Fallen Thief Page 19

  A sudden wave in the water made her bump into something at her side. When she turned and noticed Kay, she found him staring ahead with a vacant expression. She grabbed his arm and felt him trembling, but he didn’t move.

  An instant later, a great shadow loomed over them.

  “Kay, look out!” Mira screamed.

  She held onto her brother and dragged him down towards the nearest ship. She looked up from under one of the masts to see a beast pass over them and twist around, coiling its long body behind its head. Mira gasped at the sight of the monster’s face. It was pointed and snake-like, with long, narrow, gold-colored headfins that extended out from under its chin and above its milky eyes. Its scales were a dizzying blend of red and black that seemed to glimmer and change as it moved its muscular body. A golden stripe ran down its entire length on either side, like streaks of lightning flashing through a night sky. Its underside was blood-red, and its long body ended in a thin tailfin that looked like it had been ripped and shredded in places. It opened its mouth slowly, revealing four sharp fangs amidst rows of triangular teeth that reminded Mira of the dragon in the mountains.

  It was the Grimmir.

  Mira turned to Kay and found him still staring ahead with a glazed look in his eyes.

  “Kay?” She shook him, but his blank expression didn’t change.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  She looked back at the monster, and a wave of terror washed through her, making her skin crawl and blurring her vision once more.

  Through the fear, she still felt her fingers around Kay’s arm. He was trembling, and with a start, Mira realized she was, too. What was she afraid of? She didn’t remember. But she didn’t let go of Kay’s arm. Blinking furiously, she rubbed her eyes with her free hand, willing them to see.

  As a second wave of fear ran through her body, Mira managed to think a single thought: This fear isn’t mine. As if by sorcery, her mind cleared, and she blinked away the fogginess just in time to see the Grimmir charge straight at them.

  With a scream, she pulled Kay through the water, swimming out of the way just before the Grimmir burst straight through the entire ship as if it was a cloud, sending splintered wood in every direction. This time, Mira caught a glimpse of the Grimmir’s back: it was pitted along its spine, all the way up its tail to the base of its head, where a flash of gold caught her eye. It was a single golden horn, and Mira was sure that this was the horn that held the promise of breaking the cursed everlock sleep. There was only one left after the Grimmir’s years of being hunted for its powerful horns.

  Panting, she dragged Kay behind another ship.

  Kay, wake up! Mira thought frantically, shaking her brother.

  In the distance, the Grimmir turned around again, its body slithering back as it prepared to charge at them, its milky eyes unblinking. In a moment of desperation, Mira threw her thoughts to the monster: Don’t! We’re not here to hurt you!

  The beast stopped in its tracks, but only for a second. It shook its head in irritation like it was flinging off an irksome fly.

  This time, Mira expected the wave of fear. Knowing that it wasn’t entirely her own, she thought of her bubble, encasing her mind in a protective wall that was unbreakable, even by a towering beast. When the terror didn’t rip through her mind this time, she turned to Kay, struck by an idea. She pushed her thoughts out to him and protected his mind, too.

  Almost instantly, the Grimmir let out a chilling hiss and whipped its head this way and that, as if it were lost.

  With a shudder, Kay gasped.

  “Wha—”

  Mira pressed her hand over his mouth. He froze and looked over her shoulder, his eyes round.

  That’s him, said his voice. The sorcerer.

  Mira nodded, trying to see past the monster’s menacing exterior to imagine the sorcerer that was stuck inside.

  He’s blind, Mira replied, letting Kay go. He paralyzes us by making us afraid and then traces the fear. I’ve blocked him out for now.

  Indeed, the Grimmir didn’t charge but continued turning its head, searching for its victims. An image of the jewel bats formed in Mira’s head, lost without their sense of smell in the Mosswoods, giving their prey an opportunity for escape. But Mira didn’t want to escape this time. Seizing her chance, she sent her thoughts to the monster.

