Agwe nodded. "Ruach offered himself. He was going to serve as the vessel of Marinette. She'd be bound to him by my summons."
"So you were acting like a bokor?" I asked. "Wielding other Loa like that..."
Agwe shook his head. "Not me, Joni. There's another caplata. A young, impressionable girl. She'd been attempting to summon me ever since Marinette was... dealt with before."
"Why would a caplata try to summon you at a time when you're already within a host?" I asked.
Agwe shook his head. "Like I said, she was young. Naive. Ruach and I went to her. Not because we had to. She couldn't bind us from within this host. When I found her, she was running. Trying to escape the other bokors."
"Where is she now?" I asked, scratching my head. "Or, where was she in our time when you and Ruach left?"
"On a boat," Agwe said. "A small rowboat. Not suited for the open sea."
"And you left here there?"
"Only for a moment," Agwe said. "We intended to come back, and, with her attempting the summoning, we hoped to return with Marinette bound to Ruach. So he could command the sharks and get rid of them."
I shook my head. "But Marinette was already summoned. The Marinette I discovered here was summoned by bokors in this era for other purposes."
Agwe nodded. "Yes. Because someone else pulled us from the void before we could complete the binding."
I snorted. "You're saying this is my fault."
"You didn't know what we were doing," Agwe said. "But if you hadn't summoned us, you'd never have gotten yourself captured here."
"If I hadn't been imprisoned here," I said, raising my voice, "I'd never have needed to call you from the void to begin with!"
Agwe laughed. "Another paradox of time travel. Some events are destined to occur, double-bound by other events already in process."
"If that is the case, why do we even try messing with shit in the past? We just keep screwing ourselves over and over again."
Agwe nodded. "But even that is a part of what was apparently destined by the mysteries of time to occur."
"My brain hurts," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "I'm not going to think about it anymore. Not until we're out of here."
"Good idea," Agwe said. "If we can catch Marinette, there may be hope that we can still return to the void and bind her to Ruach again."
"And if we do that, Ruach will gain control over the sharks?"
"He will," Agwe said. "The plan was his, not mine. But I was inclined to agree with him it was the best course of action. He's a father, Joni. He's trying to protect Nammu and his hatchlings. And since we know the wyrms are especially susceptible to the rot, if they get bitten..."
"No," I said. "It's a good plan. There was another merman here. Ichthus."
Agwe grinned. "One of your kin."
I nodded. "He helped me get in touch with Legba. But his son..."
"Sephus?" Agwe asked.
"Yes. He's supposed to be on our side. He's going to help us escape. If we get out of here, will you recognize him?"
"Not likely," Agwe said. "What I know of your ancestry I learned from the Fomorian archives. I've been here, many times, during the course of history. But this is the first time I've been in this particular era."
"I don't know how he's going to help," I said. "But I suspect, based on what Ichthus said and what I know about what you told me before about Ichthus being the last Fomorian ancestor that resided here, that Sephus is going to do something to help us escape."
"Of course," Agwe said. "Sephus was only written once in the Fomorian archives. His name scratched out."
"Scratched out? Does that mean he died early?" I asked.
Agwe shook his head. "The archives indicated no death date for Sephus. If he was scratched out, it meant he was judged a traitor. I suspect, what's about to happen, is the reason."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
With Agwe near me, I had an excellent source to draw from magic-wise. I couldn't always siphon from him. As a Loa, there was something of a block. Nonetheless, after we were married, a lot of things changed.
Maybe it was because I was a Loa now, too. Not a hundred percent I bought into that. But maybe...
I mean, Odette certainly seemed convinced. I'd ask Agwe about it later. Once we got out of this God-forsaken dungeon.
Agwe insisted on leading the way. Because he might have been a Loa, but he was a male Loa. And men feel like they have to be like that. Playing the hero for their "damsels" in distress.
I wasn't some goddamn Disney princess. I was the queen of Fomoria. The Wyrmrider of legend. A badass, if I do say so myself.
