Zilferia
The Third Challenge

“Ready?” I ask Nathan. His face is ghostly white, his lips set in a firm line. Once again, we are wearing black and purple, although they are not the usual clothes. These are basically water suits that cover most of our bodies to conserve warmth, and are thin and flexible enough that it should be easy to move around in. We are ready to go… although I’ve never felt less ready for anything in my life.

“…Yeah,” he replies. “Let’s do this thing. Hopefully these will help,” he continues, holding up his ‘black speck’ that will enable us to breathe underwater. I nod and place mine where the guy from Quagon put his- at the top of my collarbone. Nathan does the same. After holding it there for a few seconds, it stays. There’s no going back now. I take a deep breath, attempting to calm my frayed nerves.

“Let’s go,” I say, leading the way out the door. It’s still dark outside, but the sky is beginning to gray. We are wearing jackets on top of our full-body swimming suits because of the chilly, windy air. We were once again told to meet in the Square, so that’s where we’re headed.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” I ask him as we walk.

“Yes,” he sighs. “I’m better than yesterday, and I felt fine then. The doctors said I’m good to go. Thing is… they left my bed ready for me, and yours as well. I think they know what we’re in for better than we ourselves do.”

“I don’t think so,” I contemplate. “You don’t need to know much to know we’re in trouble. In fact, I think that’s their way of being hopeful- that we’ll still be in one piece and alive because the hospital is better than the alternative.” I don’t mention what that alternative is since we both already know, and talking about it isn’t going to help. That’s why we’re just avoiding the thing altogether. Still, I’ve had more than one nightmare with those vicious, bloodthirsty mermaids.

I turn to another topic. “So, who’s left in this thing?” I ask.

“Well, there’s us, Ham and Sierra, Kat and Jake- the orange team, and Norachai and Felix- team black. Just four of us… but… I have a feeling that this will be the last Challenge.” After that, we stop talking, not wanting to dwell on the concept of death. Although it’s hard to get it out of our minds when we are basically walking towards our own.

When we arrive at the Square, we just wait for the sedative that we know is coming. They always knock us out cold before dumping us in the arena, but this time it doesn’t come. Confused, I look around and spot someone running toward us. It then looks like two people, racing quickly in our direction. I wonder who it is. I don’t get to replace out, because there is a quick little prick on my neck and I’m out- again.

I wake up on a small island. I’m almost blinded by the light in my eyes. After blinking multiple times, I can see well enough to realize that all the light is coming from the sunlight reflected off the water that surrounds us. The brilliant blue waves sparkle brightly as they slip onto the sand, only to pull back again. I look around and can see two more small islands on our right, and one on the left. This surprises me, since they usually put us in a circle with the goal in the middle so it’s fair for everyone. Although this way it will be more difficult to replace the trident, since we can’t just head towards the center of a circle. We don’t know where to go since we are completely surrounded by water. I turn around completely and see a forest on the horizon, but other than that, all I can see is ocean water and contestants.

Once again, Nehru’s voice echoes around us. “Hello! Contestants! This is Nehru speaking! Just so you know, you are in our very largest arena, competing in the Third Challenge! As always, you will be permitted to get off of your platform only once the gun goes off. After that, well… I haven’t been told what you should do for this one, so just do what your instructors suggested, I suppose. I hope you each have at least one of your Gifts, and can breathe underwater, ‘cause it looks like you’re going to need it! For the moment, just sit still and… ponder, plan, or just procrastinate!” With a giggle, her voice disappears. I’m really starting to get sick of her stupid giggle and ‘ponder, plan, procrastinate,’ thing. The bright side to this probably being the last Challenge, is that I won’t be likely to hear much from her anymore.

Nathan and I don’t say anything. We have already discussed our plan, so there’s no need to go over it now, while the other contestants are listening. So after removing our jackets, we simply wait for the starting gun along with everyone else. Once it goes off, Nathan and I immediately plunge into the water as though anxious to get started and get the Trident. We do this just to throw off the other contestants so they can quickly get on their way and we can hide.

As soon as we are under the water, we open our eyes and start looking around. We quickly replace an underwater cave in the dirt and rock under our little island. We swim in there, still holding our breath, and watch as the other contestants jump in and swim away. I still don’t breathe, not quite ready to trust the strange device, but my lungs finally convince me of their need for air, so I slowly let out my breath, tense and ready to rush to the surface if it doesn’t work. I watch as the bubbles wiggle toward the surface and carefully breathe in. It doesn’t hurt. Usually when you breathe water into your lungs, it hurts, but it feels like I just breathed in air. It’s not dry, but… it’s not water. It just… is, I suppose.

