Chapter Two
Ursula was up late into the night, sending out a warning to merfolk all over the globe to stay in human form, which as you can imagine was a massive task, even with the aid of enchanted mirrors. At midnight she came into Tom's bedroom to tell him how things had gone.
"Thomas?" she whispered, "Are you awake?"
Her grandson stirred and groaned, turning over in his duvet.
"Yes, Gran," he replied hoarsely, "I'm awake."
Ursula sat on the side of his bed. "I managed to spread the message to as many merfolk as I could. That's all we can do for now."
Tom sat up slowly. "If the Nekross are able to find mermaids just by scanning for their bodies, doesn't that mean they'll be able to find other magical creatures, like hobgoblins?"
"It doesn't bear thinking about!" She paused for contemplation. "If the merfolk are unable to enter the deep, they won't be able to care for sick animals or clean litter off the ocean floor. This could have serious consequences for both the magical and the human worlds." She set her feet back on the floor. "But never mind about that now, Thomas! You need a good night's sleep."
She squeezed his hand, and left the room, leaving the young wizard to ponder what she had just said.
The wizards were at war, and had been for some time, but now mermaids had come into the equation. He needed to stop this threat – surely to goodness there was a way he could hide the merfolk from the Nekross scanners. But how…?
…
This subject weighed on Tom and Benny's minds throughout school, and when they both entered Tom's home after it had finished, Granny, who was cleaning the work surface, could tell what they were discussing as soon as they walked through the door.
"What we need is some sort of spell that can stop the Nekross scanners from being able to tell humans and mermaids apart," suggested Benny.
"I don't think there is such a spell," responded Tom.
"What about a spell that would hide them from the scanners? Like the shrouding spell, only it would hide their mermaid forms."
"It's not as easy as that! We hardly know anything about Nekross technology."
"Wait a minute, Benny," interrupted Ursula, "What did you just say?"
"A spell that hides the mermaids' bodies from the scanners."
Mrs Crowe beamed and scurried into the hallway, followed by the two curious boys.
"Could somebody please first explain this to me?" asked Tom, "Can you really create a spell that will hide the merfolk from the Nekross?"
"I'm not sure," replied Gran, "But I'll certainly have a go!" She banged her staff twice on the toilet door. "Chamber of Crowe, open to me - reveal yourself on the knock of three!" Tap!
She opened the door, and Tom and Benny were again able to see the passage that led to the Chamber of mysteries.
Once inside the main cavern, Granny hurried to the Wisdom of Crowe.
"Why will you be hastening your step, Mistress Crowe?" enquired Moon.
"Benny might be onto something," Ursula explained, "He suggested that we create a spell that will hide the merfolk's forms from the scanners." She flicked speedily through the volume.
"Slow down, Gran!" advised Thomas.
It was then Madeline's face sprang upon the scrying mirror. Benny, who noticed it first, nudged his friend.
"Tom Clarke," Mrs Lim addressed him, this time moving her mouth, for she was no longer underwater. Angelica could be seen in the background, seated upon a stool.
"What is it this time, Madeline?"
"The high council of merfolk have been discussing our current threat. They are suggesting we take action."
"And…what sort of action are they suggesting?"
"Warfare. They want to destroy the Nekross."
Mrs Crowe gasped and dashed over to the mirror.
"We have got to stop this!" she cried, "We cannot abandon our principles, even at a time like this!"
Madeline nodded steadily. "Some of the council disagree with this plan. They say we should find a way to peacefully settle the matter." She held up an object. "One of the senators gave me this."
Granny examined the item. It was some sort of necklace with a golden talisman on the end in the shape of a fish.
"What is it?" she breathed.
"This is a key to the Wasa Mana amulet of the Fijian archipelago. It is our only hope."
Moon was also studying the necklace. "Randal Moon will be a banshee's uncle! You will be speaking of a charm that controls the very powers of the merfolk."
"The senator suggested that if a powerful glamour was fused into the amulet, it would shroud the merfolk from being found by the Nekross."
"Sorry about earlier, Benny," apologised a shamefaced Tom.
…
Meanwhile, the sudden disappearance of mer-people from Lexi's map had not gone unnoticed.
Already, the Nekross had extracted the magic from twenty of them, and had been set to kidnap many more, but overnight the picture of Earth had gone from being buried beneath dots to barely having any at all.
