Fallen Thief Page 18

  Collin, Cassandra, and several of their friends turned to stare at them. It must have been their lunch break from school.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Cassandra called out. “Off to cause more trouble?”

  “Go away, Cassandra,” Mira said as she stepped forward. “Can’t you see there’s a storm?”

  “I could say the same to you, but you already seem to think you’re better than us, prancing out of school whenever you like. You probably have plans with your Shadowveils friends.”

  “What?” Mira blurted out.

  “Everyone knows you merrows have a strange connection with them,” Collin spat. “You’re the ones who knew where the one in Crispin was hiding. Maybe you were working with him the whole time.”

  “Watch it, Collin,” Peter warned.

  “What are you going to do, puppet? The merrows kidnapped you, and you’re still defending them like a fool.”

  The Strecks and their friends began to close in on them. Mira looked from one face to the other with rising panic. It started to rain, with large raindrops peppering the paved street as the storm picked up in seconds.

  “Leave us alone!” Mira called out, backing up into the side of the house.

  Kay raised his hands, and Mira knew he was about to summon water when a loud bark made everyone gasp and turn around. Oberon turned the corner, pulling a struggling Red along behind him. Lynette, Elyse, and Thomas were close behind.

  “We knew you’d be up to nothing good as soon as we saw you cross the town square,” Red said. The wind howled, making Oberon bark even more loudly. The Strecks and their friends took a step back.

  “Are you going to set your hideous beast off on us?” Cassandra leered.

  “That’s exactly why he’s here,” Red called back. His knuckles were white as he held on tightly to Oberon’s leash. The dog pulled forward angrily, letting out a vicious growl. Mira saw Cassandra’s carefree expression slip. She took another step back.

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Do you want to find out?” Lynette stepped forward.

  Red lunged forward with Oberon. Collin and Cassandra immediately turned on their heels and ran down the street, pushing their friends out of the way in their terror. As the rest of them scrambled and tripped over each other to follow them to safety, Red called out to Oberon to stop.

  “Thanks,” Mira said when they approached her. She gingerly patted Oberon on the head, and he happily licked her hand.

  “No problem,” Red muttered as another gust of wind nearly knocked them off their feet.

  “We have to go!” Kay cried out over the noise.

  Lynette ran over to them. “Those nasty Strecks can’t make you go anywhere,” she said, grabbing Mira’s arm. “Crispin is your home, no matter what anyone says.”

  “We have to leave,” Mira said, “but not because they’re telling us to. There’s something we have to do.”

  Lynette let go of Mira’s arm and gave her a small smile.

  “All right, then. We’ll make sure no one else comes after you.”

  Kay nudged Mira’s arm, and she gave Lynette a grateful hug before waving at the others and turning away.

  They fought against the winds as they ran through the deserted streets towards the Mosswoods. They stumbled through the path that led to the creek, which was already beginning to flood with the heavy downpour of rain.

  “Here,” Peter yelled, blinking the rain out of his eyes as he held out his compass. “Just swim east.”

  “Thanks,” Kay panted. He took it and held onto it tightly.

  Mira stared at the rushing water and turned to her drenched friend.

  “Peter—” she realized she didn’t know what to say.

  “You’d better come back out,” Peter said. “Don’t go deciding to stay in the ocean with the empress.”

  Mira scoffed in outrage. “I’d rather get eaten by the Grimmir!”

  “Mira, come on!” Kay yelled. He was already standing knee-deep in the creek.

  Mira’s legs felt rooted to the spot, and her mind buzzed, not only from the howling winds but from the fact that she would be leaving her best friend for the first time in her life.

  A moment later, Peter hugged her. Mira froze, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. He let go just as quickly, looking somewhat embarrassed, himself.

  “I’ll see you in the Ripple,” he said. When Mira raised her eyebrows, he added, “I’m not sticking around in Crispin while you two go off to wake our friends up from everlock sleep.”

