by Meg Xuemei X
The marines engaged the assailants.
Bullets cut through the salt water. Although her gear was soundproof, Lucienne could still hear the muffled whoosh of gunfire. Clouds of bubbles erupted, obscuring her sight.
“They might be Blazek’s men,” she called. “Open communication.”
“We’re ambushed,” Duncan said. “Blazek betrayed us again!”
It couldn’t be. He could have ended her in Schmidt’s lab. But if he were indeed leading her team into a trap, they would suffer great causalities. Blood pumped in her ears at the possibility, and Lucienne hated this powerless feeling whenever she was underwater.
A stray dart flew toward her. Thaddeus raised his spear and flung it aside.
Then Lucienne heard the faint buzz of a motor as Adam and the two marines pulled her further away. Their attackers brought a speedboat?
The next second, Vladimir’s voice boomed through the radio, “Aren’t you a bit quick to judge? If you must know, I dropped four armed sentries nine seconds after my arrival.”
Lucienne shook her head. The Czech warrior never gave up a chance to brag.
“Shut up, Blazek,” Duncan said, sounding relieved.
“All clear,” a marine announced in the radio.
“The water war was over within four minutes,” Thaddeus said in disappointment.
“Because I helped,” Vladimir said. Then he asked urgently, “Where’s Lucia?”
With a smile, Lucienne swam toward the speedboat like a mermaid. Adam and Thaddeus followed her closely.
Vladimir, in his armed underwater gear, jumped into the ocean as soon as he spotted her. His three soldiers remained in the boat.
He spun her and pulled her into his arms. They gazed hungrily at each other through the glass of their masks.
“Hi.” Flashing a smile at her, he led her ahead.
Lucienne forgot about the world again, save for Vladimir and the wonderful feeling of swimming with him.
“We’re on an important mission,” Thaddeus said beside them in his booming voice, which startled Lucienne and brought her back to reality. “So I say you quit dancing with my cousin in the garden.”
Lucienne hadn’t realized she was surrounded by exotic plants and blossoms. A school of colorful fish flitted by her and disappeared around the edge of a rocky wall.
“Cousin?” Vladimir turned to Thaddeus. “Aren’t you the lot that tried to kill my Lucia? Any funny moves, you’ll regret you ever breathed.”
Before her cousin could explode, Lucienne snapped, “Vlad, Thaddeus, now isn’t the time to get acquainted.”
“Excellent advice,” Vladimir said, swimming with Lucienne toward the garden depths.
Sea butterflies flew overhead before resting on red ivy vines climbing over the ancient ridge.
“I know who you are,” Thaddeus snorted behind them. “You don’t mess with—”
Lucienne glared at Thaddeus over her shoulder, and he cut it out. She suspected that he was trying to provoke Vladimir. Her cousin had heard about the Czech warrior’s skill with a blade and was probably looking forward to a duel.
At the end of the enormous garden were three entrances shaped like poppies. Vladimir led Lucienne toward the left one.
“Wait,” she said.
“Trust me.” Vladimir squeezed her hand. “I know what I’m doing.”
Thaddeus cut in in front of them before Lucienne could follow Vladimir into the passage. “There’s no way I’ll let you take my cousin in there first,” her said.
Duncan was at their sides the next second, remembering now that Vladimir wasn’t one of them. “This is Sphinxes’ operation,” he barked. “You don’t lead anymore, Blazek.”
Vladimir shrugged. “Be my guest.”
“Blazek and five of us go in first,” Duncan said. “Thaddeus and Lucia stay in the middle. Adam, pick seven men to take the rear. Platoon Two, guard the exit with Blazek’s men. Deborah, page Finley to pick us up as soon as we’re out of the temple.”
Lucienne didn’t like being separated from Vladimir, but she wasn’t the leader of this mission.
The marines were in position in an instant. Those who weren’t assigned to go into the temple pulled back, their underwater weaponry ready.
“Let’s roll,” Duncan said and shot into the left cave with Vladimir.
The passageway was narrow with steep walls. The team could swim in only one at a time.
