The Witch; Stronghold; Underworld

by Ky Tyrand

  As it grew louder, the melody swept through Je’nna from head to toe, calming her while drawing her closer to its call.

  Unable to resist the temptation, the girl swam deeper into the foggy water, lured ever nearer to a sound more beautiful than any other. Her mind warned her that the feeling the music offered was too good to be true, but there was something about it that scrambled her thoughts and enticed her onward.

  Now the singing was all around her, bringing Je’nna to a halt as she tried to determine which way to go. The vocals resonated through every part of her, making her entire body feel like it was buzzing and numb.

  The darkness cleared as the floating grains of sand began to light up and twinkle like a million stars, attempting to bridge the splendor between the music and her surroundings.

  A moment later the melodic voices took form as Je’nna found herself surrounded by three girls, barely older than herself. They were as beautiful as their voices in every way, with hair that was bright like her own, though much longer. It swirled in vibrant clouds – one orange, one purple, and one green – which seemed to explode like vivid fireworks when they stopped beside her.

  Just like their hair, each girl’s skin was also a different color, from dark to light, though barely visible through locks that seemed to go on forever.

  Although she felt the need to stay, Je’nna’s mind kept warning her to go – to swim to the shore as fast as she could. Desperately fighting the spell, Je’nna forced herself to kick her feet. But she only ascended a short distance before the orange-haired girl was suddenly above her, blocking her path.

  “Stay with us,” she said.

  “You will be happy here,” said another.

  Their words carried the same effect as their song. The harmony in their voices vibrated through Je’nna’s chest and back, making her feel calm and at ease.

  So soothing were their words that Je’nna wasn’t even bothered by the fact that these girls could speak so clearly underwater; and with such command. Or that they had sleek tails and fins coated with shimmering iridescent scales, where they should have legs and feet.

  They darted around Je’nna in smooth, spiraling circles; their beautiful voices coming at her from all directions – ahead, behind, above, below.

  Even whispering in her ear, “You will be at peace.”

  Their hair swirled in great colorful clouds until the moment they gave their tails the slightest kick, and then their endless locks straightened and waved behind them like long silky serpents.

  A trail of stardust followed their movements as they darted through the sparkling sand.

  Je’nna closed her eyes and expelled the air from her lungs, feeling every muscle in her body relax as she floated motionless in the water. The Mermaids swam circles around her, their voices working together as the melody of a beautiful song enveloped the girl. Je’nna didn’t even know that her Mu’turi was slipping away. Or feel the rush of water splash against her face as her helmet opened.

  Ki’ara heard the Siren’s Song the moment she entered the water. She knew that if she listened, there would be no resisting its pull. Remembering something that Mark had told her – about how he’d used blobs of energy to resist a similar compulsion – Ki’ara drew her Mu’turi to her ears, filling each canal with the same particles that formed her clothing.

  Her Mu’turi immediately blocked the underwater sounds of swishing water and beautiful song, until all she could hear was her own heartbeat; and even that was more of a feel than a sound.

  With her concern for Je’nna outweighing her fear of the water, Ki’ara swam for an area that was unlike the rest. While the entire lake was so clear she could see all the way to the bottom, a small patch was churning with glitter that sparkled under the light of the crystals above. Ki’ara had no idea what she was witnessing, but it was so out of the ordinary that it screamed for investigation.

  The Princess had spent so little time in the water that she was far from a great swimmer. It felt like her frantic paddling was hardly doing a thing to propel her along. Despite her legs feeling like they were on fire, Ki’ara kicked with all her might, fluttering as fast as she could. She was determined to get to Je’nna before the Lady of the Lake stole her away.

  As she neared the twinkling haze, the Princess spotted brilliant waves of color darting about the middle. She could see at least four different colors. They were fast, swirling around in a spherical pattern with swift, fleeting motions.

  All but the pink one, which appeared to be at the center of it all. And not moving in the slightest.