I look over and see Nathan trying it out as well. His face is filled with surprise. “This is so cool!”

“Whoa- I can hear what you’re saying clearly!”

“I know! It makes it so you almost forget you’re underwater!” He grins.

After we get over the shock of being able to breathe underwater, we do what we planned and cautiously head out. We swim slowly because we don’t actually want to replace anything, but we know that everyone in the Village is watching us, so we pretend that we’re at least doing something.

Soon we decide to have some fun with it. I race Nathan and beat him, but not by much. He has us do a different stroke and we race again, and this time he wins, but again, not by very much. We have a contest for who can replace a purple shell first, and I replace one about five minutes later. We pop up to the surface every now and again to make sure our island is always in sight so we don’t get lost. For the rest of the day, we pretend to be looking for mermaids while really trying to avoid them.

Soon it gets dark and we replace another cave that we can sleep in. I tell Nathan that I will stay up and watch for mermaids while he sleeps.

“Fine,” he says. “As long as you wake me up partway through the night so I can take a turn while you sleep.” I agree with this, although I doubt that I will be able to sleep what with the threat of the mermaids. After a few hours, though, I replace that I was mistaken as I slowly fall asleep, almost without noticing.

≈≈≈

As soon as the girl falls asleep, the merman outside of the cave reveals itself. The green, fishy creature easily blends in with the plants around it, which is why none of the humans that entered its domain will ever be able to replace it. It grins savagely, displaying its sharp, yellow teeth, replaceing their ignorance humorous.

It then swiftly turns and swims away from the cave to report to its king all it had learned about these intruders, his fishlike tail propelling him forward with almost no effort. After a while, he comes to a wall of seaweed. Undeterred, the merman swims directly through it. There are jellyfish guards on the other side, but they do not attack the scout, for this is his home, this is where he belongs.

As he swims past the homes of the other mermaids, they all come out and silently watch as he passes. He is practically royalty here, for he works for the King- although that isn’t an enviable job what with the King’s mood swings and lack of tolerance for those who disappoint him. He puffs out his slim chest with pride. He has lasted longer than any other of the King’s servants. He’s going on two months now.

Finally, he reaches the castle. It’s made of stone, for the humans built it long ago and possessed it until it drowned in the sea after an earthquake. Now their King lives and rules from it. The place reeks of fear, but the merman pushes through it and swims up to the top of the building where the King waits for his report. When he arrives, he can tell he is the last of the four scouts to return. He quickly goes to his spot, his head lowered humbly.

When the King asks for a report, one of the other mermen assigned to watch two of the humans swims forward. “The humans wearing red are no threat to us,” he proclaims. “I watched them all day, and it seems that they are hiding from us. They will not dare approach us.”

“Very good,” the King says. “Next.”

Another merman swims forward and delivers his news. “As you told me to do, oh King, I watched the humans wearing black. The girl is timid and scared, but the boy is trying to replace us and kill us all, he says. What do you think we should do?”

“Get two or three others and kill the boy, but leave the girl to warn the humans, once again, that we are not to be trifled with. Go now.”

“Yes, sir,” he says and swims out the door.

“Next?”

The other merman edges forward, trembling a little. He is the newest of them all- today was his first day. None of the mermen like him much because of the way he talks and because of his constant itching to fight and kill. “The- the orange humans I watched, and… the boy respects us, but the girl is angry with us. She thinks that she is better than us. Do I have your permission to kill her?”

“Yes, but only the girl. We just want to get them to stop bothering us, so we need to send them a message. Make sure the boy is watching when you kill her,” he finishes. The merman bows.

“Yes, my King,” he says. As he swims away, a sly smile creeps over his thin lips.

“And what do you have to report for the purple humans?” The King inquires of the last merman.

“As far as I could tell, they seemed at home in the water. They fear and respect us and yet are not trying to avoid us… or attack us. They seem… almost like us,” he finishes and flinches as though he expects a blow. It never comes. When the merman looks back up, the King looks thoughtful.

“Hmm… like us, you say?”

“Y… yes.”

