Bastian's Song [Complete--Editing]

[ 25 ]

"Bast! We've been looking for you for days! Are you injured? Where are you?"

A smile blossomed over Bastian's face. "We're okay, Lachlan, just lost. Are you okay? Is everyone with you?" The green light of the armband was almost too bright to look at in the darkness.

"We?" Lachlan's voice dipped a bit as the armband dimmed. "Is the snooty ambassador with you, then?"

Bastian's cheeks heated and Ambrosia rolled her eyes. "She is not snooty, Lachlan." He turned and leaned down to speak more closely to his arm. "And that's not nice. Stop that."

"Stop what?" Lachlan's voice was the epitome of innocence. Bastian hissed his frustration. "Okay, okay," Lachlan said quickly, "I'll be nice. For now. Stay where you are. Varya and her weird brother are tracking you."

That was a surprise. "Tracking us? How?" Bastian had never heard of a Selach using magic before, but there was a lot he did not know about their enemy. Or, former enemy. He hoped.

"You're never going to believe this, Bast, but they can smell blood from like, a crazy distance away. They caught a whiff of your scent before you went over the falls and they've been tracking you ever since we got out of those caves."

Blood? There was no way they could smell something so faint in such a wide ocean. They would have to be impossibly good at smelling to even tell that Bastian had been bleeding when he'd gone into the river.

"I know what you're thinking Bast, but I'm telling the truth. How do you think we got close enough to activate your armband?"

It was true that the band needed to be within a certain distance to work, but still. What Lachlan was talking about... it was a miracle. The goddess herself could not track a lone mermaid in the depths of the ocean. Bastian was snapped out of his thoughts by a gentle touch to his shoulder. Ambrosia's hands were cold.

"What is Lachlan saying? I can't hear him from here." Her voice was soft, and she sounded exhausted. They had been swimming a very long time.

"Sorry. He says we should stay put. The others are on their way here."

Ambrosia's eyes showed her skepticism, but she did not seem up to the task of arguing with him. "Ask them if they know how far off track we are." It was a good question, and Bastian silently berated himself for not thinking to ask sooner. They were on a strict time limit. Sacre Luna was fast approaching, if not already upon them.

"Hey, Lachlan, how far off course are we, do you think?"

There was silence for a minute or so. Just when Bastian began to fear that Lachlan had run out of magic to keep the link open, his smooth voice came through the band once more. "We're not exactly sure. Some of that will depend on where we find you, but judging by the little that we know... we're about thirteen leagues west of where the Selachs wanted to cross into their territory."

Ambrosia perked up. Her attention sharpened on the armband. "Thirteen leagues west? Are we close to the Thief's Ridge, then?"

Lachlan's reply was slow again. Bastian thought he might be communicating with the others before he spoke again. "Yes. Only half a league south of it. Why?"

"We're close to Atlantis!" The news burst from Ambrosia and she immediately put a hand over her mouth. The tips of her ears were pink. Bastian hadn't seen Ambrosia so excited since they had planned their escape from Nereus. It made him smile to see her so happy. She swam around Bastian to face him and looked straight into his eyes.

"We can go to Atlantis, Bastian, for supplies and to rest up. I can get us there quickly and I know the Queen will help us."

"Of course!" The answer slipped out before Bastian could give it any thought. When she looked at him, he felt the unreasonable urge to give her anything she wanted. Ambrosia made a sound that could only be described as a squeal of happiness, and then she threw her arms around him.

"You won't regret this!"

No, he didn't think he would. He buried his face in her hair. They were still holding one another when Varya found them a half hour later. Her grey skin was even harder to see in the low light, and her fin was quiet as a whisper. Bastian only realized she was there when she politely cleared her throat.

"Do I need to give you two another minute?"

Bastian and Ambrosia sprang apart like they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been. They looked away from one another and Bastian's face flooded with heat. "Varya! You found us. Lachlan said you would, but if I am honest, I did not completely believe him. He says you... smelled us?"

Varya's mouth tipped up on one side, like she wanted to smirk at them, but was restraining herself. "Something like that. The others are only a short distance away. Follow me." Without waiting to see if they would follow her, Varya turned and swam upwards. Bastian offered his hand to Ambrosia and she took it with a smile. Together, they swam up and the water grew lighter with rays of sunlight.

A short while later, Bastian could see the outlines of their friends. Varya glanced back at the pair of them before she swam to her brother's side. Though they had left their friends in fairly good shape, the group appeared to have gone through a bit of rough times. Varrick's right arm was now in a crude sling, and Zareb sported dark bruises over his entire abdomen. Lachlan raced forward when he saw Bastian and immediately looked his king over for any injuries.

Bastian laughed. "I'm glad to see you, too. I missed you."

"You're lucky you have such capable allies." Lachlan lifted a finger to scold Bastian. "If it weren't for Varya, we'd probably be searching for you the rest of our miserable lives."

Bastian lifted his hands. "Don't I know it? If not for Ambrosia, you'd probably still be searching. She's the only reason we made it as far as we did."

Lachlan's green eyes shifted to glare at Ambrosia. "But without her, you probably wouldn't have thrown yourself into the waterfall."

"Hey!" Bastian shoved at Lachlan's shoulder. "Without her, you wouldn't have had the time you needed to get away from those jellyfish safely. You owe her your thanks." 

"Owe her?" Lachlan's voice was quiet, but his eyes were bright with magic. "I don't owe her anything. She's more trouble than she's worth, Bastian. We should have left her in Nereus."

Bastian saw red. 

Before he knew what he was doing, he struck out, and his hand connected with Lachlan's cheek. Red sprouted immediately over the fair haired merman's face, an outline of the slap. Someone gasped. 

All eyes turned to Bastian and Lachlan.  

~~~~

Author's Note:

I'm so sorry about how long this has taken! I've been fighting some demons lately and they won for a little bit. I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. I'll try to be back in the swing of things soon!