by Starla Night
How wrong Elan had been. As he had discovered, to his fury.
As they all had.
Aya spoke. “Honor is important to warriors.”
“Honor is all we have.”
They crossed the plateau to the border of the ancient city.
She lifted her head with a gasp. “Are we too late?”
“This is ancient Atlantis.”
“Are you sure?”
“Humans build with stone and metal. If our new city was destroyed, only bare ocean would remain.”
The stone wreckage spilled across a vast distance. Broken towers, jutting beams, and crushed habitations looked as though a giant fist had smashed the city into the ocean floor. At this depth, current swept it bare, and it was too far from the sunlight or another source of energy to hold much marine life.
In ancient times, old Atlantis was a meeting place for mer and humans. They lived in harmony. With the flip of a lever, the city could rise to the surface or sink beneath the waves.
A thousand years ago, an unknown catastrophe had wrecked the city and mer-human relations. Humans began hunting the mer. The mer closed in on themselves, hiding their existence. And their queens died out, damning their race. Only a secret covenant formed with brides on sacred islands scattered across the ocean allowed their race to survive.
Until now. Modern times had emptied the islands, and the covenant had started to do more harm than good.
That was the principle Kadir had founded the new Atlantis upon. It was time to reveal their existence to the modern world and join with brides who came to them of their own wish. Brides who wanted to stay on longer than the birth of their young fry. Brides who wished to become queens.
Except Soren had transformed Aya without her wish. She had wanted to join with Kadir, not him. And he had refused her request to go to the surface or to return her to her undersea dive platform.
These were all crimes in Atlantis.
Once more, Soren betrayed those who most trusted in him.
And now, with the risk of a megalodon, he feared the wreckage of the old city foretold the future for the new city, too.
Soren crossed the wreckage cautiously. They were so near to their goal. Distraction now invited disaster to strike.
Aya squinted. “What’s that pinprick of light?”
His chest relaxed. “That is the Life Tree.”
“Oh.” She collapsed against him. “Then it’s okay. Blake didn’t destroy the base when he ripped off the top. The new city is still alive.”
Yes. Even though Soren had abandoned his warriors in the middle of a battle to rescue Aya, his enemies had lost. Kadir and Queen Elyssa had prevailed.
He kicked harder, revitalized by the distant, twinkling light of home.
Directly beneath him, four warriors flew up from the wreck.
Curse it. He had been distracted.
Soren jack-knifed to meet them. His patrols? No. He knew the aquamarine tattoos blazing across the leader’s bitter snarl.
“Elan!” He spit the name of the enemy warlord who had led the battle against Atlantis, distracting Soren while the human submersible attacked their Life Tree and injured Aya. “I gave you mercy and you dare to linger? You break all the rules of honorable combat.”
Elan sneered from beneath him. “The Demon of Dragao Azul dares to lecture me about honor.”
His insult cut deep. Soren had betrayed Elan in the worst way on the night he lost his honor. Elan was right to be angry.
Confronted with his rightful enemy, the heart cords in Soren’s chest squeezed.
He roared to attack.
Aya squeaked.
Soren kicked his fins, pulling back. He couldn’t attack with Aya in his arms.
Elan’s raiders surrounded them. Their long tridents shone with deadly precision. Daggers gleamed at the straps on their biceps and thighs.
Elan bared his teeth. “I have long fantasized about what I would do to you on the battlefield. You escaped me last time. You will not do so now.”
Soren growled. “Do not threaten a warrior and his bride.”
The other raiders shifted uncomfortably. They were warriors Soren didn’t know. But it was a huge breach to threaten a bride. A bride could be carrying a young fry. Brides and young fry were always to be treasured, no matter their origin.
Elan’s eyes widened. His teeth glinted. “Ah! This is your bride? Excuse me for speaking so roughly. Shall I take her to the surface for you once you are dead?”
His heart throbbed again. But his muscles clenched on Aya protectively. “Do not touch her.”
“No, no, no. I would never touch another male’s bride.” Elan lowered his trident at Soren. “I will only touch you.”
He charged.
Soren dove backward, kicking hard and twisting to keep Aya protected. The trident slashed his back. Fire seared him. He groaned.
Aya stiffened with fear.
Soren kicked to face Elan again. His lower back throbbed.
“General Elan.” One of the raiders grimaced. “You should not attack a bride.”
“I am not attacking the bride.” The male laughed without mirth. His eyes were flat with fury. “Soren is using her as a shield. All he must do is toss her to you. She will be returned to the surface where she belongs. Right, Second Lieutenant Soren?”
Curse Elan.
His former First Lieutenant, now promoted to General of the invading army, kicked to Soren with deadly intent.
Soren dove sideways, again twirling Aya. The trident pierced his side and ripped. New fire splashed up to his armpit and down to his thigh. He trembled, struggling to hold Aya, and panted.
Aya made a noise. She touched his bloodied side. “You’re hurt.”
“I am fine.” He gathered himself to face the enemy. He had to unnerve Elan and get his trident away — with Aya still in his arms.
Distraction…
Soren snarled. “Do you teach your son this dishonor?”
Elan’s face blanked.
