Chapter three
"RUN!" shouted Tom Clarke, before realising the word he should have yelled was 'swim'.
Angelica took off over the reef, with Tom pursuing her to the best of his ability. Mermaids were seriously fast swimmers!
"There is no escape, wizard half-form!" bellowed Varg, perhaps this time correct. A coral reef wasn't exactly a good place for a game of hide and seek if you were the size of a human or a mermaid.
Varg chased the pair over the bed of colourful plants, past exotic fish and around rock faces. Tom grabbed Angelica's hand.
"We've got to lose him!" he told the mermaid, "Isn't there anywhere we can hide?"
Angelica scoured everywhere she could see. If Tom hadn't been so frightened, he would have been truly amazed by the sights. Below him were dazzling corals in every colour of the rainbow and around him swam fish that once he could have only beheld in a library book. It was unbelievable just how many there were! Surely there must be hundreds within viewing distance. He tried to keep away from the corals in case they were poisonous but occasionally he felt them graze his arm. Ouch! He had no idea they were that hard.
"Over there!" Angelica pointed to a thick shoal of tiny silver fish. They both plunged straight into it.
Varg noticed them disappear into the cluster, and he dove in after them. Angelica yanked Tom out, and they swam away as fast as their legs could carry them – or tail, in Angelica's case. By the time the prince had figured they weren't hiding in the shoal, they were long gone.
He floated nearer the surface to get a better look at the coral landscape, but his prey were nowhere in sight.
"Varg to Zarantulus," he said into his gauntlet, "The mermaid half-form has fled beyond my reaches. I will need assistance if I am to locate her."
"Understood," responded a female voice.
A few seconds later, there was a tremendous SPLASH! above his head as Lexi plummeted into the water, having promptly beamed off the ship.
"How is it that you arrived so quickly, dear sister?" asked a startled Varg, suspicious as to whether she had for some reason already been wearing her diving gear before he contacted her.
"A warrior is always vigilant, brother," responded the princess, checking her mask was on properly. She glanced at her arm-piece. "My oxygen supply is functioning perfectly."
"Before we attempt to form a strategy that will outwit the mermaid half-form, I need to warn you - she is accompanied by none other than Tom Clarke."
"The halfling wizard? For what purpose has he ventured into the Fijian Archipelago?" Gradually, an idea formed in Lexi's head. "The mermaid half-form must have alerted him of our strategy. Perhaps he is carrying out his own stratagem against us."
"In what way, sister?"
The princess keyed some words into her gauntlet. "According to my device, the Fijian Archipelago is a coral reef – home to many rare and exotic creatures. It is also rumoured to be the hiding place of a magical Wasa Mana amulet thought to control the powers of the merfolk…" Her eyes widened, and she gave a wicked smile as a plan materialised in her mind. "If we were to find the amulet before the wizard half-form, then the Nekross would feast on a wealth of delicious magic. Just think, brother! We have at our fingertips the key to the magic of every mermaid in the world!"
Varg chuckled darkly. "The wizard half-form must be trying to locate this object. If we were to pursue him, he will lead us straight to the amulet. Then we will beam him onto to the Zarantulus, and at last I shall witness the magic being ripped from his very bones."
Lexi gave a horrid cackle. What a marvellous trick they were about to try!
…
"Angelica?"
Tom and his accomplice were lying on their stomachs, hidden behind a tall rock face. He wasn't sure, but it seemed as though they had gone deeper underwater than where they started.
"What is it?"
"Do you know how to find the amulet? We've got to move fast, before Varg comes back."
Angelica reached over, and unclasped the necklace. She studied it carefully in her hands before fastening around her own neck.
"I am not certain. We should explore the reef, looking for signs."
"Wait! Angelica, you don't think my potion is going to wear off soon, do you?"
Tom regretted he hadn't asked Gran about this before he charged off on his mission.
"Not unless you plan to stay down here for days!"
The mermaid floated upwards and checked to see whether the coast was clear. She beckoned to Tom, who followed.
"It is going to take days to search the entire reef. Isn't there any…magical charm you can use to help us?"
Angelica held up the necklace. She closed her eyes and listened very intently.
"What are you doing?" asked Tom.