But if it satisfied his fragile man-ego to lead the way, big tough demigod of the sea that he was, so be it.
I'd probably end up saving his scaled butt by the end of the day regardless.
I'd already summoned my trident. With Fomorin magic coursing through it, I have to say, it was pretty brilliant. And it provided more than enough light to see all the way to the end of the corridor we were swimming through.
I half expected some merlegionnaire to come around a corner at any second.
Didn't happen.
Instead, we reached an iron gate. Didn't even notice it when they brought me down there. And we didn't have one like it in my time. Hell, I hadn't even used those dungeons since I took over for Conand. Not like he did.
"I think it would be best if we avoid the king," Agwe said.
I nodded. "I agree. It might complicate things for us in the future. You know, before..."
"Precisely," Agwe said, shaking at the iron gate a little. "Have to open this first. But hopefully, we can avoid him once we get through."
Agwe was tinkering with the lock on the gate. Trying to pick it with a pin he'd pulled from his hair. I didn't even know he had pins in his hair. I just figured the tight little man-bun he was sporting was held together by a piece of kelp or something.
I floated there, shaking my head. The bars on the gate were far enough apart... and there was a lever on the wall opposite the gate. Probably opened the thing.
I drew on my dragon's essence, using it as a pattern as I had only a few minutes earlier to escape my bindings. In wyrm form, I slithered right through the bars—the advantage of being an itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polka-dotted wyrmie.
Okay, sans the yellow polks-dots. But I had to make it fit the song.
Besides, it was the eighteen hundreds. Not like I could be sued for copyright infringement or anything.
Now that I thought about it, a hell of a way to make money. Take every best seller I could grab and re-publish it under my family's name in the eighteen hundreds. Doesn't matter if it sells. Once they find out Harry Potter was already made up a century and a half earlier, J.K. Rowling will have to give me all her money.
I returned to Mermaid form and pulled the lever. I heard a click resonate through the water as the iron gate swung open.
"Ta-da!" I said, grinning ear-to-ear.
"Nice one," Agwe said, sticking his pin back in his man-bun.
First thing first. Escape the dungeon. Figure out my money-making time-travel schemes later. Like Biff stealing the almanac in Back to the Future, though, even if I did it, I'd probably screw something up anyway. Plus, I wasn't a thief. Major heists through time weren't really my style. I suppose I'd have to stick to selfless shit like saving the world.
No fun. Sucks having a conscience sometimes.
We swam as fast as we could through the rest of the corridor. If I remembered right, based on how the old royal spire had been made, the corridor to the dungeon was connected to a throne room.
Trying to avoid Conand, you'd think passing through a throne room would be risky.
But unlike a lot of movies where people go see a king, and he's always sitting on his throne—boring existence if you're a monarch with virtually unlimited resources and power, don't you think—such throne rooms were generally used for ceremonies, receiving formal audiences with citizens or dignitaries,
or whatever. And in Fomoria, unless we were welcoming a visitor from one of the other Fomorian outposts worldwide, we didn't typically entertain many outsiders. I doubted they did in the eighteen hundreds, either.
We swam into the throne room—it was totally empty. I released a sigh of relief. I suspected it would be, but you never know for sure.
I heard a clapping sound.
I turned.
"Ichthus!" I said. "Thank God it's you!"
"Sorry, I intended to get back to open the gate for you. Your escape sort of took me by surprise. I didn't expect..."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "It hasn't been that long."
Ichthus narrowed his eyes then waved his hand through the air. "Never mind it. I lose track of time easily. Nonetheless, I didn't forget our plan. I forget a lot of things. Remembered that. I came here to help as soon as I sensed you escape the bindings. I was afraid, perhaps, you'd died while under the influence of the kelp."
"Died?" I asked. "I mean, that stuff is powerful. But can you really overdose on it?"
Ichthus shrugged. "It's possible. But I'm glad to see you are well. I've already alerted Sephus. He's working on a distraction. Something to draw the legion out of the city."
"Out of the city?" Agwe asked, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
"Isn't Ruach just outside the city?" I asked.