“…Bring them to me. Perhaps through these two, we can forge a friendship with the humans and end our constant wars.”

“…Yes, my lord,” the merman says and swims away to fulfill his wishes, relieved that he survived yet another meeting with the King.

≈≈≈

When I open my eyes, I’m surprised by what I see. I was not expecting to see water over my head. I instinctively start to panic and suck in my breath, holding it. After a few seconds, though, I remember both why I’m underwater and why I’m not drowning. I release my breath and inhale normally once I remember my breathing device. However, once I remember where I fell asleep, I realize that I am not in the cave anymore.

I look next to me and see that Nathan is here as well, although he’s still sleeping. I look around to try and figure out where we are, but all I see is seaweed, swaying gently in the underwater current. The water is far overhead and I wonder why we aren’t crushed by the weight of it until I remember the breathing device basically makes it so you can live underwater, so this must be another thing it can do.

I still don’t know where we are, so I swim up to the surface and look around. I look as far as I can in every direction, but I can’t see any of the islands we started on. I start to panic and swim back down to Nathan, waking him and telling him of our predicament. He gets up and looks around as well, but we can’t see very well through the thick seaweed. All of a sudden, parts of the seaweed look… odd to me. There are parts that don’t move at all, mounds the size of small houses.

I’m about to point this out to Nathan when I see something emerge from one of the mounds. It looks like a large chunk of the seaweed broke away and is floating toward me. I narrow my eyes as it comes closer. Nathan suddenly notices it too. As it comes closer, I realize that it looks like… a small, green child. My mouth drops open.

“…Nathan…” I croak. “…look…” he peers at the child and it suddenly registers to him what it is as well.

“Mermaid…” he whispers. We back away as the little mermaid girl comes closer, but she’s relentless. We finally decide that surely the children won’t hurt us- right?- and stop trying to get away. Behind the girl comes two other children- a small boy and a small girl. Following them is another small mermaid boy who is waiting and watching curiously.

Nathan and I freeze as the first child comes closer. We don’t dare move. She finally stops just a few feet away and I can see every detail of her. She’s as big as your average five year old human- except instead of legs, she has a fish-like tail. Her neck has three thin little slits in it on both sides that sometimes open slightly, as though she’s breathing through them. I realize that these are gills. Her skin has a green tint to it, but her hair is the color of leaves in the fall- in fact, it seems to… shimmer a bit and fade into different shades of red and orange. When I first saw her, it was more orange, but now it’s a deep red as it flows gently around her shoulders. Her bright green eyes are filled with curiosity as she looks me up and down as well. Finally, she talks to us.

“You’re weird,” she states.

I smile a little. “So are you.”

“What are you?” she asks.

“We’re people- humans,” I reply.

“Do you live near here?”

“…In a way.”

“Why haven’t I seen you before?”

“…Because I haven’t ever come this close to your… house before.”

“Oh. Do you like to play games?”

I glance back at Nathan, who shrugs, looking lost. “…Sure.” I reply to her.

“Have you ever played ‘Bite the Shark?”

“No.”

“Really? What games do you play, then?”

“Um… my people like to play tag,” I tell her.

“What’s tag?” she asks, the two other children come up right behind her. They look similar to the first girl, just a little bit different shades of green, and their hair is similar as well.

“Well, you get together lots of kids and… well, one person is ‘it,’ and they have to ‘tag,’ or touch, another person, and then they’re it.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound like fun,” she complains. “Bite the Shark is more fun. You pick five kids to be a ‘shark,’ and then the rest of us are mer-warriors and we attack the sharks before they can destroy the village. The mer-warriors usually win, and they get medals, but sometimes the sharks ruin the village first. I know, we’ll show you!” she exclaims. The excitable little girl then swims around and gathers about twenty other mermaid children. They pick out five of them to be a ‘shark,’ and then the game begins. I quickly learn that it’s a very vicious game as Nathan and I watch as they start chasing each other around a designated area, biting each other with their small, sharp, yellow teeth. Apparently they have thick skin, though, since they don’t bleed much.

Nathan and I are at a loss for what to do until some mother mermaids come out and yell at the kids to come back in and help prepare their meal. The kids whine and groan, but they do as they’re told. This reminds me that I haven’t eaten for a while- we only ate once yesterday, and only a little since we don’t know what’s edible down here. My stomach growls, accompanied by Nathan’s. We look at each other and laugh a little.