  “Je’nna!” Ki’ara shouted, as she pulled and kicked her way through the water.

  The three shooting objects stopped when they heard her. It wasn’t until they looked up that Ki’ara realize the colorful creatures were young women.

  They smiled when the saw her, abandoning Je’nna to swim for the Princess. Only then did Ki’ara realize that these weren’t girls at all – their lower halves were those of fish.

  Ki’ara ignored them when they came at her. She could tell that the three were trying to talk to her, but she couldn’t hear a single word of it. Ki’ara was focused on Je’nna.

  She could see that her friend was motionless, and that her helmet was gone – retracted back into the girl’s Battle Harness. Her pink hair was floating all around her. Though not the mass that surrounded each of the Mermaids, it still spread wide – a clear indication that her Mu’turi had let go of her pigtails.

  But it was Je’nna’s closed eyes, and the trail of small bubbles that beaded up from her mouth, that made Ki’ara fear the worst.

  When the three colorful mermaids saw that Ki’ara wasn’t stopping, they moved to intercept.

  One was suddenly in front of her. She had purple hair, black skin, and a wide smile that displayed a row of perfect teeth, making her appearance seem far lovelier than her intentions.

  Ki’ara tried to swim around, but the Mermaid kept with her, blocking her path.

  She felt a hand grab hold of her ankle – just like she had in the tunnel when To’mas pulled her free of the Siren’s spell – and at the same time, she spotted another catching Je’nna by the wrist.

  The Princess knew that she and Je’nna were about to be separated for the last time.

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  Ki’ara didn’t have a clue whether Je’nna was even alive. But relinquishing her to these three girls was not an option.

  Bright blue blades erupted from her wrists, giving the Mermaid in front of her enough of a start that she shot to the side – enough of a space for Ki’ara to stretch out her arm and catch Je’nna by the wrist an instant before the pulling began.

  The Princess squeezed, fighting to prevent her friend from slipping away. She was in the middle of a tug-of-war between two powerful Mermaids, each trying to pull the girls in separate ways.

  The only thing that kept them together was Ki’ara’s weakening grip, and her refusal to let Je’nna go.

  Pulled by her ankle as she was, Ki’ara couldn’t reach either of them with her weapons – not without letting go of Je’nna.

  Ki’ara wondered how these Mermaid could have such a strong pull with nothing but water to give them purchase. But a simple kick of their powerful tails was enough to cause Ki’ara’s grip to falter.

  The Princess squeezed with everything she had.

  Stretched from both wrists, she feared her friend’s shoulders may dislocate if the Mermaid towed any harder.

  With hands and wrists now bare as her Mu’turi began to fade, the bloodied bandage on Je’nna’s wrist was exposed to the water. It immediately began to lift, allowing a steady stream of blood to seep free. Any healing the girl’s wound may have had was now lost to the stretching and pulling of the hands that fought for her possession.

  “Je’nna!” she screamed. “Je’nna!” Ki’ara called desperately for her friend, despite being sure that the girl was already gone.

  Je’nna’s head sagged, held
only by the same water that kept her hair afloat. Her legs draped lifelessly below her, and there was no strength in the sharply defined muscles that wrapped her arms and shoulders.

  That wasn’t enough for Ki’ara to give up.

  With her forearms burning, the Princess squeezed harder, digging her fingers into Je’nna’s wrist.

  She felt something there, against the tips of her fingers…

  It was faint, but there was no question it was worth fighting for.

  A pulse.

  Je’nna was alive. More than alive.

  Ki’ara felt something through her grasp on Je’nna’s wrist that she couldn’t explain; a connection that she’d never sensed before.

  Channeled through their touch, the Princess was suddenly flooded with a torrent of emotions, the strength of which she couldn’t have even imagined. Friendship and love; envy and shame; courage and determination; pride and respect. But most importantly, there was life.

