The Queen Of All Strange Things

41

Riding Slitzer in his kelpie form was not fun. I made a mental note never to ride him in the water but he was fast, really fast. I guess mostly because he wanted this whole ordeal to be over with. I had to squeeze his neck to hold on and Andrew squeezed my waist as if it were his dear life. We couldn't even open our eyes since the water was all muddy green.

The mermaids were quite a problem but Slitzer seemed to know how to get past them without being seen since there were no mermen or harpies chasing after us. And frankly, the kelpie had a large prize on his head.

He dived down deep for at least two minutes before coming out for up to catch our breaths. It was like hell. And he seemed to enjoy the fact that we were suffering. I swore that if I caught a cold, I will definitely throw him in prison for a decade before giving him his so-called freedom. To make things worse, his scales were really slippery.

Eventually, I my started to itch and I once sneezed underwater, sending off bubbled and almost drowning. Once we did reach the palace and got dropped off at the stairs of the breakfast hell, I was too busy trying to breathe that I forgot we were already in enemy territory. Slitzer left as soon as possible. Our feet were still in the water with only our backs lying on the stairs well below the breakfast hall so that no one who passes by will see us.

Andrew's face was pale, green and sour. I think he puked along the way, I don't want to think about it. We planned Slitzer's death while we recuperated.

'I'm going to decapitate him,' said Andrew.

'Yeah? I'm going to throw him in a dry cell,' I said as I sniffed. I think I already did catch a cold. It took all my effort not to sneeze. Eventually I did, just to send the pressure off my ears. It hurt. If I put more force, I think my brain matter might even ooze out.

And so we wandered around the castle. It was past midnight I guess and there weren't much people wandering around. Even the harpies that guarded the hallway were drooping down in sleep. The whole palace was decorated in white lilies, pearls, silk, lace and anything that has to do with weddings. A few nymphs rushed around with last minute decorations. We had a hard time creeping around, especially with the sound of my sniffs.

'Cut it out!' snapped Andrew.

'I can't.'

It took a long time just to reach the entrance of the arena that faced the Imprisonatorium door. The tiny narrow entrance was not guarded. Not at all... But the arena had an army waiting. Okay, not an army, but at least a dozen harpies.

And they were all were flocked around the light of a tablet. There were loud screams, music and the sound of someone commenting on something. Like a soccer game.

'WWE,' said Andrew.

'Seriously!' I mumbled.

'I missed a lot.'

Boys.

'So,' said Andrew. 'Do we attack?'

'We attack,' I said.

'Sure,' said Andrew. 'Just attack?'

I shrugged, 'Watch and learn,' and I stepped under the moonlight.

'Hello there, folks! Sorry to interrupt you but_'

'The queen!' one screeched.