Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) (7 page)

“What are they for?” I said.

“They’re trained in offense.”

I considered making a case for how many wild dolphins I taught tricks to on a regular basis, but decided against it. I’d never taught them to be an assault weapon.

Harnesses lay on the rocks below them, fitted with short spears on all sides. The dolphins must have looked like a pair of ballistic pufferfish with those on.

“I’d swim the other way,” I said.

“Most do. King Adaro’s tactics are more advanced than any other kingdom’s.”

“How nice for him.”

My tone made Coho glance sideways at me. I pursed my lips.

Coho motioned to a cave as we passed it. “Weapons are made by civilians in the Moonless City. This is where we sort the delivery and repair anything broken.”

I peered inside the dark cavern. Stone scraped against stone as nine soldiers laboured over a pile of broken weapons.

My focus locked onto one merman in particular, hunched over a work surface. He was lanky, much leaner than the average warrior, with hair like he’d licked an electric eel.

“… stole this one right off a dock,” he was saying. “I had to fight the fisherman bare-handed. He had one of those bazooka guns, you know? Iron core. I gave him a left hook and backflipped away. Got his legs out from under him and pinned him down.”

“Spio!” I said, voice high with surprise.

He looked up. When he saw me, he blinked a few times, and turned to the guy beside him.

“I told you not to let me eat any more of those pink anemones, dude.”

“Spio,” I said. “I’m actually here.”

His jaw slackened. I grinned.

After another moment, his face broke into an expression of total glee. He dropped the club he was holding and shot towards me. We hugged.

“You look awful,” he said, slapping me on the back.

I ran my fingers through my hair, got them stuck in a knot of seaweed, and gave up.

“I know.”

I didn’t want to get into details with so many ears around.

“You know each other?” said Coho with unmasked surprise.

I smiled. “Classmates.”

“Good. Stay here. I’ll go find the commander.”

He left. Around us, the others continued their work, though I felt their attention on us. Waves gurgled against the cave walls. Deep inside a crevice, some creature I didn’t recognise clicked loudly.

The wide, pointy-toothed grin never left Spio’s face.

“Beating up humans wasn’t enough, huh? Gotta come down here for denser meat? I’m surprised, Lysi. I knew you were feisty but I never thought you’d get bloodthirsty.”

“I don’t … I … yeah,” I said, not sure how to respond.

I peered around him into the dim cave. The other mermen had a miserable, beaten air. I smelled blood.

I scanned Spio’s lanky frame. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m not supposed to be here. But I didn’t want to deprive these folks of my genius ideas.”

He tapped a finger to his blond head.

“Of course,” I said.

The guy nearest Spio grimaced and turned away.

“You hungry? Need anything?” Spio waved me deeper inside.

I glanced around, both starving and exhausted, but I didn’t quite feel like eating or sleeping.

Spio must have sensed my energy level because he said, “Best napping place is on the other side of the camp. Crawl up the ridge and you’ll see what I mean. The waves on this end will squash you like a jelly in a propeller. But on the other side … bliss. You’ll probably get a suntan. Hey, check this out.”

He held up a stone club with a hook the size of my face tied to the end.

“I call it the Iron Hook of Doom.”

I gaped at it. The hook was solid iron. Its impurity prickled my skin.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have certified experience in irontechnics.”

“Iron what?”

Instead of responding, he picked up a pair of wooden hooks. He used them to tighten the rope, carefully keeping his flesh away from the iron. His work surface was littered with rocks, bone blades, coral, and, perplexingly, a sea cucumber.

Anyone who grew up with Spio knew he would end up destroying things professionally one day. He already had an iron-made gash on his shoulder from trying to slingshot himself aboard an American military vessel. He’d said he just wanted to chat up the female captain. When we were twelve, he singed his hair off trying to figure out a way to bring fire underwater. In school, he once stashed several days’ worth of lunches then used them to lure a salmon shark the size of a small whale into class. It was chaos. He got suspended, and it would have been worse if he hadn’t been so convincing in telling the teachers it was an accident.

So I wasn’t surprised when he handed me the hook weapon and said, “I’ve got another.”

I was about to thank him when a stiff presence closed in behind me, and a hand ripped the club from my grip.

“Fascinating craftsmanship, as always.”

I whirled around to see a square-faced merman holding my weapon. He wore a placid smile that mismatched his aura.

“I see you continue to use materials outside the authorized list.”

“Come on, dude,” said Spio. “Iron can’t be illegal if we use it on the enemy.”

“I am sure His Majesty would be interested to know how you acquired the iron.”

Spio said nothing. The others in the cavern froze, watching. I stayed quiet, trying to gauge this merman’s personality.

He continued to smile faintly.

“Now, did you trespass a human wreckage during a mission, or did you smuggle this in?”

“Actually—” Spio said, and then seemed to decide silence was the better option.

“I will ensure this is disposed of properly. If you have any more illegal—”

“Look, I already committed this one to Lysi,” said Spio. “So you should probably hand it back to her before the theft detection device goes off and it kills all of us.”

The guy nearest Spio shrank back in alarm. The square-faced merman wasn’t fooled. His expression hardened.

“Perhaps, instead, you ought to fix this with your bare hands. It might remind you that His Majesty forbids such human filth.”

Spio waved away the threat. “The king can fix it with his own bare hands if he cares that much.”

For a heartbeat, the cavern stilled.

I realised Spio’s mistake the same moment the merman reacted. With a pulse of fury, he spun the weapon and slammed the stone end into Spio’s chest, knocking him into the wall. A large bubble left Spio’s mouth. Before he could recover, the merman closed the distance between them and pinned Spio to the reef, forcing the air from his lungs. Spio seized the guy’s wrist, trying to pry himself free.