  Having never felt such a powerful bond, Ki’ara had no idea what to make of it. But as the energy poured between Je’nna’s hand and her own, the Princess could feel its strength increasing, building exponentially with every moment she kept a grip on her friend.

  Je’nna’s unresponsive form came alive.

  Her eyes opened wide and locked onto Ki’ara’s. There was no question she felt it too, brought back from whatever near-death state she’d been trapped in.

  Yet the power didn’t stop, and quickly became overwhelming as the intensity grew to the point Ki’ara could barely stand it, and feared it may devour them both.

  But in one magnificent pulse the energy released, sending a shockwave throughout the lake that could be seen in the form of ripples displacing the twinkling sand particles that speckled the water around them.

  The tugging against them instantly ceased as the aggressive Mermaids scattered in three different directions, moving so fast they appeared to be nothing but streaks of color. And they took their Siren’s Song with them.

  Je’nna’s helmet closed around her face and immediately began filling with air.

  Through her friend’s visor, Ki’ara could see the water level drop in a gurgling slosh as little bubbles spit out the sides and floated to the surface. She could tell that Je’nna was greedily gulping the oxygen.

  Ki’ara had no idea what the energy pulse had been about, and she didn’t really care. All that mattered to her was getting Je’nna to safety and making sure she was okay.

  With her hand remaining on her friend’s wrist, Ki’ara swam for the surface.

  Je’nna didn’t resist, kicking along with her as they both made their way up.

  But the surface wasn’t getting any closer.

  43

  The girls were exhausting themselves trying to reach the surface. They could see it was only a few feet above them, rippling under the light of the crystals. But, no matter how hard they fought, the pair didn’t seem to be making any headway.

  The water below them darkened once again as the twinkling sand faded, replaced by cloudy murk. It was churning, swirling about like an underwater tornado and pulling the girls down, back into its cold depths.

  Ki’ara could feel the rumbling through her torso, and when she removed the Mu’turi plugs from her ears, she heard the roar.

  The Lady of the Lake wasn’t finished with them.

  Fearing what she would do to Je’nna, Ki’ara opened her G.R.

  The device pulled the Princess up, and Je’nna along with her. But it wasn’t enough. Weightless or not, she couldn’t fight the whirlpool of torrential current pulling them downward, back into the coldest, darkest part of the lake.

  Ki’ara’s heart began to race at the helpless feeling of being pulled deeper. Though she hadn’t given a second thought to jumping into the water after Je’nna, she’d had about enough of water having its way with her. She just wanted out – to be on dry land, and to never step foot in water again.

  Before Ki’ara had the chance to panic, the girls were face-to-face with the Lady of the Lake.

  The woman of the water was just as beautiful as she was in her mother’s memory, however many years ago that was. A burst of black hair, that must have been as long as her entire body, floated all around her. It was spectacular but eerie, as it reminded Ki’ara of Sirona the Witch, about to cast a deadly spell.

  The Lady of the Lake didn’t seem to be the least bit modest. She wore no clothes, and didn’t appear to have a fish tail like the Mermaids. Or at least, none that Ki’ara could see. It was more like her pale body just faded into the shadowy ripples – became a part of the water itself.

  All Ki’ara could think about was how she was going to fight, for she surely would do it if this water woman tried to take Je’nna.

  She wondered if her friend was alright. If she still had enough air to breathe. Je’nna had been underwater a long time, and must have inhaled at least some of it when her helmet came off. But she hadn’t shown any signs of choking. The girl hadn’t even coughed when her mask filled with air. It was odd, and Ki’ara couldn’t explain it. But she couldn’t explain the energy pulse, either.

  Her friend’s wrist was still in her hand, and when Ki’ara glanced over, she could see that Je’nna was more than okay. Her eyes were alert, and it was Je’nna that spoke before anyone else – her voice coming clearly through the communicator in Ki’ara’s helmet…

  “Cover up, for crying out loud,” said the girl. “Shouldn’t you be wearing some seashells, or something?”