  Mira smiled. “Let’s hope Eola’s nearby.”

  Kay yelled at her again and dove into the creek, disappearing under the rushing water. Peter turned away, and Mira forced herself to do the same. With one last glance at her friend and her home, she jumped into the water after Kay.

  He was already holding out his arms, and a neat, circular portal was swirling in front of him. Once he saw Mira at his side, he nodded at the portal. After you.

  Mira gulped down her nerves and swam forward.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Trials of Terror

  T

  he water left a pleasant tingle in her nostrils and gills as Mira took her first breath in the Ebb Sea. She blinked then twisted around to take in her surroundings as Kay appeared behind her. There were tall plants sticking up from the sandy floor, where large fish were lazily swimming about. Near some large rocks were cages where several crabs crawled over each other, looking for a way out of their traps. Next to them was a series of wooden poles coming down from the surface, extending back towards the shallow waters in two rows: the fishing docks.

  Mira turned to her brother, who was looking about with a glimmer of wonder in his eyes that Mira felt in her heart. She smiled as she moved her webbed fingers through the seawater, marveling at the way it made her skin feel. Oddly, she felt lighter in it than she ever had in the lakes she’d visited, despite the layers of clothes she was wearing.

  The water tasted as different as it felt. She had learned that ocean water was salty, and she reveled in the taste of it on her tongue as she breathed it in. It was good.

  “Welcome to the exact spot where I found out I was a merrow,” Kay said, swimming around her towards the dock. His cloak, still around his neck, billowed behind him. He looked up at the surface. “Let’s go up for a moment. Follow me.”

  Mira pushed herself up through the water after her brother. Their heads broke the surface at the same time, right under the barnacle-covered wood of the dock. They swam towards the shore, for they could hear the steps of the fishermen walking about above them. Once they reached the rocks, they carefully peeked over the edge of the dock to see the southern coast of Rook in action.

  It was quite a different scene from the one they’d left in Crispin. There were gruff-looking fishermen at a dock down the shore tossing large fish from a boat into crates on land. The few buildings she saw over the rocky shore all had smoke coming from their chimneys, and merchants wove in and out of them under the warm glow of the afternoon sun.

  “So this is your town,” Mira whispered.

  “It was,” Kay corrected. “Demetrius is here, somewhere.” He stared wistfully at the throngs of people at the market before turning back to Mira, his jaw set with determination. “Right. Are you ready?”

  Mira thought for a moment, then said, “When do you think they’ll reel in those crab traps?”

  “What?”

  Mira grabbed his arm and dove back into the water. She pointed at the large traps at the bottom of the sea, where a few crabs were crawling around.

  “Oh, could be days.” Kay watched her with confusion.

  “Then come and help me empty one of them,” Mira said. “We need a place to keep our cloaks and shoes.”

  Kay hurried down after Mira and helped her open one of the traps and carefully tip it over to let the two crabs that were caught inside to escape. They took off their shoes. />
  “This is either really weird or genius,” Kay said, cramming his boots into the trap.

  Mira chuckled. All she knew was that she couldn’t stand swimming with her boots on. She watched her toes transform into glimmering silver fins and kicked them with a sigh of relief. She unclasped her cloak and handed it to Kay, who finished storing everything away and locked the trap closed again.

  “All right,” Mira said, facing her brother. “Now we’re ready.”

  They swam into the depths of the sea. Every once in a while, Kay pulled out Peter’s compass from his pocket, making sure that they were still headed east. If they weren’t swimming straight for a legendary monster in the very waters that were ruled by the Empress of the Sea, it might have been quite an enjoyable adventure. The rocks jutting out of the seafloor and the seemingly endless kelp soon gave way to coral reefs that were brilliant colors Mira had never seen before.

  They came across animals that Mira had only ever read about and some that she didn’t even recognize. Seahorses swam lazily among the waxy plants, a squid shot out of sight, and even a pair of stingrays glided under them along the smooth sand.

