Female Fantasy
I clutch the golden spear with both hands, as if it alone holds the answer to Ryke’s question. Underneath me, the muscles of his arms spasm, and he struggles to stay upright.
He is weak, I realize.
Weak—a word I have never once associated with the mer prince.
I did not see the battle play out, only heard the cries from the other side of the door, felt the energy in the palace drain as the ballroom emptied. Is Ryke injured? I scan his body for broken bones, but all I can find are those gashes. Deep enough to bleed, but not to do serious damage.
He places me gently on the ground, in an empty space amidst the dead and dying, with reverence.
“Where is everyone?” I croak.
Ryke does not respond. Instead, his eyes drift to the ancient artifact in my hand.
“Minnow,” he breathes. “Do you know what you wield?”
The spear hums against my palm, thrumming with power.
“A weapon,” I say. “From the treasure trove. It…called to me. From the moment I entered these hallowed halls. Dylan locked me away with the chest for my own protection, and I somehow…unlocked it. I have no idea how. It is almost as if I forced the trove to obey me. To bend to my will.”
Ryke lets out a primal sound from the very back of his throat. I stir in his arms, startled. The stench of spilled guts reaches my nostrils. I fight the urge to heave.
“Dylan would not let me fight,” I continue. “I tried to stay. I wanted to defend the kingdom. But he thought it was too much of a risk. I loathed feeling so useless.”
Ryke’s eyes flash as they meet mine. “You are anything but.”
He closes his eyes for a second as he raises two fingers to his forehead in concentration. He looks as if his temples are throbbing, the room spinning.
“Merriah, you are holding the Trident of the Gods, Hippios’s immortal weapon. Laced with ether, forged by the Furnace, and blessed by the spirit of the tides.”
I look down at the weapon in my hands and frown. “It is quite filmy for such a powerful object.”
Ryke throws his head back and laughs. “Only you could make light of a situation like this and still manage to bring a smile to my face.” His gaze meets mine once more, and warmth starts to spread across my cheeks despite the tragic scene unfolding all around us.
“All I did was lift it,” I confess. “And this current of energy just…moved through me. I began to levitate. For a moment, I even thought I might be shifting. Into a mer.”
I turn away from him then so he cannot bear witness to the disappointment I know I wear on my face.
“Little minnow, you may be something much more powerful than a mere mer. No one has commanded that trident for thousands of years. It is spelled to ward off imposters. Only those with the blood of the gods in their veins can master that instrument, learn to play her most secret notes until she sings for all to hear. Do you know what that means?”
My heart pulses.
“That it is true,” I murmur. “I am the descendant of the goddess of the sea. Amphitrite born again.”
Even as I say the words, they do not feel true. How can this be real? How can I hold such importance in the lives of creatures I did not even know existed until recently?
He nods. “Merriah, I will not hide the truth from you. Tonight we were in danger of yielding to the sirens, who outnumbered the rebel mer ten to one. Kai took a brutal slash to the fin, and Guinn was briefly suffocated by one of the queen’s whirlpools.
You see, the sirens are able to control the water in certain ways because of the blood of the humans they have consumed.
Talassa is the most powerful, as she continues to feed, addicted to the potency of life in death.
She now possesses the abilities of a god.
She can manipulate water molecules, turn liquid to ice or vapor.
The whirlpools you saw earlier? That was the greatest display of her power that I have ever seen.
I had heard rumors, of course, of what she could do.
I am sure exerting herself to that degree left her relatively vulnerable.
But even my brute strength is no match for that kind of omnipotence. ”
Ryke lets out a shaky breath, grimacing as he clutches his abdomen. I reach out and run a hand over his torso. He shivers under my touch, as if even the slightest pressure is painful.
“But then a miracle occurred,” he says softly.
“Just as I accepted our defeat, a rumble roared from the hall. It was the sound of thundering seahorse, the messengers of the apocalypse, come to deliver our fate. There was a roll of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning. Then all the waves, the elemental weapons at the queen’s disposal, fell still, melted into the water we breathe as if they had never existed at all.
The sirens began to turn red in the face, their bodies vibrating uncontrollably.
I could not believe my eyes. Could not make sense of it.
The queen and her siblings let out guttural screams and fled the palace, leaving the rest of the guard to collapse. ”
He gestures at the bodies scattered all around us. My eyes linger on a male siren. His bloodshot eyes are wide open, frozen in horror, his fangs bared. Just as Ryke described, his face is flushed as with fever.
“Feel his forehead.”
I lean down and set the back of my hand against his face. Then I jump back with a yelp.
“He is burning hot,” I tell Ryke.
His eyes dance as we did earlier that night. The memory makes my lower lip tremble.
“Did you know that the body is sixty percent water?”
My jaw drops. “Do you mean to tell me that something made the water trapped beneath their skin begin to boil?”
“Something.” The corner of his mouth pulls up into a menacing grin. “Or someone.”
The very blood stirring in my veins stills.
“Me?” I whisper. “You believe I burned the sirens from within? By wielding the trident?”
“According to legend, the trident had the ability to control any body of water, create water elementals, and command the tides. All at the will of the wielder.” He stares down at me from under his dark lashes. “Merriah, you saved us.”
“I—”
“Thank you.”
He attempts to lean toward me, then groans.
“Are you wounded?” I ask, unable to bear his pain.
He shakes his head. “The battle drained me. I used the full extent of my strength, and now I have very little left. Eventually, my body will heal. But it will take time.”
Panic begins to course through my veins. “But we do not have time! I have no idea how I used the trident. My actions were accidental. I do not know if I can replicate them.”
“Hush, little minnow,” Ryke says. “We have the trident and the rest of the treasure trove. And best of all, we have you. You have given me hope. Restored my faith. My minnow, my savior. My Merriah.”
Tears fill my eyes. “I cannot do this without you,” I cry. “There must be something I can do to help you heal.”
He mumbles to himself, his eyes half closed.
I think back over all the information he has shared with me.
The history of his people, all the lore of the gods of the sea.
My ancestral claim. I remember our training, the preparations we have made for war.
There has to be a way for me to help him.
For Ryke to heal faster and be ready for the fight to come.
For me to share my newfound power with Atlantia’s one rightful ruler.
And then the riptide in my mind quiets, and all becomes clear.
When two come together to form one body, for fleeting seconds, they combine souls.
Power sharing.
I know what I have to do.
I take the first prong of the pitchfork and use its sharp edge to slice a thin line in my wrist. Red droplets immediately start to bead at the wound.
“Ryke,” I whisper, caressing his cheek.
“Mm-hm?”
“I want you to kill me.”