Making a mental note of the weak spots, I continued to observe the dragon. Rigid spikes covered the dragon’s back and continued up his neck, where two pointed horns emerged. They were black as night and looked sharp enough to impale any sea creature stupid enough to get too close. Yeah, stupid like me…
The dragon’s wingspan was easily five hundred feet from tip to tip. Sharp yellow hooks protruded from the top of each wing and the inside was covered by a thick leathery hide.
After one final dive, the dragon landed on the outer castle wall. The large white slabs of rock holding the castle together were easily twenty feet across by ten feet high. There were missing chunks, most likely from the dragon’s claws breaking off pieces and sending them hurtling below.
Dragons were posted in each of the visible turrets. They stood as still as statues, either completely oblivious to us or doing their best to ignore our kidnapper.
Images of landwalkers were cast into the outer walls of the castle. Dark stones depicted the humans holding weapons in their hands. There were swords, guns, and crossbows. My father had taught me about these weapons after a wrecked ship was discovered in the far corners of our kingdom. He said that the landwalkers killed one another with these weapons. I shivered as I looked at the landwalkers’ images forever entombed in stone. It was as if they were keeping watch over the castle.
The dragon hopped off the wall and landed with a loud thud. Throwing his head back, he let out a snarl followed by a blast of fire. The heat rained down on us, making our situation even more unbearable.
A moment later, two large, metal doors groaned as they inched open.
I kicked my legs and twisted my body, trying to get away from the murderous beast, but his claws only tightened around my body, squeezing the wind from my lungs in the process.
“Dyna, Dyna! Please wake up,” I pleaded as her limp arms hung at her side. I tried to speak again, but failed. I was completely out of breath.
“Two fresh specimens for King Falcor,” the dragon bellowed.
King Falcor? Is that the king of the dragons?
“You may pass,” a gravelly voice echoed from inside the castle.
With a loud creak, the doors finally opened wide enough for our captor to fly in.
Lined with lit torches, the expansive hallway went on as far as my eyes could see. The dragon’s wings beat with such vigor that we covered a large amount of ground with every flap. There was no way a dragon could fit in the halls of my family’s palace. In fact, the only place he would fit without having to crouch down, would be the ballroom. This castle must be at least ten times bigger than mine, if not more.
As he kept flying, I tried to keep track and make a mental map of the ground we covered, but as the dragon took turn after turn, I quickly lost track.
“Why did you take us?” I screamed, still struggling against his grasp. “Let the little mermaid go! You can keep me!”
The dragon let out a low chuckle. It reverberated off the walls.
I clawed at his scales. “Are you the one who has been kidnapping the merchildren?”
Continuing to laugh, the dragon took two more right turns.
“Answer me,” I demanded.
The dragon ignored me and continued to fly until the sounds of a musical instrument filled the air. The sounds were much different than the flutercons that were played every morning in our castle. Instead of sounding deep and full of bass, these notes were light and airy. If I hadn’t been in the clutches of a dragon, I think I would have enjoyed the music.
Coming to a complete stop, the dragon dumped Dyna’s lifeless body on the floor first, followed by mine. We were in the middle of the largest room I had ever seen. Columns towered above our heads and in front of us there was a fireplace longer than three great white sharks lined up tail to snout. Are they going to cook us alive? I won’t let them kill Dyna. I’ll sacrifice myself before they get their disgusting claws on her again.
Springing to my hands and the knobby joint in the middle of my legs, I crawled over to Dyna and cradled her head in my hands. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, I rocked her limp body back and forth. “I’m so sorry, Dyna,” I whispered. “I’ll make this right, I promise.”
A massive shadow fell over our bodies. “Zagnu, you have done well.”
Looking up, my jaw dropped in horror. The beast who had stolen us from the sea looked miniscule in comparison to the dragon who stood in front of us, licking his coral-sharp teeth.
“They were on the rocks,” Zagnu said straightening his wings and pushing back his shoulders. “They practically begged me to take them.”
The pure terror had left me unable to move my limbs. Casting my gaze down, I stared at my legs. I knew there wouldn’t be any way I could outrun a dragon; I mean, I could barely stand. But… if I could get back to the sea, I could dive in and swim away. Yeah, like there’s any way he’d let me get near water!
With a spiked beard and armor-clad black scales covering his entire body, the massive dragon cocked his head to the side and grinned a toothy grin. “You brought two. Zagnu, I’m impressed.” His tongue flickered in and out of his mouth. He looked like a massive sea serpent from the stories parents told their children, hoping to keep them from exploring the surface.
The smaller dragon grinned and bowed. “Thank you, your Majesty.”
Breaking my train of thought, he bellowed, “Cyrus and Kyler, you’re needed.” His voice was so loud, I let go of Dyna, only for a split second, to cover my ears.
Taking the small mermaid back into my arms, I braced for more dragons to enter the room. What were they going to do with us? Would we find out what happened to the other missing mermaids? A sickening feeling sunk into the pit of my stomach.
Two large steel doors slowly started to open with an ear-piercing screech.
