Chapter 2

Two

LAND OF MURA

“ T his is a waste of time. We’re never going to catch anything.” Zann Blackseed looked over the edge of his brother, Rhys’ ship, The Spectrum, and shook his head in disgust. He and his brothers, Darium and Rhys, had been fishing for several hours now and all they’d caught was an old boot, a rotten log, and a lot of insults from Elric, Zann’s father-by-marriage. Even Stone Nightstalker, the newest member of their group, wasn’t having any luck.

“If you boys would just face the fact you stink at this and let me help, we’d all be home and eating a good meal by now.” Elric leaned back against the side of the large fishing ship with his feet up and his arms crossed. His eyes were closed.

“Nay. We don’t need your magic to put food on our tables,” grumbled Darium, pulling in a line and lifting it up to see that it was empty.

“Zann and I are kings. We can provide for our people and especially our own families, Rhys chimed in.

“That’s right. Besides, Stone and I can go out hunting later,” offered Zann, just itching to get back into his shapeshifting form of a wolf to hunt at night in the Goeften Forest. With Zann’s animal instincts and Stone’s clear night vision, they were bound to make some good catches.

“Stonestealer is a bounty hunter. He doesn’t hunt animals, he hunts men,” scoffed Elric with his eyes still shut. The short little elf was a sage and also messenger of the gods. He was probably the most magical of the beings of Mura, but also the most irritating. If Zann hadn’t been married to the man’s daughter, he and his brothers most likely wouldn’t tolerate Elric and his vulgar ways.

“I’m no longer a bounty hunter, just a tracker,” Stone answered in his defense. “And now that I’m married to your second daughter, I’d appreciate it if you called me by my real name. It’s Nightstalker, not Stonestealer…Father.” Stone added the latter part just to get a rise out of the elf.

Elric’s eyes shot open and his mouth turned down into a nasty frown. He jumped up on the wooden seat, still no taller than Stone who was sitting, being no taller than waist-high to a common man. “Call me Father once more and you’ll find out just how powerful my magic is when you’re scraping your hind end off the bottom of the Masked Sea,” spat Elric. “And don’t think I can’t do it.”

“Calm down, Elric.” Darium wound up his fishing line and wiped his hands on his breeches. “We’re all family and need to get along now.”

“I never wanted to be friends with a Sin Eater like you, Darium.” Elric was at it again. Always seeming as if he longed to stir up trouble.

“I’m no longer a Sin Eater,” said Darium. “And we don’t have to be friends, but nothing can stop us from being family. So just get used to it.”

“I told you we shouldn’t have come out here to fish,” Elric continued to complain.

“Only some of us are really fishing.” Stone raised an eyebrow looking at his lazy new father-by-marriage. Stone’s dog, Fang, jumped up from his sleeping position on the deck and ran over and hopped up on the bench next to Elric. The dog put his paws up on the side wall of the ship and looked over the edge and whined.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Stone ran a hand over his dog’s head. “Something’s got him spooked.”

“It’s probably all you big oafs pretending to be fishermen when none of you can even manage to catch a cold,” said Elric, chuckling at his own jest.

“There’s a storm approaching.” Darium looked up to the mast of the ship, seeing his raven, Murk, landing atop the lookout basket and squawking like crazy. “Something’s got Murk upset as well. Mayhap we should pull in the net and start heading back. Hopefully, we can beat the rain.”

“Sounds like the first good idea today.” Elric jumped down from the bench, but did nothing to help pull in the net.

“Nay, I don’t want to leave yet.” Rhys stretched his neck, looking toward the other fishing ship close by. “I’m not leaving until he does.”

“He, who?” asked Elric with a yawn. His short arms went out to the sides as he stretched, having just woken up from a nap. Elric hadn’t even been invited on this trip but insisted he come along, just wanting to be nosy.

“Rhys only wanted to fish today because he saw King Ravenwolf’s ship sail out earlier. Everything’s got to be a competition with my brother,” grumbled Zann.

Zann and Rhys had replaced two of the dead, evil kings of Mura. King Sethor had been the last one left but he recently died as well. At his death, Macada Castle was taken over by Sethor’s nephew, Sebastian Ravenwolf. Sebastian was a much younger man than Sethor and also more capable of putting together a bigger and stronger army than his uncle. Rhys worried about King Ravenwolf storming their castles of Kasculbough and Evandorm and his brothers knew it.

“Rhys, it’s starting to rain.” Darium struggled to reel in the net. Zann and Stone helped him. “It must have tangled on something.” Fang started to bark uncontrollably. The raven still squawked from the lookout basket above their heads. “We need to hurry and head back.”

“I don’t want this new king to think we are weak rulers.” Rhys’ stubborn side showed. “A little longer won’t kill us.”

