Mythos

by Heather McLaren

  “What do we do if this doesn’t work?” David asked. His impatience was starting to get the better of him. “What is our backup plan?”

  “We don’t have a backup plan,” Cindel admitted, casting a quick glance in Harmony’s direction.

  “What do you mean you don’t have a backup plan? Oh, my….” He trailed off, too surprised to think clearly. “Are you saying this is our only hope to get her out of there?”

  Harmony put her hands on her hips and frowned. “We didn’t have a lot of options,” she said. “If you have a better idea let me know.”

  “He won’t leave,” Tristan said, swimming up to the rest of the group. “I guess taking a fictional sea demon into custody on his own isn’t good enough reason to abandon his post. We need to come up with a different strategy?”

  David wanted to scream! More than anything, he wanted to bust into the jail, rescue Faren, and swim into the sunset without looking back.

  “We do have one more option,” Harmony suggested. “How many guards are in there?”

  “One, Arnov, and it took him forever to get to the office. Why?”

  “I need you to go home,” Harmony told Cindel. “I think this mission is getting too dangerous for you. Faren would never forgive me if she knew I got you into this.”

  “No!” Cindel exclaimed. “I’m not leaving. That’s my sister in there.”

  Harmony stiffened. “Go!”

  “Harmony,” Cindel whimpered, “please let me come.”

  Harmony looked away and shook her head. “No, you can’t come. Go home.”

  Cindel looked from Tristan to David, as though hoping one of them would try to change her mind, but no one spoke up in her defense.

  “Fine,” Cindel snapped at Harmony. She swam away without looking back.

  The group burst into the lobby where they met up with Arnov. He immediately swam from behind the desk to confront them.

  “What are you doing?” he cried, holding the seaweed to the bloody gash on his cheek. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw David. “A human!” he shouted. “Why is there a human in Atlantis? Are you crazy?”

  Tristan flew over the desk and grabbed for him but missed. “Block the door!” he shouted at David when he tried to rush past him.

  Arnov backhanded Harmony in the face and fled to the other side of the room, but Tristan caught up with him and wrapped his arms around his neck before he could escape the lobby.

  He tightened his grip on his throat. “You shouldn’t hit girls,” he scolded Arnov. “Didn’t your father ever teach you that?”

  Arnov did his best to break free, but the younger mer was too strong for him. When David grabbed him with his good hand, he struggled even harder.

  “Get your filthy human hands off me!” he yelled. “Get away from me.”

  “Find a rope!” Tristan shouted. “Hurry up. We can’t hold him much longer! He squirms like a sea snake.”

  “You’re going to regret this, you little hoodlums!” Arnov screamed. “We’ll prosecute you for this. Even you, human. I’ll enjoy watching you die.” he threatened David.

  “Shut up,” Tristan spat. “We’re not interested in your opinion.”

  Harmony hurried to a nearby closet and snagged a long piece of rope hanging on the inside of the door. She rushed back to the boys and helped them tie Arnov’s hands behind his back.

  “I’m sorry about this,” Harmony said sarcastically, “but we can’t let our friends stay here. Do you know anything about loyalty?” Arnov stared at her but said nothing. “Well, just so you know, I do. And this, by the way, is for hitting me.” She poked him in the stomach. “Now, where are the keys?”

  “Do you honestly think I’m going to tell you that? You must be delusional.”

  “You will tell us what we want to know.” Cindel swam up, brandishing a spear and a smirk. “Where are they?”

  “Cindel, what are you doing here?” Harmony and Tristan asked in unison.

  “We told you to stay away,” Harmony said.

  Cindel didn’t even look at them. Instead, she fixated all of her attention on Arnov. “Where are the keys?” she asked again. “We’re here for my sister, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.”

  “When you say your sister, are you referring to that treacherous whore they brought in here today?”

  David struck him in the face, and even though they were underwater, his developing gift of strength packed quite a punch. Before he could hit him again, Harmony stopped him.

