Fern turned to him then, her eyes dark with unexpected compassion. “Or maybe time doesn’t move the same way for a phoenix. We all have our own crosses to bear, Todd. Maybe she figured it was in both your best interests if she didn’t look…”
“That doesn’t help, Fern,” he ground out. “Maybe she just wasn’t interested, period.”
Her expression never changed. “You can believe that if it makes it easier.”
I thought of all the problems in my world, who I loved and what I fought for. Fern was right. We all had burdens to bear and mountains to overcome. And there were no guarantees. That was just a fairy tale.
Todd didn’t answer. Turning away, his eyes continued to search the sea of faces for the girl he couldn’t forget.
I could tell he was hurting, but this was life and nothing was promised.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Sadie and Nick hung back after the movies. She mentioned something about visiting the sporting goods store and meeting up with us later. The sly look on her face as she left us should have clued me in that she was up to something.
By the time we arrived back home, the light to the basement lab was off and Dad was sitting at the kitchen table. Spread out in front of him were several masks that looked a lot like what he’d showed us before, but he didn’t look happy. Instead, he looked worried.
I reached in and picked up one of the small cream-colored rubber devices. It looked a little like a nose piece. Fern picked one up and placed it over her nose, frowning. It fit her well enough.
Niel seemed excited. “Now those look cool. How do they work?”
Dad shrugged. “Well, as you’ve figured, they fit over your nose. In the water they will act a lot like the gills of a fish, filtering out the oxygen in the water and allowing you to breathe air like you were on land. They actually operate just the opposite of regular scuba gear, where you breathe through a regulator hose in your mouth. You do that with these and you’ll inhale the lake, so…just don’t. With these, you use your nose.”
My father didn’t look happy. “What is it, Dad? What’s the problem?”
He waved his arms in disgust. “I’m just not convinced a spell can do what science can’t and get a good seal on them. They need to adhere to their faces completely, with no leakage. Any at all and they’ll drown. I’ve tried everything I can think of and nothing works. As of right now the mask is a success if it remains in place, but its potential for use the way it is will be a dismal failure if Fern’s witchery doesn’t work.”
Thomas appeared confused. “I don’t understand. Doesn’t the pressure from the water itself keep them suctioned to your face when you…how do they say it, blow them out? Isn’t that how regular scuba gear works?”
Dad sighed, and I knew a lecture was coming. “That’s right—if you are using normal diving equipment, but these masks don’t use hoses and stored oxygen attached to your backs. They manufacture it from the water itself. They effectively make the person who wears them into a…temporary fish.”
Fern had said nothing. She was examining the edges, rubbing the flat rubber between thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. “Mr. Waverly? You’re a whiz with science. These are amazing if they work. But maybe the main issue here is that you aren’t a Magical.”
“I know exactly what I am, young lady,” he added with unusual acerbity.
She gave him a small smile. “What I mean is that sometimes science isn’t enough. I think I can help you out here. I believe I can get them to stick and not come off. But there’s another problem besides just getting them to stay tight on our faces. We’re all, except for you, either Magical or Other. None of us are mermaids.”
Everyone looked at her. I could feel the eye rolls they held back. She’d stated the obvious.
Except suddenly, I knew what she was going to say. She was right. I hadn’t even thought of it, but I should have. Sadie was my clue.
Fern continued, “Mermaids, like fish, are not nearly as susceptible to the icy cold of the lake at this time of year, at least not in mermaid form. We will all be suffering from severe hypothermia in less than fifteen minutes in that icy water. Breathing isn’t the only issue.”
“I should have thought of that,” I whispered, nibbling on my lower lip in consternation. I hadn’t been thinking.
“We all should have,” Niel added in disgust.
Behind us, Sadie arrived in the doorway with Nick. Both were loaded down with large bags.
“You went shopping,” I blurted.
Sadie grinned, walking to the table and upending the bags. A collection of flippers and black rubber puddled in the middle of the table. Niel reached in and grabbed one of the larger suits.
