Chapter 55: The Darkest Tide

The day began like any other. The sun climbed out of the east, chasing the moon and stars away with its first glimpse over the White Iron Mountains. The light spread across the land and into the sea, driving the night into the west. Eyes opened from slumber above and below the waters as the day brought new warmth to the earth and ocean. Life stirred once again in the Alliance. By the time the sun had cleared the mountains, the kingdoms were abuzz with it. It promised to be another bright, sunny day in the onset of spring.

The Master swept his gaze over all of it as he stood on the ocean's surface. Even standing unshielded under the sun, the darkness of his form and hood did not fade. If anything, the light only made him appear darker, his figure that much starker against the ocean. From here, Seahaven itself was but a speck on the horizon, its buildings and palace cast in shadow by the rising sun. His glowing blue eyes turned to where he knew Strihaven stood, and then the other direction towards Glowerhaven. Further into the forests would be Vorhaven, nestled at the borders of the Howling Forest. Between these four kingdoms were hundreds of thousands of people. People going about their lives as they always had. Innocent, weak, helpless people.

People who had no idea what was about to be unleashed upon them. And no way to stop it.

The Master looked down at the water. Though it was beyond human sight, he knew Atlantica was below him. The mer and fish folk would be oblivious to his presence this far up. He would barely be a black pinprick on the wavering surface.

The Master raised his right hand, examining the cracks in his leather glove. He clenched his hand into a fist, hearing the leather creak as it strained against his grasp. Tendrils of shadow rose off his hand for a moment, like the tentacles of some eldritch nightmare emerging from the recesses of imagination. Then they faded away as he lowered his hand. He let his mind and magic reach out, snaking through the ether till he felt the four presences he sought. "Remora. Riptide. Ursula. Richard."

He felt their minds respond to him, as though an icy hand had grasped their necks from behind. He had their full attention.

"Be ready."

With that, the Master dropped into the ocean as though stepping off a cliff, withdrawing his presence from his underlings as he plummeted. Down, down, and further down he fell, his robes flapping in the water. He saw the first structures of Atlantica appear in the deep–the rocky homes of the merfolk, scattered across in the sea floor as they encircled the magnificent spires of the Atlantican palace. Mermen and mermaids were barely visible dots moving slowly through the water, even smaller fish swimming amongst them. Still the Master descended, falling towards the western outskirts of the kingdom. It seemed he would smash into the sea floor, but just before touching bottom he abruptly slowed, landing with the gentlest stir of silt. He slipped his hands into his sleeves and began his approach, heading directly for the Atlantica palace at a languid pace. Life was extinguished as he went. Kelp, seaweed, and algae withered to crumbling husks. Corals bleached and decayed, leaving only their calcified skeletons behind. Even the temperature of the water declined, as if Death were leaving her chill in the warlock's wake. All the while the Master could not stop himself from smiling, his menacing grin no less luminous than his eyes.

Today was the day.


Bel'al's raven avatar sat still in the darkness, wings folded and head bowed slightly. His igneous eyes were closed, the glowing lines on his body flickering like the lingering embers of a dying fire. He was not asleep, yet neither was he awake. His consciousness hung in a meditative state, spread out far beyond himself. He had been like this for days now, recouping his magic and strength. Yet the time mattered not to him. He let his mind drift like a feather traveling great distances on a wind. Thoughts, sensations, and images came and went like leaves floating down a river, the raven acknowledging each before allowing it to pass on.

Then he felt it. There, out in the darkness of the world, he felt a disturbance. As if someone had dropped a jagged rock into his river, disrupting its tranquil surface. Then more disturbances reached him, scattered across the land. It was like a trick of the mind flitting in the corner of his vision, the figure indiscernible yet impossible to ignore. He slowly opened his four eyes as the tracings on his body glowed brighter, consciousness returning to his vessel. He growled as he felt the disturbances grow further, accompanied by new sensations. Anger. Hunger. Greed. Darkness. Malice. So much malice.

The raven burst into a conflagration, casting flaming light into the dark. The fires rose and swirled in a great mass, and then dissipated to reveal his true form, albeit far smaller than his potential. Still, at over five hundred feet tall he was a thing of terror and awe to behold. A ring of fire appeared before him, circling in the air as an image formed. He saw the Master make his way towards Atlantica, his robes flowing in the water as the ocean died around him. How was the warlock able to get this close without him realizing it?

Bel'al's scaled lips curled back in a snarl, flames licking against his teeth. "It begins…"


Ariel sat by the window of the palace music room, staring out at the sea. She wore her favorite light dress, the navy bodice and sky-blue blouse and skirt making the red of her loose hair stand out beautifully. A variety of instruments hung from the walls or lay nestled in their cases around the room. A grand piano waited in a corner, not a speck of dust marring its ebony wood or ivory keys. Ariel paid them no heed. Her eyes were fixed on the ocean beyond the window, the gardens, and the beach. She reclined against the wall as she hugged her legs. She watched a flock of gulls fly past, headed for who knew where. A pair of pelicans and a tern followed after them.

She took a breath and sighed. It truly was a gorgeous day. Spring mornings in the Alliance were always enchanting, and today was no exception. A shame she could not share it with Eric. He had to attend to matters of state in his study. There was quite a stack of papers that needed his attention. There was rebuilding the marina and hospital, repairing the damage to the town, launching a formal investigation into King Willard's possible treason, making Lara's knighthood official throughout the Alliance, and informing the allies of the Alliance of what transpired. There was also news from the kingdom of Corona, one of the Alliance's most distant allies, that their long-lost princess had recently been returned to them–and by none other than the infamous thief Flynn Rider! Such a miraculous thing all but demanded a king's personal response! Knowing him as she did, Eric would rather be out strolling the beach with her than holed up in his office. As would Ariel. She would rather feel the damp sand between her toes and the waves lapping at her ankles as they listened to the crash of water.

And yet, something was bothering Ariel. Something kept her from going outside the palace. Kept her here, watching the garden and sea. She felt a growing malaise inside her, like the first telltale symptoms of a sickness that had yet to manifest its full morbidity. It gnawed on her mind with the annoying persistence of a mosquito, droning that high-pitched whine in her ear no matter how many times she swatted it away. But why? Why did she feel this way? She had no clue. All she did know what that she disliked it immensely. Just as much as the fact she could not explain what caused it in the first place.

There was a knock at the door. "Ariel? Ariel, you in there?"

"Enter," said Ariel, recognizing her third eldest sister's voice.

The door swung open to reveal Adella and Alana. "So this is where you've been!"

"We were looking for you!" said Alana.

Ariel stood up. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to hide."

Adella cocked her head slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," said Ariel, though she did not believe it herself. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," said Adella. "You seem…off, I guess."

"Did you not sleep well last night?" asked Alana.

Ariel drew a breath and sighed. "A little. But it's nothing to worry about. So, why were you looking for me?"

"Carlotta and the husbands are watching the kids this morning. So, we were going to have a sisters' brunch out in the garden," said Alana. "We were wondering if you'd like to join us. Arista's already waiting for us!"

"Brunch sounds lovely," said Ariel. Though, if she was honest, she did not have much of an appetite. That nagging sensation was overriding her hunger.

"Great!" said Adella, clapping her hands together. "What're we standing around here for then? Let's go! I'm famished, and we've still got three sisters to find! And Arista's eating for two! If she's anything like I was with my first baby, she'll be ravenous!"

Ariel followed her sisters out the door, but then paused a moment to look back to the sea. Another flock of gulls flew past the window, larger than the previous one. They were not alone, either. There were terns, petrels, shearwaters, pelicans, and cormorants as well. All were flying east towards the forest. That malaise became even stronger for a moment. But why? Why did the sight of birds in flight make her feel so unsettled? She shook her head. It must have been her imagination. Maybe some food would fix it.

"By the way," said Adella. "Have you seen Lara or Melody this morning? We were going to ask them to join us, but we couldn't find them."

"I'd think twice about asking Lara to brunch," said Alana. "There's no such thing as a light snack with her! Though, it is weird we couldn't find them. We checked their usual spots."

Ariel looked up at the ceiling. "I might have an idea about that."


With how warm and sunny it was that morning, Lara and Melody found themselves unable to resist its call. Especially with a few free hours on hand before Melody was set to attend her lessons. So, like so many in Seahaven, they resolved to find the sunniest and warmest place they could to enjoy it.

And with Lara's ability to fly, the sunniest and warmest place in the kingdom they could find was on the palace roof.

The two young women reclined on the terra-cotta shingles of the highest tower as they soaked up the sun. Melody was wearing a white and pink dress, her black hair tied back by a coral pink ribbon. Lara had chosen a pair of black pants ripped off above the knee and a tan top with the sleeves and lower half torn off, a pair of slits in the back allowing her wings to fit through. Her boots were unlaced, giving her feet room to breathe. Her left wing was spread out wide, soaking up the rays. The right one was folded in, giving Melody a place to lay. A large bushel of green grapes lay between them.

"I got it!" said Melody as she tossed another grape into the air. "I got it! I got it! I–!"

Donk! The grape landed between her eyes and bounced off, rolling down the roof and into the rain gutter where it joined her previous attempts.

"I don't got it…" Melody said disappointedly.

Lara laughed, picking another grape off the bushel. "You gotta get it flat on your thumb. Like this. Then you flick it straight up and…"

Lara gave the grape a sharp flick and it leapt into the air, flying in a high arc before it descended into her open mouth. She chewed it around a few times and then swallowed. "Like that!"

Melody took another grape, balancing it on top of her curled thumb. "Okay. Flat on my thumb. Straight up. Flat on my thumb. Straight up…"

Her tongue poked out the side of her mouth in concentration. Then she gave the grape a firm flick and sent it spinning skyward. It hit its peak and began coming down to the right of Melody's head. She quickly leaned over and opened her mouth, finally catching one.

"Hey! I got it!" Melody declared triumphantly around the grape. She squished it with one chew and gulped it down.

"Nice one!" said Lara. Her tail swung up and grabbed two more grapes, tossing them into her mouth.

Melody rolled her eyes as Lara started chewing. "Showoff. So, back to what I was asking. How big was your dad, exactly? I know dragons are supposed to be large creatures. At least, that's what the stories say."

"It 'pends," said Lara around the grapes before swallowing. "With his magic, he could be as big or small as he wanted."

"What was the largest you ever saw him?"

"The largest I saw! He was huge! Humongous! Ginormous! Literally larger than life!"

"How larger than life are we talking?" asked Melody. "Like, a blue whale?"

Lara shook her head. "Think way, way bigger!"

Melody reached for another grape. "Two blue whales?"

"Let me put it this way." Lara lifted one of her feet. "At the largest I saw him, dad could've flattened this palace under one foot."

Melody almost choked on her grape when she accidentally swallowed it whole. "One *cough* one foot!? But…he must've been tall as a mountain!"

Lara grinned. "At least."

Melody coughed a few more times. She could not even start to imagine anything so enormous, much less something that size being alive. "But if he's so big, how did no one ever notice him!?"

"He wasn't always titan-sized," said Lara. "Like I said, he could shrink down smaller when he wanted. Though, I never saw him get shorter than three hundred feet. So, he was still big compared to us. But we never left Arcania, and that place is next to impossible to find even with how big it is. Seemed to have every habitat in the realm on it. Dad put all sorts of enchantments and spells around it as well to keep it hidden. Even if someone found out where it was, it's not like you could just jump into a ship and sail to it." She looked up at the sky. "Not sure I could get in, either."

"Did he *cough* have a treasure hoard?" asked Melody. "I always heard dragons like to hoard treasure. Or is that just a story, too?"

"Oh, it's no story!" said Lara, shaking her head. "A lot of drake and wyvern species will hoard gold and silver and all sorts of shiny stuff. Some use it to attract mates. Other just want it. As for my dad, I guess you could say he had a treasure hoard. Only his wasn't gems and gold–not that he didn't have those, mind you. There was enough precious metal and jewels in that cavern to buy almost anything! But he also had stuff that I couldn't put a price on."

Melody sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Like what?"

"Well…" Lara sat up as well, taking the opportunity to stretch her other wing out. "There's the books for starters. Dad must've had millions of them!"