  “David, you need to keep your head if we’re to get out of here in one piece,” she reminded him. “The girls are counting on us.”

  “To answer your question, yes, we’re here to break that whore out of prison,” Cindel snapped. “Where are the keys?”

  “They’re in the top drawer of the desk,” he admitted when her spear pierced his skin.

  She made her way to the wooden desk and rummaged through the top drawer, tossing coral and seaweed aside. Seconds later, Cindel found the keys hidden in the very back and swam over to the door leading to the cell block. David joined her as soon as she had it unlocked.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Tristan said. “Hurry and find the girls.”

  The corridor seemed endless. The faint light emanating from the tiny windows on either side didn’t reach far enough, casting the floor of the hallway into complete darkness. It was like swimming over a bottomless pit. David made his way past the condemned, the starved and neglected. They looked defeated and many had scrapes and bruises from past assaults.

  He was flabbergasted by what he saw. “What kind of prison is this? Does your government support this kind of abuse?” His mind raced to Faren, and he flew down the hallway. It felt like his heart was pounding a hole through his chest, and he couldn’t catch his breath. “If they’ve done something to her, I swear…”

  “Faren,” Cindel called out. “Luna, Faren, can you hear us?”

  David thought he would pass out from relief when Faren answered them. “I’m down here,” her thoughts resonated from down the hall. “Cindel, is that you? I don’t know where Luna is. We have to find her.”

  They hurried toward Faren’s voice as fast as they could. She met them at the door to her cell wearing a big smile, but her bruised face and chest stood out most. Mottled marks and scratches lined her collarbone and ran down her arms. Arnov’s hand prints were still visible around her throat.

  When she saw David, she gasped in surprise. “How did you get here?” she cried. “Oh, baby, I’m so glad to see you. Cindel, thank you for coming back for me. I don’t know how much longer I could have survived in here.”

  “Faren,” Cindel said wide-eyed, “your face.” She began fumbling with the lock.

  David’s blood ran cold when he saw her bruises. The rage that suddenly overtook him dominated his entire being. “What happened to you?”

  “Forget about that. You came back for me! I can’t believe–”

  “What happened to you?” he asked again, unable to dismiss her injuries. “Did that guard do this to you?” He touched her hands through the bars.

  Cindel squealed, “I got it!” The door swung open, and Faren swam free. She latched onto David and her little sister as if her life depended on it.

  “There’s no time to worry about me,” she said, breaking away. “We need to find Luna.” Faren rushed down the single corridor with Cindel and David right behind her. Each time they swam past another cell, they came face to face with a stranger down on her luck. But no Luna.

  “Luna!” Cindel cried. “Luna, where are you?”

  Faren joined in the shouting. “Luna… Luna!”

  “I’m down here!” Luna screamed. “Cell 201.”

  “Here!” Cindel called from up ahead. “I found her.”

  Faren and David met her in front of Luna’s cell. “Oh, no… that was you,” Luna moaned when she saw Faren’s bruises. “I was praying it wasn’t you. Everyone was talking about it.” She reached thr
ough the bars and held her hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”

  “Number 201, number 201,” Cindel mumbled, looking through the keys. “Here it is–number 201.” She opened the door, and the friends were reunited.

  “Come on, hurry,” Luna cried, rushing from the cell. “Where’s Arnov? I’m going to kill him.”

  Stand in line, David thought to himself.

  “Ahhh!” They were nearly back to the lobby when Cindel flung herself to the other side of the corridor for no apparent reason.

  “What is the matter with you?” Faren swam up to her side, realizing right away, what had scared her. Zavian floated near her cell door with her grungy arm stretched through the bars.

  David pushed the girls forward. “It’s fine. Just ignore her.”

  “No, wait… wait,” Cindel cried. “I dropped the keys.” In a panic, the girls searched through the pitch black.

  David trailed his hands along the floor, but all he felt were the rough limestone blocks.

  “I can’t find them!” Cindel called out. “What should I do?”

  “I can’t either,” Luna answered back.