The taunt hit the mark.
Blind fury poured into Elan’s body, shaking him beyond reason. He raised his trident. “Die screaming, betrayer!” He kicked.
“General Elan!” the other raiders cried and flew to stop him.
But they were too late.
Soren braced.
The attack went wild. The trident wobbled crazily. Which way to dodge? Elan was so out of control he no longer seemed conscious that Soren held Aya.
No choice. No time.
Soren darted to the right —into the path of Elan’s trident.
Elan’s mouth twisted in furious triumph.
The trident centered to pierce Soren’s chest.
Aya screamed and held out her hands. “No!”
White light erupted from her fingers.
The trident flew backward. Elan’s jaw dropped in shock. Then, the light zoomed outward in a circle, radiating like a shockwave. It caught Elan in the chest and smashed him back. It thumped the other raiders, knocking them sideways and off their fins.
It flew a little farther, then dissipated.
Elan’s trident fell out of his hands and dropped for the city.
The raiders laid still.
Aya lowered her shoulders. She checked Soren’s chest. The trident hadn’t pierced. She rubbed little scratches. “Are you okay?”
He also released his fears. “Better now.”
Aya was a powerful queen. She had the ancient abilities written about in legend, just like Queen Elyssa. He had been right all along.
She had to feel her power and believe.
Elan coughed and struggled to suck in water. His chest moved but his gills on his lower back fluttered as though he couldn’t draw in water. The other raiders moaned and righted themselves. They regarded Soren with new anger and fear.
“Leave us,” Soren growled at them. “I show you mercy. If you have any respect for my bride or for the rules of combat, do not return.”
“Respect?” Elan cou
ghed again and stared at them. “That is no bride to respect. That is a monster.”
Aya stiffened.
Soren roared. “She is a powerful warrior! That is why we will beat you, Elan. All of you. Even if you destroy your honor by attacking us. Even if you dare to lure out a megalodon!”
In the distance, more warriors emerged from the surrounding sea. The bright lights of their souls glowed with the resonance of the Atlantis Life Tree. His warriors, hearing their battle, came now to their assistance.
Elan saw the newcomers as well. He snarled.
“We will return. I will have my vengeance!”
He dove for his trident, capturing it before it lodged in the wreckage, and flew after his other raiders, disappearing into the open sea.
“Am I a monster?” Aya asked softly.
“No. You are magnificent.”
She held him tightly. “I was so scared.”
“I know.”
He turned to his warriors and kicked. The Life Tree twinkled like a promise. Trust in Aya. His side and back burned, but the fire in his heart brightened.
He was unworthy. His dishonor could not be forgiven. He had hurt too many to be absolved.
But dwelling on it was like poking a scar until it bled.
Soren would stop poking that scar. He laid his honor to rest and buried it. The stitched over wound would glow with his bride’s light.
Yes. His bride.
He would convince her to accept him. He would convince her to join with him. He would convince her to marry him.
Aya had power.
She would protect the city. He would protect her.
There was hope.
Chapter Thirteen
It was hopeless.
Aya clung to Soren. He was bleeding everywhere, red tangy liquid gushing from his side and on his back, and he had almost died. That trident had aimed for his heart.
And like when the megalodon’s teeth closed on him, there had been nothing Aya could do.
Nothing but scream from the bottom of her heart, “No!”
And then, without any control on her part, lightning jolted out her fingertips and flew in a disk around her, shoving the trident and the attackers back.
Somehow.
The leader, Elan, called her a monster.
It was not the first time in her life someone looked at her like that.
“What’s wrong with you?” the opposing team leader had demanded when she beat them at ten straight challenges in the Math Olympiad in elementary school. Elan’s same horror had transfixed that girl. “Is your brain damaged?”
After elementary school, people grew subtler in how they judged her. Her project partners stared when she nailed a presentation she’d been practicing for weeks and they stumbled over reading their notes. Her coworkers snorted when she scored a major investor she’d been stalking. Their cheer was tinged by disbelief.
There was something wrong with her.
That’s why they went out to celebrate the new investment and she went home alone to her dark apartment to sleep.
Soren called her a powerful warrior.
Her blood hummed.
She quieted it.
He hadn’t been horrified at all. He’d been glorious. Her talent excited him. He said he liked strong women and she almost believed him. He was so powerful in his faith. Redeemed.
But that was his mistake.
For the first time in her life, she couldn’t reproduce the magic. How had she done it? Could she really just hold out her hand and scream?
No, she couldn’t. She’d tried that technique silently a hundred times on the flight back to Atlantis. It didn’t work once.
“Calm, Aya.” Soren stroked her back. “You fought well. You are a powerful warrior.”
“It was an accident,” she emphasized.
“No accident.” He laughed. “You channeled the power of the Life Tree. Queens do this. You are a queen. This power could defeat the megalodon.”
Her gut churned.
His faith was misplaced. She wasn’t powerful. She was scared, confused, and out of control.
This underwater world was violent. She’d never had to face physical violence before. It was frightening and strange. And she didn’t want to hurt anyone! Not on purpose or by mistake. She wanted to run away.