“Nay, but I might.” The elf crossed his arms over his chest. “Especially if the mutt doesn’t stop barking. He’s hurting my ears.” The little man placed his hands over his pointy ears and cringed.

“He’s sensing something wrong. I know my dog,” said Stone, still petting Fang and looking over toward the other king’s ship. “I feel it too. Something is fishy.”

“Not a good jest considering we didn’t catch a thing today,” said Darium, still pulling on the net, not understanding what it could be stuck on.

“Nay. That’s not what I mean. King Ravenwolf has caught something. Whatever it is, it seems pretty big. Take a look.” Stone pointed toward the other ship. King Ravenwolf’s men were hoisting up the fishing net and it looked to be loaded.

“Pull harder! Raise that net now,” commanded Sebastian Ravenwolf, running to the edge of the ship to see if they’d perhaps caught a dolphin or two in their nets. They’d had bad luck all day, and Sebastian hadn’t wanted to retreat until Kings Zann and Rhys brought in their nets as well. He was the new king of Macada Castle now since his uncle’s demise. He needed to prove his worth to the Blackseed brothers, since those boys had magic on their side and he did not. Mayhap his catch of a dolphin would make his enemies see him as more of an equal after all.

“My king, the nets are heavy and the men are tired,” said his captain, Owaine. “Mayhap if we just rest a minute.”

“Nay!” shouted Sebastian, running to look over the side of the ship. “In another minute we’re going to be blown around by this storm and I don’t want to lose our only catch of the day. Stand down. Let me do it.” He pushed Owaine aside and took his place. “Jocet, Hitch, on the count of three,” he called to his steward and squire who were also his good friends. “One...two...three!”

They all tugged together and managed to get the net up to the top of the side wall. Then with the help of his friends, they lifted it up and over. Sebastian’s impetuous action sent the net and its contents slamming down atop the deck of the ship. At the same moment lightning streaked through the sky and a loud crash of thunder rent the air, shaking the entire ship. Rain pelted down like arrows from the sky. It fell so fast and hard that he needed to move closer to see what was actually tangled in his net.

Taking out his dagger, he ripped the net open. When he did, the biggest fish he’d ever seen slapped its large tail outward in defense, hitting him squarely in the jaw.

“Ow! That stings! The damned thing is going to die for that.” He wanted to cry out from the pain, but wouldn’t show weakness while with his men. He drew his sword to end the dolphin’s life, raising the blade over his head, ready to bring it down with full force.

“Nay! Don’t hurt me. Please,” cried a woman’s voice from the net. He stopped and looked down, his eyes opening in disbelief. There, in his net was a strange sea creature! From the waist up, his catch was a beautiful woman with long hair, full breasts beneath a thin bodice, a small waist and mesmerizing eyes. From the waist down, she was all fish.

“What is it, my king?” Hitch ran over, stopping in his tracks. “Is it something Belcoum spat up from the depths of the Dark Abyss?” he asked, referring to Mura’s devil and hell.

“Nay, I can’t say it is.” Sebastian’s eyes interlocked with the sea creature. He felt as if he couldn’t look away even if he chose to do so. “I’d say it was someone sent from The Haven, by Zoroct,” he replied, referring to Mura’s Heaven and one of their main gods. “This woman looks to be no demon but more like a goddess of the sea.”

Merrow’s heart raced in fear. She lay helpless on the deck of the ship still in her sea nymph form so she wasn’t even able to run away. Not that she’d have anywhere to go to hide, since she was on a ship in the middle of the sea. But still, if she could manage to get close enough to the side wall, mayhap she could somehow flip over it and get back into the water. That was her only hope for escape. Water was her safe haven.

“What are you?” asked the man staring down at her. He was handsome for a human. Long, dark brown hair and light blue eyes. The hue of his eyes was close to the color of a sky on a cloudy day. She quickly glanced around. Nothing looked familiar. She wasn’t sure where she’d ended up after being sucked through the portal. “Are you a demon or a deity perhaps?” asked the man.

“Nay! Of course, not.” Merrow struggled to sit up. The storm continued and the rain washed down over her undine body. She’d never get her land legs at this rate. Not sitting out in the open and being doused by the rain. “I am an undine,” she told them. Seeing the bewildered looks on all the men’s faces, she got the feeling they’d never seen an undine before. They continued to stare at her with wide eyes and open mouths. She wasn’t naked but she might have well been since her light clothing clung to her like a second skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. Slowly, she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide her breasts that were spilling out of her bodice.

“You’re a what?” The man squinted one eye and cocked his head.

“An undine,” she repeated, still seeing their empty gazes. “I’m a sea nymph.” She struggled to try to pull herself across the wooden deck, using her arms alone. It wasn’t easy. The deck was wet and her tail slippery. Getting over the side wall seemed an impossible task. She didn’t make much headway at all.