“We should probably try to replace something to eat,” Nathan says. I nod, but am then distracted by a sudden swift movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn and see a merman swimming toward us. Nathan and I start backing away and we turn to run- or should I say swim- away, but we are overtaken by the merman before we can go more than a few feet.

He swims in front of us, halting our retreat. The merman is different from the children we’ve seen, for he is more blue than green. He smiles at us, trying, I suppose, to appear friendly, but his sharp yellow teeth frighten us and we start backing away again. He quickly stops smiling once he realizes that we are scared.

“Greetings, humans. I am Gorg, leader of the mer-warriors and main bodyguard of His Majesty.” We don’t reply, just staring at him with fear, our muscles tense. “Our King has been most gracious and has invited you to dine with him.” Or have him dine on us! I think, panicking. I try to swallow my fear and reply.

“I… I’m sorry if we are intruding,” I begin, fishing for an excuse to leave and not meet with the king. “We… we don’t know why we’re here. We… we’ll just leave and not bother you anymore. We are sorry… for disturbing the King.”

The merman looks surprised. “You would deny the King of his offer?”

“Um, no,” I say, seriously thinking that we’re going to be killed now. Apparently not meeting the King isn’t good. “We… mean the king no disrespect. We just… need to be going now.” Nathan and I continue backing away, but this guy is relentless.

“I do not think you understand,” he says, pressing us. “The King is trying to be nice to you. He noticed humans in our waters and wanted to learn more about them- you- and how you breathe underwater when most of the humans we have ever seen cannot. It is an invitation, not a command, true, but it is always wiser to do as the King says than to oppose him. Those who oppose him… are never heard from again.”

I glance at Nathan, and he gives me a slight nod. His face is pale, but his lips are set. He’s determined to see this through and try and survive- no matter what. I take a deep breath and turn back to Gorg. “Then… then we will accept his gracious offer,” I say, sealing our fate.

Gorg leads us to the King’s palace. The whole way there, everything I’ve been told about mermaids flies through my head. The terrifying images of man-eating fish-people just doesn’t match with what I’ve seen so far. At least, not completely. Sure, the kids like to bite each other, and sure, these creatures have sharp teeth, but… we haven’t had anybody trying to eat us yet, and hopefully that’s not what this King intends to do with us. Gorg made it sound like we were honored guests, so he shouldn’t eat us, but you never know…

I can tell by the look on Nathan’s face, however, that he is still suspicious of everything and everyone- but I guess one of us should be that way. We should be able to see the whole picture with me being open to new ideas, and Nathan being suspicious.

Gorg leads us to a huge, old stone castle that is completely submerged. It looks out of place down here in all the green and blue. We then enter a huge dining hall and sit down at a large table. Gorg then leaves to go alert the cooks or something and we are left alone. Nathan looks across the table at me. I can tell by the look on his face what he’s thinking.

“No!” I say.

“But now’s our chance!” he insists.

“If we leave, then we will tick off the King and he will send a bunch of mermaids after us. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“You don’t know that,” he fights.

I sigh. “We have a better chance here. In fact, maybe we should make friends with the mermaids. Then we wouldn’t have any reason to fear. In fact, we would have powerful allies. Not only that, but maybe we could get the King to lend us his trident. I know, it’s a stretch, but it’s better than just delaying the inevitable! If the King wants to kill us, then he will kill us. If he wants to be friends, then I think we should try that first!”

“…You’re right, of course,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry.” He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair. He smiles a little. “I guess I’m just… freaked out. I should be more calm and collected… like you.”

I laugh a little. “Ha! Calm? Yeah, not really. Collected? Not even close! My thoughts and emotions are everywhere… I just get the feeling… we should be here.” Nathan raises an eyebrow.

“So now you’re getting special feelings?” he mocks.

“Well… let’s call it a sixth sense. It just feel… like this is where we need to be right now. And it’s not just for the Challenge, either… Never mind, I can’t explain it.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s a dragon thing.”

I shake my head. The memories of how I lost the ability to be a dragon flashes through my head. “No. I… I can’t be a dragon anymore, remember?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a part of you,” he insists. I’m amazed at how much his words comfort me. I laugh a little at myself.