I tilted my head, bringing my right ear to my shoulder and tried to block out the noise. As soon as it stopped, I leaned down, doing my best to cover Dyna’s body. The mermaid still hadn’t stirred, but her chest rose and fell. Thank Amphitrite she’s still breathing. It was probably a good thing she wasn’t awake right now.
Gulping, I braced for an attack and cursed myself for being so curious. This entire situation was my fault. I should have told her no. I should have told her going to the surface was forbidden. I should have bit my tongue and stayed as far away from the dragon as possible.
Guilt washed over me as a pair of small, cloaked figures appeared around the corner. Their crimson robes swished with every step. Landwalkers? No, it couldn’t be…
“Two, your Majesty?”
I squinted. The voice emanated from a face hidden by a large hood.
“Yes,” the Dragon King said with a wicked grin.
One of the cloaked figures reached up and pushed the hood back.
My jaw dropped as the figure’s sea green eyes met mine. It IS a landwalker! By the grace of Amphitrite, it’s a real-life human!
As he continued staring, I felt like his gaze was piercing my soul. Suddenly aware that my mouth was hanging wide open, I snapped it shut and tried to hide my surprise.
“Will they come willingly?” he asked.
“It’s best to take precautions,” the Dragon King said in a low gravelly voice.
Without another word, the other figure snapped twice before pulling out a hood and shoving it over my head. Everything went black and my screams were instantly muted by the fabric.
I clawed at the woven bag until my hands were pulled and secured behind my back. I winced as the rope cut into my wrists.
“Move,” a gruff voice demanded.
I tried to take a step forward, but tripped and fell. A hand grabbed my arm, saving me from crashing face first into the floor.
“Careful,” a second voice responded, pulling me back up.
“Yeah right, like you care,” I spat.
Two hands steadied me on my feet, but the landwalker refused to respond.
“Let’s go,” barked one of t
hem, sending a sinking feeling of desperation through my body.
Stumbling, I managed to walk forward a few more steps before tripping a second time.
The heat from a frustrated sigh hit the back of my neck. “That’s enough of that.”
Strong hands wrapped around my waist and hoisted my body into the air.
An icy sensation spread through my chest as the weight of day settled in. I’m on land… In a dragon lair… and I’m going to die.
4
The sound of a knife ripping through the ropes holding my wrists caused me to flinch.
“Please don’t kill her,” I cried. “You can have me, just don’t take her.”
My arms fell to my sides as someone shoved me from behind.
As my body sunk into the ice-cold water, I ripped the hood off of my head. Bright lights lined one side of a large enclosed body of water. The other three sides were unnaturally dark. Holding up my arm, I felt my legs go numb. By the time I looked down, my legs had disappeared and my tail emerged.
Dyna’s slumped body floated a few feet away. Shaking off the ropes, I swam toward her and removed her hood. The small girl remained still, but she had a pulse and her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.
Sinking to the bottom, I watched as a large plate of glass settled on top of the see-through prison we were being held in. It was only about twenty sea turtles deep by ten wide. With the single pump of my tail, I could make it from one side to the other in the blink of an eye. Why did they put us in here? What are they going to do to us next?
“Rest, I’ll be back in the morning.” The voice was calm and steady.
My head snapped up, trying to catch a glance of the landwalkers who had brought us here. Neither the one who refused to show his face nor the one with the sea green eyes were visible.
“If you need anything, press the red button near the speaker.”
Speaker?
Searching the tank, my gaze landed on a soft glowing red button. I debated pressing it immediately and demanding to be let go, but I knew the request would be ignored. Plus, asking one of these monsters for help was the last thing I planned on doing.
“Good night,” the voice crackled through the speakers.
I couldn’t be sure, but his voice held a hint of guilt as he spoke.
With a loud swoosh, the lights went out, leaving us in pitch black.
My heart shattered into a million pieces as my eyes stung. What have I done?
“Aria?”
I felt a slight tug at my arm.
“Go away, Gemma,” I mumbled swatting at the hand on my bicep.
“Aria, it’s not Gemma. It’s me, Dyna.”
My eyes shot open. Panic welled up in my chest as I tried to see through the inky darkness.
“Dyna! Dyna! Where are you?” I said, groping at the empty water near me.
“I’m here,” she whispered, swimming in front of me. “I just woke up.” She still had a few strands of glowing seaweed wrapped around her little body.
I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled her in and wrapped my arms around her small frame.
Dyna pulled back. “Where are we? I tried to go get help, but we’re stuck in some kind of box.”
“It’s not good, Dyna,” I whispered.
Her voice filled with concern. “What? What’s wrong?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked.
The small girl scratched her head, the seaweed around her neck swaying in the process. “You brought the food and we put it in my house. Then we went to the surface to see the…” she trailed off.
I nodded. “The dragon. It grabbed you from the rocks.”
She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! He got you too!”
Pausing, I thought carefully about my next words. “Yes,” said, half lying, “he got me too.” I didn’t want her to know that I had sacrificed myself to try and save her, but clearly failed.
Her lower lip started to tremble. “Are they going to eat us?”
