Page 66 of Surfaces
I couldn’t disagree, but also, what was done was done. And we didn’t know what kind of threat we were facing.
My eyes around, subconsciously looking for threats or columns of steam shooting up from the gem-colored glass rooftops. An unnerving thought came to me, one that made me suddenly glad for the throng of men behind us.
Shite. What if they attack multiple places at once?
Shut it, Avia. Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet,I scolded myself as I darted through the water with my wings as if I’d been born a champion swimmer, instead of a girl who’d been kept away from the water.
I had plenty to worry about with one attack already, my frazzled nerves and blazing fury didn’t need any more fuel as we swam all the way across the city, to the far reaches of the town, so far that I could even see the blue-tinted dunes of Nowhere in the distance.
I poured on speed, worried we weren’t fast enough, until sights began to blur around me, and it took a moment for me to realize someone was shouting at me.
I stopped, and turned, realizing the yellow-tailed merman had paused at the edge of a chasm. I glanced around and realized we must have reached the quarry, stone cliffs whose sheer edges had been carved away for bricks and blocks to build out Navagio when scavenging alone wouldn’t do.
Chest heaving, I glanced around, down into the man-made canyon, searching for anyone out of place. But the shadows and the rocks made it nearly impossible to tell what was there.
The crowd roared in anger, and my guards closed in around me, several of the city soldiers organizing them into groups—attempting to coordinate whatever moves we might make.
But where the hell were the attackers? Adrenaline made my mind rush like rapids, churning my body up to such a pitch I thought I might vomit. But I swallowed down bile, flexing my fingers, searching for my inner song. I tried to focus that mad rush of energy where I’d need it.
I wouldn’t be the damsel in distress rescued by my guard again. I refused to be.
I spotted a small group of shadows farther down in the quarry, near a giant system of pulleys and ropes.
I darted in that direction, Mayor Gorgono and the crowd following like a massive school of fish.
The yellow-tailed mer stopped short when several shadows armed with picks and spikes swam out of a cave-like opening.
This was it.
I lifted my hand, willing the song inside my ears to sing a high-pitched note. I’d sear the bastards with boiling water.
“WAIT!” The yellow-tailed man shouted at the top of his lungs. His solitary word reverberated around the canyon, echoing and repeating, bouncing off the rock until it sounded like someone behind me was shouting it as well.
We halted, and my guards turned, crisply barking out orders to halt to the guards behind us before swimming in front of me to block me from whatever the sard was going on. I let them do their jobs, but used my wings to rise just slightly, enough to shoot a dart of hot water between their shoulders.
What was happening? Was this a trap? Was the yellow-tailed mer in on everything? Or worse…was this a diversion? Had we been set up to swim all the way across the city only to have a real attack occur somewhere else?
My nostrils flared in fury as I eyed the entire scene with suspicion, ready to attack or swim off, whichever was called for, at the drop of a pin.
A merman with a maroon tail and empty hands shot up out of the group below, stopping twenty feet below us.
I aimed my fingers in his direction, coaxing my magical song louder, letting my ribs vibrate with the music, but not releasing.
“Marw, what’s going on?” the maroon-tailed merman asked, his confusion clear as day with his thick brows furrowed as he took in the massive swell of people behind us.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Marw, the yellow-tailed merman exclaimed.
“Me! What are you doing here?”
“This is a scheduled sarding holiday!”
“Got a last-minute order in from Kremos. They had a landslide, have some damaged buildings. Paying double.”
Marw’s hand went to his chest. “I thought you sarding fools were robbing the place! Making a statement. Sarding hell, Petri!”
I lowered my hand, tension still thrumming through my system. A mistake. This is just a mistake.
My limbic system didn’t agree. It was ready for action. Ready for a fight.