  We know you were a merrow. The Grimmir froze again. We’re not hunting you! We can help you—and we need your help, too.

  With a rumbling growl that made the planks on the surrounding shipwrecks rattle against each other, the Grimmir turned its head again to search for the prey that it could not see.

  If you let us, we’ll explain, Mira continued. But we need to be sure you won’t freeze us again.

  It felt like almost an eternity later, but the Grimmir finally gave them a single nod. Mira held her breath as she let the bubble in her mind fade away, leaving her and Kay unguarded.

  Finally, a familiar voice spoke in Mira’s head: No one has been able to break out of their frozen state before.

  Kay spun around to stare at Mira, who returned his look of excitement as they recognized the voice from the conch shell.

  We’re not just anyone, said Mira.

  We know you’re trapped, said Kay’s voice.

  The Grimmir’s tail made an irritated twitch.

  How many of you are there?

  Only two, said Mira quickly. And we mean you no harm. We came searching for you because we listened to your message—the one you left behind before you were transformed. We bring you something that can change you back.

  The Grimmir did not move for what felt like ages. Then, the sorcerer’s voice cut through the silence:

  Prove it.

  We need your word that you’ll help us once we give it to you, said Kay.

  Prove it.

  Mira and Kay looked at each other again.

  I’ll do it, Mira thought. Her heart in her throat, she slowly pulled the chain off from around her neck and let the glimmering vial hang from it in front of her. Very slowly, despite every instinct that told her not to, she made her way towards the Grimmir.

  As if it could sense the vial, the Grimmir sucked in a deep breath that made a rushing sound as the water ran through its gills. Its head turned to face Mira directly, but it stayed where it was.

  Mira, be careful!

  Mira gulped and forced herself to swim forward, holding out the vial in front of her. She only stopped when she was just a couple of feet from the monster’s snout.

  For a second, not even the water seemed to move.

  Then the Grimmir thrust its head forward, revealing its rows of pointed teeth before it snapped its jaws.

  Mira screamed. As she pushed herself back in panic, desperate to get away, she let go of the vial.

  “Mira!” Kay shouted from behind her.

  The Grimmir thrust forward again, this time snapping its teeth closed over the vial—shattering it and releasing the glimmering, crimson blood in a small cloud. With a great rush, it breathed it all in.

  Mira stared into its eyes as the cloudiness swirled into pure black in seconds. For a breathless moment, she and the Grimmir stared at each other, and Mira knew it could finally see again. Then, the beast twisted its enormous body in one great sweep, its golden streaks winking as it swam off into the depths of the ocean, disappearing from sight.

  Mira’s heart dropped.

  “Wait!” she screamed after it, but she knew it was gone. You promised to help! she thought desperately, but she knew the ancient sorcerer didn’t care.

  “Did he hurt you?” Kay panted once he’d reached her.

  Mira shook her head.

  “He tricked us!” Kay spat, swimming up above the shipwrecks and spinning around. “We came all this way and he just took his vial and left us!”

  “He’s gone,” Mira said slowly, following him. Panic rose in her chest again. “We failed.”

  “No! We
can’t have—we’re so close! We have to go and find—”

  “It’s useless,” Mira groaned.

  Her heart was beating hard against her chest, but as she strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of the Grimmir in the distance, she felt the water change slightly against her skin. She frowned at Kay, who tilted his head in confusion.

  “The water,” Kay whispered. “It’s…”

  “Trembling,” Mira finished.

  It was like tiny little ripples were running up her arms and making her hair stand on end. She wondered if it was the Grimmir returning to help them after all, but all hope disappeared as soon as a very different man’s voice came from behind them.

  “Ah, it looks like we have finally caught our runaway urchins.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Light in the Darkness

  M

  ira and Kay turned to face a group of merrows who looked quite unlike any people Mira had ever seen in her life. There was a row of soldiers, both men and women, clad in gold-and-silver armor. Every inch of their skin that was visible was covered with scales, except for their faces. Yet, that wasn’t even the strangest part. Mira looked down at the single tail that each merrow had from the waist down. They glimmered with deep blue scales and had several delicate fins running down to horizontal tailfins.