I shot towards them. “Hey! Stop!”

The merman raised the weapon to Spio’s face, almost touching him with the iron hook. “Never insult the king in my presence.”

Spio seemed unable to speak. Air escaped his mouth in large bubbles.

I snarled. This jerk might have been twice the size of me, but I couldn’t let him treat my friend like this.

“I said, stop!”

Without slackening his grip, the merman turned to me. He scanned me up and down like he was looking at a whale carcass.

“Decide what company you wish to keep, girl. Here, your life might depend on it.”

The bubbles leaving Spio’s mouth were diminishing. Real fear seeped from his pores.

My eyes filled with blood. “Let him go.”

The merman swelled, as though he thought he could intimidate me.

I reached to pull the weapon away from Spio’s face.

In an instant, the merman’s energy changed. I propelled backwards before he could act. He released Spio and swung the iron hook at me.

The other mermen scattered, fear clouding the water like blood. But fighting against iron was nothing new to me.

I snatched a bone blade off Spio’s work surface as the merman swung again. I shot beneath his arm. Before he could follow, I locked my arms around his neck and pressed the blade to his throat.

The iron hook sliced through empty water.

“Drop it,” I said.

He chuckled. “Your skill speaks of the academy. How long ago were you in the Battle for Eriana Kwai?”

His muscles tensed for another swing. I pushed the blade to his throat harder.

“Darling, that would not even break skin,” he said. “What is it, a human leg?”

I rubbed a finger along the bone, letting the density, oils, and minerals penetrate my skin. “Feels like whale to me. Care to find out?”

He struck. I dropped the blade before the iron touched me and grabbed the stone handle with both hands. The force swung me around with it. I swiped him with my tail, using his own force to hit harder. He grunted at the impact. I took the chance to pry the club from his grip.

I retreated, holding the weapon between us. He lunged for it, but I swung hard. The iron nearly grazed his cheek.

He didn’t try again.

For a moment, everyone stayed suspended. No one made a sound.

“Ah, mermaids!” said a voice. “About time we had a few ladies around here.”

I whirled around to find an older merman floating up, flanked by Coho. He had a long, dark beard flecked with rubies—the stone of a commander.

“Thank you, Officer Strymon,” he said. “This is just what we need. Did I not say our assaults could use more speed, less force?”

The blood drained from my head, dizzying me. I glanced to Spio for confirmation.

“Officer?” I mouthed.

Spio grimaced. I noticed, then, the emeralds braided into the merman’s blonde hair—the stone of an officer.

“Sir,” said Officer Strymon, composing himself. “I was reprimanding these soldiers for possessing an illegal weapon.”

My heart pounded. How did I louse up this badly in the first few moments of being here?

The commander drifted further into the cave.

Would I be sent back home? Punished? Imprisoned again?

But as he glanced around, I caught an air of hopefulness.

“What, just the one lady?” he said.

“Yes, sir,” said Coho. “She needs a position.”

“Commander,” said the officer more loudly. “She shows an unmanageable temper and a blatant disrespect for—”

“Yes, well, she knows how to fight, doesn’t she?” The commander turned back to me. “Is that your weapon?”

I looked down at the dropped iron hook.

“Uh …”

“If I may, Commander,” said Spio, with the sudden maturity of Coho in his voice. “Lysithea was in the Battle for Eriana Kwai and faced opposition deadlier than this. She has been battle-trained for longer than most of us and demonstrated proficiency in beating me up at the age of fifteen. If you observe the scarring along Lysithea’s waist”—he motioned with a flat hand, like I was a science exhibit—“you can see for yourself that we are dealing with one badass shrimp.”

The commander leaned back, scanned me up and down, and nodded. “Very good.”

Spio grinned.

I let out some breath, and my skin reverted to my preferred, human-like shade. The webs between my fingers disappeared. The teeth pressing against my lips retracted.

The commander picked up the iron hook, examined it, and passed it to me. “Hold onto this, Lysithea. It’ll fare better than the standard weapons.”

“Commander, that weapon is iron,” said the officer, the flat smile back on his face.

“So it is.”

“The king has strictly forbidden—”

“The way I see it, Officer Strymon, any weapon that improves our chances against the enemy is welcome in my unit.”

“I think it should be confiscated, sir.”

“And I think you should remember that His Majesty has granted me the authority to make these decisions,” said the commander, a dangerous finality in his voice.

I avoided Spio’s eyes.

A deep moan met my ears, coming from where I’d been dropped off. Every head turned towards it, conversations stopping abruptly.

“Time to go,” said the commander. “Gather the troops, Strymon.”

The officer passed me with an air of such bitter revulsion that my stomach churned. I forced myself not to back away.

“I’ll get my gear,” said Spio.

I tightened my grip around the stone club, the iron hook weighing heavy at the end.

“Commander,” I said, finding my voice. “Does this mean—?”

“It means you’re a soldier now. Welcome to the South Pacific Army.”

CHAPTER FIVE
Red-handed

The floodlight shone down on Annith and me, casting everything outside its yellow glare into shadow. I straightened and faced Dani with clenched fists.

I wanted to demand what she was doing there in the middle of the night, but stopped myself. It wasn’t me who had the right to make demands. She and her father could have been doing any number of things, now that they owned the training base.

Annith panted as though from a sprint. Where was Tanuu? Had he run?

Refusing to let panic take over, I kept my own breaths slow and deep.

“Follow me,” said Mujihi, in a voice so strangled it sounded like someone had seized him around the neck.

I considered making a run for it. But whether we faced our consequences now or later, it didn’t matter. At least if we followed quietly, we might be able to lessen the blow before word got out.