  The further they went, the deeper they swam. They stayed within sight of the seabed, trying not to be noticeable by swimming in the throngs of underwater plants and creatures, but this proved to be harder than they thought. Soon, they reached a stretch of water where barely any form of life was on the ocean floor. They were so deep that they could no longer see the rippling surface of the ocean. Somehow, they could still see their surroundings as clear as day despite the lack of sunlight.

  Mira lost track of time—how many minutes had passed? Or was it hours? Was it still sunny, up on land? She had no idea how long they had been swimming, but oddly she was not tired.

  She didn’t know how far they’d traveled before a sense of unease crept its way into her heart.

  “Kay,” she said softly. Hearing her voice sounded strange in the pressing silence of the deep waters. “We must be miles into the ocean by now, but we haven’t seen a single other merrow here, aside from ourselves.”

  Kay looked around at the vast emptiness.

  “I’m not complaining,” he muttered. “But you’re right. It’s more deserted than Nesston.”

  “There aren’t even fish swimming about anymore. Where’s Amara’s empire?”

  Kay pointed straight ahead. “Might be there.”

  Mira’s heart skipped a beat as she followed Kay’s finger to see the shadows of spikes rising up from the ocean floor. She gulped as they approached a great city with towering buildings that were surely taller than any Mira had seen on land. They were made of stark white stone, making the whole city look like a collection of spiky icicles.

  But it couldn’t have been Amara’s empire. It was even barer than the laketown in Nesston, for not even a single living plant was growing over the empty buildings. There was an unsettling sort of black vine that had crept over the bases of the buildings, like the tentacles of an octopus, only lifeless. Mira shuddered as they swam through the buildings. The words, ghost town, came to mind.

  “It feels…evil,” Mira whispered.

  Kay nodded. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  They picked up their speed. The waters beyond the city were just as lifeless, though Mira noticed more of the dark creeping vines running along the sand below.

  “What are those?” she wondered aloud.

  Kay wrinkled his nose. “Not sure I want to find out.”

  It wasn’t long before they reached a space where the ocean floor appeared to drop into nothingness. They stopped there, glancing at each other with open mouths. Despite the miles of darkness that stretched out below her, a rush of excitement ran straight through her.

  They had reached the Myrkness Trench.

  The Fabler’s notes were true. They were really headed towards the Grimmir—towards the cure to everlock sleep.

  They swam over the trench slowly and silently, as if the endless abyss could suck them in if they made any sound. It was unnerving, swimming over total darkness. Mira tried to keep her eyes on the other side, where the rocky surface reappeared and seemed to extend into an infinite world of blue.

  A movement below her caught her attention. She froze.

  Kay, wait.

  She didn’t dare speak aloud. She grabbed Kay’s arm and they stopped, staring at the creature below them.

  A small animal was swimming out of the trench. Mira squinted at it, trying to see what it was. It was a ghostly creature, its white skin nearly translucent. It stopped for a moment, facing Mira and Kay. Then it began to circle around them.

  It was when the creature turned that Mira saw that it wasn’t a small fish at all—it looked more like a shark, the tell-tale triangular fin jutting out the top of its body, but with bulging black eyes that Mira wished she’d never have to see again. Its rows of crooked, sharp teeth were visible even from several feet away.

  “We have to get away,” Kay said. “It’ll eat us alive.”

  Mira didn’t need telling twice. They sped forward. To her dismay, the trench was much wider than she had expected when she first laid eyes on it. Now that they were directly over it, the darkness seemed to go on forever, the opposite end of the trench appearing to inch away as they swam towards it. Mira twisted around to see the shark following them slowly. What was it doing? Perhaps it wasn’t interested in hunting them, after all…

  But then another shark appeared directly in front of them. It seemed to come out of nowhere, its translucent skin almost making it blend with its surroundings.

  “This way!” Kay grabbed Mira’s arm. They swam to the right but were met with more sharks—a group of them this time.

