Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) (6 page)

“You know Mujihi isn’t gonna take it lightly when he realises someone broke into his weapons shed,” whispered Tanuu.

“That’s why we’re only taking a couple,” I whispered. “And if he does notice, he won’t be able to prove it’s us.”

The crumbling outline of the Enticer loomed like a black hole in the glade. Around it, the cabins remained dark and empty.

Something big slunk through the bushes across the way, but I couldn’t see what it was before it retreated into the forest. I caught myself hoping it was just a mountain lion, and then realised how ridiculous that was. This side of the shoreline, a mountain lion was the worst animal to encounter. Running, hiding, and fighting were all useless, especially at night. Still, somehow I would have rather fought a mountain lion than faced the shame of being caught breaking into the training base.

“Wait here,” I whispered to Tanuu. “If you see anything suspicious, make an owl call.”

“How will you know it’s not a real owl?” he said.

He stood hunched, arms crossed. I heard his teeth chattering.

“Make another sound, then,” I whispered impatiently.

“What about this?” He tilted his head back and made a ridiculous, guttural cry. “
Rrree-ah! cah! cah!
”

Annith and I stared at him.

I whispered, “How will I know it’s not a real velociraptor?”

Annith stifled a laugh in her sleeve.

We left Tanuu shivering at the edge of the clearing. The air felt thinner, cooler as we left the insulation of the bush. Stepping cautiously over the forest floor, we crept past the Enticer and towards the wooden shed containing the training crossbows.

Annith stumbled over something and grunted.

“Some idiot’s been having a bonfire.”

I glanced back. An ashy fire pit lay in the middle of the clearing. Annith had tripped over an iron rod dropped beside the charred logs.

“Maybe the trainees,” I said. “Or else some kids trying to have a party.”

The dark outline of the shed came into view at the top of the shooting range. A bit taller than me, curved on top with double doors in front, it might have passed as the garden shed of a sweet old lady.

I removed a pin from under my ponytail and slid it confidently inside the enormous lock. It reminded me unpleasantly of the time I had to do the same thing while locked inside the brig on the Massacre.
Traitor
, my crew had called me.

The task was easier here, surrounded by still woods instead of a mermaid-infested ship crashing through angry seas.

As I wiggled the pin around, pushing the buttons inside, I kept my ears strained for weird noises.

At last, the lock clicked open. I removed it hastily.

Crossbows lined the walls, hanging on pegs. A pile of extras littered the bottom, along with quivers and bolts.

“Grab them from the floor,” whispered Annith, “so they don’t notice any missing.”

I reached down just as a noise split the air that made my blood run cold.

Tanuu.

I whirled around to see the whites of Annith’s eyes. What had he seen? I’d honestly not expected Tanuu to be useful. Who could be creeping around the training base at this time of night?

We gaped at each other.

Should we abandon the crossbows and run? Put the lock back on? Hide inside the shed and wait it out?

Annith seized my wrist and pulled. “Come on!”

I grabbed the first thing I touched and sprinted after her.

We made it not two steps before I heard a click, an electric buzz, and Annith’s black camouflage became useless as she was bathed in the orange glow of a floodlight.

We stopped dead in our tracks.

A girl stepped into the clearing, arms crossed, lips curled in an expression of savage triumph.

A crossbow was slung across her chest. I considered running—but then a man stepped out from the darkness behind her, face purple with anger. He put a hand on his daughter’s bony shoulder.

“My goodness, ladies,” said Dani in her usual purr. “This doesn’t look good at all.”

CHAPTER FOUR
The South Pacific Army

By the time Katus and Ladon slowed down, we must have been halfway to the equator. Every piece of me ached from being stuck without my arms for so long.

A mountain range sprawled ahead, crackling with plants, fish, and shrimp. The movement tickled my skin, and beyond it, something larger.

While I couldn’t see through the blue, every angle and divot materialised as a tiny swirl in the current. At first, I thought this might be another city under construction, Adaro’s kingdom expanding towards the South Pacific. But the water didn’t have that same dirty scent. Coral breathed on every surface, mature and healthy. Stone buildings grew into the mountain range like they’d been there for centuries. They towered high above the reef. The architecture was curved, ancient, unlike the blocky structures of Utopia.

“The Moonless City,” I whispered.

In school, we learned that Adaro had made a peace pact with Queen Evagore when he crossed the Ice Channel into the Pacific. Adaro stayed north and built Utopia there, while Evagore remained in the Moonless City.

“Is the military base here?”

Katus and Ladon ignored me.

“Hello?” I said. “Are we there?”

“Yes,” said Katus, not looking at me.

They both oozed exhaustion. I felt a smug satisfaction at the thought that the trip had been as gruelling for them as it had been for me.

As we drifted closer, I doubted the queen would suddenly be all right with Adaro’s army storming through her city. It didn’t sound like part of a peace pact.

Anemones swayed below. Small fish darted inside, brightly coloured in ways I’d never seen. In other circumstances, I might have plunged to the bottom for a closer look.

To my right, a turtle flapped along, the only creature indifferent to the three predators passing through. I slowed, feeling her presence.

She projected tranquility. I’d never felt it at such a deep level. I wanted to swim closer, but the rope tugged sharply.

A ridge materialised ahead. It rose from floor to surface, a natural wall of coral and rock. The current told me the other side was a grotto, like a circle carved by a meteor a million years ago. Activity buzzed inside of it—the deep voices and laughter of mermen. I couldn’t tell how many.

My nerves tightened. Situated just outside of the city, this had to be the military base.

We rounded the ridge. I stopped short.

Hundreds of soldiers bustled inside the grotto, darting into caves and emerging with freshly sharpened blades, scarfing down handfuls of eggs, wrapping seaweed around their foreheads to tame floating locks of hair. I sensed weapons of wood, slate, argillite, chert, bone, coral, shells, and barnacles.