  With a uniform swoop of their arms, the soldiers each swung a long, metal spear out from behind them. Together, they pointed the spears directly at Mira and Kay, glaring at them with wild eyes.

  Mira was too busy staring at the sharp ends of the spears to realize that the soldiers had moved aside, making room for another merrow to swim forward.

  And there she was, right in front of them: the Empress of the Sea in all her glory. Mira nearly forgot the danger she and her brother were in once she laid eyes on the empress. Her hair, as white as Mira remembered it, flowed in graceful waves around her oval face, with a golden crown studded with pearls, shells, and what appeared to be shark teeth resting on top of her head. The tiny scales that framed her face seemed to change colors as she moved: turquoise to silver to gold and back. Her smooth skin was broken only by the single scar on her left cheek. She was wrapped in a delicate dress that seemed to be woven of the smoothest silk, nearly the same color as her ivory skin, rippling in the same way as her hair. She, too, had a tail, though the colors of her scales matched those on her face, making her stand out from the simple soldiers that surrounded her. She looked down at Mira and Kay with beautiful gray eyes, her gaze both enchanting and fearsome at the same time.

  The water around the empress felt alive, and the rippling feeling on Mira’s skin only became stronger as the powerful sorceress inched closer to them.

  Kay’s voice broke Mira’s trance.

  It really is her. It’s Amara.

  Mira pressed her lips together, knowing her brother was thinking about the portrait in Appoline’s old history book. The one that was burned along with the rest of the study.

  “At last,” Amara said, the corners of her lips curling up. “Welcome, children, to my empire.”

  The sounds of her words wrapped themselves around Mira as if welcoming her into a warm embrace. She was about to respond when a second figure emerged from behind the empress.

  “You,” Mira breathed.

  The thin-faced councilor from Aindel—the man called Calder Hill—smiled as he made his way in front of the soldiers, though he remained respectfully behind the empress.

  “Hello, again.” The man smirked, and Mira shuddered at the sound of his voice.

  “You look different,” Kay said. “Less hairy.”

  The Shadowveil let out a cackling laugh. “I traded in my bushy tail for a much better one, too. I so tired of walking on legs.”

  “You still look like a sneak to me,” Mira spat.

  “Enough,” said the empress. With a small movement of her hand, the Shadowveil bowed his head and moved back several inches. The soldiers spread out to form a circle around Mira, Kay, and the empress, who kept her eyes locked on the children. “These lost twins have finally found their way back to the ocean. This should be a joyous occasion.”

  “We’re not here to stay,” Kay said.

  The empress raised an eyebrow as her eyes flitted over to Kay’s. She squinted with a cunning smile.

  “You must be Kay. We never had the opportunity to formally meet.”

  “I know who you are, too. You’re Amara, and you call yourself the Empress of the Sea.”

  A flash of warning sparked in the empress’s eyes. The soldiers tightened their circle. The Shadowveil glared at Kay.

  “Very clever. I am Amara, the Empress of the Sea. Every merrow, every creature in my realm bows to my power.” She tilted her head to the side and swam around them effortlessly, her tail moving with grace as her delicate dress rippled against the water. “You two are in my realm, now. Perhaps you should bow.”

  “You’ll never be our empress,” Mira said through gritted teeth as Amara returned to face them.

  Amara pressed her lips together, but her smile didn’t waver. “I have always been your empress, since the day you were born, and until the day you die. You will bow.”

  She lifted her arm with her palm up and curled her fingers into a fist.

  Mira gasped as a powerful current of water swirled around her and Kay, holding their legs in place and forcing their backs down.

