whizzed through Llyr’s army, taking out people with the sharp end of her staff while protecting herself with that dangerous fin of hers, zapping anyone who dared to even get close. While Sirens came at me like a roaring school of tuna fleeing from a net, I stood my ground—or my water—taking them on in stages. I pushed out my fire in lengths like ribbons so that it would take out waves of the army charging toward me instead of just one by one. It worked. My training helped me a lot. Ten, sometimes twenty of them would fall, burning in place, their ashes flitting to the bottom of the ocean to be carried away for some bottom feeders buffet.
The whole time I had my eye on Raven. As Aliz fought off the Mer soldiers, Raven’s predatory glare targeted the Siren queen. I fought off what seemed to be never-ending Siren soldiers, as did Kai and Caspian. Even still healing, Kai’s wounds looked almost silver in the Under as he managed to go head to head with the Sirens.
One Siren came at me, snapping his fin in my direction. He somehow got around my walls of fire and snapped at my arm, singing the skin and creating a lash-like mark on my bicep. Caspian pierced the waters, and before I could react, had taken down the Siren who injured me with one lash.
“Not sure if you know this, but this is a kill or be killed situation, Princess. Best to act fast.”
I rolled my eyes. He could be the biggest jerk, but I appreciated his gesture all the same.
“I am!” I screamed at him. I’d intended to kick him in the balls, for a moment forgetting that we were in the Under instead of on land. He had no balls here.
Pity.
Raven got closer and closer to Aliz, and while I pummeled the Sirens with my fire, she crept in until she was right next to the queen. I gasped as the Trident pierced Aliz’s skin. The woman’s pallid grey body convulsed in place while she cried out in pain. None of the other Sirens stopped fighting around her. No one flinched or even shed a tear as she floated to the bottom of the ocean like a piece of algae, soon to be chum. The fight continued, even though the cloud of blood in the water.
Holy fucking shit. The woman who had taken my father’s throne, killed him, and trapped and tortured Kai, was dead? It was almost unbelievable, but I didn’t have time to gape. That was one enemy down, so I guess I needed to thank my rival.
Sirens were the worst of us.
No, wait, that was Raven. She was the worst of anything else in the Under.
Raven had just killed Caspian’s mother, the queen of the Sirens. Someone who could’ve been her ally.
She was out for absolute power and that move had proven it.
“Kai is in trouble,” Caspian grunted as he tousled with another Siren who had the audacity to attack someone who was once the heir to their throne. I scanned the battle scene to find Kai being wrangled by two Sirens. They were zapping him with their fins. I rushed the group and gave each Siren a dose of my fire, turning them both to ash in mere seconds.
“Thank you, Zaniah,” Kai breathed, but not for long. Another group was ordered by Raven to attack us. The group of Sirens that had been going after Llyr’s army turned on their tails, and like a rabid school of fish, came after us.
Kai fought some off individually while I tried to push walls of fire at them, along with orbs of fire that would take out a straggler or two. While I dodged attack after attack, I still watched Raven. Something was off about the way she was fighting. Yes, she was kicking ass and taking names, but she was relying on the Trident. She wielded it well, striking at will and cutting Mer down like a hot knife through butter, but she used the weapon more than herself. Surely with her glittering and glamorous appearance came heightened dark powers. But it begged the question, why wasn’t she using them as much as she was the Trident?
I shot one fireball in the direction of Llyr who was struggling with his spear and sword even though our father had forced him to take lessons from a young age. He wanted the heir to be strong, but from my vantage