This crater must have been an apartment at one time. Plateaus at the surface offered plenty of space to rest. The walls blocked the currents while camouflaging its inhabitants. It would have also been a haven for food, except all fish and other animals seemed to have scattered.

Two mermen guarded either side of a gap in the ridge. They looked me up and down with the same scepticism as the guard at the border. Ladon handed the roll of rawhide to one of them before they could say anything. The guard unfurled it, scanned it, and waved us through.

I swam as discreetly as I could, flanking Katus as though I could blend with him.

As Katus unbound me, a few stares turned our way. Everyone fell silent. I kept my eyes down, but the change in the surrounding activity was palpable.

By the time the rope was undone, the attention of the entire vicinity was on the three of us.

Not us
, I thought.
Me.

“A
girl
,” someone said. “What’s a girl doing here?”

“You complaining?” said another.

“Sugar, what’d you do to end up down here?”

I dropped an arm to my waist, a habit I’d formed over the years to hide my iron scar. Being a girl was enough reason to stick out, never mind having—

“Gross! Check that thing out.”

“Bet she’s too ugly to lure humans so she had to come below surface.”

“Whatever. I’d still get with that.”

“You’d do a lingcod if it had blonde hair.”

A ripple of laughter.

“Shut it, all of you.”

A slim merman with dark hair approached, fist wrapped around an axe with a large chert blade. His bright red eyes flicked between Katus, Ladon, and me.

“What’s this?”

“The king told us to bring her,” said Ladon.

“Why?”

“Whatever you need her for,” said Katus, shoving me towards him.

“She should be fighting above surface,” said Slim.

“She blew her chance at that.”

Slim narrowed his eyes.

I held my tongue, trying to read him. Though his face was a little beaten, hardened from battle, he had an aura of kindness.

“You need to keep her here,” said Ladon. “King’s orders.”

“She’ll be killed in the first battle.”

I opened my mouth to defend my fighting skills, but decided against it.

Ladon shrugged. “Not our problem.”

Slim flicked his gaze between us as though searching for another argument.

“We done here?” said Katus.

“Yeah,” said Slim.

Ladon sneered. “Enjoy the battle, babe. Been fun dragging you back to your cell every day.”

I twisted and smacked him across the face with my tail. He raised his spear to strike back, but Katus grabbed his arm, and Slim grabbed me.

“Save it,” said Slim.

Whistles and laughter rose from the surrounding soldiers.

Katus and Ladon turned away. I watched them until they disappeared into the blue. Then I looked at Slim properly. He’d drifted away a little, sizing me up.

He softened. It was more compassion than I’d felt in a long time. I hoped I wasn’t imagining his kindness out of desperation.

“Why the rope?” he said. “Were they afraid you’d try and escape?”

When I said nothing, he turned and drifted towards the reef. Still feeling dozens of eyes on me, I followed closely.

“I recommend you don’t try that here,” he said.

I grunted. I’d already accepted that my escape would need to be carefully planned. I’d have leagues of open water and that patrolled boundary to deal with—not to mention capital punishment for deserting the army if I was caught.

Around us, soldiers returned to their business and the grotto filled with chatter.

At first I thought the loud conversation and grinding stone weapons muted the soothing crackle of the reef outside. But as we swam further in, the coral paled and the tiny creatures inside disappeared. The army was suffocating the reef.

“The commander will need to assign you a position,” said Slim. “We’re heading south tonight.”

I groaned. I’d hoped for a bit of rest.

“What’s your name?” he said.

“Lysi.”

“You know how to fight, Lysi?”

“Yes. I was in the Battle for Eriana Kwai.”

He looked at me sharply. “You got hauled away?”

I said nothing. He raised an eyebrow.

After a beat, he said, “Even with those qualifications, the commander likely won’t give you a weapon. You’ll be destroyed in hand-to-hand combat.”

“I know how to—”

“You’re half the size of everyone else.”

I frowned. The thought made me uncomfortable—not because I’d be pummelled in combat, but because I was the only girl in the entire unit.

“We’ve got the injured repairing and sorting weapons in a cave.” He scanned me up and down. “But I don’t think he’ll waste your abilities on that.”

“Good,” I said.

His mouth twisted in a small smile.

Behind us, someone said, “Coming through, Coho.”

Slim pulled me aside in time to let a group pass. An enormous great white shark swam passively in the centre, guided by four ropes over her snout and tail. Between her gaping jaws, serrated teeth sliced the water in a way that made my skin tingle. She projected nothing but the desire to swim towards dinner. Like all sharks, her presence was basic, instinctive.

I watched them go with my jaw unhinged. Then I turned to Slim. “What are they—how did they—what … Your name is Coho? Like the salmon?”

“Yes. Have you had experience working with animals, Lysi?”

“Uh …”

I watched the mermen gently steer the great white into a corral, which was bounded by a familiar kind of enormous jellyfish.

At least fifteen animals floated in adjacent cells. I saw a stingray, a mako shark, and two spinner dolphins. Below them were several billfish, including black marlin, sailfish, and the most enormous swordfish I’d ever seen. The billfish were no doubt here for their speed, which contended with that of a mermaid.

“Can I have a dolphin?” I said, blurting it out before I could stop myself.

I bit my lip, reminded of when I was four and asking my parents for a firefly squid for my birthday.

“If you haven’t worked with dolphins before, then no,” said Coho. “They need experienced handlers.”

The spinners turned circles in their corrals, chattering to each other. I’d always loved dolphins. They were the only animals whose auras showed as wide a range of emotions as a mermaid’s. The pair in front of me gave off an air of amusement, like they didn’t mind trading their service for food.