“To think that a month ago I was just living my life, trying to be normal… and now here I am, wishing I could be a dragon again. I didn’t even believe in dragons before I came here!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy how much this place has changed us,” Nathan comments. “To think that my best friend is part dragon and it doesn’t even freak me out at all… I’ve accepted it… it’s pretty weird when you stop and think about it!”

“I agree!” I laugh.

I suddenly hear a deep voice behind me, near the hole where the door used to be. “Dragon, did you say?” I whirl around, but whoever it is is still in the shadows.

“What… who are you?” I demand, frightened. A tall merman swims forward and emerges from the shadows. The light from the underwater torches reflect off his iridescent scales. They sparkle and I can see little rainbows in every individual scale on his tail. I gasp. I then notice the beautiful golden crown on his head and realize that this must be the King. I quickly get out of my seat and kneel, figuring that this must be the proper way to greet a King. Nathan rapidly follows my lead.

“No, please. No need for that. You are my honored guests. Let us treat one another as equals. Agreed?”

Nathan and I get back up and wait until the King sits down in his seat before we sit back in ours.

“So… how much did you hear?” I ask, a little embarrassed. He smiles and I notice that his teeth are much whiter than the other mermaids we’ve seen here.

“Almost all of it. I heard you say that you feel that you two were meant to be here, as well as everything following that. I had heard whispers of rumors that there was a Dragongirl running around, but no one knew who she was or where she came from… so hopefully, you may feel me worthy to hear your story.”

I open my mouth to say something, but he stops me. “No, I won’t make you say anything now. I must first have someone destroy the little metal things following you, for I do not want anyone else to hear what either of us has to say. Plus, I think it is more fair if I tell you my story first, and you two need to eat- I am quite sure that you are hungry after eating hardly anything yesterday.” I raise my eyebrow skeptically. How does he know that? Did… did he have mermaids following us yesterday? And we didn’t even notice?!

After saying this, he simply claps his hands and a few servant mermaids come in bearing silver dishes piled high with fish, crabs, and other such seafood. There are also several different sauces they bring out to flavor it all to our liking. These are followed by a huge platter with an even bigger swordfish on it. There is seaweed and other vegetables laid out around the gigantic fish, and they even have dressing!

Nathan and I dive in as the King begins his story. I’m amazed at the great taste of the fish- especially since I don’t really like fish in the first place! But that’s all changed now that I’ve had this spread of seafood. I can’t remember ever eating anything quite so good. Therefore, it isn’t too much of a surprise when I realize that I’m eating too fast. I make a conscious effort to slow down and listen to the King’s story as well as eat.

“Well, I don’t want to bore you with a tale of my childhood, so I will shorten it considerably and tell you only what I believe is necessary for you to know so as to know where I am coming from. …Believe it or not, I was not born into royalty, and my life was not easy. I actually got into a lot of trouble and stupid, dangerous situations where I almost died were it not for the help of a creature the rest of the mermaids loathed.

“…A human. His name was Alexander, and he was young- about your age.”

“Wh- what?” I exclaim, chocking on shrimp I had just put in my mouth. I finally force it down my throat and am able to speak. “Did… did you say Alexander??”

“…Yes. Why? Does this boy have significant meaning to you?”

“Yes,” Nathan says. “That… boy… is actually her father.” I nod, still shocked to hear that my father had been down here, dealing with these dangerous creatures!

“Hmm…” the King says thoughtfully. “That is very interesting. You may have to tell me about this after I am finished.” So he continues.

“Alexander saved me from a hammerhead shark and from then on we were friends, although we never told anyone else. He visited me regularly- until recently. He has not come in about… sixteen years. The last I saw him, he told me that he was the King now and he was married and his wife was pregnant. He was so excited and he said that he had a lot of places to go to spread the word to all his friends, so he didn’t stay long.

“Once he stopped coming, things got worse down here. My grandfather was the leader of the mer-warriors, so when he died, I was put into his spot. I quickly became the mermaid King’s best friend and closest advisor.

“After Alexander left and never came back, about a year later, we began to get attacked by the humans. They threw bombs into the water that filled it with black gunk that clogged our gills, making it so we could not breathe.

“The humans had declared war against us, so we had no choice but to respond in kind. After a few years, the other King, my friend, died of old age and appointed me to reign in his stead. The war has calmed down a little recently, so we were cautious, knowing the humans would not give up so easily. And then, a few weeks later, what do we replace but eight humans swimming around in the water? My people wanted to kill them all outright, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t forget my friendship to Alexander, and you eight reminded me of him- for he could breathe underwater as well.