  It’s an ambush.

  Kay’s words sent a shiver down Mira’s spine.

  As if right on cue, a swarm of sharks rose out from the trench below them—like bees out of the hive—darting straight for them. With sharp whips of their tails, the ones surrounding Mira and Kay attacked.

  “Hurry! Swim up!” Kay yelled, swimming towards the surface that they could no longer see.

  Her heart beating furiously, Mira followed her brother. There were so many sharks tailing them that their rapid swimming sent a buzzing sound through the water, filling Mira’s head and muddling her thoughts.

  “They’re getting closer!” she screamed.

  Kay whipped his head around, his eyes widening as he spun, searching for an escape. “Follow me!” he yelled before changing course.

  Mira obeyed, tailing him in a big arc as the sharks kept close behind. When he began diving straight down towards the trench, she screamed, “What are you doing?”

  “Trust me!”

  The sounds of the sharks were getting louder. Clicks of their snapping teeth reached Mira’s ears. She whimpered, picking up her speed to reach her brother.

  They were inside the trench, the darkness encasing them, the rocky walls getting closer together so that Mira began to feel suffocated.

  “Kay, they’re still behind us!”

  “Good!”

  Before Mira could react, Kay stopped and spun around, holding out his arms. Mira swerved around him and gasped as a massive whirlpool appeared in front of his hands, stretching widely between the walls of the trench. Before Mira knew what was happening, the sharks swam straight into it, disappearing before they could reach their prey.

  Kay groaned, his hands shaking against the force of the portal he’d just summoned. When the last of the sharks disappeared behind it, he dropped his hands, breathed, “Let’s go before any more of them find us,” and bolted up towards the light. Mira followed in a daze.

  They stopped only after they lost sight of the trench behind them. Gulping down water, her head dizzy, Mira blurted, “Where did you send them?”

  Kay flipped over and floated horizontally, stretching out his arms as if he had just plopped into bed.

  “The abandoned city w
ith the pointed towers.” He glanced at Mira. “Well, not so abandoned anymore.”

  Mira let out a weak laugh. “You’re crazy.”

  Kay smiled and raised his eyebrows. “You’re welcome.”

  But Mira hardly heard his response. With the trench behind them and her nerves slowly calming down, she finally noticed where they were. At first, it looked like they were on the edge of another abandoned town, with oddly-shaped buildings spaced widely apart. Mira squinted at the buildings, confused. Some even appeared to be lying on their sides.

  She swam towards the nearest one. Her eyes widened as she saw long, wooden structures that once held enormous sails, the splintered wood of a deck that had been crushed apart by something bigger than she could ever imagine.

  They were in the graveyard of ships.

  Kay, come here.

  She turned and waved her arm at Kay, whose jaw dropped as he swam forward and saw the ocean floor peppered with shipwrecks, some of them broken in half, some still upright against massive rocks, and some crushed into splintered planks of wood sprinkled among the sand. Mira and Kay swam forward carefully, over the ships, around the masts, the pressing silence occasionally broken by the creaking of the old wooden structures.

  “All right,” Mira whispered, her eyes darting around, “we’re here.”

  “So…where’s the Grimmir?” Kay hissed. “The stories made it sound like he’d be hard to miss.”

  Mira frowned. A seed of doubt planted itself in her mind. What if none of it was real? What if the Grimmir didn’t really exist, if the Fabler truly was insane, if the fairy story was just that—a fairy story?

  Her doubt bloomed into a wave of fear that ran through her body and deep into her bones. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, and it left her breathless. She turned to Kay to catch his eyes as wide as her own.

  “Something’s happening,” she whispered as her arms began to tremble. “I—I’m—”

  “Terrified,” Kay finished her sentence.

  It was like the fear filled every corner of her mind, leaving no room for anything else. The world was a blur, the shipwrecks around her were merely blotches of ink on parchment, and she could barely remember who or where she was.