Ash (The Underground Series Book 2)

by Melody Robinette

  “What d’you got there, Pontus?” a small voice said. With difficulty, Autumn turned her head to see a small mermaiden with long, russet curls flowing behind her and a crown of pearls encircling her head like a halo. The girl looked up at the mermen with bright blue eyes. Her tail fin was the same sea green color as theirs and her green-tinted skin seemed to glow slightly like theirs was now. Funny, their skin hadn’t been glowing when they’d captured them near the surface.

  “Don’t worry, Miss Isabella, we’re taking these dryadales straight to the king. We won’t let them hurt you.”

  Autumn shot Pontus a look of disgust. Why would they hurt her?

  Isabella came to swim beside the elves, looking them over with her round cerulean eyes. “They don’t look so scary,” she noted with a curious tilt of the head. “Daddy always said that dryadales were scary. They look just like us, only their ears are all pointy and their tail fins are broke in half.”

  “Dryadales are dangerous, Princess,” one of the mermen captors said. “They have evil powers and use them against us.”

  “That’s not true!” Luke exclaimed.

  Isabella’s eyes widened significantly at this. “They speak our language! Did you hear that, Pontus?”

  “Yes, Princess, but—”

  “Why did you capture a sea dog?” she continued, looking at Willow now who was struggling to escape from her net.

  “It isn’t a sea dog,” Pontus said in exasperation.

  Isabella pressed her face against the net to look at Willow. “It looks like a sea dog.”

  “It’s a dryadale in the form of a sea dog.”

  “She’s so cute!”

  “She is not cute,” the other merman sighed as they entered a cavernous domed room filled with more of the glowing green fish. “Princess, why don’t you go and—”

  “Daddy! Hey, Daddy, look what Pontus brought us!” Isabella squealed. Autumn looked up to see a magnificently large merman with long hair not unlike his daughter’s. He sat on a throne that looked to be carved from bright blue coral and wore a crown made of perfect silver seashells.

  “Dryadales?” the king said as the two mermen released their hold on Luke, Willow, and Autumn. They sank slowly to the floor of the cave and looked up at the king with wary expressions.

  “They were swimming in our waters, using their Powers. We believe they are members of the group they call Warriors,” Pontus said.

  “I see,” Aecorex said in a dark tone. “Explain yourselves, elves.”

  Seeing as how Luke was the only one who could speak, he immediately started up. “My sister and I are the Prince and Princess of Arbor Falls and we were sent to speak with you and the rest of the merpeople on behalf of the elves,” he stated with an edge of anger in his voice.

  Aecorex’s eyebrows rose. “You are Olympus’s grandchildren?”

  “Yes, sir. Our father was Alexander Oaken. My sister and I came to the Underground less than a year ago.” Luke held up his wrist to show Aecorex the Royal Mark through the netting.

  Aecorex’s brow furrowed. “Release them, Pontus,” he said in a deep, booming voice.

  Pontus obeyed and cut the elves free from the nets, untying Autumn’s mouth, the salty taste of the seaweed still lingering on her tongue. Willow burst out of her net and swam joyfully around the room. Isabella giggled at this.

  “Why has Olympus sent you here? Why not come himself?” Aecorex asked, looking suspicious.

  “We came with the Warriors. We’re on a…quest,” Luke said, struggling to explain their mission.

  “What sort of quest?” Aecorex asked, his eyes narrowing.

  Autumn spoke up. “We’ve come to ask your help.”

  “Oh, and offer you this,” Luke held out the white rose that was remarkably undamaged.

  “Pretty!” Isabella said, swimming over to take the rose.

  Aecorex looked incredulous. “The elves wish for help from the merpeople?”

  “Yes,” Autumn stated. “I believe you’re familiar with the Atrum, Vyra Vaun?”

  Isabella let out a high-pitched scream, dropping the white rose, and swam to hide behind her father’s throne.

  Aecorex’s face morphed into a dark mask of anger. “Of course I’ve heard of her,” he said slowly in a low, dark voice. “Her followers and Shadow creatures killed many of my people just a fortnight ago.”