  Though Ki’ara wanted to laugh at her friend’s bold statement, she couldn’t help but fear that Je’nna didn’t understand the enormity of the situation.

  “Why are you in my water?” asked the Lady of the Lake. Her voice was cool and expressionless, yet crystal clear, even through the murky liquid between them.

  For an instant, Ki’ara wondered if she could tell the woman something different – perhaps that they were just going for a swim. Would the Lady of the Lake let them go if they didn’t admit to coming for Excalibur?

  But, before Ki’ara could spit out an explanation, Je’nna blurted, “We’ve come for the sword.”

  Those words finally brought some expression to the woman’s face, as her eyebrows suddenly narrowed. Her turquoise eyes moved from Je’nna to Ki’ara. She looked down at Ki’ara’s chest for some reason, as if she could see how fiercely the girl’s heart was pounding. Her eyes then moved back to Je’nna, and she told the girl, “Only the blood of the Angel can retrieve the Sword of Avalon.”

  Ki’ara had let her Niksuru retract when they were swimming for the surface, but she was ready to light them up – for what good they would do her against this Water-Witch.

  The Princess kicked her feet and pulled herself forward, releasing the grip from her friend so she could move between Je’nna and the Lady of the Lake. She had to force herself to breathe or risk passing out.

  With a casual sweep of her arm, the woman whooshed Ki’ara aside, pushing her through the water like a twig in a raging river.

  In the blink of an eye, Ki’ara was too far away to help defend Je’nna. She knew that she couldn’t throw her Niksuru through this. All she could do was frantically kick and paddle and watch as the Lady of the Lake moved toward Je’nna.

  Ahead of her, she saw her friend’s hands hovering over the pistols at her hips. Ki’ara wondered if the hi-tech pistols could shoot underwater. And, if so, would they harm a woman made of water?

  The Lady of the Lake seemed to notice, as her eyes went down to Je’nna’s hovering hands. And then they moved upward, falling upon the cut on the girl’s arm.

  Ki’ara swam as fast as she could but knew she wouldn’t reach her friend before things got ugly.

  To her surprise, the Lady of the Lake seemed more interested in the blood that swirled from Je’nna’s cut than the threat of the girl’s guns.

  Je’nna held steady, ready to draw, but not touching her weapons.

  An object shot up from the waters below them, su
ddenly appearing between Je’nna and the woman.

  With her heart pounding, Ki’ara wondered what it was, and how the woman of the water would use it to kill her friend. It took her a moment to realize that it was the Sword of Avalon.

  Ki’ara was surprised that the Water-Witch would use Excalibur itself to kill Je’nna. But she was certain that was going to happen when the woman took the weapon by the hilt and leveled it between them.

  Je’nna’s hands had closed around her pistols.

  Not until the Lady of the Lake held the sword out to her did Je’nna release her grip on the guns.

  Her eyes went from the sword to the woman who held it.

  The Lady of the Lake offered Je’nna a single, approving nod.

  Je’nna’s hands came up, carefully taking the weapon from below, letting the sleek blade rest across her open palms.

  The murky waters cleared almost instantly, allowing light from the crystals above to shine down and reflect a dazzling array of color along the length of steel; a fitting statement to remind them how magnificent this sword truly was.

  Panting out of control, Ki’ara arrived beside them just in time to hear the woman of the water tell Je’nna, “The Sword of Avalon is now in your possession, and no longer in my care.”

  44

  Just like that, the Lady of the Lake vanished into the water, leaving the girls to surface on their own while trying to make sense of what had occurred.

  Both helmets opened the moment they poked above the water.

  Je’nna brought their question to words. “Uh, what just happened?” She didn’t have any trouble treading in place, even with the Sword of Avalon in her hands.

  Ki’ara, on the other hand, had to resist the temptation to open her G.R. and lift herself out of the water. She forced herself to stay in the lake with Je’nna. “I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. It didn’t make sense.