Page 101 of A Kingdom Restored

“The dragons are going for precision over speed,” Emil said briskly, his matter-of-fact tone pulling Merletta from her horror back into a functional frame of mind. “It will take them a long time to individually pick off the entire triple kingdoms. Clearly they have a lot of time, so I doubt it bothers them. But it means there’s still every reason for everyone to flee. Many might survive if they can get far enough away.”

Merletta nodded approvingly. The idea of having something to do amidst the chaos made her feel centered again, more herself.

“You’re right,” she agreed. “We need to keep people moving, make it as hard for the dragons as we can. Don’t let them get a whole group at once—distract them, and keep telling people about the island. Heath is there, with Reka and his father. Maybe they can help protect anyone who makes it that far.”

The group split up, not pausing for any emotional farewells. There simply wasn’t time. Merletta sped toward a young mermaid who was cowering behind a stone sculpture.

“You can’t hide here!” Merletta told her. “It’s too open! Make for the barrier, get out into the open sea. Try to stay in a group.” She saw that a few others were listening, and she repeated the directions to the island that Emil had been shouting earlier. Then she moved on to another group, and another.

The dragons continued their attack, but it was no frenzied bloodbath. As Emil had observed, they were methodical and precise, not to mention utterly unemotional. There seemed to be more than two dozen of them, but that was nothing to the sheer number of merpeople packed into Tilssted. At least the merpeople had stopped fighting each other. Not a single guard was grappling with their own kind, and she could only assume the barrier was no longer being held. At least, she hoped so.

Merletta let out a cry of warning as she saw a Center guard some distance ahead of her, raising his spear against an oncoming dragon. There was no point trying to fight the beasts off like that. She reached out a hand, as if she could span the distance and stop the attack, but of course she could do nothing of the kind.

The dragon extended a clawed front foot, spearing the guard through the heart with a talon. Merletta’s shout turned to a gurgling sob at the waste of life. It had been quick, at least, but she took little comfort from that. The dragon turned away, seeking another victim and apparently not seeing Merletta.

She sped toward the guard, but she knew before she reached him that it was too late for her to do him any good. She didn’t recognize him, but a lump still rose in her throat. It could so easily have been Felix, or Griffin, or any of her friends.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to the still form, as she took his spear. He wouldn’t be needing it any longer. She crossed his arms in a traditional position of burial, then pushed upward from the seabed.

There was no longer any sign of the dragon in question, but distant screams told her the attack was ongoing. She looked up, seeing how the water above her was churning. The dragons had descended right into the deeps, and clearly some of the merpeople had taken it as their cue to abandon the habits of a lifetime and speed toward the surface.

Merletta followed them, making her way upward with the spear gripped in her hand. She dodged around many fleeing forms, and more than one who had no more opportunity to flee. When she reached the surface, she saw a dragon lifting its victim from the water, seeming to prefer to attack in the more familiar environment of the air.

The mermaid screamed in shock as her orange tail turned to legs, and Merletta saw her staring in abject astonishment at her own wriggling toes. Then the dragon tossed her in the air, preparing to spear her.

With a cry of challenge, Merletta hefted her newly acquired spear, aiming for the dragon’s open mouth. She knew it wouldn’t injure the beast, but she hoped to distract it from its own target.

She wasn’t disappointed. The spear lodged itself into the dragon’s mouth, and the beast abandoned the flailing mermaid—who dropped into the water with a splash—looking instead for the source of the attack.

Merletta ducked under the water line again, swimming swiftly to the dragon’s would-be victim.

“Get as far away as quickly as you can!” she shouted.

“But…” The mermaid looked dazed as she ran a hand down her scales. “My tail…I had…legs.”

“Yes, that’s what you’re supposed to have above water, but there’s no time to talk about that now!” Merletta cried. “Get out of here!”

The mermaid came to with a shake of the head, taking off before Merletta could say another word. Merletta also fled, moving in a different direction and hoping the dragon would follow her if it was to follow either.

She moved through the water without much purpose, panic clouding her mind. When someone seized her from behind, she gave a yell, her logic abandoning her as she spun around expecting to see a dragon.

But of course dragons didn’t have hands, and the face glaring at her was decidedly not reptilian.

“You!” shouted the Center guard, whom she vaguely recognized but whose name she didn’t know. “You brought this on us—you’re the one they want! We should give you to them, then they’ll stop attacking the rest of us!”

“No!” A green-tailed form came shooting out of nowhere, barreling into the guard and sending him jolting backward.

“Tish!” Merletta gasped, staring at the last mermaid she’d expected to see championing her. “Tish, get out of here!”

“It’s not her fault!” Tish shouted at the guard, seeming close to tears. “The Center knew—they had time, so much time! And they did nothing to stop this!”

“Tish, it’s all right,” Merletta told her, gripping her friend’s arm.

“No, it’s not all right.” Tish turned to her, definitely crying now. “Merletta, I’m so sorry. I just wanted to come back, so desperately. And I really thought if they knew, they could stop it. At least,” she lowered her eyes in shame, “that’s the excuse I told myself.”

“Tish, I forgive you,” Merletta said, tightening her grip. “I’m a hundred times more at fault than you in all this. But this isn’t the time.”

As if to emphasize her point, a dragon sped over the top of them. Tish flinched, and the accusing guard took off, clearly not willing to lose his life in attempting to bring Merletta to justice.

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