Lucienne kicked her fins, cursing Vladimir in her head. Whenever he was involved, there was no shortage of narrow tunnels, even under the sea. Her breath labored in the demand valve of her diving gear.
“You okay there, Lucia?” Vladimir’s voice sounded in the radio.
Annoyed, Lucienne ignored him and tried to even her breathing. She closed her eyes for a moment. Her wetsuit instantly absorbed her cold sweat.
After thirteen yards, the subterranean tunnel broadened into a grand undersea canyon, allowing the leading team to continue in twos or threes. Their headlights shone like horizontal moonbeams, painting the surroundings an emerald hue.
Some of these Polynesian islands had existed for eighty million years. Lucienne mused whether it was the ancient history drove the Sealers to choose this cavern as their temple.
“This is cool, right?” Vladimir backpedalled to her and held her hand.
Forgiving him already, Lucienne interlinked her gloved fingers with his, glad the narrow space was behind her.
After they made a few turns following the curve of the canyon’s walls, a shaft of light infiltrated the water from above, filling the cavern.
Moonlight. Lucienne looked up in amazement. How bright.
“Peeps, we’ve arrived.” Vladimir swam toward the surface, pulling her up with him.
They were in the midst of the marines, who scanned the open cave with rifles lifted. Above them and all around was post-modern structure.
Probably another fingerprint of ancient technology. Lucienne fixed her eyes on a black metal door in the wall.
Vladimir removed his mouthpiece and breathed deeply before speaking, “This facility is still below sea level.” He waded toward the door, climbed up, and lifted Lucienne onto the bank.
The team all took off their masks.
They stopped before the door and stared at a keypad protruding from the wall.
“Ready to enter?” Vladimir smirked.
“Just hit the damn code,” Duncan said, “if you have one.”
“I have more than one.” Vladimir pressed a series of numbers on the keypad.
A loud click, then the door unlocked.
Thaddeus flung it open and stepped in first. Vladimir was at his heels, his Armatix pistol drawn. The rest of the team adopted their previous formation, placing Lucienne in the middle. In less than a minute, they were inside a spacious elevator. Vladimir pushed a button, and the elevator ascended. When it stopped, the team stepped off.
In front of them was the Temple of Lemuria.
It was built like an ancient gladiator arena with igneous stone stairs extending on four sides. At the end of the stairs were black stone walls, glowing with artificial light.
“Why isn’t it guarded?” Thaddeus asked with a frown.
Even Vladimir looked taken aback at the empty temple.
Am I too late? Lucienne’s heart pounded. Have the Sealers moved Nexus Tear?
Duncan gestured instructions, and the warriors moved forward on high alert.
Lucienne looked around and then up at the ceiling. It soared as high as a twelve-story building, adorned with portraits of winged creatures—they weren’t traditionally sketched angels, but otherworldly species with wings of fire.
Are they the gods the Sealers worship? Lucienne mused. How little she knew about her enemy, even though she had just infringed on their sacred temple.
A telepathic calling chimed in her head. Instantly, she knew the source.
At the top of the stairs in the west stood an altar that hadn’t been there before. Drawn to
it, Lucienne pushed forward, almost breaking ranks until they reformed to protect her.
A vast sculpture of a half-kneeling god carried the altar on its bent back. Fountains started spouting water from the red wings that almost enfolded its entire body.
Duncan put up a hand to signal a halt. The warriors swept their weapons around, looking for their enemy.
“It’s mechanics,” Lucienne said, and scrambled up the staircase. The fountain drummed louder, reminding her of the ancient zither music of war.
A crystal column, thirty feet high and seven inches wide, stood on the statue’s skull, its top ablaze in crimson light.
Niamh. Something inside the light was calling her again.
A chill sank into Lucienne, replaced by a strange longing. Her Siren’s mark named her Niamh during the ritual when she was made Siren. Niamh—mythical princess of the land of promise—was the mother of the first Siren.
A feeling of déjà vu blanketed her as a fragmented memory from her mark breezed into her mind. Nexus Tear. She picked up her pace toward the altar.
Vladimir must have felt the shift in her mood. “Lucia?” he asked in concern.