Melody's eyes widened. "Millions!?"

Lara nodded. "Millions. We could fill every room in every house in Seahaven with how many books he had!"

Melody's mouth hung open. It was difficult to imagine what so many books would look like! "How!? The palace library has a couple thousand, but that's been collected over centuries! How could he have millions of books?"

"Given he was literally older than dirt, he probably built his collection over thousands of lifetimes! There were books on magic, history, literature, science–you name it, he had it! I swear, it's like he was trying to get a copy of every book ever made! You could get lost wandering in that library. I did a few times! Tried to make a map of it when I was a kid. Never did finish the thing. And then there were the artifacts."

"What kind of artifacts?" asked Melody.

Lara wrapped her tail around herself. "Everything you could imagine, and more. Some you would recognize. Others…it's like they're from whole other realms and ages. Even after living there for so long, I don't know what the full extent of dad's trove was. But I guarantee there wasn't anything else like it in our world."

Melody looked out to the sea, seeing the sunlight sparkling on the waves. "That must've been incredible!"

Lara gave a small nostalgic smile. "Yeah. It was."


"Ten shells!?" Tip slapped his flippers down on the table, causing the bushels of seaweed to shift. "For one bushel!?"

"Tip, come on!" urged Dash, looking around anxiously at the confused stares from the fish and merfolk. "You're making a scene!"

The gruff, brown-bearded merman folded his arms, puffing his chest out as he flicked his dark purple tail in annoyance. "That's my final offer!"

"Price-gouging is what it is!" snapped back Tip, shrugging off Dash as the walrus tried to pull him away. "Last week it was five for a bushel!"

"And now it's ten!" said the merman. "This year's harvest was sparser than usual, and I got mouths to feed! Seven of them! Take it or leave it, but I won't go a barnacle lower!"

"I've got half a mind and a whole feather to take it, all right! Take it and you and this scam you call a business to King Triton, you greedy flightless–!"

"Tip!"

Tip whirled on Dash. "What!?"

Dash blinked at him. "What?"

"What?"

"What? I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did!'" said Tip. "You said 'Tip!' all deep and scary-like! So, what is it?"

"That wasn't me," said Dash.

Tip frowned. "Then who said it?"

"I did."

Both Tip and Dash gulped. One look at each other's faces and they knew they both heard it. Them, and no one else.

"What're you two blathering on about?" asked the merman, tapping his fingers on his bicep. "You gonna buy something or keep wasting my time?"

"N-no," said Dash, clapping a flipper over Tip's beak before he could say anything else. "We're good. Sorry to bother you."

"Then swim off!" barked the merman, jerking his head at the merfolk lined up behind them. "I got customers waiting!"

Tip and Dash swam off without another word. All of a sudden, the price for a bushel of seaweed was a trivial matter. Almost anything became a trivial matter when Bel'al's thunderous voice came calling. They quickly swam towards the edge of the town, not saying a word to each other or anyone else as they went. In a matter of minutes, they were well away from prying ears, the market over a mile behind them.

"Y-y-y-you c-c-called, sir?" stammered Dash, fidgeting with his fins.

"This better be important!" said Tip, trying to sound tough and brave despite the trembling of his webbed feet. "I was about to give that swindler a lesson he'd never forget!"

"It is," said Bel'al, his voice rumbling in their minds. "They are coming."

"Who's coming?" asked Tip.

Bel'al did not answer. His silence confused Tip and Dash as the quiet persisted. But then it struck them. They froze stiff, hearts momentarily forgetting they were supposed to keep beating.

"As in…you mean…?" said Tip, hoping he heard wrong.

"Maelstrom is mobilizing," said Bel'al. "The Master is in Atlantica."

Dash gulped again. "Th-th-th-the M-M-Master!? H-h-here!?"

"You must go. Now. While you can. Head to the rock spires at the southern kelp forest and wait for the portals to open. Go through the moment they do."

Neither Tip nor Dash needed to be told twice. They quickly sped off towards the rock formation in question. But they barely swam ten yards when Dash slowed to a stop, looking back at Atlantica. "But…what about them?"

"You've done what you can. Now you must see to your own lives."

Dash looked to the surface, as if the dragon were looking down on them from above. "You mean we abandon them?" He frowned. "I thought we were supposed to help everyone! That's why we agreed to work with you in the first place!"

"You have," said Bel'al. "I would not have been able to prepare such safeguards without your aid. But if Atlantica becomes a battlefield, your odds of survival will diminish by the second."

"Dash, come on!" urged Tip. "We can't stay here!"

"But we can't just leave everyone!" said Dash. "What about our friends!? What about Triton!? What about Melody!? What about Urchin!? He's still in a coma! Are we seriously going to turn flipper and swim!?"

"Their fates are beyond your means to affect," said Bel'al. "You cannot help them further."

Tip swam back to his friend. "Dash, we gotta go! You heard what he said! Maelstrom's coming! We're gonna get killed if we stay!"

Dash's worried expression turned angry and harsh. "If we go, they're the ones who are gonna be killed! They'll need our help!" He swam up to the penguin, leaning uncomfortably close to his face. "What's it gonna be, Tip? A lifetime as cowards who bail on their friends? Or two minutes as heroes who actually managed to save someone for once!?"

At that moment, the sounds of screaming reached their ears. The duo looked to Atlantica and saw the tiny figures of distant merfolk and fish swimming out of the marketplace as fast as they could. What they were swimming from neither could see, but they could guess.

"He's here," confirmed Bel'al.

"We don't have time for this!" said Tip.

"No, we don't!" Dash turned and started swimming back to Atlantica.

"Dash!" Tip started after him but then stopped. "Dash, get back here! Where do you think you're going!?"

"You swim if you want!" shouted back Dash. "I'm gonna do what I can to help!"

Tip gawked as he watched Dash keep swimming toward Atlantica and certain danger. He looked back to where he knew the rock spires were waiting, and then back to the diminishing figure of his friend. He went back and forth like this a few times. Then he yelled in frustration and slapped his head repeatedly with his flippers.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" He turned and started chasing after the walrus. "Dash, wait up! You're gonna wind up as fish bait without me watching your back!"


Bel'al watched as Tip and Dash returned to Atlantica. He allowed himself a small sense of satisfaction at the sight amidst his mounting concern. When he first approached them, the pair cowered and fled at the first sign of a threat. Now, in the face of certain peril and possibly their own deaths, they swam towards it for the sake of saving lives other than their own.

"How far you've come…" he muttered to himself.

The dragon steeled his mind as a vivid fiery aura enveloped his body. This was going to take all the magic and mental might he could spare. If he was lax in his concentration or gave too little, the spells would fail and leave the Alliance to Maelstrom's malevolent whim. Too much, however, and he would become a victim himself. The trident's curse was still very much active in its quest to extinguish his life. This would be a tightrope act in the extreme, reliant on him maintaining a delicate balance. He would not be able to spare Tip or Dash any further aid. Same as for everyone else in the Alliance. From here on out, the rest was up to them.

His wings burst into flames and shrunk down into his body. Then the flames burst out below his shoulders, forming a second pair of arms. He brought his four hands together as if in prayer, eyes closing as he centered his mind and magic. He anticipated Maelstrom's assault would be fast, but not this fast. The Master had not left him a moment to spare. This would not be like opening the portal he displayed to Triton. That was a single enchantment. What he would now attempt was on a scale a thousand times greater. Such things took as much time as they did effort.

And time was something he was running out of by the second.


The Master continued strolling through the Atlantican marketplace, humming to himself. His effect upon the citizenry was like that of soap on an oily film. They recoiled at the very sight of him, fleeing in all directions. He could see it on their faces. Even if they did not know who he was, they knew he brought only doom. Already he made an example out of three guards who tried to stop him. He left not so much as a scale of them.

It was not long before his intrusion had the desired effect. A lightning bolt came blasting down from above, striking in front of the Master and glassing the sand. He stopped as King Triton descended to the marketplace, a full company of merguards behind him bearing coral swords and shields. Sebastian clung to the king's fins by a claw. The crab maintained a brave face despite the shaking in his legs and lip.

"Halt!" ordered Triton, pointing the glowing trident at him. "Stay where you are, warlock!"

"On guard!" shouted one of the merguards. As one the mermen held their swords and shields at the ready. A dozen fanned out beside Triton, prepared to attack or defend at a moment's notice.

"We meet again, King Triton," said the Master.

"State your business here!" demanded Triton. "Or leave, before I make you!"

"Seems you did not heed my warning," continued the Master, not perturbed by the threat. "I said to bring everything you have against me. Yet I see before me not a fraction of your army. And you…" He eyed the merman and then the trident. "You are no more competent with your weapon than the day I bested you. I'm disappointed. Sincerely disappointed."

"I said state your business!" shouted Triton, an arc of lightning jumping between the trident's forks.

The Master pulled his hands out of his sleeves, his eyes glowing brighter. "I'm here to destroy you. You, your people, and your precious Alliance."

His words had the desired effect. As did the dark shadows that spread over his form, forming a wavering aura around him like black fire. Triton gripped the trident harder as the merguards shifted uneasily. Sebastian gave a frightened "eep!" and swam behind Triton's head, peeking out above his crown. The fleeing fish and merfolk now did so with even greater haste.

"No, you won't!" Triton raised the trident to his cheek, aiming down the shaft at the Master. Its glow intensified, accompanied by an electric buzz. "Trident, shoot!"

A flashing bolt of lightning burst off the end of the trident straight for the Master. Yet he made no move to avoid it. Instead, a tendril of shadow shot off his body and slashed at the bolt like a whip. The magics collided and blew apart, scattering sparks and flecks of black through the water.

Triton's eyes widened, lowering the trident slightly. "No…!"

"D-dat's impossible, sire!" stammered Sebastian. "Dere's no magic dat can wit'stand de trident!"

"Lara Anclagon was able to neutralize such a spell," said the Master. "What made you think I would not be capable of the same feat?"

The remnants of the shadow tendril shrunk back to the Master, rejoining his darkness. "There is much you don't understand of magic, crab. The same is true of your king." He spread his arms wide in invitation. "Of course, you are welcome to try again."

Triton stared for a moment, mouth open and eyes staring in confoundment. Then he hefted the trident once more. "Shoot!"

Bolt after bolt began flying off the trident, each one destined to strike the Master. And each one was met with more shadows, countering them precisely and completely. Flashes, sparks, and clouds of wispy black filled the water as one bolt after the other was destroyed. Finally, Triton stopped shooting, the glow of the trident weakening along with his bravery. All those bolts, yet not one was able to find their mark.

A/N: "Where Is Your God Now" by Rok Nardin

"Today is the day, Triton." The Master raised his hands above his head, the darkness surrounding him growing blacker and thicker.

Then the shadows around the Master surged as he lifted his face to the sky. A giant column of black burst from his body, shooting towards the surface. A fierce current blasted forth, driving the merguards back and stirring silt from the ground. Anything in the marketplace not anchored in stone was blown away, unable to withstand the rushing water. Triton began to fall back, Sebastian yelling in fright as he clung to the king's waving hair. Then Triton stabbed the trident into the earth, holding himself in place. He looked up, watching the pillar of shadow continue to climb. Then it struck the ocean's surface and rapidly spread out, as if it were the blackest of paints being poured onto a blue canvas. Triton stared as its shadow began to cover Atlantica, blocking out the sun. The further it spread, the darker the sea became, the light of day fading from the kingdom of the merfolk.

Master's glowing evil smirk appeared in his hood as he looked down upon Triton. "Today, I bring you despair!"


"Hang on! Hang on! Hang on!" exclaimed Melody. "Bel'al was how old!?"

"What?" said Lara as she took another grape. "He was a dragon. They live a lot longer than most things in this world. And I don't think he was even that old for his species."

"Then…how long are you going to live!?" asked Melody as she reached for another handful of grapes. "You're half-dragon, right?"

Lara opened her mouth to answer, but then paused. "You know, I never really thought about that. I mean, I'm still partly human. But I'm more than just a bit dragon, too. If my lifespan is even a fraction of what dad was capable of, I've probably got at least–."