  “We have to go,” David said. “Forget about them.”

  The prison erupted into a fit of hoots and hollers as the group fled back to the lobby.

  “I can’t leave them here,” Faren said, pulling back when they got to the door. “I can’t.”

  “As soon as we can, we’ll let someone know what’s going on here,” Luna promised. “But right now we have to get out of here before we get caught.”

  They charged through the door, not minding to close it behind them.

  “You can swim as far as you like,” the sea demon shrieked after them, “but that doesn’t change anything. You’ll die soon enough. We’ll hunt you down, along with every other mer. You’ll all die.”

  “What are you doing to him?” Faren asked when she saw Tristan and Harmony struggling with Arnov.

  “He’s screaming and being pretty annoying,” Harmony answered. “We’re keeping him company so he doesn’t get lonely.” When she noticed Faren’s bruises, she swam over. “What happened to you?”

  “Is this the guard?” David asked, looking at Faren. “Is he the one who attacked you?”

  Then Arnov spoke again. “She’s a whore. No matter how you sugarcoat it, that’s all she is, and she’s lucky that was all I did to her.” The guard smiled. “I’d have taught her a lesson she’d never forgotten if that blonde brat hadn’t interrupted me.”

  David and Tristan were on top of him before anyone could stop them, beating him senseless. David knocked out his front teeth and broke his jaw; the guard’s broken nose gushed blood.

  Tristan slammed into Arnov, knocking him away from the closet. “You like to beat on those who can’t fight back?” he taunted him. Tristan punched him in the side of the head. When he snatched the spear from the floor, Luna stopped him.

  “No, Tristan,” she cried. “If you do this you’ll never be the same. His death will change you forever. Is that what you want?”

  Tristan tossed the spear and headed for the front door. “I’m going to keep a lookout for other guards,” he mumbled. He swam outside, leaving the others to deal with the problem.

  Arnov continued to fight. “You won’t get away with this.” he warned them.

  “Oh, but I think we will,” Cindel said, pushing him into the closet, “and you’re going to pay for everyone you’ve ever hurt.” She groaned when Arnov refused to settle down. “Come on, little monkey, in you go.”

  With his arms still tied behind his back, he gripped the doorframe with both hands. “You can’t lock me in here like some animal,” he said, breathing heavy.

  “You are an animal,” Harmony said. “You treat your prisoners like dirt.”

  David lunged past Luna to attack Arnov again, but she stopped him before he could hit him. “We have to go… now,” she said, staring at Arnov’s bloody face. “David, come on.”

  David shoved the guard the rest of the way into the closet and swam over to Faren. “Come on, baby,” he said, hugging her. “Your life is yours again.”

  They swam for the currents toward an unsure future.

  Chapter 12

  Seneca

  THE NEXT MORNING, THE GROUP SWAM from one of the numerous shipwrecks dotting the sea floor exhausted from a restless night. The clouds parted, and in the blink of an eye, there it was–Seneca.

  As soon as he saw the island, David knew he was looking at something magnificent. Straight ahead, lush rainforests and seaside cliffs dominated the landscape while down the shore, feral horses wandered from nearby grasslands to the pink sand beach. Their brown and silver coats glistened in the sunlight as they strolled along the surf without a care in the world.

  David followed the rest of the group ashore. “This is amazing,” he declared. He couldn’t take his eyes off their new Eden.

  “Seven hundred miles of unspoiled paradise,” Luna replied.

  “It’s a gift from the Spirit,” Harmony added, taking in the sights. “Isn’t it wonderful? Here we have the freedom to come and go without the risk of being seen.”

  “There aren’t any humans here?”

  Faren smiled up at him. “No, baby, it looks like you’re the only one.”

  Again, Tristan had to open his mouth. “Well, technically, you’re not a human anymore, so…”

  Faren gave him a do-you-mind look, but Tristan didn’t seem to care. He kept talking. “Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it? We don’t know what he is,” he exclaimed with more intensity than the conversation required. “This is why we don’t mix species. Things get complicated.”