There was only one explanation they could think of for this – the mermaid halfling who had escaped earlier had alerted the rest of her kind of their attack mode, and now they had all gone into hiding.
Lexi and Varg captured the rest of the traceable merfolk as fast as they could, but even as they did so, more dots faded from the screen.
Eventually, Lexi concluded their strategy was no longer going to be a hunt but a siege – they would sit and wait for when their prey had to change back into their undersea forms. It was all a matter of time…
…
Michael Clarke stepped into the Chamber, having wondered where the rest of his family had vanished too, to find Granny stooped over a bubbling cauldron with Moon, with Tom and Benny standing beside the nearby table.
"More griffin feathers please, Moon!" instructed Gran.
"What are you making today, Ursula?" Michael asked casually.
"A powerful glamour potion that will hide the merfolk from those ghastly spine-headed monsters, once and for all! If we release it into the Wasa Mana amulet of the Fijian archipelago, the merfolk will never be troubled by them again." She tossed a sprinkle of herbs into the pot. "There! It's ready!" Her voice turned serious. "The necklace, please."
Madeline held up the trinket and whispered an incantation. Fiery magic writhed around it as the spell began to culminate. She shouted one last magic word and tossed the talisman into her personal looking glass.
The scrying mirror gave a tremendous flash, and the necklace flew onto the Chamber's floor. Benny picked it up; scarcely able to believe it had been halfway across the world two seconds ago. He handed it to the Mistress, who was fixing on a wizard cloak.
"Thank you, Benny." She held it high above her head. "Ray meesche kooth dah! Protect the merfolk of the planet Earth from the prying eyes of the Nekross! Eesch meek zan DAH!"
A billow of smoke exploded from the cauldron.
Tom, Dad and Benny coughed and choked, fanning away the fumes.
"I hope that did it, Ursula!" spluttered Michael, as the gas dissipated.
"I do believe I got it right!" squealed Mrs Crowe excitedly.
Moon ladled the mixture into a small bottle.
"How exactly are you going to release the potion into the necklace?" enquired Dad, "Is it…bigger on the inside than the outside?" There seemed to be an awful lot of liquid!
"Oh no, Michael! The necklace isn't the amulet. It will be used to help find the amulet, which is hidden somewhere in the Fijian archipelago."
"What!? You're not telling me someone's going to Fiji! Ursula…"
"Michael, please! We have got to try."
"Pass me the potion and the necklace," said Madeline, "I will use a passing charm to go to the Fijian archipelago."
"No, Madeline, you can't!" cried Granny, "If you turn yourself back into a mermaid, the Nekross will find you immediately."
"Then who else will take the potion?"
There was silence.
"I will," spoke up Tom.
"You can't, Thomas…" whispered Mrs Crowe.
"I will take the potion, Madeline."
"Thomas, please!" Ursula pulled him away from the mirror for a private chat. "Do you realise what you are doing?"
"Gran. I know this mission might be dangerous and challenging, but how is that any different to the war we're already fighting against the Nekross?"
"But Thomas – you hardly know anything about what might be waiting in the Fijian archipelago."
"I've got to try."
"My brave, brave boy!" The Mistress gave him a loving embrace. "Do be careful, Thomas! You do not know what monsters of the deep you may come across. Giant man-eating sharks or hungry kraken or vicious sea serpents or-"
"Excuse me, Ursula," interrupted Madeline, "There will be nothing of the sort. The Fijian archipelago is a coral reef."
There was a pause.
"Oh!" exclaimed Granny, a little sheepish at her mistake, "Thomas? Would you go and get changed, dear?"
…
Gran had just finished concocting an underwater-breathing potion when Tom sauntered back into the Chamber, wearing a white t-shirt and brown swimming trunks, carrying a pair of flippers and some goggles from his snorkelling kit.
"You won't need these." Ursula removed the goggles from his hand. "The potion will enable you to see underwater clearly." She passed him the flask it was in.
"How does the potion…work?" probed Benny, "If it makes you breathe underwater, doesn't that mean you need gills?"
"Oh no, Benny," explained Mrs Crowe, "It will transform young Thomas' lungs so they use water instead of oxygen."