“It’s here,” she said.
Grating sound rumbled from underground.
The warriors whipped around. The formation around Lucienne morphed into two rings. The men on the outer layer fanned out, ready to take out the menace, but they needn’t look further.
The floor at the center of the temple split open. Heads in helmets popped up. Twelve knights, looking formidable in armors, ascended on a lift. The Sealers’ symbol was carved on their breast plates—an arrow piercing the Siren’s all-seeing eye.
Jed warned her to never underestimate the power of ancient symbols. They not only signified ideals and exacted a psychological effect, but they drew powers from beyond the physical realm.
For a fleeting moment, Lucienne felt that her brave warriors wanted to step back from the knights, who bore the Sealers’ symbol.
Vladimir holstered his Armatix handgun and pulled out his sanjiegun to honor the knight’s code. The rest of the men followed suit and dragged out their daggers or whatever they carried other than their rifles.
“What are they?” Thaddeus asked.
“They’re knights,” Duncan said. “Look at their dress code.”
“I know they’re knights.” Thaddeus shrugged. “But do we still practice medieval knighthood in the modern age?”
“They look like a composite unit—European, Viking, Samurai,” said Vladimir, “or whatever.”
As the men spoke, the knights stepped off the platform. The ground sealed as if there were never a crack. The knights raised their swords for a charge.
“How good do you think they are, Blazek?” Duncan asked.
“Good enough to be knights,” Vladimir answered.
Duncan gave Vladimir a sidelong look. “Like old times. Shall we?”
Vladimir charged toward the enemies’ ranks with a battle cry that echoed off the stone walls. Duncan pursued, wielding his sword. Thaddeus caught up with them, shouting louder.
“You’re rude as ever, Blazek,” Duncan said. “I asked you to wait.”
“To be polite, I give you the Captain of the Knights.” Vladimir laughed as he dodged aside, leaving the biggest knight for Duncan.
Duncan cursed. The lead knight brandished his blade, aiming for Duncan’s neck. Duncan banged his sword against the sweeping steel. The clang pierced the temple. The two swordsmen mingled in a flurry of blows and a life-and death-contest of speed and strength.
Vladimir whacked his opponent with his sanjiegun in brutality. Shouting insults, he hacked, retreated, and lunged again. The Viking- knight he opposed looked very much annoyed.
When Vladimir sidestepped a few stabs and assaulted his adversary with a bash on the man’s shoulder, he performed Bruce Lee’s howl of victory, enraging the knight even more. In a swift move, the Viking produced two swords, which came in a circle with Vladimir in the middle. They would cut the Czech warrior into half.
Lucienne’s heart dropped. She raised her pistol, but Vladimir had ducked behind the knight. She had forgotten how fast he could move.
The Viking spun promptly, two swords slashing and closing again, but Vladimir was quicker. He leapt to the knight’s right, the three sections of his sanjiegun stretching straight. A blade snapped out from its end and sliced into the side of the Viking’s neck.
Vladimir’s eyes found Lucienne. He gave her a quick smile, raised a fist to salute her, and moved on the next knight.
Blood frenzy charged the temple.
Lucienne knew her marines didn’t have the sword fighting skills of Vladimir, Duncan, and Thaddeus. They were better at firearms. “Shoot them,” she ordered her men. “The hell with the knight’s code.”
The rest of the knights moved like hard waves, trying to bypass her men to reach Lucienne.
They know who I am, Lucienne realized. She tore a string of beads from her hair.
Adam fired. A bullet pierced a knight’s side where his breast plate didn’t cover. The knight gave Adam a disdained look before tumbling down.
“I’m not a knight,” Adam spat. “Your honor means nothing to me!”
It was more than the dispute of the knight’s honor. Adam, like the rest of her men, would do anything to keep her alive.
Lucienne flipped through the air, landing outside the warriors’ circle. A handful of beads flew from her hands, targeting five knights simultaneously.
The knights’ reflexes were astonishingly fast. They dodged the beads or smashed them with their swords. Lucienne’s beads found only one victim—an unfortunate European knight caught fending off gunfire.