Agwe nodded. "That would certainly be a distraction. But I think Ruach will have enough sense to stay hidden until we show up."
"Is this Ruach a friend of yours, Joni?" Ichthus asked.
I smirked. "You could say that. What is this distraction Sephus has planned?"
Ichthus smiled wide. His crooked teeth give him an oddly endearing grin.
"He's going to drop the firmament."
"He what?" Agwe asked. "That is considered treasonous by longstanding Fomorian law."
Ichthus nodded. "There's a clan of Fomorian exiles. Mostly petty criminals. His girlfriend is among them."
"What did she do?" I asked.
Ichthus shook his head. "She was among the Fomorian peasantry. For a peasant woman to seduce a legionnaire or one of the noble class is considered a capital offense, worthy of expulsion."
"King Conand kicked her out because she had a relationship with your son?" I asked.
Ichthus nodded. "Sephus has been waiting for an opportunity to get his revenge."
"Won't they try and kill him?" I asked.
"We do not execute our criminals. Doesn't mean they won't try. Only if they can make it look like an accident," Ichthus said. "Please, if you can, make sure he gets out with you. When he takes down the firmament, it will be obvious he was to blame."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because that's his post. His responsibility. To guard the crystal that maintains the firmament over the whole city."
I cocked my head. "There's a crystal? Why didn't I know about this, hubby?"
Agwe shrugged. "You were too obsessed with the maps, not like you would have listened if I tried to show it to you."
I snorted. "Alright, fair enough. Where is Sephus at? So we can be sure he comes with us? I mean, if I'm your descendant, and he's your only son, I sort of have an interest in making sure he survives, too."
"That's why I know I can trust you, Joni Campbell," Ichthus said with a slight nod of his head. "Sephus will find you. I told him to head to the eastern limits of the city. There's an open field that direction."
"The wyrmfields," I said, looking at Agwe.
Agwe nodded back at me.
"The what?" Ichthus said.
I smiled. "Long story. I'll just say that this Ruach you asked about. He isn't a Fomorian. And he's pretty damn frightening if you don't know what you're dealing with. I suspect that's where he'll be anyway. If we can get to him with Sephus, the merlegion won't stand a chance to catch us."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ichthus, who worked in the royal spire, ducked away through another corridor. Not sure where that one went. I hadn't had much chance to roam through the old royal spire before it was demolished, courtesy of the wyrms.
It was nice to see at least one side of my family tree—not the Campbell side, obviously—was populated by friendly folk rather than terrified, girl-killing, former slave owners.
Next time I managed to see her, I'd have to ask my momma more about this side of my family. I grew up with only my dad's side to visit on birthdays and holidays. Never knew much at all about my momma's background until I was a teenager. And then, not much more because she was in a coma most of that time.
I wondered how many greats, exactly, Ichthus and Sephus were, respectively. I mean, maybe momma had stories from her granddaddy about Sephus. Not unthinkable, really. I'd always been interested in my roots. And now, having actually met some of them, I was more fascinated by my heritage than ever.
"All clear," Agwe said, still leading the way as we moved out of the throne room into the open waters. "No legionnaires, at least."
I followed him close behind. There were screams from all around. The firmament was down, and the merfolk were freaking out. When you've spent your whole life relying on one thing for a sense of security, I suppose it makes sense it would be alarming when that thing went away.
Still, no attacks were incoming. Though, if they saw Ruach, the whole city would probably descend into an all-out panic. We'd have to go another direction with him or use a wyrmhole to portal ourselves a reasonable distance away.
We passed a few ordinary citizens on our way out. But they were all so panicked over the missing firmament they hardly noticed us—two outsiders, strangers, making our way past.
We made it all the way to the eastern boundary, where the firmament was supposed to be, before seeing a single legionnaire.
So far as any of them knew, I was still locked up in the dungeon. And they didn't even know Agwe was there.
They were focused on someone else...
A single legionnaire, swimming as fast as he could while a crowd of ten or more others, pursued him, tridents in hand.