"Well, that's good," interrupted Dad, "I'm not exactly sure I want a half-fish for a son."
Tom chuckled. He then wolfed down the liquid, and nearly gagged.
"What did you put in this thing!?"
"Seaweed, mostly," responded Granny.
Tom winced, and wished he hadn't asked. He set the container back on the table.
"Randal Moon will now be performing the passing charm," announced Moon.
Tom picked up the glamour potion and the necklace, which he hung round his neck. He inserted the potion into one of his pockets, and zipped it tightly.
Whilst he attached his flippers, Moon began chanting strange and unusual words from the world of the ancient ones. Thomas had just finished putting on his footwear when the hobgoblin completed the spell, and a burst of fiery magic shrouded him.
"Good luck, son," was the last thing he heard his dad saying, before his surroundings disappeared.
…
For a few seconds, Tom struggled to register just where he was.
He moved his head around, taking note of his surroundings. If it wasn't for the fact he was already cautiously holding his breath, it would have most certainly been stolen from him.
He was encircled by a shoal of tiny silver fish, which were swimming through beautifully clean, blue water. Below him was a bed of soft, pale sand and not even a metre away was a coral-encrusted outcrop, with many colourful creatures floating around it.
Tom soon realised he couldn't hold his breath for much longer. He let it out slowly, bubble by bubble, until eventually his lungs were empty.
He would soon have to take his first breath underwater.
Tom hesitated for two more seconds, and then inhaled the warm liquid.
It was a very strange sensation, finding that rather than choking on the fluid he had drawn in, it actually felt rather natural.
His lungs grew heavy as they filled with seawater, but before long it became more comfortable. He was no longer just a teenage boy deposited in an ocean - he was part of the water, breathing it and using it inside his body. He began to wonder whether this was what mermaids felt like each time they ventured beneath the waves.
Right! On with the mission…
Granny had told him that the necklace would lead him to the amulet, although wherever that could possibly be concealed he had no idea. He took a glimpse at the golden fish, hoping it might give some sort of clue. Did it have an inscription? Any symbols? Did it light up if you went near the amulet? As far as he could see, it was just like an ordinary piece of jewellery!
Tom had just started wondering whether he should somehow contact Gran and ask her for advice, when something very strange happened.
"Tom?"
Was that a voice?
He tried to reply, but his words got lost in the water.
Was the necklace communicating with him? He studied the fish again, hoping the voice would come back.
"Tom?"
How am I meant to talk to this thing? thought the wizard.
"Tom, it's me – Angelica!"
Angelica?
Tom swivelled his head round to see the mermaid girl hovering a few metres away from him.
What? he mouthed. How come he could hear her underwater?
Never mind that, what was she doing here?!
"Under the waves, we communicate by thoughts," explained Angelica, her lips sealed and smiling.
For a second Tom was surprised how she knew he'd been wondering about that, but then realised he didn't need to…
"Hold on a minute…" thought Thomas, "You can read my thoughts? All of them?!"
"Not all of them. Just the ones that form into sentences."
Angelica glided forward, her aquamarine tail glistening as it caught the light. Her long black hair was tied into a single plait so it wouldn't become irrevocably tangled, and she was wearing a dark brown nylon halter-neck top.
"I thought you might need some help finding the amulet."
"Oh…yeah…about that…" Suddenly, he remembered in horror something Granny had said earlier. "Wait a minute…"
The girl stared at him.
"Angelica! Listen to me. If you remain in mermaid form, the Nekross are going to find you in two seconds."
"It is a risk I am willing to take."
"No, Angelica! You've got to turn back. Just think – every single mermaid in the world is in human form, except you!"
It was then Tom heard a horribly familiar chuckle.
"Varg!"
Sure enough, a few metres away from him hovered the prince, clad in a Nekross diving suit, pointing a gun at their heads. He had the same armour on his shoulders, chest and stomach, but underneath he appeared to be wearing some kind of blue dry-suit. An oxygen tank akin to those used by humans was strapped to his back and his feet were encased in a pair of flippers.
He had on a clear plastic mask which not only showed as much of his face as possible but allowed him to talk; else he wouldn't have been able to say, "We meet again, Tom Clarke – enemy of Nekron! At last the Nekross shall feast on your exquisite magic. Prepare to breathe your last, wizard half-form!"