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"Lord Kyei. We have searched the remains. There are no bodies. No trace of anything that has happened here."
The man who stands amidst the smoke and cloud would seem to be little more than boy. Were it not for the squirming full grown man he has clenched in his hand. As the man continues to choke, his general continues to speak.
"This is their doing Lord Kyei," she growls. "I am certain of it. No interruptions for five years, and then out of nowhere, this fire. If Vulko . . ."
"An empty shell," Lord Kyei whispers almost with boredom. The crack of a human neck is nothing new. There have been many sacrifices required to get to this stage. The corpse rolls off into the grass. It matters not if they find it.
"What does my lord command?" the General asks.
"At the Captain's last report, he had almost finished administering my formula to the girl. But not quite. So we must lay out some bait, for this particular fish."
Even the General looks excited. "My Lord?"
"This stage does not require your assistance. Pull back and report to my father. It is time for me to return to my roots."
It is then that he is disappointed to glance the first taste of fear in her dark eyes.
"Please do not harm him. You gave me your word. I help you achieve your new world. And you . . ."
"Do not harm Vulko," Lord Kyei smiles. It's all teeth. "Of course Kerei. I always keep my word."
"Tell me about the prince."
"What prince?"
"The one in your dreams last night."
"I . . . what do you care about my dreams?"
"What if he wasn't a dream, after all?"
So when the exact same face appears above her, and there's a very loud sound and it turns out that said loud sound is her screaming, needless to say, Aeryn feels as if she's been thrown off a cliff.
Her hand jerks out, water gathers, torrents push the prince back. Instantly the guards come in . . . what happens next . . .
"Seize her!"
One too many memories. Of always being chained. The first to lay his hand on her is the first to get his wrist snapped.
"Get off me . . ."
One. Two. Three. Glowing chains wrap around her torso but in one freakishly powerful scream, they melt. Like fire. But the pain it brings sends her floating . . . wait, floating?
No. No. No. This isn't possible. She clutches her throat already regretting her actions.
"Restrain her . . ."
Before the next panic wave starts, she hears a stern voice speak. "Guards. Get out. Now."
And they do. Like they were programmed. Like clockwork.
"Aeryn?"
Beyond the obvious handsome face, she can't shake this need to run. He reaches for her arm but she slaps him off, ignoring the flash of hurt in his eyes.
"Where the hell am I?"
He looks surprised but answers immediately. "Atlantis my friend. You know where you are. This is where you come from."
"Like hell it is," she hisses.
"Then how do you explain all of this?" he remarks. "You breathing underwater. What you just did to the guards. Having all this power . . ."
"Oh you misunderstand!" She laughs, jabbing a finger at him. "I'm not trying to answer any questions here. I don't want to explain it. I'm not going to try to explain it. I just want to get out of this, and then . . ."
"I'm not letting you leave."
Silence. "What?"
He clears his throat. "I said, I'm not letting you leave. It's not safe."
"Orm . . ."
"Ha! There it is. How do you know my name? How do you know who I am, Aeryn . . ."
"No . . ."
"You knew me."
"Stop talking . . ."
"We were children together . . ."
"That's enough . . ."
"And now my father's gone, you can come back home . . ."
"I said stop it!" She yells. It's all coming back. It's coming back so fast that it's like someone's poured her brain into a blender. The King still floating in the water. How cold it felt. How the moon shone down on Vulko as he carried a screaming Orm back to the ocean. How she swore she would never allow herself to feel that pain again. Except for twenty years later, when he had the gall to stand there as if nothing had changed.
"Oh my god I can't breathe . . ."
Whatever he sees in her face, it must be something because he immediately starts shouting for a healer.
"Stay with me Aeryn . . ."
She just manages to pant out the words, "Don't touch me . . ." The ocean is pressing in. It's like every breath is poisonous.
And the fear is starting to stink from him.
"Healer!" He yells. "Aeryn . . ." She feels his fingers touch her face. "Tell me what to do."
And her throat opens up just enough for her to plead, one word. "Surface."
And she could never have gotten there that fast. She could never have been that strong. He bursts out from the globe, through Atlantis, through the water. To the glorious light of the Sun.
There she finds a memory. Of the seconds she doesn't regret. When Vulko and Orm had gone. And this little girl was just watching the ocean. Mother gone. Father gone. There was nothing but her and the rising Sun. It was one of the last moments she remembers being able to see herself. Being able to breathe.
Orm's arms are wrapped around her chest, which has steadily settled. So there's no need to hang on then is there?
"I'm fine now, thank you."
"I can see that." He doesn't let go.
"So you can let me go."
If she could see his face, it would be smiling. "There's a lot of things I could do."
She rolls her eyes as she breaks his grip, pushing herself gently away from him. He really is very handsome. But there's more to it than that. She doesn't know yet.
"I thought you were a dream," she says finally.
"I am not a dream Aeryn," Orm says. "I'm real. I'm as real as you are."
"I can see that," she whispers. "But I made peace with Atlantis a long time ago, and so if I have your permission, I'm going now."
"You don't have my permission," he huffs.
"That was sarcasm . . ."
"I let you go twenty years ago," he continues. "In which time you've been treated like garbage by the surface dwellers, a crime for which I will ensure they do not go unpunished, almost raped, beaten . . ."
"I'm not going back to the Captain."
"If you do, you will find him dead."
She raises an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
He draws closer to her in the water. "I told you a long time ago, that I would not allow harm to you to go unpunished. And I meant it. You're not going back to that place. You're staying with me, where I can take care of you until you get better."
"Well now here we have a problem Orm!" She snaps. "Because I'm not going back to Atlantis! Not now, not ever, and if you think you can force me . . ."
"You'll be coming with me somewhere else. A safe place . . ." He sees her face drop and hurriedly adds, "Not under water. I promise."