Shattered by the Sea Lord - Starla Night Page 0,52
Tulu asked, “Ready?”
Meg took a deep breath, held it, and nodded her head. On their cue, they all descended.
Dannika dropped as well. Water closed over her head.
Her eyes adjusted even before she finished sucking in seawater. The sand gave way to spikes of coral, which housed schools of royal blue tang, curious yellow and black butterflyfish, bumbling green, blue, and yellow parrotfish, and, of course, squids.
Big squids, small squids, bumbling squids, inking squids. They floated tentacles-first, their mantles pointed downward, so they looked like sock puppets with big eyes on the sides. The fins on their mantles rilled.
As the ground descended into the deep ocean, the slope reversed. Ancient, bleached coral grew for the surface like a lattice fence. A large coral ridge sheltered them from the patrol’s view.
Nuno and Bex waited below in the hollow. Dannika would join them and demonstrate her powers.
Her stomach squeezed.
Behind Meg, Angie’s kids splashed into the water and shifted, squealing. The passel of squid rippled colors across their funnels and jetted away, then reversed course and chased after the giggling children, seizing them and pinching with their beaks. The kids shrieked.
“It is strange,” Ciran vibrated, floating beside Dannika. “I have never seen squids behave this way.”
“Chasing and biting?”
“Usually they are curious, solemn creatures who would rather trick us into thinking they are a marine hermit crab than draw attention to themselves. Yet these squids swim erratically and attack. It is as though they hear an irritating noise that they cannot escape.”
Something drove them mad. But what?
Meg’s bubbles ascended for the surface and she convulsed as she shifted. Her sons floated close to her. She opened her eyes, peered around, and grinned. “I did it!”
“Good job, Mom,” her sons chorused.
So, she was happy to submerge. Just getting into the water, though, was a whole operation.
Itime approached Dannika. “Can you shield her?”
“Shield her? Right now?”
He nodded.
Adrenaline flooded her body. Her hands trembled and her heart raced. Dannika clenched the Sea Opal close to her heart in one hand and flexed her fingers on the other. Nothing happened.
“Um, give me a minute.” She flicked her fingers like trying to dry-start a lighter. Nothing, nothing, nothing. How frustrating!
Ciran clasped her hand, gently calming her. “Your soul is dimming.”
“I know.”
He stroked her cheek and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “You have the power within you. Remember what you did before and let it flow out.”
He was right.
She kissed him back, letting his hot, sweet caresses center her. And with new calm, her fingertips tingled with power. Dannika pulled back and turned to Meg, extending her hand to release the power.
But horror affixed Meg’s face. She held up her own hand in a warning gesture. “No. No. No!”
The power in Dannika’s fingertips drained away.
Hmm?
Doot-doot-doooooot.
The contrabassoon of squids grew from a normal symphonic bass to an insistent rumble of a train grinding into Central Park. Every squid near the reef oriented on Meg, tentacles pointed like arrows, longer arms trailing.
“Your shield,” Itime repeated, and his usual calm had an edge.
Oh, right.
Dannika held out her one hand again and willed the calm to return. Be conscious of Ciran. Don’t think about what’s happening with Meg. Focus.
But she hadn’t gotten her license in Zen Buddhism yet and hadn’t become enlightened enough to hold her meditative state while witnessing a wild squid-storm.
Meg turned and kicked her little stubby feet for the shoreline. “Quick, boys. Go, go!”
Tulu floated at the ready, tensed for battle.
Dooot. Dooot. Dooooooot.
The contrabassoon of doom blatted as the squid converged on Meg and her sons. Tulu bashed the bodies away, waving and kicking. Itime flew to his side, and they tried to ward off the mollusk invasion.
Okay. Okay. Tune it out. Focus.
Shield.
A squid smacked Dannika in the face. Another crawled across her outstretched arms and a third gnawed on her toes.
What in the heck?
She shook them off.
Ciran battled his own hoard. “What is this behavior?”
Meg shrieked and kicked for the surface. She broke free and splashed.
The squid surged after her.
This was not Disney princess. This was The Birds, or in Meg’s case, The Squids. Plus a few random tangs and parrotfish caught up in the excitement.
The kids helped Meg reach the shore, and Dannika and Ciran stumbled out of the surf with her, fighting through the marine bodies to reach the sand.
Meg crawled and lay facedown on the beach.
Squids flew after her, hurtling through the air and beaching themselves on the hot, white sand.
“Whew!” Val waved from her sunshade. “I’ve heard of flying fish. I’ve never heard of flying