Their attempts to bring the squid down were like child’s play. I gasped and got a mouthful of water as one of the tentacles hit Marcus, sending him flying. Another tentacle wrapped Kallie up in its grasp, squeezing her tight, but she transformed into a wolf and bit the tentacle roughly, ripping out chunks. The tentacle dropped her, only to start grabbing the boulders Charlie was piling on top of another arm. The squid tossed the boulders back at Charlie, who exploded them into dust before they hit. Still, a couple of them got too close, and he had to duck behind a set of trees to avoid being crushed. Oberi ran along the shore, shooting fireballs out of her horn at the monster.
“Ava, go! We can handle this!” Charlie yelled over the sound of the kraken’s screams.
I froze, unsure of what to do. The noise the squid was making wasdefinitelygoing to attract the attention of the guards. We had minutes to find the key and leave the lake before they showed up.
“Ava, come on!” Opal yelped, and she dove underwater. I took a deep inhale, then submerged to follow her. The three of them could handle the giant squid. I had to take the opportunity they were handing me so I could get that key. Oberi dodged a flying tentacle, shifting into a narwhal mid-air and diving in an arc so she could swim after me.
The thrashing of the giant squid made shockwaves resonate through the water. I had to force my powers to keep me in a straight line as Opal, Oberi and I swam around the whipping tentacles still submerged. Even after we’d gotten a safe distance away from the squid, I could hear it raging from the depths of the lake.
The deeper we got into the lake, the darker it got. I was grateful for Marcus’ witchlight, because it created a beam that I could follow here in the pitch black of the lake’s bottom. Opal flicked her tailfin ahead of me, and I took it as a sign to follow her.
Underneath Opal was a spectacular sight. An Elven galleon appeared, resting at the bottom of the lake. A multi-deck ship with four different masts,The Assassin’s Destinywas a wooden testament to the beauty of Elvish craftsmanship. The ship was huge, one of the biggest and finest that I’d ever seen. It resembled some of the ships that had washed onshore in Kinpago many years ago. There was a nautical figurehead of an Elvish woman carved into the front of the ship, and decorative wooden designs running up the sides.
Two of the masts were broken in half, and there was a massive hole in the side of the ship that the storm had caused. It was why the ship had sunk.
We approached the ship cautiously, though nothing emerged to fight us. Amalie— correctly— had assumed the giant squid would be strong enough to defend it. The three of us swam around the ship. Opal searched the galley, while I swam through the hole in the side of the ship to begin my search there. I found a variety of broken and rotting furniture, along with sunken supplies like dishes and other cargo. Oberi overturned boxes, while I rummaged through drawers and wardrobes, but we found nothing resembling a key. My powers rocketed me upward to follow Oberi, scanning the ship’s deck for any sign of a clue.
In here!Oberi pointed her horn to a door on the ship, what I could only assume were the Captain’s quarters. I raised my hand, and a blast of Water funneled through the lake and burst the door open. Oberi swam inside, and I trailed her. Lying against the wall of the ship was a desk and chair that had been tossed when the ship had sunk. In the middle of the floor was a wooden chest, lying on its side.
There was a thin resonance inside of me, and I heard a faint buzzing sound. My heartbeat picked up as my demigod magic surged against my chest. The key had to be near.
I overturned the chest, and Oberi picked the lock with her horn. It broke off, rusted from years of being submerged underwater. I slowly opened the trunk. There, at the bottom, was the merfolk key.
Being underwater for over a hundred years hadn’t rusted or damaged its surface in any way. The key was gold and teal in color. It had the image of a shell on the bow, with the illustration of a mermaid swimming across it. A depiction of coral and seaweed wrapped up the blade, while the tip was fashioned in the appearance of a mermaid fin.
I grabbed it, and a burst of power flooded through me once I had the merfolk key in my grasp. My demigod powers rejoiced, as if reuniting with an old friend. The two contrasts of magic danced inside my core brighter than even my Fire magic blazed. I clenched on to the key tightly, thanking my ancestors and all who had brought us here.
Thank you, Amalie. Thank you, Dante. Thank you, Erasmus. We wouldn’t have found it, if it wasn’t for you.
It’s brilliant, Oberi said as she gazed at it in my palm.Two more keys to find, then all shall be united once more.
A tightness clenched in my throat. I was losing air. We’d been down here almost ten minutes, and I couldn’t hold my breath longer than that. I had to surface.
I pointed upward, and Oberi understood. We left the Captain’s quarters and began our journey up.
“Did you find it?” Opal asked. She could speak underwater. I opened my hand to show her, and the glisten of the merfolk key shone against the witchlight. Opal ran her fingertips over it like she was enchanted, mystified by the history of her people.
Oberi nudged me, and I again felt the desperate need for air. My Water magic rocketed me upward, until I reached the surface. I slowed down, breaking the water gently so as to not cause a disturbance. I took a fresh gulp of air and turned in place.
The giant squid was floating on the top of the lake, a massive smoking hole in its head. One of my friends had ended it. I felt sad for the mystical creature, because even though it’d been an illusion, it must’ve had some sort of consciousness, some sense of life after Amalie had created it. The creature deserved better than this, but attaining the merfolk key had to come at any cost.
I searched for my friends onshore, but didn’t see anyone. I turned in place, feeling a slight pinch of fear begin to grow in my chest. That fear exploded into a panic, and I didn’t understand why I felt that way…
Until I realized that frantic emotion was coming from Charlie, and almost as soon as it landed upon me, it left. Our connection had suddenly been cut off.
Oberi swam up beside me. She turned in the water frantically as she gasped,Charlie’s in trouble—
Her words were cut off as a mass of rope fell over top of us. The witchlight went out, leaving us under nothing but the illumination of the moon. The object fell heavily over top of me, and with absolute horror, I realized that Oberi and I were caught up in a net.
I flailed helplessly as Oberi got her fin tied up in the net. The net was tight around me, so I couldn’t use my powers to jet away, though my Water magic rocked me from side to side in a desperate attempt to break free. I attempted to light the net aflame with my Fire magic, but though the embers caught and sparked, the net was damp from the lake, so it didn’t light.
The net began tugging me toward shore. I screamed, and got water in my mouth as Oberi and I were pulled to land against our will. The more I struggled, the tighter the rope became. My legs hung uselessly, unable to help me get loose.
I saw a flash of mermaid scales within the water. I took a breath, and submerged my head. Opal was tugging at the net, trying to rip it free.
This was a magical net. Her merfolk strength wouldn’t be enough to get me out of this. Desperately, I had the wild thought that the Wardencould notcatch me with the merfolk key.
I slipped my hand through one of the holes in the net and dropped the key. Opal floundered to catch it, then gave me a terrified look as she clutched it in her hands.