  With dramatically faked enthusiasm, Harmony cut in. “I hate to break up the delightful confrontation, but I think it would be a good idea if we look for sea demons.” She walked away from the group. “They can find their way here,” she added in a monotone voice. She began petting a gray horse that had ventured over, muttering something under her breath. All David could understand were the words “enough already”.

  David ignored Tristan’s dirty looks. “She’s right,” he said. “I know I’d feel more comfortable if we knew what we were sharing the island with.”

  Everyone agreed but Tristan. He stood off to the side with his arms crossed, pouting like a spoiled child.

  Sore from swimming, David stretched his arms over his head and sucked in a deep breath. He let it out slowly. “All right, do we split up or stay together?”

  Tristan snapped his head around and narrowed his eyes at David. “Why don’t you leave the decision making up to one of us? You haven’t been part of our world long enough to have an opinion,” he spat vehemently. “You need to worry about one thing and one thing only… the mer you led astray.” He advanced on David, his voice intensifying. “You think you can’t live without her? Well, it’s going to be damned near impossible for her to live at all because of you!”

  David wanted to keep the peace for Faren’s sake, but the longer he was around Tristan the harder it got to brush off his self-righteous attitude. One more word, he thought to himself. I dare you to say one more word.

  “You’re the worse thing that’s ever happened to Faren,” Tristan hissed through clenched teeth.

  That was the last straw. “You betrayed her!” David screamed in his face. His eyes shot daggers. “Yes, I love Faren, and yes, I know our relationship is illegal, but no one would have found out about us without your help.” He balled up his fists. “Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone? No wonder she strayed from her species to find a lover. You ruined it for everyone else you know.” David was doing his best not to hit Tristan, but that reservation was melting fast.

  Luna ran between them with her hands up in defense. “Enough!” she demanded. “I’ve had it with you two. Ever since you first laid eyes on each another, you’ve acted like toddlers fighting over a toy. Do you think you can pull it together long enough for us to scour this island?”

 
David stared Tristan down, waiting for him to make a move.

  “Coward,” Tristan mumbled when he turned to walk away.

  David punched Tristan in the jaw, and in a flash, they were rolling around on the sand, both trying to get the upper hand. The horse fled the scene, and Faren tried to break up the fight, getting an elbow in the face for her efforts. Harmony and Luna helped her up, but by this time David and Tristan had stopped fighting. Tristan stood and backed away, and David jumped up to check on Faren, holding his broken hand.

  “You’re hurting everyone around you with this childish quarrel, Tristan. Don’t you see that?” Luna scolded her brother. “Faren doesn’t love you. You have to move on.” Her face softened when his eyes started to water. “I’m sorry… I just want you to find someone who will love you the way you deserve.”

  When she tried to touch his arm, he yanked it away. He looked at David with a new found attitude–one of heartache. “Why don’t you try loving someone for years and watch her go off with someone else,” he said in a raspy voice. He wiped his tears away. “I love Faren–I’ve always loved her–but here you are.”

  Despite everything, David’s heart went out to him. He knew what Tristan was going through, Bethany being exhibit A. But what could he say? Only time could heal wounds of the heart.

  “Tristan,” David said in a gentler tone, “I just want to make Faren happy. I’m not trying to hurt her… or you.”

  Tristan looked away, closed his eyes and murmured, “It doesn’t matter anymore, does it? You win.”

  When Tristan walked away, David and the rest of the group followed him into the forest. The humidity was overwhelming, and twilight enveloped everything in sight. Birds flew in all directions, cawing and whistling, and monkeys swung back and forth on vines like a scene from Tarzan.

  Splashes of color were everywhere; wild hibiscus and several types of orchid were plentiful. Giant ferns towered over the scarce underbrush, and an ocelot slinked around in the shadows. The cat’s tawny and black-spotted coat blended with his surroundings fairly well, but his yellow eyes were clearly visible through the hazy mist. The forest was a living, breathing entity.