Page 101 of Knight's End
Chapter Twenty-Three
But the undead had ripped off their ears. General Enderson didn’t turn toward me until I shot a wavering jet of green peace power at him. Even then, I think he might only have turned because of the light.
“Sirens!” I yelled again.
I ended up reverting to jumping frantically and pointing. That did the trick. The general sent a line of soldiers marching after the sirens, who fled.
They’d better run, I thought bitterly. Those awful creatures almost made my knights attack one another.
I watched with satisfaction as the troops calmly followed their prey, even after the sirens had disappeared from sight. The undead army didn’t stop when the sirens retreated. They kept marching, until they too faded into the black abyss of the ocean. It didn’t matter if it took ten days or ten years, those sirens would be hunted down.
I felt a bit of bittersweet satisfaction over that.
Once the sirens were gone, my knights settled down, confusion etching their faces.
“They must be able to put you under their siren’s spell even from a distance.”
“I’ve read that sounds underwater are different,” Declan said. “There’s a mer-written text on it.”
“Why didn’t it affect you?” Connor stared at me.
I shrugged. “Based on what happened, it looked like they targeted you with the song, not me.”
We didn’t have a chance to discuss it further, because just then, a contingent of mermen riding sharks appeared. The mermen each held a monster’s dorsal fin in one hand and glowing orange tridents in the other. They wore chest plates of glowing green armor, and clear helmets that looked like crystal.
The first one of them to arrive was the largest, easily twice Ryan’s size. And the smile he gave us was as sharp as the blade in his hands.
I reached back and wrapped my fingers around the closest knight.
It’s okay, Bloss,Blue tried to reassure me.
I squeezed his hand. The giant merman speared three of the undead with one throw. Their bodies glowed orange as the sea magic sizzled through them. Their faces turned black and charred. When the merman swam forward and yanked his trident back, those three undead soldiers dissipated into swirling black flecks that settled on the sea floor. His trident had a disintegration spell in it.
That sight made me seize up. It made me wish we’d brought the death amulets with us. We’d only lucked out defeating the giants. How could we fight monstrous magical people in water? I hadn’t thought this through.
The adrenaline pumping through my veins shouted my thoughts to Blue and Quinn.I shouldn’t have brought you. This is a death trap.
Blue was quick to protest.Nowhere I’d rather be.
Quinn didn’t respond. And I felt a quick brush at my side. Suddenly, the water in front of our column wavered. And the undead were shoved aside as a current rushed past them.
The giant merman’s trident yanked backward and then shoved up—right through his jaw into his face. One of the spears poked out through his eye. He floated down in the water.
I hardly had time to process what I was seeing. I had to blink to be certain it was real through the waves, because the currents were making everything a bit of a blur.
Suddenly, a spray of water burst through Ryan’s column of air, soaking my face and the front of my dress in freezing wet droplets. Quinn stood before me, sodden, panting, victorious. He held a wicked-looking dagger he’d stolen off the merman in his hands. He tucked it into his belt.
He gave me a wink.What was that you said about death trap?
My knights cheered. “Sarding yes!”
They punched the air. They smacked Quinn on the back. Even I couldn’t help how my heart did a little dance.
But what came out of my mouth was, “You could have drowned!”
Quinn turned to Blue but projected his thought to all of us.This speed shite isn’t half bad.
Posey stuck her head into our column of air, her purple petals damp and drooping from the water. “The general asks that you all stand back. He doesn’t want you to interfere again.”
