Chapter 23

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Lance searched in a tight spiral, circling in widening circles around his current location. He'd said two months, and he'd make it two months. He might have exaggerated how fast he could search, though. And a ten-mile radius was nothing to sneeze at. It wasn't going to be a swim in the coral gardens, that much was for certain.

A ray swam past him, and he slapped his forehead in disbelief. Certain fish and sea creatures were smarter than others, obviously, and rays were decently clever. Hey, Lance thought at it, do you have a sec?

You're not from around here. We don't see many mermaids.

No, I'm from a different part. Sorry. Can you help me?

The ray eyed him. What's in it for me?

I'll get you a lot of clams.

Clams?

I can go further up in the water than you can. I'll get you clams from the sand. I just need you to get me a pod of whales.

How am I supposed to do that?

Tell them that a merman who sings the whalesong is asking for their help.

Fine. I'll find some whales. You'd better have those clams!

Lance sighed, swimming towards the nearest island. He'd better start looking for clams.

Xxx

Lance heard a low humming noise and shot towards it. The ray had done its job! He heard the whalesong and answered in kind, emitting the same low noise as the pod of whales. He held out two big handfuls of clams, and the ray shot over his hands, the clams gone in an instant.

Hasta la later, merman! Thanks for the clams!

Lance swirled in the whalesong, connecting with the pod. He'd helped out a whale with a harpoon problem once, and whales took life debts very seriously. Life debts tended to extend... well, for life. Or at least as long as the one to whom the debt was owed remembered the song. All whales were bound by honor to answer the call of one who used the whalesong and to aid them however was necessary.

Lance finished the whalesong, exactly on time with the whales, and they shot off. Whales, like merpeople and most of the more intelligent creatures, used song and feeling to communicate, in place of words. Song was filled with magic and conveyed more meaning and feeling than words. And whalesong was a special kind of song that you could only learn through a whale teaching it; there was no way for a merperson to teach it. All merpeople learned to talk, of course, and how to use their mental voice to communicate with other sea creatures, but song...

Lance mourned the fact that he couldn't communicate with his human friends through song. They just didn't understand melody without words. The whales, though, were more than happy to help, although they were confused as to why he would want a small scrap of paper.

A sudden note of distress came along Lance's connection through whalesong from one of the younger whales, and Lance closed his eyes to see what the whale saw. Wooden ships, with great, white sails, a black-and-white flag rippling from the mast.

Pirates.

Lance gave a note of reassurance that was echoed by the other whales, and swam towards the whale in distress. She keened a thank you, and soon Lance was there, the other whales coming towards him at lightning speed. Together, they rammed the ship, shoving it away from their young, and all of them sped away from the nasty thing, which, surprisingly, didn't follow them.

The whalesong nearly faltered and, Lance swam back to make sure that the young whale was okay. She was, but her song was reaching an urgent note, and Lance gasped in understanding. She'd heard a whalesong from deep within the ship. A mermaid had heard Lance's whalesong as the young whale had passed, and had joined in the song. Lance, now connected to the pod, had an obligation to help.

The mermaid's whalesong connection was growing fainter and fainter as they swam further away, and the whales looked to Lance for leadership. Their first obligation was to him, of course, as the first merperson to enter the whalesong, but if they kept this up, they would lose the mermaid, and their honor would be shattered if they couldn't find her again.

Lance sang a note of agreement, a flash of memories coming across his mind. Mermaids and mermen laughing, singing, playing with their pets. The other mermaid came first. They could look for his piece of paper later.

The whole pod, Lance a complete part of it, turned in unison, swimming back for the ship. Lance's note became higher and higher, and the pod jumped into the air, some bellyflopping onto the ship's deck. Lance and the rest of the pod struck the bottom of the ship, trying to break the now-straining boards.

Lance wasn't as strong or big as the rest of his pod, but through the whalesong, he could feel the raw power and force of a fully-grown whale charging through him at lightning speed. The ship splintered to pieces under their weight, and sank down.

Lance swam through the wreckage, searching for a sign of the mermaid who had joined the song. Her part in the song had ended, and he just hoped- he hoped-

A weak strain of whalesong reached him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She was alive. He closed his eyes and saw her, looking at him, scared, from a plank of wood that she was chained to. He used her eyes and view of him to navigate to her, opening his eyes when he got close

He tugged on her restraints and then shook his head, moving his hands. Water pushed into the locks, forcing them open. A thrill of surprise shot through the whalesong. Not many merpeople could control water.

The mermaid connected freely with the whalesong and frowned at Lance's request, tentatively offering a mental picture of a scrap of paper she'd seen shortly before being captured, one that glowed with a blue light and was jagged around the edges, as if it had been torn from a greater whole.

Lance could have hugged her, he was so happy, but they had some problems. Some serious problems.

Some of the pirates thrashed where they hit the water, writhing and changing, their faces elongating into snouts, gashes that Lance knew to be gills appearing on their necks, their arms turning grey and turning into triangles, a massive fin sprouting out of their backs. Others were growing more arms, or sprouting tentacles.

Within an instant, the pirates had turned into a motley of barracuda, sharks, octopi and box jellyfish. They swam towards Lance's pod, the barracuda and sharks reaching first and tearing at the whales with razor-sharp teeth.

High, keening noises of distress and pain came across the pod, and Lance swam towards them, punching a shark in the gills. Gill-shots were considered dirty fouls in play-fights between merpeople, but Lance was perfectly willing to pull a few fouls in this fight if it meant saving his pod.

He got a barracuda the same way, and then a different one sank its jaws into Lance's arm, another latching onto his tail. He thrashed, bashing their heads into a whale's side. They let go, stunned, and Lance hissed, pressing one hand to his arm wound for a second.

One second was all it took. The box jellyfish, which had been meandering nearby, suddenly joined the fight, latching onto Lance's arm. The jellyfish sent a paralyzing shock of pain through Lance, and he shrieked, his pain turning into bubbles and momentarily interrupting the whalesong. The other whales answered in like noises of distress, able to feel his pain through their song.

A hand came crashing down on the jellyfish's top, and it was smashed. The mermaid was there, kelp wrapped around one hand. She yanked the tentacles off of Lance's arm, and grabbed his uninjured arm, yanking him away from the fight.

The whales, Lance thought at her, the pain of the sting making it hard for him to continue the song, or even communicate through mersong. The mermaid, however, kept the song going, and Lance could see the whales fleeing from the sharks, barracuda and jellyfish, scattering and keeping up the song so that they could find each other later.

Good, he thought, letting the blackness at the edges of his vision flow over him, I hope someone- someone can get the map piece to the others...

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