It hit Lara and Melody like a dropped anvil. A crushing, dark, malevolent pressure came down on them all at once, driving the breath from their bodies and constricting their throats. Melody fell on her back, mouth agape as her chest heaved in desperation for air. Lara was doing the same. It felt like someone was repeatedly stomping on their throats, heads, and stomachs at the same time. Their hearing was overwhelmed by a rumbling static, drowning out all other noise. The grapes fell out of Melody's hand, bouncing down the roof tiles before rolling off the edge. Their skin went cold as sweat beaded on their faces. The intolerable pressure kept going and increasing from one drawn-out second into another, not granting a moment's reprieve. It went on and on and on, as if it were trying to squash their mind, body, and soul flat. Melody's vision began to tunnel, darkness creeping in from the edges as her lungs burned.

Then it was gone. As fast as it came, the suffocating pressure disappeared. Melody and Lara gasped as they were able to breathe again, both bolting upright. Drops of sweat fell off their faces, leaving wet marks on their clothes and the roof. Melody trembled uncontrollably, her strength as frayed as her nerves.

"What…was that!?" Melody gasped out, catching herself as she fell to her side.

"It's him…"

Melody looked at Lara. She was shaking all over and pale as a ghost, as if she had just been pulled out of an arctic ocean. There was a notable lack of color in her face, and profound fear in her eyes.

"It's him!" Lara repeated, quickly standing up. "That was his magic! He did that!"

Melody did not need to ask who "he" was. She knew who Lara was talking about. She wanted her to be wrong, but she knew the truth. She felt this before. It was that same suffocating dark oppression that crippled her and Ariel back in Glowerhaven. She felt it again back in the marina, when Lara was lost in her rage. There was only one source for it.

It was the Master.

Lara looked up and lost even more color as her eyes widened further. "Mel…the ocean!"

Melody turned to the sea. She was afraid to know what could still terrify Lara after what they both just experienced. But she had to know, and so she looked.

The ocean was turning black.

It came from the horizon. A rapidly spreading wave of inky murk that swept through the water with horrifying speed. It devoured mile after mile of ocean, racing for the shore. Melody stood up as the black reached the beach, turning even the seafoam pitch. The sands were quickly stained with it. They heard alarmed cries in the distance as one person after another became aware of the malign transformation overtaking the sea. The repair crews in the marina quickly abandoned their posts, heading for the safety of land.

Melody unconsciously reached for Lara's hand, fumbling blindly for it. She barely grazed her fingers when Lara grasped her, interlacing their fingers tightly. They looked at each other, not having to say a word to know what the other was thinking. Their eyes said plenty.

Maelstrom was attacking. This was only the first step in their newest assault. And this time, it would not be a single warship and a company of monsters and clockmen. They would bring their full force to bear against them.

Then a new sort of screaming started.


"What is this sorcery!?" exclaimed Grimsby, watching through the window of Eric's study as the ocean darkened.

Eric would have broken the window if he pressed on it any harder. But at that moment, he would not have registered it even if it cut his hands open. His mind was dominated by the terrifying black overtaking the ocean. It reminded him of the black whirlpool Morgana once used to escape, and again when the seaclops and pirates invaded. This, though…this was on a scale beyond anything he imagined!

But if it was anything like those whirlpools, he knew what was coming next. This was a portal. A portal on the scale of a kingdom. A portal big enough to march an army through.

Something was coming. Maelstrom was coming.

At that moment a guard burst through Eric's door, panting heavily. "Sire! The ocean! It's–!"

"I saw!" interrupted Eric. He snatched his coat off his chair and ran to a cabinet, flinging the door open to reveal a short sword attached to a belt. "Sound the alarm! Get every soldier armed on the double! Evacuate the town at once!"

"Evacuate!?" exclaimed the guard.

"Evacuate!" Eric yelled, for some reason angered by the guard's hesitation. "The shoreline is about to become a battlefield! We need to get the people out immediately!"

The man quickly saluted. "Yes, sire!" With that he turned and ran out of the room, his frantic footsteps retreating down the hall.

Eric snatched the sword and strapped it to himself. "Grimsby!"

"Sire?"

"Go find Ariel and her sisters! Then get them out of the palace! I don't care where you take them! Just anywhere but here!"

Grimsby blanched. "But…what about Princess Melody, your majesty? And yourself!?"

"Melody's with Lara! As long as they're together, she's the safest person in the kingdom!" He finished snapping the belt on. "I'll find the princes and the kids!"

"But sire–!" protested Grimsby.

"That's an order!" Eric shouted. He ran for the door and turned left, heading for the stairs. "We have to–!"

Suddenly a far-off scream came echoing through the halls. Not a woman's scream, but a man's. A horribly distressed man.

Eric stopped. "What was that?"


"Dad! Dad!"

Isaac sat up in his chair, blinking sleep from his eyes and disorientation from his mind. Someone was shaking his shoulders roughly, knocking the book he was reading out of his lap. He must have dozed off again. It was easy to do so given how comfortable the new armchairs were. It was easy for him to fall asleep anywhere in the orphanage now, what with the generosity of the king and queen during its renovation. Even the bedsheets were luxurious. It was a far cry from the rundown dwelling Richard had reduced their home to.

"I'm up! I'm up!" he said gruffly, brushing the hands off him. He looked over to see Sarah standing over him, her face brimming with panic. "Sarah? What's wrong?"

"Dad, come quick!" said Sarah urgently, all but pulling him onto his feet. "It's the kids!"

Isaac was awake in an instant. "What about the kids!?"

"They're–!"

It happened in the span of a blink. One moment Sarah was in front of her father, terror plastered over her face as she pulled him towards the front door. The next she was gone. She disappeared without a sight or sound. There was no trace of her.

"Sarah?" Isaac looked around the room. Sarah had vanished. Yet she was right in front of him not a moment ago. Was he still dreaming? No, of course not! This felt too real to be a dream. But then how?

"Sarah?" Isaac turned about, his confusion turning to panic. "Sarah!? Sarah, where are you!?"


"Ariel!?" shouted Adella, she and Alana running as fast as they could after their sister. "Ariel, stop! What's wrong!?"

Ariel ignored them and kept running, almost slipping on the carpet as she turned a hard corner. The town bells were ringing non-stop, following the rhythm of her heartbeat in her ears. Sweat was beading all across her face, and not just from exertion.

It struck her instantly. That crushing dark pressure that just assaulted her. It dropped her to her knees. She felt like she was being squeezed to death by it, unable to move or breathe. It was like before in Glowerhaven, only multiple orders of magnitude more powerful and terrible. Her sisters were unaffected by it, crowding her in their confusion and distress at her sudden incapacitation. Then it was gone, leaving Ariel a panting, shivering mess on the floor.

She did not bother explaining to them what happened. Nor did she stop to stare at the blackening ocean after she stood, leaning on the windowsill for support. She just started running. Even on shaking legs she ran as fast as she could. She knew what struck her. She knew what was changing the ocean. It was the Master. That was his power. He was doing something. And whatever it was, she knew it could only bring disaster. The raven's words–Bel'al's words–repeated over and over in her head as she recalled their first meeting in her bedchambers.

"Your thread is one entwined with many. As one moves, so do the rest, and thus is woven the pattern of fate. And the patterns I see lead to war."

She ran harder, making every stride as long and fast as she could. She had to find Melody. She had to find her, and Lara, and Eric, and the rest of her family, and everyone she held dear. All at the same time, as impossible as that was. Then they had to get out of here. All of them. Together. They had to get as far away as possible while there was still time! She would not leave anyone behind! She would not lose anyone! Never!

A piercing scream, however, brought her to a stop at the tower stairwell.

"Guards!" shouted a man's voice. "Guards!"

Ariel leaned over the railing and looked up. "Nemo? Nemo, is that you?"

A moment later the merman peered over the railing from the floor above them. "Ariel! Is Alana with you!?"

"She's right behind me!" said Ariel as Nemo sprinted down the tower staircase to her. Adella and Alana finally caught up, staggering as they gasped for air.

"How…does she run…like that…in a corset…and heels!?" wheezed Adella, fanning herself with her hand as she slumped to the floor. "Hoo! I'm just…just gonna sit here…for a while!"

"Ariel…what–?" Alana paused to swallow as she leaned against the wall. "What's…going on!? What's happening…to the sea!?"

Nemo cleared the last steps and ran over to Alana, grasping her shoulders. "Alana! Have you seen them!?"

"Seen who?" asked Alana.

"The kids!" said Nemo, giving her a shake. "Please tell me you've seen them! Please!"

Ariel did not like the pleading yet frightened tone in Nemo's voice. Or the look of growing trepidation in Alana's eyes. "What about the kids?"

"There she is! Your highness!"

"Queen Ariel! Princesses!"

The four turned around to see Grimsby and Carlotta running towards them down the stairs, five armed guards trailing them. Even from afar Ariel could see the trepidation on their faces clear as the day outside.

"Carlotta? Grimsby?" Ariel turned to face them. "What's going on? Where's Eric?"

"His majesty has gone to fetch the princes and the children!" said Grimsby. "But…!"

Nemo almost shoved Ariel aside as he darted to Grimsby. "Have you seen my children? Any sign of them!?"

Alana suddenly regained her breath, going to her husband's side. "Nemo, what's happened? Where are our children?"

"They're…they're…!" Nemo looked as though he might cry at any moment. That, or scream. Or do both. "They're gone!"

Nemo's words echoed through the hall and the tower stairwell, but not as loudly as they echoed in Ariel's ears. There was a moment of silence as the words sunk into everyone's minds.

"Gone!?" said Alana, panic rising in her voice. "What do you mean gone!?"

"We…we were watching them!" said Nemo. "Atlas and I, I mean! We had all our children together! They were playing in the hall! Right in front of us! I just blinked for a moment and then they…they vanished! Atlas went one way and I–!"

"What do you mean they vanished!?" Alana shouted. She seized the front of Nemo's shirt, grasping it tightly. "Where are they!? Where are our children!?"

"I don't know!" said Nemo. Now he was crying, his hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly. "One moment they were there, and the next they weren't!"

Adella's face paled as she looked to Carlotta. "Does that mean…are you saying my…?"

Carlotta nodded hurriedly, her hands wringing her apron. "I was with yours and Princess Attina's children, your highness! They were running around one of the guest rooms not two minutes ago! I swear, I only took my eyes of them for a moment! And then…!" She broke into sobs, burying her face in her apron. "I don't understand! They were right there! I could almost reach out and touch them! How could they disappear like that!?"

"It's not just your children, your majesty!" said Grimsby. "It's everyone's children!"

Ariel almost fell again as the strength threatened to leave her legs. "E-everyone!?"

"Everyone!" said one of the guards. "Reports are flying in from all over town! All the children are gone! There isn't one in Seahaven that hasn't disappeared! Most of the new mothers as well!"

"Princess Arista is gone, too!" added a third guard. "And the baby!"

Ariel felt every hair on her body stand straight up, a chill going down her spine. "Arista!?"

"I saw it!" said the guard. "I was at the window keeping watch! One moment the princess was bouncing her baby in her lap and the next… I can't explain it! It was like magic!"

"Oh, it's more than just magic."

"Mmm! Mm-mmph!"

They all spun around. The Hive Queen stood down the hall Ariel and her sisters had just come from. She had Arista dangling in the air, ensnared and gagged by strands of her bone white hair, her red fins kicking about in panic. The creature had the crying baby Aria cradled in one arm as well.

"You!" exclaimed Ariel, reflexively stepping back.

"But I doubt your minds would be able to comprehend it even if I explained it to you." The Hive Queen giggled, bouncing Aria lightly in her arms. The baby wailed even louder as she tickled the infant's chin with a finger and then gently tapped her forehead. "Quiet now, little one. None of that ruckus."

"Let go of them!" Adella yelled as Aria's crying abruptly stopped.

"To arms!" yelled one of the guards. "Save the princesses!"

"No! Stop!" shouted Ariel, flinging her arm out to block their path. "Don't get near her! She'll kill you!"

"But Arista!" protested Adella. "And Aria!"