A purple-eyed knight who had slain two marines with his black sword came at Lucienne. A full-bearded knight joined him.
So much for the knight’s honor. Lucienne slashed her whip toward the full-bearded knight behind her without turning. She heard a growl of pain and anger.
A stout knight lunged at Lucienne from her blind side. She sensed the aggression. Her whip caught his shoulder, forcing him to withdraw momentarily.
But the purple-eyed knight almost got her, his blade chopping a stray hair beside her ear as she bent backwards to avoid being beheaded.
Lucienne staggered, but immediately spun like a skater on ice, wild and poetic. Her whip became a circle of fire and roared like the wind, preventing them from closing in on her.
“Protect the Siren!” Adam shouted, racing toward Lucienne and firing. The stout knight fell, but not before he threw a knife at Adam. The knife pierced Adam’s shoulder, sending him against a stone column.
A red-haired marine immediately replaced Adam and came to Lucienne’s aid. He fell under a sword—a fourth knight preventing Lucienne’s men from reaching her.
Vladimir produced his Armatix pistol and shot his opponent at point-blank range. Lucienne knew he wouldn’t forsake the knight’s code if he wasn’t so desperate to get to her. He would give up everything—even his honor—for her.
Vladimir sped toward the bearded knight, who thrashed his double-edged blade toward Lucienne, intending to cut her in half. But the fourth knight stopped Vladimir from reaching her with a swing of his long sword.
The Czech warrior dashed aside. The chain of his sanjiegun hooked the hilt of the knight’s sword, and as the knight dragged his blade free, Vladimir flew in the air and jump-kicked his face.
The knight staggered, and a wounded marine took the chance and shot him.
Vladimir fired his Armatix at the purple-eyed knight, who was gaining on Lucienne. The knight raised his eerie black sword, the bullets bouncing off his blade in sparks of fire.
Then the full-bearded knight and Vladimir crashed ferociously.
Thaddeus, having just finished off his foe, raced toward the fourth knight, who had survived Vladimir’s kick and the marine’s bullet and was now sneaking up on Lucienne.
Even with only one knight to deal with, Lucienne didn’t
breathe any easier. She grew more anxious every second. The longer her hands were tied, the more of her men would fall.
It was impossible for her to use Meridian Points on such an excellent, well-armored knight, and her whip wouldn’t keep him at bay much longer. He had already severed three feet of it with quick slices from his sword.
The purple-eyed knight slashed his weapon down toward her head again. Lucienne felt the chilly wind above her and was curious why the knights all wanted to sever her in half, horizontally or vertically.
She sidestepped, summoning her Siren’s power as the edge of her enemy’s blade missed her skull by less than two inches.
Her mark’s power came to her only in the most critical situations. She wondered whether this counted as one. It had better be.
You want the last element? The moment she said it, she felt a sprout of energy twirl inside her.
Lucienne gasped.
The purple-eyed knight’ black sword suddenly glowed, and the Sealers symbol on its ridge turned visible. The sword followed Lucienne’s movements, inhumanly fast, as if it had a life of its own.
Lucienne had a very bad feeling.
“I’m the Captain of the Sealers’ Knights,” the purple-eyed knight said with pride, letting his blade lead him. “The blade has awoken and will have your head.”
The towering knight Vladimir and Duncan mistook as the captain was a decoy. The true Captain of the Knight held the power of the Sealers’ black sword.
Lucienne’s eyes flew wide. She barely managed to avoid being pierced by a flurry of attacks. The gleaming blade jabbed, hacked, and swept at her head and midriff.
Her heart pounded in cold fear.
Fear elicited panic, and panic would make her lose her head, literally. Fear is only as deep as the mind allows, she cited, I won’t allow it. I’m taking ownership of my fear.
Lucienne bent backwards. The sword whisked by her face, severing another strand of her hair. Her cheek felt the cold steel in its wake.
Where was her mark’s power? Hadn’t it responded to her a moment ago?
A realization hit her—the black blade was suppressing her Siren’s power. A battle of wills between her and the invisible ringleader of the Sealers, represented by his captain, was at work.
