The Siren Song - Book 2 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 37

Nesia Aldin

On instinct and lack of trust, I held my breath for as long as I could. Eventually, I had to take in a breath and I was surprised to see that I had no lack of air. I turned to Cander, who was struggling to keep up with our fast swimming.

I smirked suddenly. "Just keep swimming," I encouraged. Cander didn't get my joke, of course, but it made me feel better.

Arielle and Megan almost looked like they were competing to see who was the better swimmer and surprisingly enough, it was actually Arielle pulling to the front.

I saw something come out of the fog in the distance. It was some kind spire that evolved into a tower and then into a castle. We'd arrived at Atlantis. And if that was Atlantis, the hundreds of Mermaids swimming in formation must be the army Mako was leading to its death.

I vaguely wondered what we'd do. We needed to stop the battle but if we wasted time finding Nerida, the battle would already be in progress. However, we wouldn't be able to convince that many Mermaids that their prince was really a Siren in disguise.

"Arielle!" I called, singling her out as the one in charge at this point. She slowed down and I shared my concerns.

"Ryker, Harper, Chetan, and Megan," Arielle called. "Go try to head off the Mermaid party. Phrase it like you decided you wanted to help with the battle and Aurum approved it. Say the rest of us got held up in a fight with the Sirens and maybe drop subtle hints about doubting who he is."

"And try not to get killed," I added.

The four of them started swimming towards the army and as the ranks passed, Arielle, Cander, and I hid in some seaweed.

"Okay, now we need to find Nerida, and quickly, by the looks of it," Arielle said quietly. The three of us continued on our way to the mosaic flooring of Atlantis.

"Do you think they rebuild every time they switch locations?" Cander asked. I gave him a weird look.

"What?"

"Nothing," he sighed. We started to swim again but Cander got stuck in another patch of seaweed.

There was a swish of underwater currents and a dozen spears were suddenly pointing at our chests. "I knew you were lying." A green angular face poked out of the weeds and I saw that our plan obviously hadn't worked. "You're working for the Sirens, aren't you?"

"I take it he's Mako?" Cander whispered to Arielle. "Well, I guess, he's not actually though."

"Shut up, Cander," Arielle hissed when the Mermaids hurled threats at him.

I held a finger up to my lips when I caught the others eye and I started to edge my way past the Mermaids' ranks. If anyone sought out for me in a crowd, they would see me. I wasn't invisible but silence was my aid, not vision. No one heard me slip through the weeds, carefully swimming towards the entrance to the great palace.

My Statem was almost like my father's in a way. It gave me the ability to silence any noise associated with me. In textbooks, it was referred to as the Silence.

I looked over my shoulder and made eye contact with Cander. He nodded and I smiled. The Mermaids escorted them away, back towards the surface.

Swimming over the gates to the barren courtyard, I realized Mako must have taken as many people as he'd found. He must have insane support with his people. Of course, the real Mako probably deserved it and wouldn't use it to start a needless battle.

It was probably lucky he took everyone, however. No one stopped me as I continued to a large room with three thrones at the back. My arms were getting sore from swimming so I let them rest and kicked with my feet.

I swam to the end of the throne room and shoved with all my might at a door. It scraped the floor as I went inside a room filled with eggs of all different colors. I scrunched my nose in disgust, searching for anyone who could help me.

At the back of the warm room was a very fat Mermaid. His skin was sickly green and he was snoring. I didn't have to guess who this was. His crown was lopsided on his head and he was holding a bottle of black liquid.

How did Mermaids drink underwater?

I shook myself and nudged his foot. "Hey, wake up," I ordered. He blinked sleepily.

"Huh?" he squinted at me. "Who are you?"

"Are you King Caspian?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Of course I am!" he snorted. "What's a human doing here?"

"Do you know where Queen Nerida is?" I questioned him urgently.

"No," he grunted. "Why do you need to know?"

"Your son Mako has been replaced by a Siren and is leading the Mermaids into battle to get slaughtered by the Sirens," I explained quickly. Caspian yawned as I spoke.

"Oh," was all he said before shutting his eyes.

"Aren't you going to help me?" I snapped.

"No," he replied. "The Mermaids aren't going to get slaughtered, imposter prince or not. No need to worry about it." He started snoring again and I glared at the pathetic fish.

I swam back outside and nearly ran into another Mermaid. Pearly white skin shined ominously in the water and I almost recoiled at the ugly, yet elegant, figure before me. "Queen Nerida?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes?" she narrowed her milky golden eyes at me.

Shivering, I quickly explained the situation.

Update 1...

The chapters will be kind of fluctuating in length as we reach the climax.

Question of the Chapter: What do you believe is your greatest accomplishment?

My Answer: My lifeline being tied to NCIS runtime.