I nodded. “So Isabelle has Jesus juice?”
“You could say that…”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t go to her head… because by proxy, it’ll go to mine, too.”
“Can you imagine, however, if her power was open to someone whose nature was unlike your own? To someone who intended to do harm?”
I bit my lip. I was mildly entertained by the notion that he thought I was a “good girl.” I was never what the nuns expected of me in Catholic school. Always testing them. Always pushing the boundaries. But I was never evil, I suppose… just a bit devious. I wasn’t like the Bokors. I could be as selfish as anyone at times—but these people bastardized Voodoo for the sake of power.
I scratched my head. “The Bokors… they already have committed themselves to using the Voodoo arts for self-serving purposes.”
Agwe nodded. “And even if the spirits they assume fight against it, they will have a taste, a flavor of a power that neither they nor the souls they acquire understand. It is a dangerous combination.”
“So what do we do?”
“We must get on with your quest. You must retrieve my trident.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. If it’s yours, why can’t you just get it?”
Agwe sighed. “Because this is not the host I’ve always possessed. There was another…”
“And the trident is with your old body? You can’t just dig it up or whatever and get it back?”
“I cannot. The host I once possessed was immediately seized by another spirit… the spirit of a notorious pirate herself.”
“Wait, your old host is now possessed by this Anne Bonny chick?”
Agwe nodded.
“And why did you abandon this host who supposedly had your trident?”
“I did not leave by choice. There is another, one who guards the crossroads, who had jurisdiction over which Loa might pass between worlds. At least he did.”
“Papa Legba?”
Agwe nodded. “And until recently, I thought he was responsible. That is precisely why I’ve never had much to do with your Academy. But I suspect it had never been him… not him alone, but his dark aspect, another Loa who had haunted him from within, who had been influencing him in ways he never realized until it was too late.”
“Kalfu,” I said. “All this shit is Kalfu’s doing.”
“For once,” Agwe said, “the vodouisants of sea and land share a common foe.”
I nodded. “And you need me to retrieve the trident. You want me to just sneak into this Anne Bonny’s underwater apartment and take it? I still don’t understand.”
“The trident is not a weapon made of metal. It is an elemental.”
“Like Beli… like my soul blade.”
“If you can somehow defeat her, get her to relinquish the trident, the water elemental which forms it will unite with those you already possess.”
“So I just need to kill this Anne Bonny character?”
Agwe shook his head. “I’m afraid it might be more complicated than that.”
“It always is,” I said. “None of this magic Voodoo shit is ever simple. None of it is ever apple pie.”
“Your weapons must meet in combat. The elementals must willingly unite and together decide which of you they will bind themselves to. Should you fail…”
“Then she gets Beli, too.”
Agwe nodded.
“Well that would suck donkey balls.”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind. Just wouldn’t be good.”
“Suffice it to say, she will find it as tempting to face you and seize your soul weapon as you might find it necessary to seize hers.”
“Beli knows me. He’d never choose her.”
“It is not a matter of choice. The elementals do not gravitate to the moral better, the honorable one. If that were the case, you’d have nothing to fear. The elementals will choose whichever of you is truer to herself. It does not matter of she is pure evil—if she is true to that, the elementals will fall to her.”
I sighed. “So I have to get to know myself. I spend most of my time avoiding that. Too much introspection kills, ya know?”
“Who ever told you that?”
“I don’t know. It was a pity quote on a meme I saw once. Never mind. I know who I am. And I’m not ashamed of that.”
“You might know who you are, but are you true to the person you know yourself to be?”
I bit my lip. Then I sighed. “I know what I have to do.”
“Then we shall make whatever is necessary to ensure your success a reality.”
I glanced at Joni. “I met a girl last night. Her name was Shelly. She and her brother are supposed to start training tomorrow. They’re supposed to become wyrmriders.”
“Shelly and Finn, I’m well aware,” Joni said.
“They’re willing to sacrifice themselves for nothing. To just keep your society around a little bit longer. But you all are not going to survive forever. Say I go and manage to get through all Anne Bonny’s sharks, I meet her face-to-face, and we draw our weapons. I’m going to lose… if I don’t do this first. I’m going to lose.”
“What are you proposing?” Joni asked.
“Let me join the wyrmriders. Allow me to train with them tomorrow. You saw what I can do out there.”
“If you claim the trident from Anne Bonny, her power will be greatly reduced,” Agwe said.
“And if I fail, it will be strengthened. Tell me, say I do claim the weapon. Does she die straightaway?”
“No she would not.”
“Could I kill her? With my soul weapon alone? I mean, could I send her to the realm of the dead?”
Agwe shook his head. “The bargain that she made, the one that binds her here, will prevent it. She’s sealed in this world.”
“Then let me fight with the wyrmriders. Her legions are growing. She doesn’t attack you herself. She hides behind her abominations. If I can lead the wyrmriders against her army, if we can defeat them, she’ll be lost. She’ll have to face us herself.”
“But like I said,” Agwe continued, “even then, she cannot be easily dispatched to the realm of the dead.”
“There’s a reason she herself doesn’t attack. She has a vulnerability; otherwise, she’d have no need of the zombie sharks.”
