Song of the Sirens (12 page)

“And their memory?”

“I will erase it once they return.”

I silenced a protest with a hard gulp.
At least we would live.

The king glared at me. I cowered back,
nervous beneath his blazing eyes. He inquired, “What is your name, mortal?”

I glanced at Riley, looking for a signal
on whether I should reply or not. When Riley floated without acknowledging me,
I answered in a quiet and frail voice, “Anita.”

“And this man?”

“My father, Percival.”

“I am King Neptune, ruler of Atlantis.
Our protector, Riley, has informed me that your father seeks our kingdom and
was on the verge of discovery. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Why does he search for my city?”

“It’s…it’s a fabled place that many have
sought. It’s his self-fulfillment to be known as the man who finally found the
lost city.”

“And no other reason?”

I shook my head.

“What would happen if he discovered
Atlantis?”

“We expected it to be the ruins of an
ancient, human civilization. He intended to study the remains to learn about
the people, their culture, and what happened that led to the destruction or
desertion of the city.”

“Obviously, it is not the remains of a
mortal civilization. It is not lost. You can see why you will never discover
this city, nor remember it.”

I trembled and nodded in agreement. His
stern words were more of a warning than anything else.

King Neptune turned his attention to
Riley. “Leave them here for now. They are safe. Return to the caves and secure
the sirens. That is more important than ensuring the survival of these two.”

The trembling turned into shaking with
those words.

King Neptune went on, “Not that I care
little about your lives, child. I hold nothing against you, and you are not my
enemy. But, the sirens are enemies to all of us, and I will do the world a
large favor by keeping them locked away. I hope you will never experience them
and learn why my words are absolute truth. Do not be afraid of us, or for your
life at our hands. Do, however, fear the sirens if even one escape their confines.
They must not enter our city again, and they must not reach land. Now Riley,
leave them and return to your sacred duty.”

Riley replied, “Of course, my king.”

King Neptune nodded his head and dropped
into the pool. The water near the ceiling fell like rain and the vortex
vanished.

“Is this where you go all the time?” I
asked.

“Yes. I report to King Neptune. When he
feared the human scientists discovered the coordinates to the city, he sent me
to your father.”

“Were you going to kill us?”

“What! No, only sabotage.”

Oh, that was
much
better.

“I have to keep humans away, and this is
only one reason why. I planned on rigging the radar and replacing the
coordinates for the city’s location.”

“My dad had all those memorized.”

“I would have erased his memories, too.
I saw sub lights from the distance, and feared your father traveled here during
the most dangerous hours in a storm. I didn’t think he was that reckless, so I
knew something was wrong, especially when the sub took a turn toward the gates
of Theoisis, which guards the sirens’ tomb. I have to go. I want to explain
everything, but later.”

Riley sighed and moved away from the
ledge. He faced me. “Keep out of the water.”

“What?” Panic struck a chord.

“King Neptune is right. The sirens are
dangerous, and we have to take care of them first. Don’t worry. I’ll come for
you when my mission is complete. The worms above you create oxygen, so you’ll
last a long time in here. Hopefully, securing the sirens won’t be too
difficult.”

I nodded, pulled my feet out of the
water, and scrunched up against the wall.

“No, wait!” I cried.

Riley paused.

With quivering lips and tears masked by
streaming seawater, I confessed, “I can’t just sit in this cave all alone
knowing what’s going on out there. What if a siren comes? What should I do?”

Riley bit his lower lip and looked down
into the water as if contemplating. He groaned, took a long blink, and sighed
before moving his hands. His fingers skimmed over the surface of the pool,
creating a crystal clear facade.

I leaned in and made out small figures
dashing around, a familiar boulder, and the glowing city in the background.

“What is this?” I inquired, half
mesmerized by the vision.

“There’s a guard at the entrance to this
cave.”

Somehow, one guard didn’t make me feel
as safe as I’d hoped.

“If he, or someone else, gets past the
entrance, they will be deterred from piercing this screen. If they do, the
break in the screen will sever my connection to the pool and I’ll know if
something is wrong. I’ll come back immediately.”

I nodded my head once.

“Plus, the energy will calm you, and
you’ll know what’s going on. Though I don’t recommend seeing everything,” he
muttered.

I stared at the pool. His voice sort of
faded out.

Riley plummeted back into the water and
sped off like a stream-lined torpedo. His green fin flashed beneath the moving
water until he left the cavern.

The slight splash returned me to the
situation. We were alone with flesh-eating beasts in search of us.

I swallowed hard, placed a hand on my
father’s arm, and looked around. The cave was fully enclosed. The worms filled
every crack and fissure. As far as I could see, nothing could come in expect
through the entrance below. Though nothing could creep up behind me, I only had
one escape route.

I shivered and my skin fought against
turning blue. I still felt the residual power inside of me. Riley’s ability
kept me warm, sane, and alive for now.

The mermen seemed indifferent to my
kind, for the most part. Knowing that our lives were in the hands of mermen
unraveled many nerves. Dangerous creatures so vile that the king warned they
were better off left unknown, trapped thousands of feet below the surface, and
at the mercy of a mythological race did not mold a confident attitude.

I tapped my fingers against the rocky
ledge and stared into the water.

