Page 120 of Midnightsong
“Why are the sentinels not using our magic to keep them back?” Kaden asked.
Marron grunted. “There are too many of those Goddess-forsaken landwalkers coming from all directions. Some of our sentinels have tried using their magic to sweep them back, but now they’re too tired to fight.”
When the front of the palace came into view, Kaden was going to be sick.
There were blood blooms everywhere. Blood and dead bodies, humans and mer, and discarded spears and lances were sunken to the seafloor. Missiles flew at the mer soldiers and the palace proper. And yet the mer still fought. With their reinforcements, they outnumbered the humans, but the humans were relentless in their attacks. Still more divers made off with what seemed to be loaded nets, and Kaden’s gut churned.
Did the mer still have a chance to beat the humans back? He wasn’t so sure.
Cries surrounded him, carried on the currents.
“For King Kaden, King Aqilus and Queen Serapha!”
“Kill them all!”
From the distance, a shadow of a third and fourth mini submarine approached the back of the palace. A missile grazed Kaden’s tailfins, striking the courtyard and shattering the coral structure on the palace’s left side.
The barrier had been broken, leaving the palace and mer fully vulnerable and exposed.
Thoughts of retreating and regrouping filled his mind. But was that the right thing to do now? He had never been so paralyzed by uncertainty.
Marron and the sentinels created a dome around Varin and Kaden as they dove to the seafloor.
Kaden’s pulse slammed relentless in his temples, his mind fuzzy and blank. The screams and cries and shouts around him blended until they became a muffled cacophony in his ears. Part of the queendom had fallen to ruin, littered with the dead. The queendom that now belonged to him. Those were his people out there, fighting for their lives. Fighting for their king, for him.
They reached the sandy bottom and glided along it, and Marron released the hujings and shayu from service. The animals dispersed into the dark, some swimming away from the direction of battle, others turning to join the rest of the mer in their fight.
“We will use our magic to draw the humans together and away from us. Then it is up to you, King Kaden, King Varin,” Marron said.
Kaden took a large swallow of water.
“Take the lead, as this is your queendom. Sanyue will answer your call first. I can only lend my magic once She has blessed you,” Varin said quickly.
Kaden gave a stiff nod. Could he do this? He had to try, try to remember how Serapha summoned Sanyue to her aid.
Above them, more submarines and divers appeared.
Marron kept his gaze upward and raised a hand. “We will rejoin Narea and her unit. Await my command and strike.”
Kaden, Varin, Marron and the sentinels surrounding him launched to the middle of the mer from the bottom, and Marron and his sentinels made for the largest submarine.
“Now!” Marron screamed.
At the sound, the shayu and hujings returned to their sides, racing for the submarine ahead of them, snapping at the humans who tried to get in their way.
Currents intensified around them, enclosing them in a whirlpool. The force was drawing the mer closer together, their gills opening and closing faster and faster.
They sent the whirlpool to the humans and their ships, an aquatic blast sending the humans and mer at the forefront flying back, twisting and turning, and clearing the palace courtyard.
Kaden braced himself to stay in position, tightening his shoulders and tail.
The hujings moved underneath the submarine, overturning it, and the mer, able to regain their balance quicker than the humans, struck immediately, and with another blast of magic, sent it crashing into a seamount behind them.
The sentinels followed suit in the chaos, giving chase to the smaller submarines while the hujings and shayu descended to the dead humans and mer as a reward.
“Chase them to the surface!” Narea called from behind him, and the mer moved into formation. Kaden followed them with Varin in tow, his head light and spinning, paddling his tail relentlessly to keep up with the moving army, making abrupt turns and dives and ascents to catch the scattering human army.
Sunlight shimmered around them.