Ariel spared a glance back at her sister. Even that felt like a dangerous risk to take in the presence of the Hive Queen. "If she wanted to hurt them, she would have already!"

The Hive Queen smirked at them, showing a glimpse of teeth. "Someone's learning, I see."

"What are you doing here?" demanded Ariel.

"Holding up my end of the bargain," said the Hive Queen.

Ariel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Bargain? What bargain?"

"You'll see. If you survive, that is." The Hive Queen's smirk turned into a devilish smile, baring her sharp teeth in full. "So, if I were you, I'd stop searching for your kids and start running for your lives."

She nodded to the windows. "You have far worse things to deal with." She raised her free hand and gave a mocking wave, wiggling her fingers. "Good luck! Try not to die!"

Ariel knew what was coming next. Even so, she had hope that she could make it in time. She dashed for the Hive Queen as fast as she could. She never felt so slow in her life. As if lead weights were strapped to her limbs and the air was thick as tar. She wished she was able to swim through the air like she did in the sea. Maybe then she would be fast enough. She was almost to the Hive Queen when she lunged, reaching for Arista with outstretched hands. Ariel held her sister's eyes for a split second. Those big, fearful blue eyes begging for her to save them from whatever this creature intended.

Then they disappeared. Arista, Aria, and the Hive Queen blipped out of existence as if they were never there. Ariel hit the floor, knocking her chin and scratching the heels of her palms. She shot to her feet, whirling about as she tried to find some sign of her sister and newborn niece.

"No!" Ariel shouted. "Bring her back! You hear me!? Bring her back! Arista! Arista, answer me!"

There was no response. Just the continuing distant peal of the bells as the black sea and the vanished children continued to unfold.

"You have to run."

Ariel blinked. In that instant the palace, the hallway, her family, and her friends disappeared. She found herself standing in a black void, the darkness stretching out infinitely all around her. But she was not alone. Bel'al's giant form towered over her, the dragon's four hands pressed together and his eyes closed. Magic pulsed and blazed around him like fire, throwing off scalding heat.

"Bel'al!" Ariel exclaimed. "What's going on!? What's happening to the ocean!? Where's Arista!?"

"There is no time to explain!" said Bel'al urgently, keeping his eyes closed. His jaw was tight, and there as the trace of a tremor in his arms. He seemed to be exerting himself despite his stillness. "The Hive Queen is no threat to you, but the same cannot be said for your ocean! Maelstrom has bared their fangs, and they will use them any minute now! I am preparing my own countermeasures, but I require time to manifest them! I fear they will not be ready before the first blow is struck! Leave the palace! Run to the mountains! Fast as you can! Go!"

Before Ariel could say anything else the dragon and the void vanished. She was back in the palace, kneeling on the ground. This was all happening too fast. First the Master's power. Then the ocean. Then the Hive Queen shows up, kidnaps her sister and niece and presumably all the children in Seahaven, and talks about some bargain. Then Bel'al appears and tells her to flee to the mountains. What was going on? How did all this madness happen?

But she knew in her heart he was right. They had to run. If they stayed, it was certain death.

"Ariel!" Adella ran up to her, Alana and the others close behind. "Ariel, are you okay?"

"Spread out!" shouted one of the guards. "Find that girl and the princesses!"

"No!" Ariel grasped the hem of her skirt tightly. "We have to go!"

Everyone turned to her. "What?" said Alana.

Ariel turned to her. "We have to get out of here! All of us! Right now!" She stood and faced the guards. "Take my family and get everyone out of here as soon as you can! Head for the mountains! And spread the word! We're evacuating Seahaven! I'll find Eric and Melody!"

"No!" protested Alana. "Ariel, no! You're coming with us!"

"Your majesty, we can't just leave you here!" said one of the guards.

"That wasn't a request!" said Ariel firmly. "It's an order from your queen! Get them out of the palace!"

Adella snatched Ariel's hand as she tried to leave. "There is no way I'm leaving you here! If anything were to happen to you, I'd–!"

Ariel cut her off when she hugged Adella, grasping Alana with her free arm and pulling her in. She squeezed as hard as she could, eyes clenched shut. How she wished this moment could last. That it could freeze time and stop all the horrible uncertainty and danger that surely now waited for them. But she knew it could not. The longer she stalled, the more peril she would put them in. The palace was right on the shoreline and completely vulnerable. If Maelstrom was going to strike anywhere first, it would be here. And if Ursula made an appearance as well, she would come straight for her and Eric. The more distance Ariel put between herself and those she cherished, the safer they would be.

"I'll go as soon as I find them!" she said. She tightened her embrace. "We'll be right behind you! I promise!"

Adella and Alana were still. Then Ariel felt their arms wrap around her in return, hugging just as fiercely.

"You better come back!" said Adella. "Otherwise, I'll march back here and get you myself!"

"Ditto!" said Alana.

Ariel looked up at Nemo. "Keep my sisters safe."

Nemo looked no less conflicted about her choice of action than anyone else. But he nodded to her. "With my life!"

"Hopefully it won't come to that!" With those words Ariel separated from them, her heart aching as their touch left. They held each other's eyes for a moment, baring all their fear, uncertainty, and hopes through them. Then the guards ushered the princesses and prince away along with the maid, running down the hall. Ariel drew a shuddering breath. She kept telling herself she would see them again. That this was not goodbye. So why did it feel like one?

One person, however, had not left.

"Grimsby, what are you still doing here!?" said Ariel. "I ordered you to leave!"

"Begging your pardon a hundred times over, your highness," said Grimsby, grasping the lapels of his coat as he snapped his heels together. "But I'll be damned to the deepest ring of the Pit before I leave your side while the enemy is at our shores!"

Ariel stared up at him. One look at his face and she knew there was not an order or argument or threat she could make that would tear him from her side. She sighed and shook her head, managing a smile. "And you call Lara stubborn!"

"Perhaps Miss Anclagon has influenced me beyond what I presumed." Grimsby shivered from head to toe. "Perish the thought!"

Ariel turned and started running. "Come on! Eric and the others must still be upstairs! That's probably where Melody and Lara are, too!"

"Your highness, wait!" said Grimsby as he chased after her. "I'm not as spry as I once was!"


Triton looked about wildly. Minutes ago, it had been day under the sea. Now all he saw was darkness–perpetual, all-enveloping darkness. Whatever magic the Master cast turned Atlantica into a kingdom of night. He could not even see his own hand in front of his face. But he could still hear. He heard his people screaming as they fumbled about in the dark, trying to find any light or path they could.

"What now, Triton?"

Triton turned around, the trident glowing bright in his hand. The darkness was driven back, illuminating a radius around him. Ghostly outlines of homes and the merguards appeared in the gloom. Yet none stood out as clearly as the black silhouette of the Master standing in the market street, his hands down and blue luminous eyes unblinking.

"Do you intend to fight me in this pitch?" asked the Master.

Triton scowled at him. Then he lifted the trident high, aiming for the surface. Its glow gathered into the middle fork, and then the light shot forth in a single glowing speck, rising into the water as it flew towards the pinnacle of the palace. Then it bloomed, shedding starry light across Atlantica. Large shadows were cast by all beneath its glow. Merfolk and sea creatures shielded their eyes against the light. Even the Master squinted his eyes at the radiance.

"I thought as much," said the Master.

Triton frowned as he stared at the Master. Whatever this sorcery was, he knew it was more than just an attempt to blind him. There was more to this. He was planning something. He created this false night in order to advance to the next phase of his plan, whatever it might be.

And where was Bel'al? The dragon said he scattered portals across Atlantica, same as on the land. So why were they not appearing? Had he not produced as many as Triton hoped? Had used up his power while engaging with him in Athena's memorial garden? Or had it all been a trick to give him false hope? Was abandoning them to the enemy his own act of revenge?

Triton gripped the trident harder. No, he would not. The Solar King was not one for lies and cruelty. Something must be stalling him. Preventing him from taking action with haste. He was probably working behind the scenes at that very moment, racing to get his portals opened and stabilized. It would be up to Triton to buy time for him until then.

"Sebastian?" said Triton.

The crab poked his head out from behind Triton's crown. "Y-y-yes, sire?"

"Take the soldiers and go," ordered Triton, not taking his eyes off the Master. "Start evacuating Atlantica."

"E-evacuate!? But-but-but…to where!?"

"Anywhere! Just get everyone out of the city! And if you see any rings of fire, I order you to go through them as fast as possible!"

The Master narrowed his eyes. "So…the sorcerer intends to help you, does he? Finally abandoning his furtive ways."

Sebastian blinked at him. "Rings of fire? Here? In de ocean? Your majesty, what are you–?"

"Just do it!" barked Triton, causing Sebastian to hide back in his hair. He turned to face the soldiers. "That goes for all of you as well! Take as many of our people through them as you can!" He turned back to the Master, aiming the trident at him once more. "I will fight this monster myself!"

"But your majesty!" protested Sebastian.

"We're not about to leave you, sire!" said one of the mermen, brandishing his spear. "If we work together, we can–!"

"No!" interrupted Triton. "This foe is beyond any of you! I cannot fight him and protect you all at the same time! He is my opponent, and mine alone! If you truly wish to help me, then see to our people! Make sure they survive! Remember your oaths!"

"To Atlantica! To the people! To the crown!" the mermen said as one.

"And the people come before the crown!" Triton glanced over his shoulder to the mermen. "Now go! Protect our citizens!"

The mermen hesitated for a moment. Then, as one, they saluted Triton before swimming away, their forms casting dark shadows in the water beneath them.

"That includes you, Sebastian," said Triton.

Sebastian swam off Triton's head, floating in front of him. "Sire…"

"Get to Seahaven. Find my daughters. Make sure they escape. If anything happens to me, it will be up to them to lead our people. And I would have you there to help them."

Sebastian gulped. "M-m-me!?"

Triton nodded. "There is no one I trust more, my old friend."

"How touching…and wasted."

Triton and Sebastian turned their attention back to the Master. He was slowly clapping his hands, deliberately mocking in his action. "I would call your final commands admirable, Triton. That is, if they were not so utterly futile. Do not think I overlooked your daughters or your allies by coming here." He pointed to the surface. "As we speak, my forces are beginning their invasion of the land. They will strike with no less aggression than I bring against you and your people. Not even Anclagon or that reclusive pyromancer will be able to save them. Before this day is done, you and all the Alliance will fall to me."

The trident began to glow again in Triton's hands. "You overestimate yourself, Master! The Alliance will not be defeated so easily! You may be powerful, but one man is not an army! You made a mistake coming here alone!"

The Master chuckled. "Did I?"

"Dat's right, mon!" said Sebastian, folding his claws together as he locked eyes with the Master. "Did you really tink it would be dis easy? Dis is no mere merman before you! Dis is King Triton! Ruler of Atlantica! Commander and chief of de seven oceans! Master of de Trident! Why, if you had half a sand dollars' worth of sense in dat head, you would've at least brought a hundred of dem metal man tingies wit' you!"

Before Sebastian could say anything further, the Master drew his arms across and then flung them wide. The shadow aura around him returned, swelling in size. Triton and Sebastian saw the shadows around the turn darker. Slowly at first, and then with speed. They darkened till they were pitch enough to rival the black that now blocked out the sun. Even Triton's own shadow was affected, as though a hole to the center of the earth had opened under him.

"I never said I came alone," said the Master.

To the merman and crab's horror, a pair of glowing white eyes appeared in the king's shadow. Something was moving about in the darkness, accompanied by a feral hissing noise. Then came the scraping and rustling sound of something charging at them from inside the black.

"Your majesty, look out!" shouted Sebastian. He swam at Triton's face, shoving him with his claws.

Triton instinctively lurched back, and with a split instant to spare. A dark something sprang straight up out of the shadow, missing Triton by a hair and striking Sebastian. Triton felt something graze his chest and looked down to see four bleeding gashes raked into his left forearm. He clapped a hand to it, but his blood still swirled in the water.

