Heart of Stone: HPHM Year 6

Memories

Once the group exited the merperson village, the grindylows' presence became clear. They were everywhere--swarming in groups, hissing and baring their teeth, circling them like sharks. If any of them dared draw too close, the mermaids would hiss back and raise their spears, which was enough to convince them to stay back. Still, Sarah and the others kept their wands at the ready.

The mermaids led them down in to a dark, deep trench. Finally, they stopped short and pointed. Sarah eyes wandered until she found what could've been the entrance to a cave, but it was covered by large boulders. She glanced back at the others. Ben nodded eagerly. Merula gestured for her to hurry up.

Sarah pointed her wand at the pile of boulders. "Bombarda!" The spell came out as more of a chain of bubbles than a verbal command, but the rocks were blasted left and right, revealing a large, rectangular entrance. If she squinted, Sarah thought she could make out a set of stairs leading upwards.

Sarah flinched at the sound of merpeople shrieks. The grindylows had abandoned caution. At least fifty of darted forward with their sharp claws raised. The merpeople charged forward with their spears, leaving the humans unprotected. Sarah saw flashes of blinding light as her friends fired spells at the onslaught. She followed suit. It was terrifyingly bizarre; suspended in water, flipping and swimming back and forth as enemies attacked from all sides, until you couldn't remember what was up and what was down. Sarah couldn't help but wonder what Diego would think of it all.

There were so many tentacles blurring her vision that she could hardly make out the others, but she did spot a smoky cloud of red floating in the water. Please let it be Grindylow blood.

Between the wizards and the merpeople, the grindylows were being held back for the most part, but it was clear they were tied to the vault, and they would die to defend it. "Flipendo!" Sarah shouted. More bubbles erupted from her mouth, but her spell was so powerful, half a dozen grindylows were blasted away in backwards somersaults.

She swam toward Merula to help her fight another swarm, noticing as she did that she wasn't cutting as swiftly through the water as before. She glanced down at her fins. They were shrinking, morphing back into human feet. Horrorstruck, she held out her hands. The webbing had all but dissolved. She felt at the gills on her neck. They were still there, but smaller than before.

They had to get access to air. Quickly. Sarah kicked her legs. She reached Merula and tugged on her arm, gesturing to her gills. Merula shot her a look that clearly said, I know, I'm not an idiot, before firing another blasting spell at the grindylows. Sarah spun around. Where were the others? She spotted Ben and Jacob beckoning to them, pointing to the vault. Sarah didn't want to abandon the merpeople, but they had little choice. Sarah grabbed Merula again and pulled her in the direction of her brother, then wheeled around searching for Barnaby.

She saw flashes of silver as merpeople flashed by, cutting down more and more grindylows. Bubbles and blood swirled around her, but she didn't see anymore flashes of light, not a trace of brown hair. Her vision felt fuzzy. She reached up and touched her neck, feeling the smooth skin. The gills were gone. She officially had no access to oxygen.

Desperate, she swam towards the cave, praying Barnaby was already there. Her lungs were screaming. Her arms and legs seemed to be on fire. She stared hard at the entrance to the cave, but her vision seemed to be fading. She swam as fast as she could, panic overtaking her. The need for air had her body convulsing. Her vision was all-but-gone. Was this what drowning felt like?

Something grabbed hold of her. She was being pulled forward. She somehow found the strength to kick even harder, wanting to help. Involuntarily, Her mouth opened as her body searched desperately for air, and she swallowed a mouthful of water.