“Are these drysuits? And flippers. Neat. I knew you were good for something, Sadie.”
Sadie sent her cousin a droll look. “Be grateful. I about maxed out my mom’s credit card. She’s going to kill me.”
“Hey, I mean it. These are neat.”
Dad looked gratefully at a grinning Sadie. “Well, that problem’s solved. It gives me hope the other will work.”
Fern brightened, warming to her subject. “That’s right, I think it will. We will be using what’s called a ‘Hold Tight’ spell.”
Jerry blinked. “A what?”
Fern sighed. “Think of it as a type of magical glue. Holds absolutely firm until another sorcerer or witch releases it from its binding spell.”
Thomas gave a skeptical snort, waving a hand at the heavy growth of hair on his chin and upper lip. Werewolves weren’t known for their clean-shaven appearance. “What about this mug? How you going to get it to stick to this?”
“Well, lucky for you, it’s magic. The spell isn’t really ‘glue’. It actually melds the rubber in the mask into your skin.”
“Whoa. That doesn’t sound pleasant.” Niel’s smile had slipped, and he was looking worried.
Fern nudged him, her eyes evil with sudden mirth. “Don’t be a baby. You can take it, can’t you?” she teased.
His eyes darkened, moving over her face. He taunted, waving a pair of flippers in her face. “You bet, buttercup. You just see if you can keep up with me.”
Thomas snatched a pair of flippers and a suit in extra large. “None of us are going to keep up with what’s down there. It won’t even be close. We have to make sure they don’t see us before we’re ready, and we need to go armed. Any ideas on that one, Sirris?”
I glanced up and met Sadie’s eyes. On land, I admired her incredible skill with the crossbow, and Thomas and a set of bolos was a wicked thing to behold, but beneath the water, weapons behaved differently. I unclipped my hand bow from my side and held it up. I glanced at Fern, Nick, and Niel. “How about you? Will your magic be effective under the water?”
Nick shrugged, and Niel looked uncertain. Fern looked at them both and rolled her eyes. “Yes, mostly. We need to be more precise when we shoot at what we’re aiming at. Water is denser than air, it moves differently. Our magic will be effective over a shorter distance.”
I waved my small bow. “This is still pretty accurate under water, and Sadie, your bow will work, though it will be a bit more unwieldy in the currents. As for the rest of us? Knives for close quarter fighting will do, and let’s see if we can steal more of these,” I waved my small hand bow, “from whomever we take down.
“Should we practice with all this stuff? Make sure it’s going to work before we just jump into Deep Lake and drown?”
“Don’t be a duck, Thomas. And we aren’t going in through Deep Lake. We are starting out in Hollow Top. We’ll use the tunnels, they won’t expect us that way.”
“It’s goose, Sirris,” Sadie spoke up, her lips tipping in amusement.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“Do you know where they might hold your family?” Niel asked.
My mouth firmed. “I’ve got an idea where to look.”
#
We gathered on the flat rock at the edge of the lake. Everyone else had already
donned their wetsuits. I realized they weren’t full body suits. The thin rubber ended just below their knees and had short capped sleeves that left their arms bare. They weren’t ideal. I hoped they afforded them enough protection to keep them mobile. One at a time, everyone affixed their breathing masks to their faces. Fern, with a graceful wave of her hand, performed a quick spell to affix them tightly in place. When she got to Thomas, we had a moment when the mask clenched around his face and melded his whiskers tight. His eyes went immediately wide, and he gasped in panic. “It burns to breathe, and it’s pulling my hair!”
I stepped in and grabbed his forearms and squeezed to get his attention. “The hair can’t be helped. And breathe through your mouth, dummy, you aren’t under water yet!”
His eyes narrowed furiously, but he opened his mouth and sucked in a lungful of air and stopped flailing about.
“Same for all of you. While wearing the mask, breathe through your mouth above water and through your nose beneath. We’ll try them out here where it’s safe before we attempt any deeper dives. Once we go under, look to Sirris for direction,” Fern spoke out.