"I've got an idea," Agwe said, extending his hand into the open water toward the legionnaires.
A whirlpool formed between them and the legionnaire I assumed must've been Sephus.
Agwe and I swam as hard as we could toward him.
He looked back and saw us approaching. He wouldn't recognize Agwe, of course, but he'd seen me before.
We met in the middle—Sephus swimming at an angle both away from Fomoria and closer to us while we did the same. In the direction of the wyrmfields. Well, what we'd eventually call the wyrmfields, anyway.
As our paths collided, the merman nodded at me. I almost gasped. The resemblance between him and me was uncanny. He had my nose. The same blond hair. Even my eyes. Only his features were a bit more masculine, his brow a little broader than mine. His shoulders, too.
I'd say he was hot. But he was like my great-great-grandpa, so that's weird. And, to make that observation after just saying he looked like me. I suppose we're all a little narcissistic, but that would be a whole other level of conceit.
So, I'll say this. He was a decent-looking mer-fellow, and the family resemblance was undeniable.
"Hey there, Gran Pappy," I said. "No sign of Marinette?"
Sephus cocked his head. He was likely taken aback by being called "Gran Pappy." He couldn't have been much older than I was, so, I suppose, assuming that sort of title felt strange. "No, she left the city before I took down the firmament."
I bit my lip. Why in the world did she leave Fomoria. Did she really just come to gloat while I was locked up? And what was she up to, anyway? No time to entertain those questions.
"Come this way," I said. "We've got a ride waiting."
Sephus nodded. He couldn't have had any clue what I meant by a "ride," but there wasn't time to clarify. Not with the merlegion on our literal tails.
Agwe turned back and formed another whirlpool between our position and the merlegion. It would buy us some time to get
some separation as we headed for the wyrm fields.
I was crossing my fingers, hoping that Ruach would think to meet us there. Other than simply picking a random spot somewhere in the vicinity of Fomoria, the fields made the most sense.
The fields were called as such because the whole seafloor there was full of various aquatic sea life. Kelp, seaweed, a lot of plant life I didn't know what to call. There were areas, though, where the sea foliage was so thick a wyrm could hide in it completely.
I hadn't done much talking to Nammu, and I had more of a bond, a connection. But he could hear me if I used the essence of the dragon in my soul to speak to him.
Ruach... are you here?
I didn't have to ask twice. And he didn't bother to respond. He was a man-wyrm of action and few words.
His massive, serpentine body busted out of the foliage.
"By the gods!" Sephus exclaimed.
I chcukled. "Sephus, meet Ruach."
"I've heard stories of these... the wyrms and the Wyrmriders. I just thought they were legends."
I smiled. "Name's Joni. Some call me La Sirene. Others know me as the Fomorian Wyrmrider. And I suppose, based on what your paps said, we're family. So we'd best get your mer-butt out of here otherwise, well, I might not ever get a chance to exist."
Sephus nodded. "There's a clan of exiles. About a hundred miles east of here."
I nodded. "Ichthus told me about it. Hop on."
Agwe and I each mounted Ruach, tucking our hands beneath his scales and wrapping our mer tails to one side.
Sephus followed our lead. I was in the front. Sephus was in the back. We were making something of an Agwe sandwich. Hold the pickles and mayo. I'm more of a spicy mustard sort of girl.
Ruach, can you cast a portal... take us maybe a hundred miles east of here?
Ruach nodded. It was easier to make a portal some distance away, a wyrmhole as I called it because their gateways pierced through the folds of the fabric of space itself. If I added a little Fomroian magic to the wyrms' efforts, I could enhance the wyrmhole to pierce the fabric of time, too. Usually, though, lacking the ability of a gatekeeper, like Merlin, such wyrmholes ended in the void. And if I opened one into Guinee, well, there was no telling when it would be when I came back to earth.
Wyrmrider Vengeance: An Underwater Magic Urban Fantasy (The Fomorian Wyrmriders Book 2) Page 15
