Fire (The Mermaid Legacy - Book 2)

by Hardy, Natasha

  “You are so lucky.” Alazne’s voice cut through my thoughts as the children swirled around me, all of them watching the practice too.

  “Why?” I asked her, smiling as Nessa and Bo both wiggled their way into my lap.

  “You get to be a part of this, you get to do something. We have to all watch and then wait to see who comes back from the battle.”

  I could imagine how frustrating that must be.

  “What would you rather be doing?”

  “Fighting!”

  I shook my head. “You don’t know what that means, Alazne. You don’t want to be part of the battle that is to come.”

  “Why not? We are more powerful than the adults and it’s for us that you are all risking your lives.”

  “And the reason we’re doing that is to keep you safe, to keep you from being hurt, physically and emotionally. Throwing you into the middle of a battle is hardly fulfilling that goal is it?”

  Lyr and Muirgel arrived while we were talking. They listened quietly as Alazne continued to argue.

  “You treat us like we are helpless, but we’re not, we could be such an important part of this.”

  “And you are.” Lyr replied, “you are the motivating factor that drives most of these Oceanids to attempt the impossible. If you join us in this battle not only will everyone be so focused on protecting you that they leave themselves open to attack, but many will stop supporting Alexandra because their reason for fighting no longer exists.”

  Alazne was quiet as she thought through what Lyr had said.

  I mouthed a thank you before changing the topic.

  “I need an hour-long crash course on Oceanid war etiquette, why you’ve gone to war before, what are the norms, why they exist…can you do that?”

  They looked at each other uncertainly. “An hour is a very short time but we can try.”

  They swam in slow lazy circles around me as they spoke and spoke, filling me in on centuries of history. At first I couldn’t make out any reasonable pattern to it. This king had attacked a fleet of human ships because they had dropped anchors in his pearl gardens, the next king had attacked humans living in a village who had seen his daughters and taken them for their own pleasure. – at least that one I could understand – the next king had annihilated a group of explorers in the Antarctic because they had seen his ice palace glimmering through the crystal-clear water below them.

  Eventually I interrupted them as the reasons for the attacks grew more and more bizarre. “Why did those kings attack the humans? I mean whaling I can understand, even the king’s daughter I can understand, but the rest of it? It was just stuff…”

  “No, Alexandra, it was proof of our existence,” Muirgel said quietly. “That is what Oceanids have protected for time immemorial.”

  “Neith’s plan to attack the humans on a large scale is unprecedented. He will reveal the existence of our species. Your reasoning for wanting to stop him attacking the humans is very good but the greatest reason to stop him is because revealing ourselves to the humans puts us in enormous danger.”

  “But if they knew you existed don’t you think they would make a greater effort to preserve your environment?”

  They both shook their heads. “Maybe in the long term, but the chances of Oceanids being captured for examination and ‘scientific ‘research is far too great. We can’t afford human curiosity, particularly with the type of viral communication capability you now have. The chances are good that we would be considered not as ‘human’ as humans are and subject to them…I mean can you imagine a market developing for Oceanid as friends or slaves or…or worse?”

  I wanted to defend humanity by telling them that that would never happen, but we all knew that other species had suffered just such a fate.

  “Neith must honestly believe that he can completely annihilate them to take this type of risk,” Lyr muttered.

  “Or he is over-confident.” Pelagius had joined the discussion.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because I’ve been listening to him for over a year now and Neith is anything but grounded.”

  “We can’t even let him try to attack the humans, we have to attack him before he attacks them.”

  “Lyr, Muirgel, what are the specific rules Oceanids have around war?”

  “Well, we don’t attack en masse, and we also respect the migratory patterns and movements of the creatures we share this space with. We only fight during the day and never over the Full Moon Festival.”

  “The what?”

  “The Full Moon Festival is a festival held every month at which the whole pod gathers. It is a time for community and a time to share family news and to dance and tell stories. We hold all of our ceremonies there, partnerships are approved, babies announced, coming death announced.”

  “Death?”

  “Yes, all Oceanids know or have a sense of when their time is coming.”

  “And you tell each other about this?” The idea made my stomach squirm.

  “Well, of course, with the pod so reliant on every member it’s vital that we know when a member is going to leave us. It is practical and beautiful and allows loved ones to cherish one another in their last moments.”

  “So did the Oceanids in the mountain pod observe this festival too?”

  “Yes of course, we held it about a week before you came. There was great concern at the number of Oceanids that announced the potential of their death. We all assumed it was something like an earthquake or some other natural phenomenon. None of us, not even Neith, dreamed it would be what it was.”

  “And are these premonitions always right?”

  “Most of the time, but not always…it’s a feeling that grows in certainty over time. Some try to deny it, but in the end it is seldom proven wrong.”

  “When is the next festival being held?”

  “In three days.”

  As they’d been speaking I knew that we would attack on the festival at midnight. It would be the most unexpected time and best of all it was soon. Every moment I was away from Merrick I worried about him.

