Fins (Transformations: Book 2)

10

"We'll find her," he promised, "I know we will."

"We have to," Freya said.

"We will."

Freya did her best not to become frustrated with the merman. She knew he was just trying to make her feel better, but his unfaltering optimism wasn't actually helping. It also didn't help that she already resented him for dragging Aria into this danger in the first place.

"Do you ever think about leaving her alone?" she asked, "After all, none of this would have happened if you were not pursuing her."

"You think this is my fault?" Kai wondered, "I didn't leave her alone, but I didn't do anything to cause the Glemorans to come after her."

"You pursued her and scorned the Glemoran princess in the process," Freya pointed out, "You really think that has nothing to do with it?"

"You think Sapphira would do something like this?"

"You think she wouldn't?"

Kai fell silent as he thought about it. It was a minute before he spoke again. "I don't like Sapphira. She is rude and temperamental. I'm sure she is capable of many things, but I don't want to believe she would risk the peace between our peoples over some jealousy."

"You have an awful lot of confidence in a girl you barely know," Freya commented, "Didn't she try to drown Aria once before?"

"She wanted to prove that Aria was a human. I can't imagine what her goal would be, this time."

Freya would have sighed if she were breathing. "Perhaps, you are right, but that leaves us with no clue about what's happened. Who would accuse Aria of something like that, knowing the potential consequences. Who stands to gain, here, if not the princess?"

Kai thought about it, but nobody came to mind. "I doubt even someone as self-absorbed as Sapphira would do something like this, but, if I'm wrong, I will do everything in my power to see that the situation is resolved peacefully."

"Spoken like a true prince."

Aria struggled as she was pulled backwards into one of the decaying rooms, wondering how the Glemorans had found her. She panicked and tried to scream.

"Be quiet!" a familiar voice hissed in her ear.

Aria froze as she felt a rumbling. She could just barely see the great hall from where she was being held. Suddenly, an enormous creature shot out of the door, and past their hiding spot. It barreled away into the ocean and she watched it go with wide eyes, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest.

As it disappeared, the arms restraining her loosened their grip. She was too stunned to move, at first. After several seconds, she found her voice.

"That was a...squid...a colossal squid!" She turned to face her savior and an adrenaline-fueled laugh burst from her mouth. "That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

"It could have killed you," Alizarin pointed out.

"I know!" She took a breath to calm herself. "Thank you for stopping me. I hope I didn't hurt you."

"I'm fine," he assured her, "But what are you doing here? Why are you alone?"

"I got lost," she admitted, looking around, "I came across this place by accident and couldn't resist taking a look."

"You nearly got yourself killed for the sake of curiosity. Are you insane?"

"Probably." She laughed again and placed a palm against her forehead. "A colossal squid! Do you have any idea how incredible this is? People don't see these things, usually, certainly not like this."