A Losing Battle {The Land of Ecstasy: Book Three}

Chapter 5

Peter

        "Peter?" Dave asked. I stopped walking and turned. "Are we almost there? Riq wants to know."

        "Yeah, we've got about two minutes," I told Dave, which he translated to Riq. Riq groaned loudly. "Tell him to suck it up," I added, and Dave laughed as he translated. Riq only glared. 

        We arrived at the indian camp. It was completely deserted, a bad sign. I began to whisper to Dave, who translated to Riq as discreetly as possible. "On my count," I whispered slowly and carefully, "Run." I nodded to each of them, and they nodded in return. "Three," I whispered, "Two," Dave was translating to Riq, "One." Then chaos broke out.

        There were indians everywhere. I let instinct take over andI took to the sky immediately, grabbing both boys by their shoulders and pulling them up with me as I sprinkled pixie dust on them. I felt several arrows narrowly miss my ears and toes. Then, one hit my ear. Luckily, no one seemed to see it dissolve. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. I didn't want to have to invent an excuse as to why my angel powers did that.

        Dave, Riq,and I flew, quickly as possible, to the woods, where we hid for hours. We hid deep in the bramble,sitting uncomfortably and squished. Finally, when we felt safe, we emerged from the bushes. 

       "Everyone okay?" I asked. Dave and Riq both nodded. "Still think it's a good idea to go to the mermaids?" I asked, even though I knew it was useless.

       "Of course," Dave said quietly. "I don't give up that easily, Peter." I sighed. I knew that there was no convincing the mermaids, but at least they would be more diplomatic. I didn't want any more close calls.

        We arrived at Mermaid Lagoon to find it empty at the surface, as I had expected. The mermaids are not idiots, they would not wait at the surface to be attacked. Instead, they waited to be summoned.

         I whistled a low, melodic tune, one I had heard Bix whistle when he had thought no one could hear. As expected, only Meridia came to the surface. Now, she was five months pregnant and showing. She looked at me quietly.

         "Peter, you shouldn't be here," she whispered. "It's too late, they've already sided with your friend Cal," she whispered. Then she looked at the ship in the distance. "Is it true that Hook is dead?" she asked. I nodded, trying not to seem sad. After all, I was supposed to be his enemy. 

         "Meridia," Dave cut in, "You said before that 'they've' sided with Cal. Shouldn't that include you, or are there some that don't support him?" Dave's tone was purely analytic. One who didn't know the mermaids like I might have thought that was a good thing, but I knew the truth. The mermaid society doesn't force the merpeople to fight, rather, they give pep talks and slightly slanted information to convince them to join willingly. 

          "It's useless," Meridia told him. "I'm the only one that'll ever help you." Dave looked at me, and I nodded. Even if the mermaids didn't agree with Cal, they would not risk their social statuses and happiness to join me. I sighed.

         "Dave, don't even think about asking her to spy," I told him, knowing that question would be the next out of his mouth. "She's pregnant and lost her lover, she needs rest, not a war." Dave nodded quietly as Meridia shot me a grateful glance. "We'll be going now. If you need us, just call my name. I'll hear it, I promise," I told her. Dave didn't fully translate to Riq, which futhered my trust in him. Both Meridia and Dave seemed to know that there was more to me than met the eye, and, for some reason, I was okay with that. 

          "Goodbye, Peter," Meridia whispered. "Goodbye boys. And good luck."

         I ran over to hug her, despite never having been very close with her. She hugged me back. 

        "Good luck with your baby. Stay safe."

         "Of course," she whispered. "You too. It's the least we can do for Bix." 

         I nodded. "For Bix," I said, even though there were so many boys I was fighting for. For Bix. For Max. For Doug. For Howie. For Tru. For Tad. For Dave. For Riq. And last but not least, for Jay.