  I listened to Muirgel and Lyr for a little while longer before asking to see the armour I’d been told was ready.

  Sabrina had joined me and was chattering excitedly. She had been involved in its preparation having taken an interest in it as soon as I announced to the group that we would be using it.

  The Oceanid that swam into view looked more alien than I could have ever imagined, emerald and turquoise and covered in a scaling of coins that glittered over his chest and abdomen. His legs seemed moulded into a single tail with a short but widely flared fin at the bottom. His hair looked to have been shorn and his bald scalp, decorated in writing, also held a tear-drop shaped coin covering that flowed over his brow and covered the top half of his face.

  His Mizrak was fastened to him behind his back and extended in a sharp point just above his head, completely changing his profile.

  I swam up to him, examining the cloth in awe. It wrapped in a single layer tightly clinging to his body like a second skin.

  “ Other than the coins, that doesn’t look like it offers much protection against any form of weaponry.”

  “No it doesn’t but look a little closer.” He grinned as he extended his arm.

  A network of hair-fine threads became obvious as I stared at the muscle. It covered his whole body and when I stretched my curious fingers to touch it a shimmer of blue energy ran over it before it arced out and stung my exploring finger.

  “Ouch!” I exclaimed sucking the finger.

  “Good thing you didn’t touch it,” he said. “Some of the strands contain a powerful venom which can make you feel quite ill.”

  “How are you able to wear it then?” I asked.

  “We smear ourselves with a paste that protects us from the sting and the poison,” h replied, showing me the layer of brightly coloured fatty-looking substance that covered his body.

  “The paste is coloured,” Muirge
l interrupted, “it forms a type of disguise, making us less recognisably human, helping us protect our identity too.”

  “How many of these do we have?”

  “We have enough for almost the whole army.”

  “I want something similar made for the Zmija’s faces.

  “The Zmija? What do they need armour for?” Sabrina asked.

  “I want them finished by tonight,” I replied, ignoring her question.

  Sabrina gaped at me.

  “That’s impossible!”

  “Not if we put some more people into getting it done it isn’t.”

  She nodded. “Why do you want it done so quickly?” Her question was phrased aggressively and as I turned to her the faintest glimmer of suspicion curled from her into the water.

  “I want to practise with it,” I told her honestly.

  “Come on, Alex, tell us when we are going to attack…that way we’ll know how quickly we need to get this done, you know, how many resources to put into it.”

  “I want it done by tonight, Sabrina.”

  “So does that mean we’re attacking tonight?” Her voice was anxious and I couldn’t quite tell why, but her anxiety seemed a bit out of place.

  “I don’t know when we’re going to attack,” I replied cagily.

  “Oh come on…of course you do, you’re the leader…” she carried on pushing.

  Dad interrupted the conversation.

  “Are you ready to start practising formation again?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I replied, watching worriedly as Sabrina swam away from me.

  I swam for the surface, indicating he should come with me and breaking the skin of the sea for the first time in what felt like an age.

  “Dad, we have to attack in three days’ time.”

  “Why? It’s the Full Moon Festival.”

  I nodded. “Exactly.”

  “I’ve been thinking about how we get our spy into Neith’s ranks,” Dad said. “Although this timing doesn’t give us much time to get it right, we might still be able to pull it off if Cyan takes them in.”

  “Cyan? But that is sending her into the heart of the danger.”

  He nodded.

  “We can’t do that, Dad.”

  “We are going to have to, Alex, if we want someone on the inside.”

  I shook my head.

  “Alex, she chose to work with Neith. Yes, she was in an awful predicament but she could have spoken to Aoi, she could have come forward and let us help her.”

  I tried to interrupt him but he continued.

  “I know this is hard and you want to protect everyone under your command but the chances are thatmore than one of them is going to get hurt or even die. That is the choice each of them has made and the choice Cyan made just increased the chances of that happening to them. The least she can do to prove her loyalty to The Haven and win back their trust is to play this pivotal role in the battle.”

  I still didn’t like it but had to admit that Dad was making sense.

  “Who are we going to send in with her?”

  “I was hoping you had some suggestions.”

  I had been thinking about it since we’d first discussed it but was struggling to picture which Oceanid would be able to convince Neith he’d really defected.

  “The only Oceanid who has shown real opposition for what we’re planning is Takimu…”

  Dad thought about it for a few moments.

  “He would be good. He’s got the fighting training to do some real damage once the battle starts and he’s easily the most anti-human Oceanid here.”

  “Yes, but is he loyal to me? It’s going to take someone pretty strong to resist Neith’s Påvirke.”

  “Oh, he’s loyal and if Cyan does her job well he shouldn’t come under too much scrutiny.”

  “What do we want Cyan to do?”

  “We’ll feed all of them false information just in case and we need Cyan to take Takimu to Neith as a defector.”

  We discussed the plan at length with Aoi and were more than assured of Takimu’s loyalty to The Haven. When he was called into the council room and given the choice to go to Ferengren and set up a diversion or stay at The Haven, he immediately chose Ferengren.