“Unfortunately, I must still show my people that I am strong and I will lead them to victory, so… I had to kill at least a few of them, to send a message that we are not to be trifled with.”

Nathan looks as sick as I feel. “Were… were any of the ones you killed wearing… red?” He chokes out.

“No,” the King says. We both breathe a sigh of relief. “But I had my warriors kill one of the orange ones and one of the black ones- the proud ones that thought they could take us on. We left alone the ones who either respected us or feared us- and your friends, the red ones, were fearful of us. They were no threat.”

“…Why are we here, then?” I ask. “You said you left alone those who did not want to attack you. Well, Nathan and I didn’t want to attack you! Why did you drag us here?”

“You two intrigued me, as well as reminded me of my lost friend. You acted just as he did when I first saw him here- playing, exploring… carefree. I thought that maybe you two could also be the peaceful solution to our problem- that I could send you back to your people and beg them to stop attacking us. I even dared to hope… that you two could help me to forge a friendship between our people, if at all possible.”

“I…see,” I say thoughtfully. Was this why I felt that we needed to be here? To forge a friendship with the mermaids?

“Now then, what is your story?” he asks.

So I tell him almost all of it. I tell him about the Games, the Dragon Council, the Sohos, Thaddeus and what he told me about my parents’ condition, my Gifts, the Dragon Hunters, and even about me being part dragon- at least until the Dragon Hunters stole my dragon part from me.

When I finish, the King looks thoughtful. “These ‘Dragon Hunters…’ do they wear all black and cover all of their body- even their hands?” This question seems strange to me, but I answer that yes, they do.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because… they are the ones attacking us. I should have known that our attackers were not Alexander’s people. Hmm. They seem to be the scourges of every race, don’t they? They might as well call themselves simply ‘the Destroyers’ or something. But… you promised the Sohos and the dragons that you would destroy this scourge, correct?”

“Well… no,” I say guiltily. “I… I didn’t ever tell them for sure that I would. I just… chickened out, I guess. These Dragon Hunters scare me,” I admit, staring steadfastly at the table, my fists clenched.

“Hmm… it seems to me that you cannot avoid them. This is your fight, whether you like it or not. Think about it,” he says when I glance up at him, confused and scared. “They tracked you down, did they not?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Then they dragged you into this, whether you like it or not. If you do nothing, then they will likely just kidnap you again- next time with more people so they will not leave you alone. They will have learned their lesson.”

“But… I have guards now,” I weakly retort.

He laughs. “You really think that one or two measly humans will stop them when they have hundreds? If they wanted to, they could use force and grab you rather than use stealth. Therefore, the best course of action you can take is to attack them before they attack you and your friends. Do not let what happened here happen there,” he advises.

I gulp, fear of them overwhelming me. “I… I… I can’t. What do you think I can do that you and your armies cannot? What can one girl do against hundreds of men?”

The King looks at me seriously. “Do not underestimate the power of one. One can easily hide amongst the hundreds and no one would notice. You could sneak into their own home and strike them where it counts.”

“What… what do you mean?” I ask, my brain clouded by fear.

“Kill the one in charge, and the rest will not know what to do. Of course, you may have to kill the one that is next in line as well, but one girl with the powers of a dragon at her command should be able to do that, don’t you think?” I smile a little, feeling encouraged and full of strength and like… I can do this… all for the first time.

“Well? Do you think that you can go back to your people and then on to the Dragon Hunters and strike them at the core?”

“Well, I… might be able to… but there may be a problem getting back to our people,” I say.

“What is it?” he asks, concerned. “Were you two outlawed? Cast out from among your people?”

“In a way,” I say. “We cannot come back until… we have a certain object.”

“Oh? And what is that? I am willing to help you replace anything you need in order to stop this war.”

I glance across the table at Nathan. He looks surprised that I’m going to ask for it so soon, but he gives me a nod, lending me his support. I take a deep breath.

“They… they sent us to replace the Mermaid King’s Trident,” I say, looking up to see how he will react to this. He looks thoughtful and doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. I clear my throat. “Um… do you happen to have the Trident?”

“Of course I do,” he says. “It has been handed down from generation to generation. Every King has used it at least once, to prove that he is worthy to be King.”

I swallow and force myself to say what I need to say. “Would… would you be willing to give it to us?”