  Autumn nodded. “Yes. Vyra and her brother, Victor, have been attacking many of the Underground creatures.”

  “And you want the merpeople to help you destroy her?”

  “We aren’t asking you to make a decision right away—” Luke began.

  Aecorex was already shaking his head. “Vyra Vaun is an elf. She is not the merpeople’s concern.”

  “Pardon me, sir,” Autumn said, “but if she killed many of your people then she is your concern.”

  The mer-king frowned at this and grew silent in apparent contemplation. “Very well,” he said after a moment. “I will evaluate my options and give you a decision. In the meantime you and your Warriors may stay on our shores. I will send a few of my people to the surface to keep watch. Though you are royal elves, the rest of your party are not and we must be sure they can be trusted.”

  “We understand. Thank you for seeing us,” Autumn said, pretending that she had not just been gagged, captured, and pulled miles underwater in a net.

  Aecorex nodded curtly.

  “Daddy, can I go see the rest of the Warrior elves?” Isabella asked. “Oh, please, Daddy!”

  “No, you may not,” he stated through clenched teeth.

  “But—”

  “I said no!” he boomed.

  Isabella jutted out her bottom lip and swam angrily out of the room.

  Pontus and the other merman, Ceto, led the elves through the dark waters back to the shore. Autumn expected them to at least apologize for how they had manhandled them earlier, but they simply swam silently in front of the elves. It was evident that, royalty or not, they were still elves—or dryadales—and merpeople and elves didn’t interact with one another unless completely necessary.

  At least Isabella liked them. Autumn had a feeling that, if they were to reach the elders, they would probably need to go through the children while their minds were still open enough to not be completely corrupted.

  Ocean Whispers

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Pontus, Ceto, and five other mermen were sent to the shore to keep an eye on the rest of the Warriors. When Luke, Willow, and Autumn emerged from the waves, all of the Quinns and Tetras came running towards the water’s edge. The mermen stayed behind, refusing to leave the safety of the sea as the three elves trudged to shore.

  “What happened?” Eden asked as Willow and Autumn wrung the seawater out their hair and Luke shook his head like a dog.

  “Well,” Luke began, shooting an annoyed glance over his shoulder at the merpeople guards. “The fish people put us in nets and gagged Autumn with seaweed and took us to their crazy giant sea king.”

  All of the others let out shouts of outrage and gasps of horror.

  Autumn shot Luke an exasperated look before adding, “They thought that we were infiltrating their waters to hurt them. They let us go when Luke told them who we were and showed the king his Royal Mark.”

  “Figures,” Kyndel scoffed.

  Autumn ignored her. “We explained why we needed their help, and the king, Aecorex, said that he would contemplate his decision and let us know.”

  Forrest laughed. “Aecorex?”

  “Isn’t it a fun name?” Willow said with a giggle.

  “Adorable,” Kyndel drawled with a quirked eyebrow at Willow. “But what if it takes this fish king weeks to decide? We don’t have that kind of time.”

  Autumn shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t, I guess. We didn’t think it was smart to push him for a time limit.”

  “We might as well set up camp since we’re going to be here for a while,” Jack said, swiping his shaggy brown ha
ir out of his eyes.

  They led the pegasi toward a small, shaded clearing in the sparse woods that lined the shore. The mermen watched from their posts in the shallow waves with distrusting expressions upon their scaly faces.

  The other Warriors made a point not to look at the mermen. Autumn hadn’t realized just how bad the prejudice between the magical creatures was until she actually saw it with her own eyes, especially when she heard Pontus tell Isabella that elves, or dryadales, had evil Powers that they used against them. How could they be so ill informed? She supposed Victor and Vyra’s antics hadn’t exactly helped their case much. But still. Surely they knew that the actions of one elf didn’t equal the actions of all the others.

  It grew steadily darker outside and they decided to build their campfire on the sand so they could see the ocean. They pulled out the food supplies and got started on another meal of roasted meat and vegetables. The mermen watched without saying a word, still keeping a strong hold on their spears.