And then it was time. I went first, my water fins propelling me backwards and keeping me effortlessly afloat as I stared at them, shivering on shore. One by one, everyone took the plunge. Sadie gave a screech as she came up. The suits protected their core; they did little to prevent the iciness of the water on their arms and face.
I was used to Sadie or Thomas being in charge, leading the group. But here in the water it had to be me.
“Okay Onlanders, in a circle so we can rescue anyone we need to, let’s go under together and we’ll practice those first breaths through those masks. If there are any issues, this is where they need to be flattened out.”
“Ironed,” they all chorused.
I was surrounded by comedians. “All right, ready?”
As a unit, we all submerged. I could see the whites of their eyes, their hair forming halos around their heads as they held their breath. I started to speak and then clamped my mouth shut. Another problem presented itself. Communication. They wouldn’t be able to use sonar, and none of us knew sign language.
As if on cue, a trickle of words floated into my mind and hung there. “Motion with your hands and get them to breathe. They’re turning purple.”
I met Fern’s eyes, hopping with amusement. I made a circular motion with my hand. One by one they gave a jerk and a shudder. Thomas flailed a bit, his eyes wide with fear until I lay a hand on his shoulder. A great shudder moved through him and I watched his diaphragm rise as he took in a great lungful of air. Everyone else seemed to get the hang of it right away, and within a matter of seconds everyone was exploring their new world, their eyes wide with delight as they mastered their flippers and propelled themselves through the water. They looked so satisfied with themselves I didn’t have the heart to tell them they were slower than a bunch of sea slugs. A shiver of apprehension moved through me. We were a capable army on land, but here, in my other world, we were ill prepared to take on an army of Mer-folk, who were born to the water and familiar with all its secrets. I’d been a fool to think this had any chance of succeeding.
Once more, Fern’s thoughts became mine. “We have more power than you think, Sirris. Have faith.”
“I have complete confidence we’re all going to die, and stay out of my head,” I sent back.
She smiled, ignoring me. “We’re ready, Sirris. Lead us.”
And I did, making another come hither motion with my fingers and heading out to the right, following the contours of the lake bed and looking for the acres of pond grass and the tip of the large rock that concealed the wormhole at its base. I hoped the men, with their wider shoulders, would fit until it widened within the first few yards.
This time I knew what I was looking for, and I never hesitated, parting the weaving fronds of grass and easing into the opening. We entered the absolute darkness of the cave and my pupils widened, pulling in the nearly nonexistent light. I realized only I could see at the same time as a small light flashed on behind me towards the back of the group, sending faint beams of light ricocheting off the narrow walls along the length of the tunnel. My bet was on Fern. She seemed to know ahead of time what we were going to need before I did. What I took for granted, she recognized as a lesson in Girl Scout preparedness. I surfaced in the first cavern, waiting for the others to join me. Then I realized that Niel also had a small lamp affixed to his forehead. I wished I’d thought about bringing them for the others. Floating in a small circle, we used the opportunity to rest and regroup, the light from the lanterns bouncing eerily off the slick rocky walls.
“We’ll be traveling through several more caverns and come out near Tarus into Deep Lake. We need to dive deep fast when we emerge so we can conceal ourselves in the weedy lake-bed.”
“Where to from there?” Thomas asked.
I was glad the gloom concealed my uncertainty, but I wouldn’t lie. “West. I’m not sure after that. We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
#
We emerged in Deep Lake and immediately sank down into the waving strands of milfoil. Niel and Fern cut their lamps. While not as light as they were used to, everyone could see well enough, the sunlight from above cutting through the gloom.
We watched Tarus from where we hid. I wasn’t surprised to see the guards were still absent. The expression on everyone else’s face made my heart swell with pleasure as I observed their amazed wonder. To them, this was Atlantis, the city that sank into the sea, spread out before them and wonderful. To me, it would be my lifelong prison if I didn’t find a way to fight back.