The living shadow dropped back to the street. It was humanoid, but like a molten twisted shade of one mixed with several other species. Every inch of it was black. Its six arms were too long with too many joints. Its torso was too thin. Each finger of each hand was tipped with curved sharp claws. The elongated processes of its vertebrae protruded from its back like spines. It had a long serpentine body in the place of legs, the spines on its back becoming sharpened all the way down to the tip of its tail. Shredded black cloth was wrapped around it, its head and face hidden beneath a heavy black hood. It took growling, hissing breaths with every movement of its emaciated chest.

But it was the eyes that struck Triton. The white, glowing circular eyes that stared right at him. One glance and Triton knew there was no conscience in this creature. No capacity for mercy, or sympathy, or hesitation, or remorse. Just predatory instincts and obedience to the one who summoned it. It hissed at him, eyes narrowing as its tail flicked about.

"A demon…" Triton breathed. What else could he call it?

The black demon smiled at Triton. Its maw was no less luminous or menacing than the creature's eyes. Then it chewed, a harsh crunching sound coming from its mouth. It chewed some more and swallowed, then picked at something in its teeth with one of its claws. It opened its mouth wide, revealing the inside was as black as the rest of it. It dug its claw firmly between two teeth and pulled, dislodging whatever had been stuck in his jaws.

A piece of broken red shell floated down to the ground. Triton found himself staring at it, his mind not registering what it meant. That, or it refused to acknowledge it. But the truth was before him, laid out as one fragment of shell on the sea floor.

Sebastian was dead. The demon ate him.

"I told you, Triton," said the Master. A tendril of shadow snaked off him and grabbed the shell shard, pulling it into his hand. He clamped down and crushed it, reducing it to dust. "Today, I bring you despair."

The trident sprang to life in Triton's hands along with his anger. He bellowed as electricity arced across his body. He glowed with a dense yellow aura. He snapped the trident up and aimed at the Master, the weapon vibrating in his hands. Three faint colored lights appeared in the shaft, flickering for a moment before fading.

The Master smirked. "Better."

"Trident, destroy him!" Triton shouted.

A giant beam of electricity erupted off the trident, flying straight for the Master. The shadow demon leapt into its path. It was obliterated instantly, coming apart like a water balloon filled with ink. The black swirled through the water and dissipated. The trident's spell coursed towards the Master as a wall of shadow rose in front of him. The lightning hit the darkness and vanished inside it, devoured by the spell. It kept taking it in till the last thread of lightning was gone, and then the shadow vanished.

"How dare you!?" Triton yelled. He charged at the Master and thrust with the trident, intending to pierce him through the chest. A blade of darkness appeared in the Master's left hand and he swung it, intercepting the trident. The trident spat out sparks and arcs of electricity as the magics ground against each other, their wielder's eyes locked together as tightly as the weapons. Even with the light of the trident so close, not a trace of the Master's face was revealed.

"How dare you!?" Triton repeated, veins bulging across his body as the yellow aura swelled around him. "How dare you do that to Sebastian!?"

The Master gave a dismissive snort. Then he abruptly shoved Triton back, surprising him with his strength. Then the Master shot forward and slammed his free hand into Triton's stomach, sending him rolling across the sand. Triton clutched his stomach as he sat up, the wind driven out of him and the aura gone.

"And to answer your late advisor's question," said the Master. "Why would I bring a hundred clockmen…?"

The sounds of movement caused Triton to look up. Another black demon emerged from the shadow of a building behind the Master, walking on arms the size of trees as its underdeveloped legs flailed about in the water. Then a second one rose from the shadow of a seller's stand, crawling out on a hundred spiny legs like a centipede. Then a third monstrosity exited a home. Then a fourth followed it out. They emerged by the dozens and then too many for Triton to count, each one a nightmare unique it its build and lethality. The only thing they shared were their black coloration and their glowing white eyes and mouths within the shadow of their hoods.

And the shadow demons were not alone. Small insect-like machines began pouring out of the shadows, scurrying across the sands and swimming through the water like steel hermit crabs. Each bore a glowing yellow stone on its back. The metallic clink-clink of their six bladed legs began to fill the water as they streamed out of the darkness in an unending swarm, like colonies of ants driven from their homes by a flood.

"When I could bring tens of thousands of these?" The Master smirked, then pointed his sword towards the palace. "Go, my servants! Destroy the Alliance! Hunt its people! For each you capture, kill another! Leave nothing standing in your wake!"

The demons let loose a cacophony of shrieking cries in unison, filling the ocean with their voices. Then they scattered, racing to carry out the Master's bidding. The mechanical insects suddenly moved with a burst of urgency, surging forth amidst a clamor of metal.

"No!" shouted Triton. He swept the trident out and an orange beam shot forth, raking across a swarm of the machines. Ice enveloped them, freezing them in place. Triton then stabbed towards one of the demons as lightning built on the trident's forks, but suddenly a shard of black struck the trident, knocking his aim off and sending the lightning bolt wayward. The demon swam away unharmed as the bolt rose to the surface and then vanished into the black. Triton heard fresh screams, now accompanied by the voices of the demons and the crackle of electricity.

"You don't have time to help them, Triton," said the Master, pointing his black sword at the king. "Not so long as I'm here."

Triton scowled furiously at the Master, gripping the trident in both hands. "I will make you pay for this, Master! For Sebastian! My family! My people! For everything! I swear as king I will end you!"

The Master chuckled, brandishing his sword. "Come, then! Show me what the word of an Atlantican king amounts to!"

With a yell Triton swam straight at the Master, the trident glowing bright as they clashed weapons once more.


"Gone!?" King Benjamin bolted out of his chair, sweeping papers off his desk. "What do you mean the children are gone!?"

"They're all gone, sire!" said one of the three guards before him. "Every last one! Them, and a handful of the younger adults!"

"Where are they!?" demanded Ben.

"We don't know!" said the guard. "We only just started searching! It all happened so fast! And then the ocean!"

"But…every child in Glowerhaven!?" said one of the soldiers. "And at the same time? How is that possible?"

Ben grimaced as he leaned on the desk, arms shaking as he clenched his fists tight. He was not a man prone to violence, but right then he wanted to hit something out of frustration. Between the black ocean and the missing children, he had a gut feeling that something evil was afoot. And despite his authority as king, he felt powerless to do anything about them.

"This has to be Maelstrom's doing!" he said. "It must be! Who else would do something so foul as abduct children!?"

"What are your orders, sire?" asked the second soldier. "Do we begin searching?"

Ben looked to the telescope beside his window. He went to it and peered into the eyepiece, adjusting the knobs till the image was in focus. He could see the shoreline of the harbor, the black lapping up against the stone embankment. Beyond the dark waters, the sea appeared as it always had. The ships rose and fell in the swells, men running about their decks. It was the same on the shore, everyone thrown into a state of confusion and trepidation by the sudden change to the sea and the vanishing of Glowerhaven's youngest. It all reminded Ben of the final hours before a storm made landfall. One they were wholly unprepared for.

"No," he said finally.

The guards looked at him with shock. "N-no?"

"There isn't time!" said Ben. He looked away from the telescope. "By the gods and kings, I wish there was! But we don't have it! If that ocean is any indication, Maelstrom is about to make a move against us! Take a quarter of the soldiers and begin emptying the town! I want every non-combatant heading for the Emerald Woods before the hour is out! Tell them to take only the essentials! Have our remaining soldiers armed and at the shore on the double! Bring out every arrow, sword, and spear we have! Have any ship with armaments at the ready! And I want archers and cannons on all battlements!"

"Sir, what exactly are we preparing for here?" asked a guard.

"Invasion, sir!" Ben walked over to the swords hanging on the wall, taking one down. The leather-wrapped handle creaked in his hand as he grasped it tightly. "This is an invasion!"

The sound of distant screams caused Ben to turn around. He saw a commotion aboard one of the ships in the harbor. It was the naval flagship, the largest and most heavily outfitted vessel in the fleet. He marched back to the telescope and adjusted his focus.

His eye widened at what he saw. "What in the–!?"

Ben could only watch in helpless horror as Glowerhaven's flagship suddenly buckled, sinking in the middle. Then ten enormous squid tentacles, each as wide as a pull cart, burst out of the ocean and wrapped themselves around the wreckage of the ship. He saw sailors draw knives and grab gaff hooks and spears, but their weapons were as ineffectual as splinters against the beast below. The tentacles lay waste to the ship faster than anyone could hope to reach it. The sailors screamed and shouted as the monster in the black began dragging their vessel under the surface, leaving them to swim for their lives. But that too proved fruitless as they were pulled under one after another, able to utter a final cry of shock before they disappeared beneath the black waves.

An enormous set of fanged jaws burst from beneath another ship. The sailors barely had time to be surprised before the jaws bit into its hull as easily as bread crust. Then the creature began to lift it, hauling the vessel high up into the air. Black seawater ran off its form, revealing a long blue-gray serpentine body patterned with black triangular marks. The orange spiny fin atop its head unfurled like a sail, as did the fin that ran down its spine like an eel. Its belly was coated in large scales like a python. A long whip-like tendril tipped with an enormous pearl swung across the ship's masts, snapping them like toothpicks. Then the gleam of its gigantic yellow eyes appeared, glaring down on the humans far below. It kept rising higher and higher into the air until it was even taller than the castle.

"What…what is that thing!?" shouted one of the soldiers, his face as pale as paper. He needed to telescope to understand the sheer enormity of the monster.

Dread sucked the courage and breath from Ben. He knew what that creature was. It was described to him clearly in Eric and Ariel's account of Maelstrom's attack on the marina. It was Riptide, the same sea serpent Lara Anclagon fought! But it was supposed to be dead! She killed it! How could it survive the injuries she inflicted?

Riptide hissed around the ship in his mouth, men falling off the deck and rigging to tumble through the air before splashing into the water. He turned his head to the side, and then suddenly he swung it back with force, flinging the ship out into the town. Ben lifted his head from the telescope to see the ship fly through the air, turning slowly over. Then it crashed down among the homes and buildings, smashing the ship and two town blocks to pieces.

Riptide gnashed his teeth, spitting pieces of wood and rope out. Then he drew in a breath and roared, opening his jaws wide as he bellowed loud enough to rattle the castle windows.

Then the monsters came.

A horde of behemoths, titans, and leviathans of the sea emerged from the blackened harbor. Some Ben knew of from mythology, texts, and sailors. Others were completely alien to him but no less terrifying. Either way, their sudden appearance by the hundreds in the harbor left no chance for defense or evacuation. They immediately began laying waste to everything in their path as Riptide turned his attention on another hapless ship, striking down and taking it under the sea in one go. His tail rose out of the sea, reaching taller than the masts of a nearby ship before striking down and smashing the vessel and its crew flat into the water.

A bull seaclops hauled itself onto one of the piers, roaring as it raised its giant fists overhead. It swung its fists down at the people in front of it, smashing a dozen of them instantly. Its tentacles lashed out as it hauled itself forward, crushing people left and right and destroying anything else. The first arrows and spears began flying, but they were unable to do more than stick in its hide. The seaclops roared and turned its anger on the ship to its right, swinging its tentacles and arms wildly as it tore the ship apart. Two more seaclops pulled themselves onto the structure, attacking everything within range of their limbs.

Another set of oversized suckered tentacles flung out of the sea at the shoreline. They smashed through a row of shorefront buildings, reducing them to rubble and crushing anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path. The bulbous body and fleshy eyes of an immense kraken appeared as the beast crawled onto shore, whipping its tentacles around with destructive intent. Ben had to assume it was a kraken, because he could think of no other name for the monster. They were legendary among sailors, said to pull ships down during storms or attack those who strayed too far into the open sea. The merfolk were more than aware of them. But they said kraken's hunted in the far reaches of the open sea, where larger prey dwelt alongside them. What was one doing here? How had Maelstrom managed to wrangle this creature into its ranks?