The thought had crossed my mind more than once, but the fact that we hadn’t been eaten yet allowed a glimmer of hope.
“I don’t think so,” I lied again. “They would have already eaten us if they wanted to.”
Tears started streaming down her face. “I want to go home, Aria. I- I- I want to see my mom and dad.”
I wrapped my arms around her again and squeezed her tightly. “We’ll get out of this, I promise.”
Her body shook as she sobbed, burying her face into my shoulder. “I don’t understand? Why did he take us?”
“I don’t know, Dyna. But I promise you, I’m going to find out.”
Rubbing my eyes, I groaned as I rolled over and reached for my seaweed earplugs. The guards must be practicing drills outside, I thought as a loud drumming sound filled the water.
“Ugh,” I complained, “where are they?”
Forcing an eye open, I expected to see my marble nightstand and the earplugs sitting in a small bowl. Instead, my heart jumped into my throat as my gaze was met by a gigantic fiery orange dragon.
A shrill scream escaped my lips as the dragon leaned toward the glass wall and snorted.
Dyna woke up with a startled expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
I turned her body toward mine. “Don’t look, Dyna. Okay? Just keep facing me.”
Ignoring my request, Dyna turned around and let out a shriek so loud it hurt my ears.
Slamming her body against mine, Dyna dug her fingers into my shoulders as she hid her face in my neck.
The dragon tilted its head to the right, its long spiral horn dragging along the glass. The sound caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end.
Dyna immediately released her grip on my shoulders and covered her ears.
“Enough, Lazarus,” boomed a familiar voice. “You know they’re new. Let them be.”
My heart slammed in my chest as I searched for the source of the voice.
He stood on the side of the tank, using a pulley system to raise the glass top. Kyler stood to his left with a smirk plastered across his face.
The dragon’s neck straightened out as he huffed one more time, filling the glass with steam.
Wait! That glass was black as night before. Did they have some kind of shroud up before?
“Leave,” Cyrus said in a low voice, “now.” His shoulders shot up to his ears. He shoved his hand in his pocket. “Please!”
Green eyes flashing, the dragon flapped his wings before finally disappearing.
Beyond the glass, stars sparkled in the night’s sky. They looked like little orbs of hope, hanging just out of reach.
A loud chime sounded three times. Both Cyrus and Kyler looked at each other.
“I’ll see to the King,” said Kyler. His grey eyes were cold and reminded me of the great white sharks that patrolled the seas. In an instant, he spun on his heel and left the room.
“Sorry,” said Cyrus, looking down into the tank. “The dragons aren’t supposed to be up here right now and Kyler…” His voice trailed off. “Kyler shouldn’t have turned the tank’s shield off.”
“Why are you helping them?” I snapped. “They’re vile murderous monsters.”
Cyrus’s shoulders fell. “I know it seems like that, but it’s complicated.”
“Complicated,” I shot back. “We should be home with our families! Not here, in dragon territory. There’s nothing complicated about that!”
“Dyna, stay here,” I said, lowering my voice. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her.
As she nodded, I swam toward the surface. We weren’t going to have this conversation through a speaker or ten feet of water, I wanted to speak to him face-to-face.
“You need to let us go,” I demanded. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Cyrus’s chest rose and then deflated. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I know it might not seem like it, but if you just follow the rules, things will be okay.”
&nb
sp; Rage shot through my veins. “We’ve been kidnapped by dragons, who you’re helping. Unless you return us to the sea, things are never going to be okay!”
“I’ll explain more soon,” Cyrus said, “but for the time being, I need you to be patient.”
Heat crept up my neck as my anger reached its peak. “PATIENT? What in the coral is wrong with you?”
“What’s your name?” Cyrus asked, throwing me off slightly.
“You don’t deserve to know my name,” I spat.
He paused. “Okay, I get it. You don’t know me, I don’t know you. What I can tell you is—”
“You don’t need to tell me anything! You just need to let us go,” I seethed. Anger coiled in my core like a sea serpent ready to strike an unsuspecting fish.
Holding up his hands, Cyrus took several steps back. “I understand. It will all make sense soon.”
“You understand?” I asked in disbelief. “Nothing will make sense as long as we are being held against our will above the sea.”
He opened his mouth, but then shut it.
My eyes searched his face. A pained expression settled in as he bent down and picked up a tray.
“You must be starving. There are kelp bars and a few things from the land that you might like to try.”
I narrowed my eyes on his. “You probably are trying to poison us.”
Instead of arguing, Cyrus held up the kelp bar, then brought it to his mouth and took a bite. Next, he picked up a small red sphere, showed it to me, then took a bite. He repeated the action with a number of items I didn’t recognize.
He opened his mouth and placed his pointer fingers on either side of his mouth, proving that he had swallowed the food. “See, it’s safe.”
Cyrus bent down and placed a top on the tray. “Here it comes,” he said, placing it on a steel shelf sticking out of the water. He pressed a green button and stood back.
My stomach growled as the food lowered, but I refused to appear hungry or in any way eager. He might not be a fire-breathing dragon, but he was still the enemy. Showing any sign of weakness could cost both myself and Dyna our lives.
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