“And let you hand it over to our enemies?” he says with an accusatory tone in his voice. I gulp and look at the table again. We wait for another couple of minutes before the King says anything else. When he does, it’s not the response I was expecting.

“…Very well.” I jerk my head back up and stare at the King in shock. He smiles. “You may have the Trident. However, there are some things I must tell you about it. I will be right back,” he says, getting out of his seat and swimming out the door. I stare at Nathan and he stares back, wide-eyed.

“We… we did it,” I say. “We got the Trident!”

“Well, I wouldn’t go jumping to conclusions just yet,” Nathan warns. “You never know, he may be going to get it just so he can kill us with it or something. I mean, doesn’t it seem too good to be true? We just ask the King for his powerful weapon and he just hands it over? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just lying in order to keep us here.”

“Oh, you’re such a downer!” I say, not really caring about what he said. “Why would he do that? He seems nice enough, plus he was friends with my father!”

“Or so he claims,” he mutters. “Whatever. If he’s going to kill us, there isn’t much we can do about it anyway.”

I smile. “Hmm… now doesn’t that sound familiar?” I tease. He smiles sarcastically at me- he knows he’s just repeating what I said to him about an hour and a half before. So we have nothing to do until the King comes back but just sit and wait. While we are waiting, the servants come back in and clean off the table.

The King comes back just as they are leaving. When he swims into the light, I gasp as my eyes immediately cling to the magnificent weapon in his hand. The Trident’s gold metal glimmers in the underwater light, nearly blinding me for a moment. It’s nearly as big as the King himself- about a foot taller than me! The Trident has a dark green glow around it, adding to the feeling of ancient power emanating from it.

“Wow…” I say, stunned by its simple beauty and immense power.

The King smiles. “The reason I am not too afraid of you having this Trident is that it won’t matter if it falls into the wrong hands. Its power can only be unlocked if you know the… ‘password,’ I suppose you could call it, and if you are a mermaid friend. You two are now official mermaid friends, so I will now tell you the password, just in case you need to use it- which I hope that you will not.

“This Trident was forged for the first King- King Demeter. The King did not want its power to be used for evil, so he had the smith- the most talented our race has ever seen- make it so that it would respond only to a King or King to be, and only if they were a mermaid friend. An extra precaution was put in place- they also had to say the password. The word which he chose was his own name. Once you say the password, and all other requirements are fulfilled, then it will obey you no matter what. Obviously, since none of our enemies are mermaid friends, we have nothing to worry about. However…”

“…What is it?” Nathan asks.

“The power in the Trident is great- enough to overwhelm you if you are not prepared. And I’m sorry to say, but the only way to prepare you is to give you a taste of its power. Therefore, I will have to use it on you- with your permission, of course.”

I give him my permission, figuring that it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if I need to use it, then I should be prepared. Nathan takes a little longer to agree since he is still wary of the King, but he eventually decides to trust me, so he warily submits. The King has us kneel before him, side by side. He then points the Trident at us and says, “Paralyze.”

I instantly can’t move a muscle. I can still think, but that is pretty much it, besides being able to breathe- albeit shallowly. “Release,” he says, and we can instantly move again. He gazes at us sadly. “I… I’m sorry, my friends. This one… this is the necessary one. It… it will hurt.”

I replace that this is an understatement when he again levels the Trident at us and says, “…Torture.” My body is wracked with torment, screaming in pain as I throw my head back and shriek. It mingles with Nathan’s cry as well. My back arches uncontrollably as every cell in my body seems to burn, and some feel like they are exploding. Tears roll down my face and I can’t stop them. I don’t care to stop them anyway. “End,” I finally hear.

I lurch forward, my forehead on my knees, gasping for breath as the tears come faster and harder. My body still tingles, but it doesn’t hurt any longer. Again, the King levels the Trident at us and says, “Heal.” I sigh with relief as a wave of calm washes over me. I relax and bask in the comforting feeling. It feels… like a cold shower on a hot day, a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day, a warm blanket sheltering from the crisp cold, the feeling of being loved and accepted, the feeling of accomplishment and compassion, and even more that cannot be put into words. “End,” I hear, and it does.