A second and then a third kraken rose from the sea, attacking Glowerhaven town with no less savagery. One started grabbing people and shoving them under its bulk, their screams cut short shortly after they disappeared. Then a giant snake reared its head up on the far side of the harbor, red slit eyes standing out against its pure white scales. Then a second giant snake head emerged from the sea, followed by a third and fourth and fifth. The rest of the creature emerged as it pulled itself onto land with a pair of short yet powerful limbs attached to a long serpentine body, each head acting independently to pick off people and swallow them whole. A squat, carp-like face the size of a house rose from the deep, large tusks protruding from its toothy mouth as the fish monster pulled itself out of the water on its stubby yet powerful fins. It lay gasping on the shore for a moment, and then its fins began to morph, becoming four stumpy limbs. It pulled itself up and bellowed, then charged forward into a row of buildings. It smashed through them like a wrecking ball, knocking one down after the other without signs of stopping.

"Your majesty!" said one of the guards.

Ben only stared in shock as the monsters continued to come, wrecking their way further and further into the town. This had to be a nightmare. He had to be asleep right now. There was no other possibility. This was too horrifying, too terrible, too overwhelming to be real. He grabbed his arm and started pinching hard, bruising the skin. But he did not wake up. He must not be pinching hard enough. Yes, that was it! He had to try harder!

"Your majesty!"

Ben snapped out of his panic. He was acutely aware of the pain in his arm where he was pinching, and quickly let go. He turned to face the three guards, all looking at him with expectation and pleading for guidance.

"Your orders, sire!" said one of the guards.

Ben opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked back to the harbor. The monsters were making their way into the town in earnest now, knocking buildings down as easily as a child toppling a stack of wooden blocks. He could hear people screaming and crying as they fled for their lives.

"Sire!" pressed the guard. "What are your orders!?"

Riptide swung his head tendril down on a hapless ship, smashing it apart with explosive force. Then he rose and turned to face the castle. Ben felt the sea serpent was looking directly at him, those giant yellow eyes locked with his. Then Riptide roared and surged towards them, his new belly scales allowing him to slither across the earth as quickly as he swam in the sea. Houses were crushed under his bulk without slowing him in the slightest. The futile resistance of the guards offered no less hindrance, their arrows and cannonballs bouncing off his thick scaly hide.

Ben spun back to the guards. There was only one thing he could think to do.

"Run!"


King Gerrod flung open the main doors to Vorhaven castle, the massive oak timbers smacking against the gray stone with a clap like thunder. His polished steel breastplate shone as brightly as his pauldrons and vambraces, a short green cape attached to his shoulders. His armored war kilt clattered as he strode hurriedly across the muddy bailey, war axe in one hand and studded wooden shield in another. A group of knights followed behind him, all bearing their preferred armor and weaponry–longswords, axes, bows, maces, and more. Soldiers ran to and fro across the bailey, making ready for battle as fast as they could. Archers laden with longbows and quivers ran to the top of the wall, taking their positions. Civilians were pouring through the gates as fast as they could, making the drawbridge groan and creak under their combined footsteps. The children were notably absent, having vanished shortly before the chaos started.

"Everyone inside!" yelled a soldier above the noise as he ushered the crowd under the raised portcullis. "All able men are to report to the armory! Stay in line!"

"No pushing!" shouted another soldier. "There's plenty of room for all! Keep moving! Keep moving!"

Gerrod looked at the river of people heading for the castle keep, taking note of the fear and confusion on their faces. Then he turned his gaze to beyond the wall and moat, where he knew the town lay. He saw eight columns of smoke climbing into the sky, accompanied by distant screams and shouting. He grit his teeth angrily, clenching the handle of his axe.

"How did they get into the town!?" he growled as he quick marched for the stairs to the wall battlements. "Why didn't the lookouts raise the alarm!?"

"The lookouts were the first casualties, your highness!" said a knight sporting a bow and two quivers of arrows. "They were all struck at the same time!"

"The entire purpose of the lookouts was so that couldn't happen!" said another knight from inside his helm, a pair of short swords on his hips. "How were they able to coordinate this?"

"Doesn't matter how they did it!" said a third and very large knight as he rested his monstrous great sword across his shoulders, sunlight reflecting off the metal and his bald head. "Now we make them sorry they ever tried!"

"Indeed!" said Gerrod as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He stopped, turning to face them. "I want every able-bodied man armed and at the ready! Anyone who can handle a bow is to report to the battlements or the top of the towers! Take the women and enfeebled into the keep! Keep your eyes out for the children! They are to be protected at all costs, even if that be our lives! You two come with me! The rest of you to your posts! Hold to your oaths and hold the line! The walls of Vorhaven castle have yet to be breached, and I won't see it happen today!"

He lifted his axe high, raising his voice to address all who could hear. "Courage! Courage, men! Show them that Vorhaven men and Vorhaven steel have no equal! Might of a mountain!"

The knights and soldiers all raised their weapons as one. "Strong as the forest! Vorhaven endures eternal!"

Gerrod turned to the stairs and started climbing. Truthfully, he was putting on a brave face for his men. They looked to him for inspiration as much as direction. He could not show anxiety in front of them. But there was much anxiety in him. This attack had him rattled, both with its suddenness and its ferocity. The disappearance of the kingdom's children shook him no less. This all stunk of dark magic and ill intent. It had to be Maelstrom. This had to be their doing.

And he had a feeling they had yet to face the brunt of their assault.

Gerrod reached the top of the wall and looked over. The town was still under attack. He heard swords and shields clashing as fire after fire sprouted on the thousands of thatched roofs. People were streaming towards the castle, bottlenecking at the drawbridge as soldiers covered their escape amongst the homes and buildings. Yet in all this, Gerrod did not see the one thing he expected to find amidst the chaos.

The enemy.

"Where are they!?" yelled Gerrod. "Where are they coming from!?"

A soldier shoved his way through the gates and took the stairs three at a time, panting as he saluted to the king. "Sire! Report from the frontlines!"

"What's going on out there!?" demanded Gerrod. "Who's attacking!?"

The guard swallowed nervously. "We…we don't know!"

"Don't know!?" Gerrod marched over the soldier, towering over him. "What do you mean you don't know!?"

"We don't know, sire!" said the soldier. "Every man who's encountered them hasn't survived! No one's been able to report who it is!"

"That's impossible!" stated one of the knights. "Someone must've seen them! How could they–?"

"AAAWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

King Gerrod whipped his head back to the town. So did everyone else as the howl continued. A quiet settled upon Vorhaven as all ears turned to the sound. It continued on and then dwindled off, leaving an eerie quiet in its wake.

"What was that?" said one of the archers.

"Sounds like a wolf!" said another.

"What's a wolf doing at a battlefield?" said one of Gerrod's knights. "Much less in the town?"

The howl repeated louder than before. Then more joined it. The combined calls filled the air, making hairs on necks stand up and hearts beat faster as bodies and bravery started to quiver.

"Th-those aren't wolves…" said the soldier nervously as the howling continued. "That sounds bigger! And more than a pack!"

"There!" An archer was leaning over the battlements, pointing to the town. "I see one! I see the enemy!"

"Where!?" shouted Gerrod, making his way to the man.

"Southeast of the western plaza!" shouted the archer. "It's coming right for us!"

"Archers, take aim!" ordered Gerrod. The men quickly nocked their arrows, holding them at the ready. "Fire at will!"

Dozens of archers began firing their arrows into the town. Gerrod tried to see what they were aiming at, but the buildings blocked his view. He kept catching glimpses of their foe before vanished behind some home or store or stable, using the town to hide itself. Who or whatever it was, it moved with an unnatural agility.

"What is that thing!?" shouted an archer before loosing his arrow.

"Hit it! Hit it!" yelled another.

"It's moving fast!" said a third, firing off a quick pair of arrows. "Lead your shots, lads!"

"It's over the moat!" shouted the archer who first spotted it.

Gerrod looked down over the battlement to see something leap over the moat. He only caught a glimpse, but already he knew it was no human. Not with how it climbed the wall with the dexterity and speed of a squirrel, dodging arrows as it went. Even when two arrows found their marks in its shoulders it did not slow.

"Your majesty, get back!" shouted one of the knights that accompanied Gerrod. He put himself before his king, brandishing his longsword in both hands as his comrade raised his shield and war hammer. "Swords at the ready, men! Be prepared to–!"

The attacker suddenly appeared on the battlement in front of them. The knights made the mistake of being surprised, costing them a split second. It proved fatal when the attacker slashed the shielded knight's throat and then bit into the neck of the other one, cracking it with one powerful chomp. He went stiff for a moment and then limp, his sword falling from his lifeless hands. The other knight dropped to the ground, gurgling and choking as his life bled out of him.

For a moment, Gerrod thought it was a wolf. It had all the features of one. The thick gray and black fur, hackles raised in anger. The long bushy tail. The four sets of sharp claws. The triangular ears atop its head. The jowls of its long snout pulled back in a snarl to bare its large yellow teeth, half of them sunk into the dead knight's throat. The fearsome yellow eyes boring straight into the king's soul, making him feel as small and weak as a child lost in the woods at night.

But this was no wolf. Wolves did not stand on their hind legs like a man. Wolves did not have arms and legs and fingers like a man. Wolves did not have the shredded remnants of a man's clothes draped on them. And there was never a wolf or man of this monstrous size, large as Gerrod himself, who was already a giant among men.

"It's a werewolf!" exclaimed Gerrod.

The werewolf attacked before Gerrod could swing his axe. It dropped the knight and lunged at him, clawed hands outstretched as it opened its mouth wide. Gerrod shoved his shield into its face, blocking the teeth as the clawed hands and feet tore at his armor. It ripped through his leather padding, cutting deep lacerations into his skin as it knocked him onto his back. With a yell Gerrod moved with the momentum and shoved the creature up, launching it off himself and off the battlement. It flipped over in the air as it fell into the bailey, only to land crouched on its feet like a cat. It snarled up at him, grasping one of the arrows in its body and ripping it out.

"Kill it!" someone shouted. Immediately a hail of arrows came down on the werewolf. It was able to dodge some, but not all. Arrows found their marks in its back, legs, and neck. It sunk to the ground, giving the archers more opportunity to riddle it with shots. Arrows jutted from it like the back of a porcupine. The werewolf threw its head back amidst the salvo, letting loose a call much like the one from earlier. Then it slumped forward, dead.

"Your majesty!" shouted an archer. "Your majesty, look! At the eastern plaza!"

Gerrod scrambled upright, leaning over the edge of the battlement. There, out in the middle of the now vacant eastern plaza, was a man. A single, tall man. He wore only a pair of dark green trousers held up by a black belt. The rest of him was bare skinned–even his feet. His torso was chiseled with muscle, his blonde hair cut short and haphazardly. He had no weapon on him. Not even a knife. He looked like a man waiting for something, watching the people of Vorhaven flee for the safety of their castle and its soldiers.

"Who is that?" said one of the archers. "Is he one of ours?"

"No," said Gerrod. Something about the man made his skin crawl. He held his hand out. "Someone lend me their spyglass!"

"Here, sire!" A man from a nearby tower waved to Gerrod, and then chucked the instrument to him. Gerrod set his axe down and deftly caught it in one hand, quickly bringing it to his eye. It took a moment to find the man with it, but he did.

It was Richard Avitas! Gerrod had only met him a handful of times before, but there was no forgetting that face or those eyes. But there was something tangibly changed about the former lord turned traitor. The man Gerrod encountered in Seahaven was one of groomed nobility, all poise and class to mask his then-unknown avarice and cruelty. The man he saw now, however, was no such thing. There was a wildness about him. A primal fury behind the scruff on his face and the glint in his eyes, as if a touch of rabid madness lay within.

Richard suddenly looked right at Gerrod and smirked. Gerrod took a step back, pulling the spyglass from his eye. He saw him! Richard saw him! Just that one look sent chills through every part of him. He dropped the spyglass and grabbed his axe again, ignoring the tinkling of glass shattering against stone.

Suddenly Richard threw his head back and yelled at the top of his lungs, his muscles taught with the force of the noise. It carried clearly to the castle and beyond.

"ATTACK!"

The ground began to tremble. Subtle at first, almost too low to be noticed. But then it grew, causing pebbles to dance and water to ripple. Gerrod looked down at his feet as the rumble increased. A dust cloud rose out in the woods as trees shook and swayed. Some fell down, unable to withstand whatever was now stampeding for Vorhaven. The dust cloud reached the edge of the town as the tremors grew into the start of an earthquake.