She signalled for him to be quiet.
Then, softly, she heard a voice – not a human voice, neither a mermaid voice. It was a voice that could only be heard by the very heart itself.
"Turn left."
"We are to turn left," instructed Angelica, opening her eyes.
Tom obeyed, curious as to where she had got this info from, but not wanting to question it.
…
"Are you certain this is such a good idea, dear sister?" enquired Varg apprehensively.
The princess was programming the form-filter to a…specific design.
"If indeed we are to monitor the wizard half-form without being noticed, it is required we fashion ourselves suitable disguises."
She finished adjusting her brother's collar, and activated it. Varg morphed before her very eyes into a large, menacing shark. Any passer-by could have been fooled by the crafty illusion.
"And what of you, sister Lexi?" asked the shark, not moving its jaws.
Lexi fiddled with her own choker. She pressed the knob, and instantly transformed into a friendly-looking dolphin.
"The wizard halfling will be completely unaware of our strategy. We may pursue him as we wish without the hazard of being noticed."
"You are hasty, dear sister. If we are not cautious in our tactics, we could be at risk of exposure."
"There is no need to worry, brother Varg. We will keep our distance from the targets until we are ready to extract their magic, and then the Nekross shall truly feast on the magic of our greatest enemy…"
…
Angelica directed Tom all over the reef, always keeping an eye out for a yellow scaly diver that could be around any corner. Though the wizard was certain his friend knew what she was doing, he couldn't help but wonder just how long it would take to reach wherever she was after.
Whilst he was contemplating, somewhere at the back of his mind formed small, indistinct whispers, all jumbled together, as though several voices were talking to him at the same time. What could it mean?
"Wait a minute," Tom nudged the mermaid, "I can hear something."
Angelica stopped. She could hear it too, but it didn't sound like the talisman. Being a mermaid, she was perfectly aware of what they were listening to, and she realised they had to act fast.
"Hiding place. Now."
She grabbed his arm and wrenched him into an alcove between two outcrops.
All the while the voices grew louder and louder, until Tom twigged they must be the thoughts of others.
Angelica peeked over the rock quickly to see what was approaching them. About ten metres away was a team of divers, thankfully human, probably observing the coral or something along those lines as they were carrying underwater writing pads. She ducked back down again before they caught sight of her.
"I need to cast a glamour. There are a group of divers heading toward us. If they are to see us, the spell will make them believe we are wearing underwater breathing equipment."
She closed her eyes and whispered an incantation. Snap!
Tom blinked. Nothing seemed to have changed about Angelica's appearance.
"I don't see anything different!"
"It's only supposed to work on humans, silly!" His friend rolled her eyes. "Come on!" She pulled him upward before he could breathe.
Tom surreptitiously checked to see whether the divers had noticed anything out of the ordinary as he got yanked back onto the course.
Now he was not so frightened of being pursued, he took time to observe the scenery below him. Upon the seabed was a vibrant hotchpotch of corals and plants, ranging from mundane browns to wild orange. It was as though he had fallen into an aquarium!
They swam through an archway encircled by tiny mauve fish. Occasionally, the light would catch the water at just the right time, and Tom would see ripples appear on the sand. How he wished Benny could see that! When he got home, he was going to have to tell his friend all about his adventures.
Suddenly, he caught sight of something truly amazing about ten metres away from them.
"Excuse me," he said to Angelica and swam over to see whether he really had just spotted what he thought he had.
Floating above a soft bed of sand was a large dolphin.
"Whoa…" he whispered, "I was never expecting this."
The creature did not swim away from him in fear or jump around playfully. Rather, it stood still and looked at him inquisitively. Tom reached out to touch its face. Dolphins were harmless, weren't they?
The animal did not protest. As Tom stroked its nose, he found its skin to be smooth, perhaps even rubbery, sort of like a silicone oven mitt. In fact, it started making chirping sounds. Maybe that meant it was happy.
Meanwhile, beneath her disguise, Lexi could sometimes feel Tom's hand gently rubbing her head when her mask didn't get in the way. Actually, it felt kind of nice.
She was glad she had decided to be a dolphin and not another shark. According to her research, most humans had an irrational fear of sharks, possibly including the wizard half-form who was now fondly massaging her face.