  After dinner, the Warriors sat around the campfire talking and laughing, as if it was just another day in Arbor Falls. Autumn almost forgot about the mermen’s silent presence. With the calming sound of the rolling waves, the heavy scent of salt in the air, and the crackling campfire, the setting was perfectly romantic. Charlotte lay on Jastin’s lap and he stroked her chestnut hair in a slow, methodical way. Autumn leaned back against Avery and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, their breathing synchronizing.

  She watched from across the fire as Edric moved closer to Crystal and slowly put his arm around her. She stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed into him. Luke watched this with narrowed eyes as he snapped a twig in half and tossed it forcefully into the fire.

  Autumn assumed that Eden and Lucian were also a couple. They sat closely side-by-side exchanging private whispers and meaningful looks. Autumn found this interesting because Eden’s partner was Jack and Lucian’s was Willow. She usually assumed that if a pair of Warriors were meant to be together, they would be partnered up. Though, of course, Crystal was with Edric rather than Luke. Not that Autumn was quite convinced by the pairing yet.

  Voices coming from the water floated up to where they were seated and the Warriors turned to see five new mermen speaking to the others. They appeared to be relieving the current watchmen of their duty, taking their place. Autumn was beginning to feel like a prisoner.

  The presence of the new mermen moved the Warriors to their cots to sleep.

  “We don’t really need night guards do we?” Autumn said. “The merpeople are already guarding the shore.”

  “Are you joking?” Kyndel said.

  “No…”

  “We can’t rely on the fish people to protect us,” she said in a harsh whisper so the “fish people” wouldn’t hear her. “They hate us as much as the Atrums do. They’d probably spear us in our sleep.”

  “They associate us with elves like Vyra and Victor,” Autumn stated. “They don’t hate us, they’re afraid of us.”

  “That may be, Autumn,” Jastin said, “but we can’t trust them enough to believe that they don’t think getting rid of us would be doing their people good.”

  Lucian nodded in agreement. “He’s right, Autumn.”

  “How can you all think so badly of them?” Autumn said. “You don’t even know them.”

  “And you do?” Kyndel challenged.

  Autumn opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she realized that Kyndel was right. She didn’t know the merpeople. She really needed to fight her urge to trust everyone. She had trusted Victor when no one else had and look where that got her.

  “Fine,” Autumn conceded. “Who’s taking first watch?”

  Luke didn’t sleep beside Crystal that night. Instead, he made a small show of moving his cot between Kyndel and Ember’s. Crystal raised an eyebrow at this, but didn’t comment. Charlotte nudged Autumn, pointing at Luke, and chuckled. Autumn rolled her eyes and shook her head wearily. Could he be more obvious?

  Everyone settled down into his or her cots, most falling instantly asleep. Autumn, however, lay wide-awake, staring up at the star-strewn sky and listening to the rhythmic sound of the rumbling waves. When they were kids, Autumn and Luke used to stargaze and try to find the different constellations. She recognized a few now, though she wasn’t sure how that was possible. Maybe the Underground sky was simply a reflection of the actual sky in the Outside. Even after being here for several months, this magical world still amazed her. But, if she thought about it for too long, it sort of terrified her. If all of this had always been here, without humans knowing…what else did they not know?

  Autumn gazed up at the expanse of stars a while, contemplating the secrets of the universe, before deciding to get up and move to the shore. She passed Edric and Kyndel, who were supposed to be standing guard, but instead were leaning, fast asleep, against their trees. Autumn chuckled. Guess they weren’t too afraid of the merpeople attacking them. Glancing towards the dark waters of the Shining Sea, she noticed that the merpeople were no longer wading above the waves. She was sure they were still keeping watch from underwater.

  Autumn stood in solitary silence, listening to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and then receding with the pull of the tide. The light of the Underground moon danced on the water like liquid white flames.

  Moving to the edge of the shore, she took a seat on the damp sand. The hypnotic sound of the waves rolling over and pulling back was soothing. She took a deep breath of the humid sea air, momentarily calming her worries. Opening everyone’s minds was going to be much more difficult than she’d originally thought.

