The Syfire's Seduction: An Anthology | Prequel of The Mer Chronicles

Chapter 6: Rescue of the Sea Dragon

City of Kovabasa in the Undersea Realm

Sophia landed with a splash. Bubbles floated up around her, giving her body a chance to complete her transformation. Her gills pulsed on her neck in time with her heart.

Where am I?

Sophia took in her surroundings. Blue water encompassed the landscape in a beautiful cerulean. To her left and her right stood tall buildings.

Well this is...new.

"Watch out!" a tiny voice shrieked.

Sophia jumped to the side and gasped. The two sprites she'd seen in Fairtide were now here with her. Wherever 'here' was.

"You!" Sophia pointed a finger at them. "Where am I?"

The dark-haired sprite—Merial, she remembered—looked at her companion, who nodded. "You're in Kovabasa in the Undersea realm."

Sophia frowned. There was a whole realm underwater? The more she thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Mer were meant to be secretive creatures. They weren't supposed to be known by the humans, yet some—like Sophia and her coven—could live among the humans without anyone the wiser.

"How do I get back?" she asked.

"We'll bring you back," the other sprite replied. "But we need your help first."

"With what?"

"Follow us." With a flick of her tail, the sprite took off in a jet stream followed closely by Merial.

Sophia sighed and whipped her legs behind her into a tail.

The sprites were tiny but fast. Sophia caught up as they approached a creature she immediately recognized.

A seahorse? That's why she was dragged out of her home? Sophia raised her eyebrows.

"It's a seahorse," she stated plainly.

"Ugh, not again! Merial, I told you this was wrong."

"Chill, Linnet." The sprite glared at Sophia. "You can't see his true form? Look closer. What do you really see?"

Sophia blinked, the water around the seahorse shimmering. No, glowing.

"He...he's a dragon?"

The dragon-turned-seahorse snorted in approval, nudging Sophia with his nose.

"So can you help us?" Merial looked up at her expectantly.

"I, uh, I can try?" Her response came out more like a question. "What exactly do you need me to do?"

The seahorse sneezed, sending a stream of fiery bubbles out of its nose as he was launched backwards. Sophia and the sprites shrieked as they each flew in a different direction.

"Does that happen often?" Sophia asked when she and the sprites swam back to each other.

"The point is that it's not supposed to happen," Linnet said. "You see, we, um, were playing with Cyprus here up in the Enchanted realm and kinda got a bit carried away with an enchantment."

Merial rolled her eyes. "No, Linnet got carried away. I tried to stop her."

"Regardless," Sophia said, urging the conversation along. "How do we get him back to normal?"

Linnet bit her lip. "That's the hard part. We don't really know. But since you have the ability to see us, we thought you would have the ability to help."

"So, wait. I'm really not supposed to see you?" Sophia asked.

Merial shook her head. "The only way you could is if you tangled with Andromeda."