Now, Soren limped through the water, charging a second group of naked warriors. Friends or foes? Their tridents clenched at their sides looked just as sharp. They had daggers strapped to biceps and thighs. And, just like the enemies, the only stitch of clothes on their bodies were the markings of differently colored tattoos.
“Who are they?” she asked, clinging onto him tighter.
“That is Lotar,” he said, indicating the approaching leader. “Do you not remember him from the bride pageant?”
Yes, she remembered him. Back then, he’d been wearing jeans and flip-flops.
Now, he had a lot more on display. All of them did.
The quiet warrior reached them. He saluted by pinching his fingers together in loops and touching them in the center of his chest. His timberwolf gray tattoos matched his eyes. He focused on Soren. “It is good to see you.”
“And you, Lotar,” Soren replied. “Kadir is well?”
Lotar nodded and his gaze fixed on Aya. He made the salute at her also. His eyes did not leave her face.
It was like he didn’t even notice she was naked.
The other two warriors treated her the same way.
She recognized them from the bride pageant also. Their names were Iyen, the soldier with maroon tattoos who even now gazed beyond them as though intending to pursue the raiders, and Ciran, the warrior with forest green and coffee brown tattoos, who always appeared to be taking notes in his head, tapping his fingers together and calculating.
Funny, but after the first shock of the transformation, when Soren ripped her dry suit off, she’d never thought of her nakedness again. Yet, here she was, surrounded by guys with thick, tattooed cocks swinging in the current.
None of them were excited by seeing her bare skin. Maybe they didn’t find her attributes to be worth getting excited about.
Lotar studied Soren’s wounds. They had looked so bad before, but they were already bleeding less. On the surface, that would mean someone was running out of blood, but Soren didn’t look like he was about to pass out. Elyssa said the Life Tree made the mer hardier and heal easier. It looked like that was true.
Lotar turned toward the twinkling Life Tree and kicked slowly. The other warriors fell in behind them, guarding them. “We heard your struggle. Our enemy is persistent.”
“He attacks without honor,” Ciran piped up. “We cannot use your old patrol patterns. He guesses every one.”
“He would,” Soren muttered. “Elan was my First Lieutenant in Dragao Azul. His vendetta is personal.”
The warriors dropped silent.
“But do not fear.” His lips curved. “Aya wields the power of the Life Tree. She is the most powerful queen Atlantis has ever seen.”
The warriors all stared at Aya.
Her stomach twisted.
“I haven’t mastered control yet,” she snapped, more harshly than she meant. “Don’t expect me to use it on command.”
“You will.” Her harshness didn’t affect him. He stroked her back, sensitizing her to him. “Believe.”
Her stomach twisted harder. She wanted to believe. She wanted to have these powers. But Soren was so wrong. Her light was cold. She was dangerous.
The last thing she needed was this city relying on her to be some sort of savior.
Because she was not.
Just look at the city they were swimming into. She’d failed to save it once already.
Well…at first glance, it was hard to see a battle had been fought here. Actually, at first glance, it looked nothing like what she remembered.
When she braved the frigid darkness to reach Atlantis, she’d only been able to see as far as her flashlight. Which was
not far. Warriors had emerged out of the darkness like bats flying across the pitch black sky, crossing in front of her high-powered beam and disappearing again.
The Life Tree had been this floating, off-white bulb. Blake’s submersible had knocked in the protective covering. Inside, the Life Tree had looked like an ugly, dull pile of sticks.
The only familiar face in the blackness was Elyssa. She’d emerged in the brighter lights of the submersible. An invading merman was strangling her. She’d silently pleaded for help.
Aya had lifted her spear gun and shot that evil invader right in the thick, fleshy, tattooed bicep.
He’d let go of Elyssa and dropped away. Elyssa had hugged her in gratitude, and then flew off, probably to rejoin the battle. The event had ended with Aya crushed in Blake’s claw, half the Life Tree scissored against her back.
Now, she was crossing a brilliantly lit field. And the light glowed from the resonant, holy white Life Tree.
It was reborn.
Beneath her, barren rock transformed into lush, green kelp forests and spiraling coral. Silvery fish fluttered and multi-hued jellies bounded along the top. Life teemed within the dense carpet. This life was possible because of the glimmering energy of the Life Tree.
It anchored to the mossy ocean floor on a thick stalk. The Life Tree bulb, she now saw, was shaped like petals around the inner white tree. Chunks of broken petals littered the anchor, mute testimony to Blake’s destruction and Aya’s failure to stop him.
Beyond the broken petals, the Life Tree was visible. White branches lifted hopefully to the ocean. Seeking warriors. Seeking her.
Staring straight into the light was like breathing incense in a cathedral while a deity sprinkled her with holy water. It was purifying, strengthening, and it made her heart swell with hope.
She had failed the Life Tree twice. She would not fail it again.
Beyond the Life Tree, two other orbs were anchored. According to her research, these “castles” connected underground to the Life Tree. They were significantly larger, at least five or six times, like planets orbiting an underwater sun.
“Where are patrols?” Soren growled at Lotar. “This is why Elan penetrated so far.”
“Queen Elyssa summoned us for an announcement,” Lotar replied.