“How can you be certain?” Joni asked.
I smirked. “I’m College Ogoun. I possess the aspect and have trained with the Loa of war. You want to win this thing? You want to be done with Anne Bonny once and for all? Then let me join the wyrmriders.”
Agwe and Joni exchanged glances. Agwe sighed. “All right. But you do not have much time. If Kalfu is planning to bind Vilokan’s fallen to the Bokors, if he’s already performed the rite…”
I bit my lip. Ashely was still out there. Mikah was there. So was Oggie. They had to have a plan. If she could ward the place, even though it was broken, she could at least slow Kalfu and the Bokors down. I was sure she’d try.
“My sister is a Shaman,” I said. “She’ll be able to keep Kalfu out of the ruins of Vilokan for a while.”
“She’s right,” Joni said. “I know her sister. She’s strong. And I know the Shaman who trained her. If Annabelle believes they can buy us time, then I believe her.”
“You have three days,” Agwe said. “You must train as hard as you possibly can. We cannot afford risking any more time than that.”
“Deal,” I said. “I’ve already ridden a dragon. How hard can riding a wyrm really be?”
Joni laughed. “Honey, riding dragons is for pussies.”
I scrunched my brow. “I’m not a pussy.”
“I didn’t say you are. But the dragon you rode is an elemental spirit, correct? One that chose you. A wyrm choses no one. A wyrm is a creature of the sea. The sea is chaos. It’s a powerful creature—not evil, it simply is what it is.”
“So how did you ever manage to tame these things?”
“They are powerful, but it is not t
heir brute strength alone that makes them so. They also possess an ancient magic… a magic that coursed through the primordial void before the universe itself was made. A magic I could access…”
“Because you are a siphon.”
Joni nodded. “That is why the wyrmriders never ride without me at the helm. I alone can speak to them, reach out to them through their magic.”
“And that’s why you never left this place…”
“It’s one of the reasons.”
“So three days,” I said. “To learn how to tame and ride a creature more ancient and headstrong than a dragon. Sounds like just another week in the life of Annabelle Mulledy.”
Chapter Seven
“I wish I had a tail,” I said, only half serious. If I could sprout one temporarily, it would certainly make mounting this sidesaddle a bit more… comfortable. It would also help me maneuver. I was able to glide through the water with the speed of Michael Phelps and the grace of a synchronized swimmer. Much improvement over my aquatic life heretofore as doggy paddler and belly flopper. Still, compared to the Merfolk, I was something of an oaf. A tail… would be helpful.
Joni smiled. “Unless you find a way to harness Fomorian magic, magic based on the elemental properties of water… I’m not saying you couldn’t. I mean with Isabelle’s power…”
“She refuses. Says it isn’t worth the risk.”
“And she’s right. I once shifted into a dragon by accident. A part of that instinct… it never left me. Shifting doesn’t just change your shape, it affects your mind.”
I scrunched my brow. “And since my mind is clearly in my ass, shifting a tail would be catastrophic.”
Joni detected my sarcasm. “I see your point.”
Doesn’t matter anyway, Isabelle said. I can’t give you enough of my magica to do it unless I have the reins.
I sighed. “No matter. Isabelle says it takes too much magic to shape-shift, and she can only give me limited quantities unless I let her take over.”
Joni pinched the tip of her chin. “Good thing I’m a siphon and can amplify the magic for you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That would really work?”
“Not sure how long you’ll be able to hold the shift since I can’t keep the magic going strong indefinitely. But I should be able to amplify the magica enough to allow you to shift for a few minutes, at least.”
I nodded. “Well that’s something. I mean, if we’re in the middle of a battle and I need the extra agility that a tail provides…”
Joni smirked. “Still, using a mer-tail takes some practice. Swimming with one is kind of like learning to walk for the first time. And three days is already pushing it to get you wyrm-worthy.”
I nodded. “Well, good thing we got here early, before the new recruits arrived.”
Joni patted the wyrm she intended me to ride—it was incredible how, so long as she was around, these creatures demurred like perfectly trained show dogs. Of course, I didn’t have any clue how they’d behave if she wasn’t around. I wasn’t at all eager to find out, either.
“All right, Annabelle. You and Isabelle ready to try this?”
Might as well be…
“She’s as ready as she’ll ever be. I am, too.”
Joni smirked. “All right. Isabelle, just don’t hold any of the good stuff back. I won’t need much, but the more you can let Annabelle channel, the better.”
Got it…
“She understands.”
Joni nodded. I opened myself to Isabelle’s magica. I didn’t have to inhale when I channeled it—but for some reason I always did. At least at first. It just felt like the right, instinctive thing to do. A slight tingle spread across my brow and I could see the green glow emanating from my eyes illuminate the waters around me—it had a pretty marvelous effect underwater, something I couldn’t often see in normal circumstances, especially if we were in a lit room, or outdoors during the daytime.
Joni inhaled—though I suspected her inhale was more integral to her siphoning ability than it was to my casting. The green glow that had filled my eyes before now consumed hers.
