Taken By The Shark

Chapter 10

Sirenia had brought Chelsea along in the next instant, right into the middle of the fray. She immediately sought out her general, a huge great white shark she referred to as Bully. “What is the meaning of this outrage? How dare you act without my express orders?” she demanded.

“You’ve taken far too long to bring things to a head, and now you’ve gone off to coddle this girl who isn’t even one of us, but the new daughter of your brother himself,” Bully sneered. “It’s high time we held the throne, and if you’re not going to take it, then we will.”

Next, Bully lunged toward Chelsea and tried to ram into her. She managed to dodge the blow, but two other sharks each caught at one of her arms with their teeth. Annoyed, Chelsea simply zapped each of them with a bolt of gold just as Sirenia had taught her.

“So, you’re stronger than you appear,” Bully sneered. “No matter, once the kingdom is ours and Paribdus is subdued, we’ll be able to do whatever we want with you. That insignificant amount of power you house cannot possibly last forever.”

“I will not let you harm the girl,” Sirenia told him with a frown.

“And who said anything about you being the one in charge, either?” Bully wanted to know. “We’re just as likely to subdue you too, my lady. After all, we have seen that you are not necessary to the carrying out of our plans.”

“How dare you, you insignificant little worm?” Sirenia bellowed. Chelsea was forced away from her side by the displaced water as the witch swiftly stretched upward, becoming the biggest octopus she’d ever seen. She retained the face of a human, however, and continued shouting expletives as she caught Bully by his tail and proceeded to eat him. “Now, stay in there until nature takes its course, and let that be a lesson to you.”

“He’s not dead?” Chelsea asked as Sirenia shrank down again.

“No, but I just shrank him when I shrank, and while he’s inside there he can’t transform. He’s going to have to digest and excrete before he can do anything again. But that doesn’t stop the others from their nonsense. We’ve got to stop them somehow.”

Most of Sirenia’s followers were not in mer-form, choosing the forms of sharks, electric eels, or other carnivores instead. A great many of the Paribdites seemed to prefer generating weapons from the golden light, and many of them had chosen tridents. It didn’t appear that their aim was to kill each other, but rather to exhaust or disable.

“Well, Sirenia?” said Paribdus as the two women approached the entrance he was guarding. “Just which side do you think you’re on?”

“I didn’t order this fight, brother,” she said. “However, I’m not foolish enough to give up the chance at a few concessions. Like removing the constraints on what I teach this girl.”

“Oh no, leave me out of this,” Chelsea said, her brow raised in surprise.

“You could be great, you know,” she told Chelsea. “You could become a good witch, and together we could bring balance to the sea.”

“So you didn’t get that memo in which we weren’t ready to settle down here yet?” asked Chelsea then.

“We don’t have to settle down here necessarily,” she explained. “We could just as easily continue our lives above but also rule the sea. Don’t you know that you can be in more than one place at a time?”

“What?” Paribdus gasped. “You’ve mastered that spell then?”

“Yes,” she smirked. “It’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds. And I would willingly teach it to you as well, if you let me teach her how to become more powerful. She’s so weak in her current state. Such a shameful thing for one who could be so much more. Plus, we all know that she would never turn my teachings to evil use. Think of it, brother! Your own witch to help you keep your kingdom safe.”

“Is this some sort of a trick, Sirenia?” Paribdus demanded.

“I can make this battle end with one flick of my hand, and you know it,” she said. “These upstarts will meekly follow me back to my lair, and all will be as it was again. But, I have named my price.”

“And the vow not to harm her would stand?” he wanted to know.

“Of course,” she answered. “Injury is not required to learn any of the spells I would teach.”

“Chelsea, what do you think?” he asked her then. “Would you be willing to stop this war by agreeing to learn witch’s magic? There are those who might wish to shun you if you do.”

“I’ll do it,” she agreed. “I’ll become a powerful witch with only the intention to do good deeds. And, I will learn the spell that allows me to be back at the station as well.”

“And so the both of us will lead a double life,” Sirenia smiled.

“Just remember, though, my loyalties must ever remain in this city, with Paribdus and Caerulus,” Chelsea told her then. “If you force me to, I would battle you to keep this place safe.”

“Understood,” she smiled. “I would not have it any other way.”

“Then it is done,” Paribdus said in his booming voice. “Call off these miscreants.”

With one mighty wave of her arm, Sirenia scattered all of her minions, making them stare at her in horror. “Back to Blackreef Tower, now, all of you, and await your punishment there.”

“Yes, oh Mistress of the Deep!” they murmured urgently, and hightailed it back the way they had come. In less than thirty seconds not one of them remained within the walls of the city.

“Come on, Chelsea, let’s figure out what happened to Mark,” said Sirenia. “We can tell him all about this arrangement.”

“I’m not sure he’s going to like it,” she said, worrying at her lower lip.

Contrary to that opinion, Mark thought the idea of living in two places at the same time was so intriguing that he wanted to learn the trick as well. That way, he could stop his father’s nagging and enjoy life under the sea, while also living a life among the humans as well.