Beneath the Waves (Ocean Song Book 1)

Chapter 34: Aegaea's Recounts

"It was January 16th of 1497,

The seas were tumultuous with the cries of the anguished and those of the damned. The humans had invaded Aragonite Lagoon, the gathering place for the denizens of Vilmaris, Mandara, and Zivaria. The three kingdoms that made up the Aqueous Alliance. The attack came without warning, for the lagoon was a closed off space save for an underwater passage that reveals itself with the lowering the tide. The humans had managed to scale the surrounding mountain armed with their deadly weapons that they fire from a distance. They also carried nets, for the whole purpose of capturing us. 

Amidst this chaos, I stood with my husband, King Neptune. His facial expression was grave, and his eyes held a seething rage to them. Never had I seen such a look upon his face, but the horror brought about by the humans instilled such an effect. 

Suddenly, the beauteous visage of the Vilmarian Queen came into view. "Neptune! You have arrived at last!"  Her trident already carried upon it the blood of her enemies that had dared to draw near, and yet her crown still sat atop her head untouched. Her eyes held a fierce fire that promised vengeful fury upon the humans that dared to attack.

My husband spoke, with rage seeping into his tone. "Normally I would not respond to your summons, but I would name this a special case," he murmured gravely just as a shield of water suddenly rose up to stop a rain of deadly metal balls from hitting us. A shield, created by Queen Amphitrite who was blessed with the powers of the ocean. 

"Nor would I call upon you were this not the case," she spoke in amusement despite our current situation. The screaming deafens my ears, and my gaze is drawn to the sight of unarmed merpeople trying to force their way through an entrance that is not big enough for such a large group.

In the distance I could see another merman making his way over to us. I had not seen him until now, but this dark-skinned man was the Zivarian King, Khnum. "Thalassa, our peoples are unable to escape the lagoon! The size of the entrance is hardly capable of getting everyone out of the lagoon!"

Queen Thalassa's face contorted into one of frustration as her gaze ran about the battlefield. The shallow pool of the lagoon hardly allowed us any room to swim about, and merpeople were climbing atop each other in an effort to escape the danger making its way into the waters. 

One of the humans cried out, "Nab as many as you can lads! These watery demons will make us rich!" The humans surrounding him gave a loud cry of agreement as warriors of the Aqueous Alliance stand in their way with weapons drawn. Though our spears and swords hardly did much against those strange weapons of theirs'.

It was then that I turned to my husband. "Neptune, there may yet be a way to get everyone to safety," I explained as he turned to me to listen to what I had to say. "In absence of the Earth Warriors' ability to move through space, Calder had explained to me that there should be a gateway somewhere beneath the lagoon."

Thalassa's eyes widened as recognition flashed across her features. "Of course!"

 King Khnum, however, didn't seem to know what it was that she had been thinking of as he asked, "What is it Thalassa? What do you know?"

Thalassa turned towards the middle of the lagoon as her gaze searched for something we could not see. "The remnants of Virgo's magic flows through the lagoon. If we could somehow tap into it, we may yet have a chance." However, then her facial expression became grim, and her lips dipped into a frown. "But given that we do not possess power over space, it may prove something of a challenge to open a gateway and direct it to a safe location," she muttered softly before turning to look at me. "I will need your assistance. Meanwhile, Khnum and Neptune, you shall take care of the invaders."  Just then, a cry rang out as the pool suddenly started to turn red. It didn't take much for us to locate the source. Unfortunately, it was not one of the humans that fell, but rather a young warrior haling from Vilmaris. "Pelagios!" Queen Thalassa cried out with anguish in her features as more warriors began to fall around him.