“What did she say, Captain?” asked one of the crew.

“She called herself an imp, I think.” The man who she supposed was the ship’s captain scratched his head, looking over from the stern of the ship.

“I am not an imp, you fools!” These stupid men were trying her patience. All she wanted was to get off this ship and back into the water so she could find her sisters. “Can’t you see that I am far from being a troublesome demon? And if I were a deity, I wouldn’t still be here, trapped upon your boat.”

“What is she saying?” one man asked the other, who just shrugged in response.

“King Ravenwolf, what exactly is she?” one man whispered to the handsome man who had almost killed her.

“Are you a...mermaid?” asked the man who they’d referred to as king. Well, at least one of them was getting closer with his guesses.

“Fine,” she said, letting out a deep sigh. “I suppose I am similar to a mermaid, so just call me that if you’d like. It doesn’t matter. All I care about are my sisters. Where are they? What did you do to them?” She flopped around on the deck, wishing the rain would stop so her legs would emerge. Merrow was at a disadvantage being in her aquatic form while on a ship filled with dangerous humans.

“Sisters? There are more of you?” asked the king, twisting around to look over the side of the ship and into the water again.

Merrow suddenly realized her mistake. She never should have said anything. Now, they’d be throwing their nets out again, hoping to catch Melite and Galene.

The wind roared and the sky became black now. It was a bad storm that threatened them and didn’t look too promising to let up any time soon. The crew was having trouble handling the ship, keeping it from being blown and tossed about in the waves.

“Lower the sails to half-mast!” shouted the man who seemed to control the crew. He was an older man with a balding head. “If we don’t head back to shore right now, my king, we’re going to be plundered against the rocks and smashed to bits. We’ll all die.”

Secretly, Merrow hoped for that to happen. If so, she’d have a way to escape and look for her poor, frightened sisters, after all. She needed to protect them. That was more important than even her own well-being. Also, she wanted them to know what happened to her. With her mind, she tried to speak to her sisters, hoping their fear of going through the underwater portal wasn’t going to block their ability to talk to each other in this silent fashion.

At first, she heard nothing from them. Then, ever so faintly, she thought she heard Galene and Melite crying out for her in her mind. They called for her but she could do nothing to help them, and wasn’t even sure she could reply. She concentrated, trying to hear their words in her mind. Then, she knew what they were saying, and it made her stomach clench. They, too, were caught in a net. Her head snapped back and forth, looking for a second net aboard this ship.

“How many fishing nets do you have in the water?” she demanded to know.

“Excuse me?” The king looked insulted or at least surprised that she should ask him such a thing.

“Is this your only net?” she asked. “Tell me. Quickly.”

“It’s the only one we’ve used today,” answered the king. “Why does it even matter to you?”

She heard her sisters crying out to her again. From her position, she could barely make it out, since their voices were becoming softer. That meant they were moving away from her. She was sure now that there must be a second ship in the water. Her sisters were caught in a net, as well. There was no doubt in her mind.

“Whose ship is the other one?” she asked, seeming to surprise the king once again.

“How do you even know there’s another ship?” he asked in suspicion.

The last thing she wanted was for him to realize she could communicate with her sisters by mind alone. “I’m a mermaid as you call me. I was in the water, was I not? I assure you, I know all that happens in the sea.”

“Of course, that’s how she knows.” A man with scraggly brown hair standing next to the king nodded forcefully.

“Hitch, don’t be a fool,” the king answered. “She’s lying.”

“Sebastian, do you really think so?” whispered a blond-haired man standing on his other side. He was tall and lanky. He had facial hair that was short and trimmed. Merrow figured he was a close confident of the king to address him by his given name.

“Of course, she is,” said the man they’d called Sebastian. “Because if she was truly so aware of everything that happens in the water, she never would have gotten caught in our net in the first place.”

Merrow’s eyes closed and she wet her lips with her tongue. This king was too sharp. It was almost as if he could see right through her, knowing if she spoke the truth or not. She longed to get away from him. She had to escape to find and help her sisters. Panic started to set in.

“My king, The Spectrum is hoisting up their net, so can we go back to shore now?” asked the captain.

“Did they catch anything?” asked Sebastian.

Merrow’s eyes sprang open and she held her breath, waiting to hear the answer.

“Their net is on the other side of the ship and it is raining too hard to tell,” shouted another of the crew.

“Then return to the castle,” Sebastian gave the order, causing Merrow to release the breath she’d been holding. Even if she hadn’t been able to help her sisters at the moment, at least the ship she was on decided to go back to shore. She was sure whoever caught her sisters was heading back as well. And once she got her land legs, no one would stop her from finding Melite and Galene. Nothing and no one was going to keep her away from her sisters, not even this arrogant king named Sebastian. Not if she could help it. As soon as they reached shore, she’d be gone before they knew what happened.