Motioning with my hands and keeping low, we moved away from Tarus. It wasn’t where we were going, not yet. We watched for anything that didn’t belong as we moved into an area of the lake I wasn’t familiar with, mostly because it was where the Seascrill made their home. And that wasn’t the safest place for a queen-elect Tarian lately. The landscape changed as we moved. We were incredibly slow. I wished I was talented like Mirra and could call on the Abaneki’ Dragons to lend us their speed. The vegetation grew thicker and taller the closer we came, which made it easier to conceal ourselves, but also more difficult for us to spot any unwelcome eyes watching our arrival.
But we saw no one. I should have been relieved. Instead, I wondered where the guards were. And what about patrols, Seascrill or otherwise? A tingle of nerves made me pull up short, the others moving in behind and me and waiting for my signal. My stomach did a nasty flip. I was no leader, and yet lead I must. Down here I was the only choice.
I waited and watched in indecision, not sure what I was looking for. Fern moved up alongside me and pointed, her eyes an electric blue in the deep murky waters. The odd glow made me wonder if she was using her empathic abilities, trying to locate the emotion of people gathering somewhere hidden where we couldn’t see. I looked to where she was pointing. A large outcropping of rocks rose along the up-slope of rocky shore on the westernmost edge of the lake, a tumble of boulders piled in descending order in haphazard fashion like someone had scattered random blocks to fall where they would.
A pattern of shadows moved over the gray and copper surfaces, the reflecting sun creating a dappled array of moving shapes. But near the bottom, a darker shape, solid and black, didn’t move.
Because it’s not a reflection, I realized. It was a hole. Even as my eyes drew down on that spot, a Seascrill, long hair floating eerily behind her, emerged. She was followed by two small children, a boy and girl of about eight and nine. She had a small net basket in hand, and as we watched, she swam to the east along the shore in the opposite direction from us, gathering greens for supper.
I searched the grassy bottom between that hole and where we were. The pond weeds were thick and at least a couple of meters tall. If we were careful, we should be able to get closer for a better look.
Within minutes we had crept to within a matter of yards of the opening. A closer look, and I realized w
e were looking at another wormhole. It was similar in size and shape to the passage that led between Deep and Hollow Lake, and then Bitterroot and the other side of Shephard’s Mountain beyond that. I didn’t know where this one led, but I had an inkling it was what we’d come for. But it also looked like a one-way ticket to disaster. We were here to rescue the Council members and my family, not join them. Suddenly I knew what Alice must have felt like, sliding down the rabbit hole with no clue what awaited her at the bottom.
Fern tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the rocky area. Her eyes lit, flaring brighter, and I felt the suggestion of words in my mind. “There are a lot of people in there. I can feel them. Hundreds. I also sense a warren of rooms and small caves and wormholes. I believe it rises and travels beyond Deep Lake.”
I nodded. What she said made sense. I pushed back. “So how are we going to get past them?”
“We aren’t. I sense a large gathering but only a few pockets of people on this end of the tunnel. Whoever they are, their fear and confusion is off the charts. They could be the prisoners we’re looking for.”
I wondered how far her telepathy could travel. “Can you get a message to me inside those rocky walls? Let me know if someone is coming so we could get out or hide if possible?”
Fern nodded. “I can try. Sensing emotions, and sending messages over such a distance are a bit different, but I believe I can do that.”
I gave a sharp nod and looked at the others. There was no way I could tell them what we’d shared. They’d be following me blindly. I didn’t like the trust in my judgment I was demanding of them, but I had no choice. With one last look at Fern, I surged forward, using my hand to usher the others to fall in behind me.
Niel’s expression was grim as he looked back over his shoulder at Fern. He worried, I knew. An overload of emotion was painful for her. Niel’s ability allowed him to act as a kind of buffer to mute the onslaught of others’ feelings. Without him around, the potential emotional overload could be very painful.
Rule 9 Academy Series Boxset: Books 3-5 Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Rule 9 Academy Box Sets (3 Book Series) 2) Page 67
