Shattered by the Sea Lord - Starla Night Page 0,12
Dannika, pivoted, and raced down the sand.
Gailen fought with Nilun.
Lotar forced the grappling warriors back from Indigo’s family. Her young sisters clung to her parents. Indigo stood behind a somber Zoan.
Gailen rammed Nilun into the sand, landed on top of him, and continued the struggle.
Ciran yanked Gailen off.
Gailen fought with surprising strength, but Ciran finally contained the enraged warrior. “Calm. Breathe. Breathe, Gailen. Inhale the air.”
Nilun rolled to his knees.
Lotar stood in front of him and gestured silently for him to remain down. Nilun grimaced but obeyed.
Gailen finally took a deep breath and let it out, his limbs trembling. “Curse you, Nilun. Spiky pufferfish have more brains.”
“You dare insult me?” Nilun surged to his feet.
Gailen swiped at him.
Lotar’s arm flashed, barely seeming to touch Nilun, but the hot-headed warrior went down and stayed flat.
Ciran forced Gailen back. He never attacked without reason. “You struck first. Explain.”
“He was scaring them.” Gailen jabbed his misshapen hand at Indigo’s sisters. “Their souls blackened with fear.”
Even now, the young girls looked dimmer than when they’d arrived.
“Because you lied,” Nilun groaned. “The ocean is not a big, empty room. Every mer is not a friend.”
“Enough,” Ciran growled at Nilun. “Remember the lesson of the morning. What do you observe?”
“Gailen will lead them into danger.”
“Nilun. Look at the humans. Their souls.”
“And? The ocean is dangerous.” Nilun rose to his knees, gave Lotar a wary eye, and rubbed his abdomen. “Especially near this island. All the mer know that. And yet he urges these defenseless females to go into the water and play.”
The girls hugged their mother. Their souls all dimmed.
Dannika encompassed the humans in a big hug. “Oh, it’s not like that. Indigo will be perfectly safe with the warriors of Atlantis, I promise you.”
“What did he mean, ‘especially near this island’?” Indigo’s mother asked. “We are in danger near here?”
“Yeah, I want to know about that too,” Stevie, her videographer, chimed in.
Lotar frowned blackly, and the warriors who’d surfaced before Ciran shuffled with unease.
There was no special danger near Bermuda.
Unless…
Nilun rested his hands on his thighs. “Everyone knows what I mean.”
Unfortunately, Ciran did.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
And he wasn’t the only one. The other warriors subtly edged away from the sea and rubbed their necks.
Ciran held his ground. “This island is outside of their territory, Nilun.”
“Is it? Are you sure?” He glared at the blue shallows. “Would you let your young fry play in these waters alone?”
Dannika looked from one tense warrior to the next and finally sought Ciran’s gaze. “Why not? You’ve been swimming here for days.”
“We are adults,” Nilun said. “Warriors. We can fight back.”
“Nilun.” Lotar’s warning was soft but sharp.
He subsided.
“Ciran?” She put her hands on her hips. Her coverings flowed in the gentle breeze like an anemone’s tendrils, graceful but with a fierce sting. “What’s he talking about?”
He hesitated. There was no need to frighten Indigo’s family further. No need to speak the name even warriors refused to whisper.
“Lusca,” Stevie said with grim certainty. “He’s talking about Lusca.”
The warriors jumped. Nilun snarled, Lotar tensed, and Gailen jolted.
A ripple of forbidden fear surfaced on Ciran’s skin.
He rubbed his forearm. “How do you know that name?”
“So it does exist.” Stevie jerked his chin at the warriors closest to him. “I’ve been asking around, off and on, ever since you guys emerged five years ago. But nobody would confirm it.”
“What is it?” Dannika asked. “Lusca?”
Another ripple bumped on his skin, and the other warriors tightened their defensive formation.
“They’re a city full of very angry mermen.” Stevie bounced his camera off his thigh. “Around 1492, conquistadors emptied their sacred islands, so they go around sinking ships with giant squids.”
The warriors murmured in shock.
Dannika blinked. “What?”
Clearly, Ciran had not paid enough attention to the human recording their images. “How did you know of this?
“Whoah, whoah, whoah.” Dannika held out both hands. “Are you saying it’s true? There’s a city of mermen going around sinking ships with giant squids and this is the first I’ve heard of it?”
Stevie gestured at Ciran to explain.
His heart sped as if he was being studied by a quick, deadly predator. “Do you need to know this?”
“Yes, I need to know this.” She crossed her arms, her tote bouncing against her waist. “The Sons of Hercules have been claiming for years that the mer mean us harm, and if a city has declared war on humans, I need to know. I need to know it right now.”