Maybe she wouldn't beam him onto the Zarantulus just yet…
Tom smiled. Benny was going to be so thrilled when he told him about this.
"Move away from her, Thomas Robert Clarke."
What? Who was that?!
How did he know his name?
"Who are you?" asked the wizard, but there was no-one in sight.
I must have imagined it, he thought. Later on, he sheepishly realised that those were rather famous last words.
"Beware the illusion!"
Surely he couldn't be hearing things! There was something fishy going on, and he had to get to the bottom of it.
Hang on a minute! He never had actually found out in what way the necklace directed Angelica. Earlier on, he had suspected it might be through a voice of some sort. Was this it now…?
He removed his hand from the dolphin's face cautiously. Whatever the "illusion" was, he didn't want to find out what it was the hard way!
Having let herself be stroked to her heart's content, Lexi decided it was time for the halfling to meet his fate.
Tom's eyes widened in horror as the gentle dolphin all of a sudden morphed into none other than the Princess of Nekron. She lifted up her head and cackled when she saw his petrified expression. Before long, the Nekross would finally feast on his delicious magic!
"You have got to be kidding me," whispered Thomas, as she tilted herself upward.
"Such a tender touch, Tom Clarke," said Lexi, raising her hand to the part of her head he had caressed, "I hate to have to consign you to a magic extraction." She tapped her gauntlet. "Lexi to Varg. I have the wizard halfling in my possession."
Tom zoomed away as fast as his legs could carry him. The princess immediately pursued, and they plunged into a desperate chase. Thomas thrashed his arms furiously, determined to always keep his flippers just out of his enemy's reach.
Lexi's eye was on the target – the very second he began to run out of energy he was hers for the taking…
Tom dived over a large outcrop. Lexi threw herself after him, expecting to grapple him by the legs in a terrific battle, only to find he had inexplicably vanished.
Where could he have possibly got to? She scanned her surroundings, keeping a sharp lookout for any sign of him.
After five minutes of fruitless scrutinizing, she started to wonder whether he'd cast a passing charm and had transported himself to another part of the reef. Still, it couldn't hurt for her to prod the corals, just in case…
It was then she caught sight of a large thicket of seaweed blocking part of a rock face. She swiped it away, only to discover that there was a cavity concealed behind it.
"You are not getting away that easily, Tom Clarke," said Lexi under her breath, hovering near the opening. She switched the lights on in her mask and ventured into the darkness.
The water was much cooler and murkier inside the cavern and she had to turn on her gauntlet's torch before she could see where she was going. How had the wizard halfling possibly managed to get anywhere in this pitch-black labyrinth?
She moved her arm-piece around, looking for any clue as to where her prey had got to. The floor was buried beneath sponges and there were several pillars of vegetated rock just waiting for someone to crash into. In fact, it looked as though someone had actually collided into one of the rocks – a large amount of foliage appeared to have been scraped right off it. Perhaps this was a clue…
Meanwhile, Tom had swum right the way through the tunnel and located the exit…which also happened to be half the size of the entrance.
Great! I'm never going to fit through that, he thought in frustration.
He stuck his hand through the gap, using the other one to filter his nose of the thick amount of dissolved particles in the water, and found that parts of the rocks obstructing him were loose. He heaved them with all his might until the hole was sufficiently enlarged, and squeezed his way out of the cave.
The moment he had made it through the breach he swam up toward to the surface and took a deep breath of the clean water, trying to get his bearings back before he started swimming again. He hadn't been underwater for half an hour and already he was completely exhausted! How did Angelica cope with life as a mermaid?
Speaking of Angelica, where was she? He could hardly believe he'd been stupid enough earlier to abandon her just so he could have a look at some dolphin, which also happened to be his worst enemy in disguise! Was she going to have to find the amulet without him? Could he possibly find her again?
In actual fact, it seemed he was well and truly lost. The reef below him didn't look familiar, and there was obviously no sign of his friend anywhere. Where had that tunnel taken him…?
Suddenly, a gloved hand seized his leg. Tom's head jerked downward to see Princess Lexi holding him in a grip of iron.
"You are mine, Tom Clarke!"