"Aaaahhh!"

Gerrod whipped his head to the side to see another werewolf was on the battlement. The beast had an archer pinned underneath it and was tearing into him with abandon. Then two more werewolves sprang up onto the wall, laying into the first humans within reach.

Now screams came from the townsfolk. Garrod looked out and saw the dust cloud came from an army of werewolves. There were thousands of them, each as big and ferocious-looking at the one that was just slain! They howled and barked and growled as they came, running faster than any man could hope to. Everyone in their way was mowed down, a victim of their claws and teeth and strength. Gerrod saw victim after victim disappear beneath them, like an avalanche overtaking a forest.

"Fire! Fire at will!" Gerrod shouted, pointing to the town. "Stop them before they breach the castle!"

He glanced at Richard for a moment, the werewolves moving past him like water around a rock. Then they struck the crowd, scattering them as others began leaping across the moat to scale the castle wall and overwhelm Vorhaven's guards.

Even from far away, Gerrod could tell Richard was smiling.


King Willard stood on the balcony of his bedchambers, looking out upon the black sea. He swirled a goblet of wine in his right hand, left hand resting on the hilt of the cutlass belted to his hip. Yet he wore no armor or helm, and his crown sat perfectly perched upon his groomed head. He was dressed for ceremony rather than combat. His air was not one of fear or surprise. It was one of expectation.

It was finally here. The day Maelstrom promised. The day they brought this aggravating quietude to an end. The day that would bring him one step closer to his ultimate goal. That would make all his sacrifices worthwhile.

He spared a glance to the north, where he knew the kingdoms of his former allies lay. He could easily guess the faces and actions of their sovereigns. How they must be running about in a panic, yelling orders to soldiers and knights and advisors as they tried to make a stand against the invasion. Shouting whatever commands they thought might save them. Mounting defenses and formulating strategies as fast as their meager minds could allow, desperate to find some path to victory before the hourglass ran out, unaware the sand stopped flowing long ago. No doubt that fat childish Ben would be ordering an evacuation of the town, their king too obese and old to be of any use in a battle. Gerrod would be marching around that barnyard he called a castle dressed in his "armor," shouting through that rat's nest of a beard he was so proud of as he brought his people inside. The castle would be no better than a cage. Triton was probably shooting off that trident he loved so much at that very moment, trying to buy time for the merfolk and fish to escape.

And Seahaven…oh, what he would give to be a fly on their wall right then! He could imagine the utter horror and confusion on Ariel's face as she watched her beloved ocean turn black. Could imagine Eric scampering around the palace in that grimy sailor's attire he so favored, that stick-figure advisor of his on the verge of a heart attack as he struggled to keep up. Lara Anclagon dragging a scared-stiff Melody around, debating whether to take her and run or stay and fight. All those guards marching to position, not one of them having ever tasted so much as a morsel of real combat.

He felt a small bit of pity for his former allies as he took a sip of wine, if only because of how pitiful their resistance would ultimately prove. They had no idea what was coming. What Maelstrom was about to unleash. They were stacking bricks to block a tsunami, realizing too late their efforts would be washed away along with everything in its path. There was no victory to be had this day. No retreat. No amnesty. Only defeat and destruction awaited the enemies of the Master.

Someone started pounding fiercely on his door. "Your majesty! Your majesty!"

"Enter," Willard called back, taking another sip of his wine.

A guard all but burst through the door, running up to Willard and saluting. "Sire! There's an emergency! The ocean is–!"

"I'm well aware, soldier," said Willard. He took another sip. He heard the guard shift, confused by his ruler's lack of distress. "Well? What is it?"

"What are your orders, sire? How should we ready our defenses?"

Willard looked down at the wine in his goblet, then back at the ocean. "We don't."

The guard flinched. "We…we don't?"

"No." Willard drank the rest of his wine in one swig. "Have all our forces stand down. Prepare four armed escorts and have them meet me at the royal shore. Under no circumstances are our men to attack."

"Sire?" said the guard, as perplexed as he was unsettled by the command.

"You heard me," said Willard. He turned and strode into his chambers, pausing by the guard's side. He fixed a wilting gaze upon him. "Tell the men to stand down. Do not attack under any circumstances. That's an order."

The guard gave a hesitant salute. "As…as you wish, sire."

Willard watched the man leave, closing the door behind him. He gave a dismissive sniff and went to the table in his chambers, setting the goblet down on the chess board. He considered it for a moment, then reached down and slid one of the white pawns forward. Simpletons like that guard could not possibly understand methods or motives such as his. Today the Alliance would meet its end at the tip of Maelstrom's swords. Everything they had created and cherished would burn. But not him. Not Strihaven. He would not join the vanquished. He and his kingdom would survive, no matter the cost. No matter what they had to sacrifice.

Willard slid the pawn back into place and then picked up the white queen. Then, with one sweep of his hand, he knocked all the white pieces off the board. They hit the floor and scattered, rolling across the stones. Then he set the white queen back on the board, alone against the entirety of the opposing force. So long as Willard accomplished his goal, he would pay any price. Even if he had to shake hands with Death herself to do it.

So long as he got what was rightfully his.


Lara was worried her heart had not recovered from the damage the blue flames caused her, because it skipped the next three beats. That, or she was in the middle of a terrible nightmare. But to her horror, the pain in her cheek as she bit it was very real, as was the pounding of her heart against her ribs as the black ocean continued to haunt her vision. It was black all the way to where water touched sky in an unbroken plane. She had no doubt the Master was behind this. It reeked of his sinister black magic. Question was, what was he planning to do with it? What was he after?

Her answer came marching onto shore.

A clockman waded out of the surf in front of the palace. Its glowing green eyes fixed on the building as its right hand was replaced by a sword, the barrels of the chain gun in its left arm spinning in preparation. It let out a metallic shriek and charged towards the palace, reaching the gardens in a matter of seconds. A guard saw it and ran to stop it. He barely had his sword drawn when the thing cut him down with one stroke. Melody gasped, covering her mouth in shock and horror as the man crumpled to the ground like puppet with its strings cut. Red poured out of him, staining the sandstone path as the clockman continued unimpeded.

Then a second clockman emerged from the sea, stepping on the dead guard's body as it followed after its comrade.

Then a third emerged.

Then a fourth.

A fifth.

A sixth.

Ten more.

Twenty more.

A hundred more.

Too many more.

They came in numbers that defied belief. Miles of shoreline were turned dark by their black bodies and their inky footprints. They emerged from the sea like ants swarming out of their nest, ready to overwhelm everything in their path. The sounds of gunfire reached the palace, accompanied by distant muzzle flashes. The clockmen's first victims fell instantly, unable to stand against the machines' blades or guns. Some clockmen stopped on land and grabbed their chests, pulling them open to spill out dozens of small six-legged machines. The devices scampered away like crabs, latching onto the nearest human they could find before a black portal opened underneath, human and machine falling in before the dark closed behind them.

Before the terror of it all could fully strike Melody and Lara, the prow of a gunship breached through the ocean. Its prow rose into the air before splashing down in the water, send out a black wake as it bobbed. Thick black smoke poured out its twin stacks, steam engines roaring as it turned to aim the triple cannons of its six gun batteries towards shore. It was just like the one that assaulted the marina.

Unlike that ship, however, this one was not alone.

Like a pod of metal dolphins, hundreds of gunship prows speared out of the water. The air was quickly filled with their black smoke as they made ready, turning broadside to the shore as their batteries swung into position.

And more than a dozen of those guns were aimed straight at the palace.

Lara grabbed Melody around the waist and leapt off the roof. Melody screamed with alarm as they fell. Lara spread her wings wide, slowing their descent as she aimed for Melody's balcony. They landed hard, both girls falling to the ground. Lara was up and scrambling instantly, grabbing the back of Melody's dress and dragging her into the room. Her hair and eyes began to glow as flames sprouted on her skin, the first pieces of her armor forming.


Jaws the pirate stood on the prow of the flagship, listening as the last of Maelstrom's war fleet made their appearance. He would be smirking were it not for the fact the lower half of his face was made of metal, his interlocking square teeth set together–hence his name. His legs and right arm were just as mechanical, along with a fair number of his internal parts. He traded flesh, blood, and bones for steel, oil, and witchcraft years before this day. Such weak things were not suited to his chosen profession of piracy. Especially not under his captain. He pulled a spyglass out of his jacket and held it to his right eye, chuckling as he saw the first flashes of powder from the clockmen's guns, followed by the distant pops and the screams of their downed targets.

How Jaws wished he could be out there in the thick of it. The looks of terror. The cries of fear and anguish. The feel of the recoil as the gun in his right arm mowed down fleeing mobs. The sensations as his sword slashed and hacked through the few brave and daft enough to get in his way. It would be like the old days, pillaging and ravaging as he pleased. But that was not to be his task. Not this time. He was hand-picked by his captain for this command, and he would perform as expected.

A pirate with glassy crystals for eyes and a dented plate over the right half of his skull marched up to him. His head kept twitching to the left as he spoke. "Guns loaded, Mister Jaws! Awaitin' yer orders!"

Jaws closed his eyes and breathed. Now that this moment was here, he wanted to savor it. There was something delicious about the last few seconds before a raid started. Like the first delectable taste of food on the tongue before the flavors were fully realized.

"Mister Jaws?" said the pirate.

Jaws lowered the spyglass and snapped it shut. "Hoist the colors, Mister Glint! Have all ships fire on my command! Let's tenderize these landlubbers before we cut 'em up!"

Glint grinned maliciously, baring browned and broken teeth. "Aye, sir!"

"Mister Glint?" said Jaws as the pirate started to leave. He stopped, turning to face his superior. "Make sure the captain's orders are followed! Hammer the town all they want, but no volleys on the palace beyond the first ten! No spooklight shells on it, either! Oh, and…"

He turned to face Glint, the crinkle in his eyes giving away his attempt to smile. "Make sure the bow batteries know what they're aiming for. I'd hate for Seahaven's newest knight to not get our 'gift!'"

The grin on Glint's face spread even further. "Aye, sir! T'would be a right shame if we didn't congratulate her!" He smacked the plate in his head, the crystals in his eyes suddenly glowing yellow. "All ships prepare to fire! Bow batteries on yer targets! Hoist the colors!"

Jaws chuckled as he heard the whir and groan of gun batteries rotating all around him, each making final adjustments. He saw one ship after another raise Maelstrom's standard high atop their central flagpole–a black skull within a black whirlpool, set against a blood-red background.

He clapped his hands to his ears as he heard the guns stop moving. "Fire!"

Jaws did not hear the guns fire so much as he felt them. The concussive roars of the gunpowder struck him repeatedly, causing him to stagger to stay upright. The air instantly smelled of sulfur and flame as the first barrage rose into the air.


"Sarah!?" Isaac shouted as he kept running around the house. "Sarah!? Kids!? Where are you!?"

In his panic to find his daughter and his charges, Isaac did not hear a sound like distant thunder, as if a thousand lightning bolts had gone off a hundred miles away. Nor did he hear a faint whistling that grew perpetually louder. Not until it sounded as if the source was right in front of him. He paused halfway up the stairs to the second floor, listening to it.

The shell hit the orphanage and exploded. A cloud of blue fire burst out, sweeping through every corner of the building. A split instant later the shockwave blew it apart, reducing the once proud home to scattered burning debris. The tree beside the pond ignited, its branches ablaze before it toppled over and fell into the water.


"Run!" shouted John, waving his dishcloth frantically outside the door to the Mermaid's Trove. People were already running for their homes, remembering all too clearly the sounds made by the first gunship that assaulted Seahaven. "Get outta th' town! Ye're gonna wind up in smithereens if one o' them things comes down on yer roof!"

The shells announced themselves with whistling and then explosions and flashes of blue fire. John saw one building after another ripped to shreds by the bombardment. He saw flashes at the palace as its seaward face was blasted. Then one of the shells came down on the bakery across the street. It exploded, flinging out lethal shrapnel that bounced all around with high-pitched twang noises. The shockwave smacked into John like a fist, flinging him back into the door and shattering it as he flew inside. He smashed against the end of the bar and slumped there. Patrons yelled and screamed in shock, confusion, and terror as one explosion after another rocked the building. Blue flames covered the doorway, preventing anyone from using it to escape.

