Descendant of the Deep (Siren Song: Book One)

Chapter Seventeen: Aiden

The thick rope binding me dug into my arms whenever I tried to move. My eyes were trained on the burly man guarding my cell, his chain mail glinting in the dim light. I sat on a ledge cut out of stone, the key Britta had given me hidden by my sleeve. I had to wait for the right moment to strike, or Britta and I wouldn't make it out of this place alive.
I could only imagine what that witch was doing to her up there. When I had been escorted to the dungeons, Britta was left with Sophia and Iara. The wait was excruciating.
A shadow danced across the stairwell as a figure swam down into the dungeons. Sophia came into view, her golden scales glinting bronze in the darkness. She wore a satisfied face, and hatred bloomed inside of my chest.
She saw me and chuckled. "You look like your having fun."
I growled into my gag.
Sophia flicked her hand at the guard. "Take his gag off, I want to hear this."
The guard slipped the piece of cloth off of my face. I bit his hand.
     The guards drew his hand back violently and slapped me hard across the face.
Crack!
     My face stung from where he had struck me, but I tried not to betray emotion. Not in front of these cowards.
     Sophia entered my cell and ordered the guards to leave. He swam quickly into the darkness.
     "Sophia, this is madness! Look around you! This isn't a game. People could die here!" I shouted.
     Sophia bent over. "Madness, now? Is it really? You're the mad one if you can't see that this is the way things must be."
     I looked at her, my eyes burning into her. "You've lost it."
     "No, you just don't know what is about to play out. Britta is where she's meant to be."
     My hand tightened around the key. I didn't care if it wasn't the right moment; I couldn't take much more of this.
     "Why are you so obsessed with Britta? She's done nothing to Iara or you."
     "Just you wait. You'll find out any moment now."
     Panic shot through me. I couldn't fathom what they were doing to Britta right now.
       I quickly started rubbing the sharp points of the skeleton key against my bindings. Sophia was distracted, gazing out the barred windows. Finally, the seaweed snapped and I was free.
     I lunged at Sophia from behind, tackling he to the ground with a sharp thud. She writhed around on the floor, trying to break free, but I pinned her down.
     I picked up a loose rock that had crumbled from the cave wall and crashed it against her head. With a slight whimper, her body went still. I pressed my finger to her wrist: she still had a pulse. I had only limited time until she woke up.
     I searched her clothes for any weapons, finding only a small knife. A siren wouldn't need much protection.
     I unlocked the cell door and crept along the corridor stealthily. I tried not to make any noise as I approached the staircase, swimming up quickly.
     I thought I was in the clear when I reached the top. I was wrong.
     "You there! Stop in the name of the Queen!"
A gruff voice called out, raising a spear.
     I darted down the hall, trying to bring up the  way the guards had led me to the dungeons. I took a sharp right, my fins aching from the journey here. But I had to get to Britta. She'd given me that key as an opportunity for escape, but there was no way I was leaving without her.
Shouts rang behind me. This was all insane! Just weeks ago, sirening was nowhere near Cocelia, and now I was being chased by eight of them. Whatever these people wanted with Britta, there was no way she was getting out of it unscathed.
I looked behind me, my brown eyes widening into massive globes of terror. They were catching up to me, and quick. I strained my tail to swim faster, pain shooting up my fins. I couldn't do this much longer.
I turned another corner, finally coming in sight of the big obsidian doors from before. I was almost there. I felt hands brushing against my tail, trying to yank me back. No! If they got a hold of me, I wouldn't be able to break free again. They would overpower me with their enhanced strength and heightened senses. In all honesty, it was a miracle that I'd made it this far at all.
The black doors were almost in my reach. I outstretched a hand eagerly when a rough hand dragged me to the floor. I yelped and squirmed under his massive body. The guard chuckled darkly and glared at me with glowing eyes. "Gotcha." His breath reeked of seaweed and blood.
He was so focused on his prize that he didn't notice me slipping his dagger out of his belt. All the paranoid battle training my father had given me had prepared me for this moment. I wrenched my hand out from under his body and plunged the blades in between the holes in his chain mail. He screamed in pain, shocking the other guards. I wiggled out from under his body, his blood spilling into the water. I took advantage of the guard's confusion and bolted towards the door. They opened with a loud bang, revealing the Siren Queen hovering over Britta's crumpled body.