Chapter Eight

The silky screen revealed all the
important things that occurred just beyond these thick, cavern walls. I had a
feeling Riley wasn’t supposed to expose his world even more to me, but then
again, he would make me forget later, and that wasn’t a bad thing.

Riley abandoned us. King Neptune
correctly stated the sirens held priority over the well-being of mortals. Riley
cared about us to some extent, seeing that he saved us to this point. I sure
hoped he was a guy who could balance things enough to stop the sirens
and
rescue us from this misery.

His job was to protect his people first
and foremost. The disheartening truth of the matter was that we came last. The
king referred to him as the protector. If that was his sole purpose in life,
then he took it very seriously. He wouldn’t allow anything to deter his
resolute stand.

In the pool, a strange glow wrapped
around the city in the background to the right, near the cave wall.

While the city of Atlantis locked down,
even through the constant low light from glowing algae and sea anemones, Riley
and the warriors faced death by corralling sirens. King Neptune used his power
over water to fortify the city by erecting a barrier. This wall created the
dome around the kingdom so nothing could get in, and no one could get out.

The sirens, if any escaped, couldn’t
venture into the city to swim rampant on a bloody path for sleeping meals. Most
of the residents were probably wide awake and on high alert, armed and prepared
to defend to the last kill.

I located my position on the screen.
This large cavern, within a monstrous rock formation, stood to the left of
Atlantis, and north of the deeper, darker area where the vessel continued to
shine its unnatural light onto the watery world of trapped sirens.

Darting, glowing tails streaked across
the darker areas.

Unlike most fish, merfolk were agile and
swift swimmers who could out-swim dolphins. The shape of their easily malleable
bodies and long tails allowed them to maneuver through rock pillars and around
potential dangers like sharks, and there were many sharks closing in. Each time
a merman approached, the sharks darted away, but eventually came back. They
zoomed through the waters like projectiles, and whipped to destinations in a
matter of seconds, swimming at a very rapid pace. They were amazing to watch.

Riley left the caverns, passed the
guard, and dashed back to the fight at Theoisis. The giant boulder didn’t fully
cover the opening, yet. It allowed just over a foot of space, enough for an
emaciated, gaunt skeleton of a starving siren to wiggle through. Several bony
hands and bloody talons scratched against and wrapped around the boulder’s
edge.

Along with the scratching, the siren’s
songs filled the sea all around. The high-pitched warbles consumed thoughts and
resounded louder than ever before. The enraged sirens demanded food, and they
intended on clawing through the warriors at first chance. The song reached out
to me, searched for me.

Shaking off the invading quavers, Riley
summoned the dolphins. The submarine was of no use. Dolphins, aquatic power,
and sheer labor would return the barrier to its rightful place.

When a group of dolphins obeyed Riley’s
command by flocking to his need, they halted and scurried around. They feared
the sirens, and their song irritated them. However, what struck total fright in
them was the unfolding pandemonium to the left of the submarine in the near
distance.

Riley focused his attention from his
hovering height, well above the action. A liberated siren battled with three
warriors. She was fatigued, having spent a considerable amount of time without
food in her prison, but she had one chance at freedom, and perhaps only one
chance at obtaining much needed nourishment, that being us.

I gulped and hoped with fierceness that
the mermen were strong enough to overpower her.

Why were the sirens so strong? And if
they were this strong after being in prison, what power under the waters
trapped them in the first place?

The warriors wrapped strong currents
around her, lassoing and confusing her. They struck out with their spears to
keep her attacks at bay, but they didn’t dare draw her blood. Their belief in
not spilling siren blood made things harder.

While the other men struggled to close
the one-ton boulder, these men struggled to corral the siren back into the
cave. She hissed and clawed at them as her matted hair swirled around her face.
Whirling water continued to push her back toward the entrance several feet
behind her.

Riley ordered the majority of the dolphins
to push the boulder while the men concentrated on using their ability over
water to manipulate cyclones, used to shove the sirens back inside. The men
seemed better organized now.

The sirens scraped their claws against
the rocks, leaving trails in the boulder as they clung for dear life. Their
song morphed into a cacophony of screams, and the men flinched away. They did
their best to keep concentration, instead of cowering away in pain.

I made out the weakening screams of the
deteriorating song.

Riley raised his hands and concentrated
on aiding his men. The currents lifted behind him and thrust the lone siren
against the boulder where she squirmed and shrieked. As long as Riley remained
at a distance, and nothing snuck up behind him to get the upper hand, he
wouldn’t fear the siren.

The mermen moved away as the siren
struck through the water, attempting to grab onto anything, or anyone, within
close proximity. The men were smart enough to keep their distance. In fact, as
the water rolled her over and pushed her toward the narrowing entrance, the
expanse between her and the men increased.

I silently cursed beneath my breath for
the day the sirens were created. They were abominations, vicious monsters, and
festering boils on the majestic civilization of the merfolk. They deserved
annihilation, their species wiped out, but that choice did not belong to me.

The siren inched closer and closer to
her tomb, until finally, she flipped over onto her side just around the edge as
the water shoved her in.

Riley kept his palms out to continue the
force of resistance while the men aided the dolphins. The dolphins used
physical power, while the men used water currents.

The boulder slammed back into place,
shutting the sirens off from the remainder of the world. The mermen immediately
checked the entrance. The boulder was much larger than the actual entryway to
the cave to assure even a slight misplacement couldn’t be counted against them.