Beached (book 3)

Chapter 23

Pearl's POV

The scene was bloody and insane. Sirens trashed and fought as merpeople tangled with them. They hissed as merpeople let out war cries.

"Pearl," Pale said as she shook my shoulder. "Come on let's get on the doc. I want to see the action."

"Why?" I asked. "What if a siren sees us?"

"I'm pretty sure we're the least of the siren's problems," Pale said. "Besides, that's my family fighting up there. I want to see if they're okay."

I nodded. Pale and I hoisted ourselves onto the doc. Loose frays of wood dug into my skin, but I ignored the pain.

The sight was even worse at eye level. Everyone pounced on each other. Tridents swung and claws slashed, it was impossible to tell who was winning. I listened to the sound of the ocean, but the waves were drowned out the agonizing sounds of soldier's dying cries for help.

I looked over at Pale. Her deep brown eyes frantically scanned the scene, probably looking for her dad and...Matthew.

Matthew.

What if he's hurt?

I shook my head. He's strong, I'm sure he's fine. It's not like you can do anything anyway.

"I wonder where the other leaders are," I mentioned, trying to take my mind off things.

Pale didn't respond. Her eyes continued to scan the horizons, I could see the panic in her eyes. Teeth dug into her lip, it quivered.

"I-I don't know," Pale finally said.

A roll of thunder was heard in the distance...no...a conch horn.

"The other kingdoms," Pale muttered.

The water began to churn rapidly. Choppy waved surrounded the battlefield. I could feel the doc rock under my feet. Pale sat down, she was nearly knocked over.

The conch horn echoed again as 12 merpeople rose from the waves. I recognized a couple of the faces from when they would enter the throne room, all royalty. At the front lines was the Arctic King, trident raised, and his wife.

"It's the kingdoms," I muttered to myself.

"Is Aaron in the crowd?" I heard Pale ask as she rose shakily to her feet.

"Aaron?" I asked. Whose he?

Pale shook her head. "I mean the Tropical Pacific King-"

She references him by his first name? What happened while I was on land?

I heard a ferocious cry from the water. I jerked my head to the circle of royalty.

"Attack!" The Arctic King yelled as the royalty crashed under the waves.

"Why is Tr-A-Aaron not with the other kingdoms?"

Pale shrugged. I could see her eyes continuing to scan the crowd, searching for her brother and dad. "The last time we saw each other he seemed pretty fond of me-"

"Which means?"

Pale glanced at me for a second before turning back to the ocean. "He tried to flirt with me-"

I could feel the corners of my mouth upturn. Flirting? Wasn't Pale at a serious business conference?

"And what did you do?"

"I shut him down, of course," she replied before clearing her throat. "Listen, can we just get back to the problem at hand?"

I cleared my throat. I looked out at the sea. What can I do? I'm just a human. My heart sunk. I'm just a human. What do I do? I can't do anything. What if I can never do anything-