Yaaaaaay an update! *Throws a party* I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas! Mine's been a bit stressful, but I managed to get this done in the end XD I mainly wrote it powered by coffee if I'm honest XD And the plot bunnies for this have been eating my brain and killing me. Seriously. I got out of bed three times last night to write out long notes to myself about what I was going to do for the next chapter and the sequel. And stuff to include in 'Never Go Back'. In case you haven't seen it, 'Never Go Back' is my new Ingo multi chapter fic, and if I'm taking my sweet time updating this story, feel free to pop over to that and have a read XD There is much angst in it XD Also, I have about six oneshots for Ingo, so feel free to check them out too. Hint hint ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I'm a little bit iffy about this as I don't generally write a lot of action packed stuff, but hey, I tried :D I hope you enjoy, and I hope you all have a wonderful 2013!

Thank you as always to all you wonderful, wonderful reviewers! This chapter is dedicated towhoshalljudgeangels, onlinegirlgoing4god, Ingo lover, silly ole' me, Bowoobiterand BlueLeopard.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to review :D

Chapter Seventeen

We've been swimming for what seems like twenty minutes, but which could actually be something like a day considering Ingo time. After getting directions from a dolphin who learnt from a shoal of mackerel, who learnt from two basking sharks who heard it from a seal who saw the entire thing, we roughly know where we're heading, but I've got a nasty feeling that this whole rescue mission could be down to luck.

Privately, I'm beginning to wonder whether I've made the right choice; it did seem so much safer back in that cave, where we were shielded from danger and the Mer who want to kill us. Not that I'd ever let Faro know that I'm having second thoughts. Besides; how could I just have sat there in a nice safe cave whilst my little brother was in danger? The thought of Mordowrgi, scared and alone, makes my stomach contract and I swim a little faster. No. I've definitely made the right choice, even if I am so scared it feels like my heart's going to burst out of my chest and that the cereal bar I had for breakfast is going to make a reappearance.

Down.

Faro's voice in my head makes me jump, and I quickly swim down with him, taking shelter under a seaweed covered outcrop of rock. I squeeze in tight next to Faro, clutching his hand so hard that I must be crushing his fingers, not that he complains. We sit there in silence, eyes wide, waiting. After a moment, I sense movement above us. I peer up through some of the seaweed concealing us at the Mer swimming above, weapons in hand, the weapons made of metal that the rest of the Mer despise so much. There's about fifty of them, all fearsome, all swimming with strong determined strokes.

There they go. Faro's mental voice is dripping with disgust. Ervy's old followers. I've got half a mind to rip them to pieces right now. We're packed in so close together that I can feel him trembling with anger.

Well you can't. There are fifty of them and only one of you. Besides, we need to find Mordowrgi; we can't let anyone know that we're here.

He nods slowly, but I can still see the rage blazing in his eyes, and I know that he hates this, hates skulking in the shadows, not charging head on at the enemy. Hiding from danger.

We don't have any other choice. I tell him. We need to end this.

After a moment, he relaxes slightly. I know Sapphire. But…could you please stop holding my hand so tightly? I can't feel my fingers. I loosen my grip and he flexes his digits, smiling ever so slightly. Scared, Sapphire?

No way. I don't know the meaning of the word fear.

Maybe you should have stayed back in that nice, safe cave…

Is this because I'm a girl?

No. Bryntin's female, and she's a fearsome warrior.

I hate to break this to you, but she's too old for you, Faro. I pat his arm. Sorry.

I don't know…I could stand a chance.

Nuh uh. She could be your mother.

That's a bit of an exaggeration!

She could have had you young.

There is nothing wrong with an older woman!

Of course not. But you're just a kid to her. She wouldn't look twice.

He frowns. You think I'm a kid? I'm older than you!

Technically. But not mentally.

You sure about that?

Totally sure. Underneath all those muscles, you're just a little boy. I smirk.

He raises his eyebrows at me, and with a lurch, I suddenly realise just how close we are. Our foreheads are practically touching.

I'm not… he puts his hands either side of my face, and somewhere inside my body, I swear that my heart stops in shock. ..A little boy.

For a moment, we stay stock still, staring into each other's faces. A million different expressions flit across his face -uncertainty, worry, fear, tenderness- but his eyes remain locked on mine as he draws me closer towards him, and I know that if I needed air right now, I wouldn't be getting it, because , my lungs have stopped functioning as well. We're only a fraction of a millimetre apart when he suddenly pulls away. They're gone.

He swims out from under the shelter of the rock and begins to head in the direction that the Mer were coming from, his hair streaming out behind him. I follow him slowly, my heart still recovering, the rest of me not sure how to feel. Did I just imagine that? Am I going crazy? Was it just a reassuringly friendly gesture to comfort me? I just…ugh!

Over the course of the last month or so, I have come to a conclusion.

Men are bloody confusing.

They are aliens, and the female race would be much better off if we shot them back up into space where they belong.

End of.

The kelp forest we're swimming through is cold and dark, and the emerald strands that cling to my skin are slimy. Faro is constantly on edge, his hand clenched around my wrist more out of habit than necessity. His uneasiness is catching; I find myself becoming twitchy, constantly glancing over my shoulder in case of someone sneaking up behind us. We swim halfway between the surface and the seabed, hoping to avoid any enemies we might encounter. Of course, although we are hopefully shielded from view, this method of travelling does have its disadvantages; we won't be able to see anyone coming towards us until they're about a metre away. Which could be far too late.

Not far now.