  To protect Cyan, we didn’t tell her anything.

  After, dad and I left The Haven with almost all of the Oceanids taking them to the walls outside to practise shooting with the harpoons and the underwater bows.

  The weapons were unfamiliar in their hands and it took a great deal of patient explanation before some of them understood the mechanism better and managed to at least fire them.

  I picked up a bow and pulled the string back, expecting the arrow to shoot in the direction I’d pointed it. Instead it flew from the string and then lost force and trajectory very quickly, floating uselessly to the ocean floor.

  “I don’t understand why it’s not shooting properly,” I told Dad when he came past on one of his rounds.

  “These weapons are not long range. It takes a great deal of strength to get the type of performance from them that we need.”

  He pointed at some of the larger Oceanids who were stretching the string further than I thought was physically possible before releasing the arrows which cut through the water and embedded themselves in the walls of The Haven.

  “OK, so only the strongest can man these weapons? That leaves us really weak everywhere else because they will also be the best Mizrak fighters won’t they?”

  Dad shook his head. “Once the arrows and harpoons are shot they are gone so these Oceanids can then join the rest in the attack.”

  “What are we going to do if Neith has the children out front?”

  Dad was thoughtful. “Do you think he would use the children against us?”

  “I think he’ll throw everything he’s got at us.”

  We spent another hour practising outside The Haven and while we were outside Takimu freed Cyan and ‘escaped’ with her and several others. To this day I don’t know what he said to inspire such courage in her but when we returned from target practice she and the relatively minuscule group of brave Oceanids had gone.

  I felt sick to my stomach with worry at the reception they would receive when they arrived at Ferengren.

  Pelagius found me hovering near the entrance to Cyan’s prison.

  “They will arrive at Ferengren tonight,” he told me. They’ve already made contact with the Oceanids she was feeding information to and the first contact has gone well. Cyan and Takimu and his team are safe for now.”

  I swallowed hard and smiled wanly at him, worry still creasing my forehead.

  “You’re going to win this thing, Alexandra, and in doing so you will live up to your name as the Defender of Men.”

  I shook my head. “What if we don’t, Pelagius? What if I’m not strong enough, what if we’re not strong enough… So many lives rest in my hands and I don’t know if I’m brave enough to throw them into danger like this. Just sending those Oceanids out to Neith, I can’t think straight I’m so worried.”

  He smiled at me. “Alexandra, that just proves you are ready to do this. If you are thinking about the Oceanids and the danger they are in now, then it shows you are ready to lead them into battle because you will keep them as safe as you can, you will lead them well. Remember, even if we don’t attack Neith the fight will come here, maybe not immediately but eventually it will and when it does, then The Haven will fall because we will all be too weak to stop him.”

  23. Talents

  I returned to the arena ready for the most critical part of our plan. I needed to teach them to share talents with me. As I organised the Oceanids into the groups we’d been working with I wondered how many of them would be coming home after the battle. The thought made me more determined than ever to help them.

  They formed a circle standing just beyond arm’s reach of the person on either side. After we had stated our names and talents Dad asked everyone in turn how they expected to react when attacked. T
he responses ranged from hiding to vicious combat, and in my case the use of the myriad of talents I had at my fingertips.

  Dad listened patiently to each description before speaking.

  “You have all stated a reaction they will expect, an individual use of the powerful talents you have been blessed with at birth. Unfortunately that will not be enough to save you or keep Alexandra safe and that, my friends, is the most important part of this mission.”

  A flame of embarrassment lit my cheeks as he continued.

  “If they get hold of Alexandra we will lose.”

  “Dad, that’s not true,” I interrupted him, blushing at the embarrassed expressions of those around me as I argued with him.

  Khazhak interrupted me. “It is true, Alexandra. You do not know yet how they plan to change you to join them, Zydrunas is right in keeping you from that test. We will surprise them by using multiple talents in waves.” He nodded to me.

  “Each word I have taught you is also associated with a specific talent.” I went through the list carefully explaining how, when the word was communicated, they should react.

  “I will decide the combination only when we are in the thick of battle,” I told them, “that way we can ensure complete surprise. What I need from you is immediate and unquestioning action.”

  They nodded, their faces open and trusting and more terrifying than I could have imagined possible. I held their lives in my trembling inexperienced hands and worst of all was their complete willingness to place that much trust in me.

  “What I want you to get used to today is accessing and sharing each other’s talents through Alexandra,” Dad said and then called me into the centre of the group, taking my place in the circle and encouraging all of them to crowd around me and touch an exposed piece of my skin.

  At first nothing happened and then one of them, a muscular woman with the stance of royalty, began to giggle. I turned and watched her skin change colour until she disappeared. Another Oceanid, on the other side of the circle was watching her too and grinning from ear to ear before opening his mouth and emitting a piercing shriek so sudden and loud that I ducked. It was answered by a dozen bellows from the Zmija outside of The Haven.