wolf named in Publishers Weekly's BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NOR Reader Choice for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE.
Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University and a Bachelors in Business and Distinguished Military Graduate of West Texas A & M. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, to include personalized bears designed to commemorate authors’ books. When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses in the Heart of Texas.
http://www.terryspear.com/