I sit up, feeling refreshed. I wipe the tears off my face, which I then realize is pointless since we are in water anyway. “You now have a taste of the Trident’s power,” the King says to us as we stand. “…Therefore, you will be able to use it in case of an emergency, but I would caution you to use it only as a last resort. I know that it works for mermaids, but I have never heard of a human using it. As far as I know, it may not work,” he warns us as he hands it to me. As soon as the King is no longer touching it, the green glow fades until it is hardly visible.

“Good luck in defeating the Dragon Hunters, Crystal Dragon and Nathan Anderson. I wish I could join you, but I would not survive on land. If you ever need help, do not fear to come and ask! I will order my mermaids not to harm you should they see you. And if you can bring the Trident back, then please do. We will need it to pick our next King if needs be.”

“Of course,” I reply. “I will if our people will let us. Thank you so much!”

He inclines his head to me. “You are most welcome, Dragongirl. …And even though we may not have a prophesy of you, I know that you will help us as well as the other races. Good luck!”

“Goodbye!” Nathan and I call back as we swim out the door. When we emerge outside, Gorg is there waiting.

“I am here to escort you back to where we found you,” he informs us. We nod.

“Oh, wait!” I say.

“…What is it?” Nathan asks me.

I don’t reply, grabbing a long piece of seaweed instead. Putting the heavy Trident on my back, I use the seaweed to strap it into place. “Now I can swim easier,” I explain.

“Very well. Are you ready now?” Gorg asks.

“Yes,” I reply. We follow him through a huge wall of seaweed and past some huge jellyfish that seem to be guarding the exit. We swim for a few hours before we reach the cave where we fell asleep. Once we arrive, Gorg turns and bows to us, then swims back the way he came, leaving us alone once again.

We rest in the cave for about an hour, then head out again, back toward our little island. We reach it in less than an hour. When we climb ashore, we have to drag ourselves out- I feel like I weigh over fifty more pounds! It’s suddenly hard to move my limbs, and the Trident feels heavier as well. I quickly undo the seaweed and let the Trident sink to the sand next to me. We lie on the sand and rest fully for the first time in a while. I hear the gun go off, signaling that we have won the Challenge. I look over at Nathan and smile. He smiles back. We finished! We’re alive! Not only that, but it seems that this is the last Challenge! We’re done! Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’m done with what I need to do here, but at least I am no longer at Vlad’s mercy in these ‘Games.’

We wait, expecting to be tranquilized again, but nothing comes. We are confused for a while until we see a helicopter-like aircraft coming towards us. It looks like we actually get to be awake on the ride home. Well, we probably won’t be awake for long, but at least we get to sleep voluntarily. Our island isn’t large enough for both us and the helicopter, so it lands on the other island and we swim over to it.

When we climb inside, we are greeted by a relieved Thaddeus and an ecstatic Nehru. We sit down across from them as we take off. Nehru immediately starts asking us questions. “What happened after you went inside the castle? Our cameras that were following you went dead once you went inside! We didn’t see anything until we could send some more out there, and by then you were leaving the castle- with the Trident!” she exclaims, staring at it as I lay it on my lap.

Luckily, Thaddeus comes to our rescue. “Now, Nehru, don’t you think that the big reveal should be at the winner’s ceremony tonight?”

She frowns, but grumpily agrees. “Alright, fine. I guess if I was one of the citizens, then I would also want to be the first to know. At least I will only have to wait for a few hours anyway.” After that, we are allowed to sleep, and sleep we do. We wake as we are touching down in the Square. Luckily, no one’s there. Nehru explains to us that the winners are always swarmed by people, but they wanted to save us from that for at least a little longer. Relieved, we thank her and start heading toward our house, wanting to eat and sleep, but we are cut off by Vlad.

He scowls at us, obviously not happy that not only are we alive, but in one piece- and with the Trident. “Well, well, well,” he says, glaring at me. “Aren’t you two full of surprises.”

“Yeah, well, we like to keep things interesting,” Nathan replies.

Vlad shifts his glare to him for a moment, but then returns it to me. “Well, hand it over.” I raise a disbelieving eyebrow at him. He sighs impatiently. “The Trident is what you were sent to recover, but that does not mean that you get to keep it. The Challenge is not officially won until I have the object of interest in my possession.”

I glare at him and hand it over. He seems surprised by how heavy it is. “Very good,” he says. He then turns and walks away without another word. I sigh.

“Let’s go home,” I say to Nathan. He nods and we head back to our house, where we grab something to eat and head to bed.