I can hear the tension in Faro's thoughts just as clearly as I can see it in his body, in the way his eyes flick from side to side, the way he clenches and unclenches his free hand. I find myself chewing my lip, a habit I've been indulging more and more often lately in moments of anxiety, and force myself to stop before I gnaw the skin off entirely. Not that it will matter whether or not I have sore lips if a Mer person with a spear runs me through. The light up ahead is growing stronger, the water around us growing clearer as the kelp begins to peter out. I glance at Faro out of the corner of my eyes as we approach the edge of the kelp forest, able to see him more clearly now, whereas before his face had been overcast with green rippling shadows. Of course, it's stupid to still be thinking about that particular moment under the rock shelf when my baby half-brother has been kidnapped by blood thirsty killers. I try to keep focusing on the task at hand, but some idiotic part of me keeps piping up and wondering about details which should really be considered irrelevant in the light of recent events.

We pause as we reach the boundary between kelp and open sea, both of us looking around for danger. After a long, cautious moment, Faro nods and we begin to swim forwards and downwards, so that we can hide amongst the labyrinth of rocks which litter the sea bed. I think for a moment of the claw creatures and shudder violently. Faro glances up with concern, but detecting my thoughts, he shakes his head.

They will not venture this far south, Sapphire. It's not them we need to worry about.

I nod, although I still keep a sharp eye out, just in case. You never know; claw creatures might like a holiday as much as anyone else.

We swim through jagged teeth of rock and underground tunnels lines with weed until finally we reach the place that we were informed of. A barren rock face greets us, pitted with multiple caves. The area around it is deserted.

In there? I murmur, staring around at the desolate scene before us.

He nods, glancing around cautiously before moving forwards. I follow him, my heart sinking. How will we ever find Mordowrgi? And even if, by some miracle, we do find him, how will we ever escape? The granite rock face before us seems to conceal an impenetrable labyrinth of tunnels and caves, which we may never find our way out of. We'd wander them forever until we died and our bodies turned to dust, or until one of Ervy's followers found us. We've almost reached the lowest cave when an armed Mer man appears from within it.

We freeze, staring at him in shock.

He freezes, staring back at us.

And then everything happens at once.

The first Mer man turns towards Faro, diving for him, yelling for assistance. I start forwards to help, but a second man emerges from another cave, cutting in between us. I back away as he moves towards me, knife in hand, grinning viciously. Behind him, I see Faro struggling with his opponent and, with a wrench, I see a thin trail of blood curling through the water like smoke. Faro. I've got to get to him. I've got to help him. But how? I back away further as the wall of muscle and sinew continues towards me, his eyes gleaming with the victory of the hunter. What am I? A silly, weak, human girl who's totally unarmed. Success is his. I can see it in his eyes as I'm backed against the rock face, fumbling for something I can use in my defence, anything. In my mind, I see Faro and my bodies drifting down to the ocean bed, the blood draining from us just like it did Dad. Will Conor ever know of my fate? Will Mum? Will Roger? I picture Rowan growing up and never knowing her big sister, the one who vanished long ago without a trace, without an explanation. All she'll have are photos and maybe a faint memory of the girl who told her stories of mermaids and their lovers.

And Mordowrgi.

My brother. I am one of four now, Conor, me, Mordowrgi and Rowan.

Mordowrgi was another woman's child. The woman that dad left us for. But he is still my brother, still bound to me through blood, just like Rowan. Just like Conor. There are people I care about, Mum, Conor, Rainbow, Patrick, Sadie, Roger, Rowan, Mordowrgi…and Faro. The boy I can see fighting for his life on the other side of the man who is itching for my death. The man whose hands go around my neck and squeeze. And although I don't need to breathe like I do on land, I need that flow of oxygen that the sea water brings. I stare into his eyes, see the hatred for me and everything I stand for, and in that moment they all rush through my head, those I care about. And I know now that I won't die here in the depths of the ocean. I won't die here at this man's hands. I know I will fight for them, whatever the cost. And that is why I swing the rock that I have been concealing as hard as I can against the man's skull.

There is a sickening crack.

The vengeful eyes glaze.

His grip loosens.

And I hit again, and a third time until he lets go completely and falls to the sand littering the seabed, blood clouding the water around his head. He is still, deathly so and although I don't know if he is dead, I don't want to find out. I suppress the urge to vomit which is building in my stomach; instead I snatch up his knife and turn to the first man, my eyes narrowed, and I focus on the adrenaline pumping through me like fire, their images flashing over and over again in my mind's eye.

Mum, Conor, Rainbow…

The two of them are not struggling so fiercely now; the man has Faro in a head lock and is inching the knife further and further towards Faro's throat, while Faro tries desperately to stop him.

Faro…

"Drop the knife." I press the cold metal blade into the man's back. "Drop the knife or I'll run you through."

There is a long silence, before the man starts to laugh. "Very funny, girl." He chortles. "Are you sure that you've got it the right way around?"

Sapphire… Faro's mental voice is weak, pleading. Leave me… I ignore him, poking the knife harder into the man's back, and the laughing ceases. "I told you to drop the knife." I hiss furiously.

Faro has stopped struggling now, and I pray silently to any powers that may be listening that he's not dead. He can't be dead.

I can't see the man's face, but he seems to be weighing up the options. After about a minute, he slowly lowers the knife. I sigh, and relax slightly, and that is my fatal mistake. Because as quick as lightning, the man brings up his weapon and again and send it down towards Faro's heart.

There is a dull thud as the knife hits home.

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