Joni grinned. “Ahh, I forgot how good this kind of magic felt… so pure… so much life in it…”
I nodded. I didn’t have much experience with other flavors of magica. Even the powers I wielded through the various aspects of the Lao which I had been granted wasn’t like this. Those abilities didn’t run off of magica, or mana, or whatever the hell it actually was that Isabelle drew upon to channel her abilities. I just liked the word magica, seemed sufficiently mystical to me, so it’s the term I ran with.
Joni extended her hand toward my legs. “Just relax,” she said. “This is going to feel… unusual.”
I giggled. “It tickles a little.”
Joni nodded.
“Don’t fight it… I know the instinct is to jerk away, exactly like if you were being tickled. Try to lean into the feeling.”
I laughed and accidentally snorted. I covered my face with my hand, as if trying to force the piggy noise back inside. I could feel my bones soften, the skin of my legs stretch. It wasn’t at all painful. But it was the oddest sensation I’d ever had—other than the time when a guy I was dating stuck his tongue in my ear. He thought it would turn me on somehow. Instead, it just felt like the worst wet willy I’d ever experienced. And it felt weirder, believe it or not, than this… this wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. It tickled, yeah. But not so much that I couldn’t bear it. After the first few giggles, it took no effort at all to simply let the transformation happen.
To watch it happen with my own eyes was quite a sight—just imagine seeing your own legs meld into something else, as if they were play-dough.
But I could never make anything at all this impressive with play-dough. My play-dough sculptures… well, they kind of resembled Pauli. I could make play-dough snakes. That was about the extent of it. I wasn’t the most creative child on the planet.
I moved my new tail—which I have to say was an experience of its own, when you’ve lived your whole life with two legs, accustomed to moving them independently.
I kicked—like I thought I would if I had my two legs stuck inside a fake Mermaid costume. My body immediately flung backward, forcing me into a backflip in the middle of the water.
Pauli was laughing out loud. “I don’t think that’s how you do it.”
“Ya think?” I asked. I looked at Joni, who was grinning widely.
“It just takes small, subtle movements. You don’t have to use so much force.”
I nodded. I tried again, a more subtle kicking motion this time. I felt my body move one direction.
“Now the other way,” Joni said. “You always have to keep yourself in balance.”
I flipped my tail fin the other way—the two movements together seemed to balance me out a bit as my body moved forward.
“Now, just back and forth, no more one way than the other. Remember, keep yourself in balance, unless you want to flip, or turn.”
I flipped my tail back and forth and felt my body propel through the water. “I’m doing it!” I shouted. “Woohoo! I can really go!”
“Now try to turn!” Joni shouted.
I tilted my body slightly and gave my tail a hard flip the opposite direction I intended to go. Too much. I corrected the opposite way.
“There you go,” Joni said. “You’re getting it!”
I flipped my tail a few more times propelling myself back to where I started.
“Not bad for a first-timer,” Joni said. “My first time with a new tail didn’t go nearly so well.”
“Sounds like there’s an entertaining story behind that statement,” I said.
Joni chuckled. “Let’s just say a double backflip into the behind of a whale won’t get you a perfect ten even if you stick the landing.”
“How do you stick a landing if you don’t have legs?”
“That wasn’t the end of my body I stuck my landing with…”
I laugh
ed. “I’d seriously give up half my trust fund to see that.”
“I’m sure it would be money well spent. Agwe still hasn’t let me live that one down.”
“Should I give it another go?” I asked. Fluttering my tail around, causing my body to spin like a tornado.
“No time,” Joni said, nodding a few yards away. About a dozen Merfolk were approaching. Toward the front of the group were two I already recognized—Shelly and Finn. Joni looked in my eyes. “Isabelle, I’m talking to you.”
I hear her…
“She hears you.”
Joni nodded. “The shift took well. If you just allow a small bit of magica to go into it, you should be able to hold this form for longer.”
Tell her I’ll try. Never done anything like this before, so I’m not entirely sure how much it takes to hold.
“She said she’d do her best,” I said.
Joni nodded. “Very well. If you’re serious about joining the wyrmriders, you can’t have any special treatment. I need you to get in line with the rest.”
“Sure,” I said.
“It’s ‘yes, La Sirene,’” Joni said.
I rolled my eyes.
“When we’re training, that is how you must address me.”
I smirked. “You got it, General.”
Joni sighed. “I guess that will have to do.”
Chapter Eight
“Nice fin!” Shelly said enthusiastically. “What happened to your legs?”
I shrugged. “They just up and walked off. It was the damnedest thing.”
Shelly scrunched her brow.
“It was a joke,” I said. “This is just temporary. A little magic. I wanted to fit in with the rest of you.”
“You volunteered for the wyrmriders?”
“In a manner of speaking,” I said. I would have explained more, but Joni cut us off.
“Recruits! When you present yourselves to me in training or on the field, you must be in proper position.” Joni was practically yelling.
“Yes, La Sirene,” the rest of the recruits said in unison.
I almost laughed. She’d always been sweet. A southern belle. Full of grace and charm. This was… GI Joni. A side of her I’d never seen—and it didn’t exactly suit her well in my opinion. Though I was clearly the only one to think so.
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