  “That is much better.” The current disappeared. Mira and Kay snapped back up, glancing at each other with fear. “The sooner you learn your place within my empire, the sooner we can get along. You see, everyone has their place. Calder, here, was my trusted informant on the Old Towns, but his job was cut short by your meddling. What place has he, now?”

  Calder flinched behind her back. “Your Excellency,” he said carefully, “I have served you most loyally for all these years. My plan would have been successful if that wretched human boy had not gotten in my way. I would have gotten rid of the old hag and retrieved the conch during the diversion, if—”

  “If,” Amara repeated coldly without turning around. “You use that word freely, but you forget what it means. It is an excuse. Do you believe that I would accept an excuse for your failure to protect my empire—one that has flourished for nearly two centuries?”

  Calder dropped his head stiffly and said, “No, Your Excellency.”

  “No.” Amara clasped her hands together in front of her dress, her long fingers lined with delicate webs. She turned her attention back to Mira and Kay. “Our young runaways appear to be misled. I truly do not want to keep fighting you.” Her voice became sweet again. Without meaning to, Mira clung to each syllable. “You see, I continue to be impressed with you both. You have managed to come this far through an ocean that can be quite treacherous, and you have evaded the wrath of the Grimmir. How did you drive it away?”

  “We didn’t come to hunt him,” Mira said. “I protected our thoughts from him, and then we could talk to him.”

  “Yes, I expected that you possessed such a gift after you resisted the powers of the cursed mist,” Amara said, gazing at Mira. “I am sure the Grimmir was just as impressed at your strength.”

  “We told him we brought him the only thing that could set him free,” Mira said.

  “I expect you learned to do such a clever thing from the conch shell,” Amara said. “What did the Grimmir do to thank you for your hard work?”

  Mira bit her lip. “He took the vial of his blood and left us.”

  Amara’s lips curled up into a grin. “It was a noble act, to be sure. Though, I have to wonder why you would go through so much trouble to save a selfish sorcerer who was cursed to live out his life as a beast?”

  “He has healing powers,” Kay spoke up. “We wanted his help to save our friends—the ones your Shadowveils poisoned.” His voice grew stronger as his words fought against Amara’s false sweetness. Mira frowned as she, too, remembered why they were there in the first place
. Her head spun as she struggled to focus on her brother’s words through the empress’s eerie hold over her mind. She was shocked at how she could have forgotten the reason they were in the ocean in the first place.

  Another flash of warning clouded the empress’s gray eyes. Her smile seemed plastered onto her face.

  “Now you have set him free. The Grimmir will die as he assumes his true merrow form, for he is thousands of years old, and with him will die your last hopes of waking up your friends.”

  “We’ll never stop trying to save them,” Mira argued. “You can’t stop us.”

  “Once again, children, you disappoint me. You ignore that, as your empress, I am also your protector. Everything I do is for the good of my people.”

  “Then why did you hurt Aristide?” Kay said. “Aren’t all merrows your people?”

  “That man was a threat to our very existence. Some have insisted that you two pose the very same threat. You have, it seems, undermined me at every opportunity.”

  “So what are you going to do with us?” Kay asked.

  The empress’s smile widened.

  “That is for you to decide. I will give you one final chance to pledge your loyalty to me and join me in my empire.”

  “What empire?” Mira asked, gesturing around them. “We didn’t see any merrows here before you came. Your empire is abandoned!”

  “Oh, but you did not look closely enough.” Amara turned and waved her hand to the vast expanse of sea behind her. “Look again.”

  As if the empress had wiped a foggy window, a warm glow of golden light suddenly shone in the distance. Mira and Kay leaned forward, trying to see past the row of soldiers and broken ships to take in the mesmerizing sight of the faraway land.

  The empire stretched as far as the eye could see, almost like a sunrise over the horizon. Even from a distance, Mira could see the buildings that extended up from the seafloor like glittering jewels. A warm glow seemed to emanate from the buildings themselves. She even noticed tiny specks moving about the city and realized with a start that those were the merrows that lived under Amara’s rule.