  Suddenly, Autumn heard a soft sound, like a whisper, echoing from the waves.

  “Psst!”

  “Hello?” Autumn said.

  “Are you the dryadale princess?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Told you!” the bodiless voice said.

  Another voice spoke up. “Okay, okay, I believe you, but she better not use her evil Powers on us.”

  “Isabella?” Autumn said, recognizing the first voice now.

  “Shh! They’ll hear you.”

  “Who?”

  “The guards.”

  A pair of heads emerged slowly from the dark waves, one brunette, and one blonde. Autumn recognized Isabella and her shining, blue eyes. The blonde mermaiden beside her was eyeing Autumn warily.

  Isabella smiled and nudged the girl. “This is my friend, Yvonne.”

  “Hi, Yvonne,” Autumn said, trying to sound inviting and not like she would use her evil Powers on the girl.

  Yvonne looked up at her with wide eyes. Autumn guessed she was the first elf the mermaiden had ever seen. Yvonne took in Autumn’s pointed ears and her mouth formed a small O. “Hi,” she whispered.

  “My daddy didn’t want me to come see the dryadales so I had to come at night time,” Isabella said with a giggle.

  Autumn smiled. “I see.”

  “Do you really have a—a Power?” Yvonne asked.

  Autumn chuckled and nodded. “Yes, but I only use it for good. To help magical creatures and to fight the bad ones like Atrums and Shadows.”

  Yvonne looked unconvinced, but Isabella smiled widely and said, “Really? You wouldn’t hurt merpeople with it?”

  “No. I would never do that.”

  “What kind of Powers do you have?” Yvonne asked.

  “I just have one Power. Song. When I Sing, I can hypnotize creatures. It doesn’t hurt them or anything, though. I even use it on myself sometimes.”

  “Can you use it on us?” Isabella asked eagerly. Yvonne flashed her a warning look.

  “Not right now,” Autumn whispered. “The guards would hear it and we would both get in trouble.”

  Isabella’s smile fell, but she nodded in understanding. “Can we visit you again?”

  “Of course you can. Just promise me that you’ll be careful. I don’t want you getting into any trouble.”

  Isabella and Yvonne both smiled slyly.
“We never get caught,” they said in unison.

  The two young mermaidens waved goodbye and sank quietly back into the sea. Autumn smiled to herself as they went. Maybe hope wasn’t completely lost after all.

  “What’re you doing out here?” Avery said suddenly from behind her.

  Autumn jumped and turned to look up at him. “I was just…thinking.”

  He came to sit beside her. “And?”

  “And I think this is going to be way harder than we thought, bringing the other magical creatures over to our side, I mean. Their prejudices are so deeply rooted.”

  “They are. It’s been years in the making.”

  “But I may have an idea as to how to get them to trust us.”

  “Go through the young ones to get to the elders?” Avery offered.

  “How did you—?”

  “I saw you talking to those mermaidens. You know that brunette is the princess, right?”

  “Yeah, I do. She trusts me more than any of the others do,” Autumn said. “And thank you for not calling them fish people.”

  “Well, that’s not their proper name. I’m not going to call them something degrading just because they aren’t like us.”

  Autumn flashed him a wide smile and then she was on top of him, pressing him into the sand, her lips on his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. She moved down from his lips to his sharp jaw, then to the crook of his neck and down to his bare collarbone. His breathing became steadily shallower. Autumn’s fingers trailed across the plains of his torso, only a thin, white shirt separating their skin.

  “Ahem.”

  They looked up to see Kyndel and Edric towering over them. Kyndel’s arms were folded across her chest and Edric was smirking at Avery, clearly proud.

  Autumn rolled off of Avery.

  Kyndel clicked her tongue. “Having fun?”

  “We were—” Autumn said.

  “—we were just going to sleep,” Avery cut in, pulling her towards the campsite.

  Autumn shot Kyndel a look of loathing as she followed Avery to their cots and climbed into the one beside his.