John groaned as he stirred, his mind and vision returning to him. Colors and stars swam before his eyes. His ears rang with a single shrill tone, and his head pounded fiercely. He tried to move his legs but found he could not. He had no feeling below his hips. His chest he felt plenty of. It ached as if someone had driven nails into him.

The colors cleared from his sight. People were clambering out the broken windows of the tavern. Dozens of holes had been punctured through his clothes by the shrapnel. Already his shirt and apron were turning red. He touched a hand to his chest, seeing the crimson on his fingertips. It was getting harder to breathe as the beating of his heart became increasingly pronounced.

"Oh…" he said quietly. "Well, that ain't good, is it?"

He looked up, seeing people shouting and screaming as they ran about, trying to find another way out of the tavern as the windows were jammed with fleeing bodies. He saw their mouths move, but he could not hear them over the ringing. Another shell hit, rattling the building and knocking down the shelves behind the bar. He felt the vibrations in the floor as bottles shattered. Then a bottle of wine rolled out from behind the bar, making a slow arc around till it bumped against his leg.

"How 'bout that?" he said out loud, barely able to hear his own voice. "I was just thinkin' I could use a drink."

He reached for the bottle, his arm leaden and shaky, but he managed to grasp the neck of it and pull it into his lap. "I was savin' ye fer when Lara an' th' princess visited 'ere again. But I'm guessin' that won't be happenin' now, will it? Oh well. I won't tell 'em if ye won't." He pulled a corkscrew from his shirt pocket and twisted it in before pulling the cork out. He did not remember it taking this much effort to open a bottle before.

"'Ere we go now!" he breathed as he set the cork aside. He brought the bottle to his lips and drank. He took large gulping mouthfuls, letting it wash over his tongue and throat. He set it down and gave a satisfied "ah!", wiping his hand across his mouth. "Would be a right shame t' waste a vintage like ye!"

He took another swig and looked up at the ceiling. "Always said I'd die in 'ere. Never thought it'd be so literal, though. Still, better than wastin' away in a bed as a crippled old goat at th' end o' me days. Now if only I had a pretty young thing t' sing me off t' sleep. At least t' share this drink with."

He smiled as he remembered when Melody and Lara sang together at the tavern. The two of their voices filled the space to the rafters, commanding the attention of every single ear. That, and the smiles on both their faces. On all the faces that graced his bar through the years.

"Aye…" John took another swing and rested his head back against the bar, closing his eyes. "That'd be grand, wouldn't it?"

A pair of shells hit the tavern and detonated, sweeping it with blue fire before blasting it apart.


Melody heard the drawn-out thunder of the gunships firing, the sound resonating in her room. She saw the fires disappear off Lara's body, leaving her covered in black obsidian armor, half her face hidden beneath that demonic faceplate. The air was filled with pops of clockmen bullets and the shrill cries of pain and falling shells as they rained down from the sky.

Lara dove for the bed and rolled off the side, landing hard on the floor and shoving Melody down. Her shoulder and hip flared with pain from how she fell. Then Lara was on top of her and rolled, cocooning her wings around them both as she covered Melody's head with her arms.

"No matter what, stay with me!" Lara shouted. Melody curled up tight against her, body tensed as they both waited.

The first shell struck Melody's balcony, tearing it to pieces and then turning the wall below to rubble before it exploded, blowing out a chunk of the palace in a red and orange fireball. Shrapnel and debris shot through the room like bullets, tearing into walls, doors, cabinets, drawers, paintings, and glass. It struck Lara's wings and bounced off with sharp pwang noises as the shockwave bucked Melody's bed completely onto its side, shattering the frame and dumping the mattress on top of them. The balcony gave up at fell, crashing down into the garden. Cracks raced into Melody's room as the weakened floor began to collapse. Then a second shell and another shockwave hit, flinging them and the bed against the wall. There was a crash as the roof above gave way, falling into the middle of Melody's room and cratering more of the floor.

Melody's head swam as Lara unfurled her wings, shoving the bed off them. She was seeing in triple, unable to remember where she was or what was happening. She could not hear anything except a high-pitched ringing. She coughed as dust and smoke scratched her throat and lungs. Her eyes watered and leaked. She saw Lara's blurry face in front of her, her faceplate moving in place of her mouth. But she could not hear what she was yelling.

"What!?" yelled back Melody.

Another shell slammed into the palace somewhere, shaking it violently. All at once Melody's senses snapped back into place. The ringing stopped as her vision focused, seeing her demolished room. There was a hole where the wall and windows used to be, allowing her a straight view to the ships filling the ocean. Fire was already consuming her furniture and bed.

They were under attack!

"Run!" Lara yelled, hauling Melody upright as two more shells struck above them. A part of the ceiling fell nearby, and fresh cracks rapidly spread through it. "Go! Go! Go!"

Melody ran for the door as she heard another shell fall towards them. Lara was pushing on her back, hurrying her along. Melody grabbed her doors and grabbed the handles. Suddenly Lara snatched her and pulled her back, cocooning them in her wings. A moment later a shell landed squarely inside her room and detonated.

A wall of searing heat struck Melody. She felt as if she were caught between a volcano and the world, and the volcano was about to be dropped on her. The air was forced out of her chest as her feet left the ground. Her hearing disappeared completely, leaving only silence. She went flying out of Lara's grasp and through the air. Then her front struck something hard and flat, bouncing off it and landing on her back. Her body was numb, and then it hurt. From the top of her head to the ends of her hair, she hurt.

Melody groaned and rolled over, her hearing once again dominated by ringing. Her room was gone. The bed. The furniture. The floors. The walls. The dresser. The closet. All of it. There was nothing but a burning ruined hole. Every single thing inside it had been obliterated, devoured by raging flames, or collapsed through the now absent floor.

"Mel!" Lara ran to her, picking her up. Her armor was hot to the touch, like metal that had been left in the sun to long. "Mel, are you okay!?"

"I'm *cough cough* I'm alright!" Melody shouted. She tasted blood and coughed, red spittle flying off her lips. Another shell hit the palace, shaking it.

"Mel, you gotta listen to me!" Lara shouted. "We gotta get out of here! This place will come down on us any second with how they're firing!"

Lara whistled sharply three times. Her sword came flying to her out of the fire. She caught it by the hilt and unsheathed it, tossing the scabbard aside. The blade ignited instantly, fire consuming the silver metal as it grew. The fires billowed on it and then vanished, revealing the black claymore it had become.

Her knives, however, did not come at her call. Instead, a cloud shattered metal flew out from Melody's burning room, falling to the ground at Lara's feet. She growled as she beheld what remained of her loyal blades. A shell hit just below Melody's room, sending a belch of flame and debris through the hole. Lara shielded them with her wing, and then the fires gathered into the claymore, causing it to glow briefly before it quieted. Pieces of gold went rolling over the floor towards them, stopping by their feet.

It was Melody's locket. The shell and chain were destroyed. Scattered among the shards were what could only be parts of William's ring, the blue diamond splintered into many fragments. Both as obliterated by the shell's explosive force as Lara's knives.

"My necklace!" Melody exclaimed, reaching for the remains. "Will's ring!"

"Leave them!" Lara shouted, grabbing Melody's wrist and pulling her away. "We gotta run!"

Another shell hit near the room, blasting the wall apart and throwing Lara and Melody forwards. Melody felt debris cut her skin and face, skinning her hands and forearms on the floor. Then she felt Lara grab her hand and pull her upright.

"Come on!" Lara shouted as they heard more incoming shells. "We stay here and we're dead!"

Melody did not look back as she ran with Lara. She felt the shells hit the palace and explode, each shockwave and spray of debris threatening to blow them off their feet. She heard stone, wood, and glass shatter behind them, as if the shells were chasing them down the hall. She just let her legs and feet move on their own, following after Lara as the palace continued to shake and rumble. Her room was gone. Her clothes were gone. Her bed was gone. Her ocean collection was gone. Her locket was gone. Her ring was gone.

It was all gone.

A shell hit above them right as they ran by, blasting a section of the ceiling down. Lara yanked Melody out of the way, narrowly evading a pile of debris that fell where she had been standing. They kept running as the ceiling collapsed behind them, threatening to crush them underneath if they slowed. Then it stopped as they reached the corner and darted around it.

Lara and Melody found themselves face to face with a pair of clockmen. Their glowing green eyes fixed on them immediately, glowing brightly.

"Lara!" Melody yelled in alarm.

Lara flung her wings out wide to shield Melody as she darted for the clockmen, her feet tearing holes into the floor as she went. The clockmen had just started raising their chain gun arms when Lara swung her sword into them, the edge heated glowing hot. It cut through their chests and cores like butter, leaving glowing molten metal and broken crystal for wounds. The clockmen toppled back, the light fading from them.

The sound of gunfire and the sparks of ricochets on Lara's wings caused her to look down the hall. A third clockman was coming at them, lifting its gun arm as it deployed its sword. Lara kept her wings outstretched lest it send any bullets their way again. "Get against the wall, Mel! And cover your ears!"

Melody quickly did as Lara asked, pressing herself flat to the wall as she clamped her hands to her ears. Lara's sword began to glow, fire crawling down the blade. The clockman continued to close on her as she drew it back, handle grasped firmly in both hands.

"Claymore…!" Lara swept her wing out, sending a jet of air at the clockman and sending its aim wild. "Blast!"

A jet of orange and yellow flame erupted off Lara's sword as she swung it, scorching the hallway as it went. It struck the clockman and sent it flying back, its metal body heated to the point it glowed. The crystal in its chest cracked and then shattered, unable to withstand the sudden and searing heat. The inferno carried the machine down the hall and then blew it out what remained of a window, sending it tumbling through the air before crashing into the ground far below.

Lara swung her sword to the side, extinguishing the fire. The entire hallway was blazing now–too hot and dangerous for Melody to traverse. She held her hand out to it and the flames came flying to her. She inhaled, drinking them down as she made their heat and strength her own.

Melody lowered her hands, seeing the scorched hall and the cooling body of the broken clockman. "Is…is it safe now?"

Lara turned to her. "No! And you're not gonna be till I get you out of here!"

"But…!" Melody looked back the way they came. The hallway was an untraversable path of rubble and fire now. "What about my dad? And my mom?"

When Lara gave no answer, Melody turned to her. "Lara, what about my parents?"

Though she could not see all her face because of the faceplate, Melody could tell Lara was grimacing by how she gripped her sword and the flick in her tail. "My duty is to protect you. I swore an oath to that. Which means I have to keep you alive above everyone else."

"But my parents!" Melody started to protest. "And my–!"

"I know!" Lara cut her off. "I know, Mel! I don't want to leave them either! And if we find them or the rest of your family, we won't! But we can't help anyone if we get killed looking for them! Long as we're alive, we can still do something!" She held out a hand to her. "Come on! We gotta keep going!"

Melody looked at Lara's hand, and then up at her face. There was a glow to her eyes, same as her luminescent orange hair. The last time she saw Lara in this form, she terrified as much as she confused her. Just as much when she brought down Undertow, then the clockmen, then Morgana, and then Riptide. Now, however, Lara seemed like the only safe and sure thing Melody had left as her world burned around her. That as long as she stayed with her, there was a chance they would all make it. She was right, if grudgingly so. There was no point trying to save everyone else if they lost their lives in the process.

"Rule four?" said Melody.

Lara nodded. "Rule four–we stay alive."

"Okay…" Melody took Lara's hand. "Let's go!"

Lara pulled Melody onto her feet and the two started running once again.


While Melody and Lara were running one way, Ariel and Grimsby were two stories below and heading in the opposite direction as they searched for them. Ariel covered her head as yet another shell tore into the palace, dropping plaster, wood, and stone from the ceiling. She heard people screaming and shouting as they ran about, trying to find a way out or somewhere to hide from the assault. Grimsby was behind her, struggling to stay upright as the palace shook yet again.

"Your majesty, we must leave!" shouted Grimsby. "It's too dangerous!"

"Not without my family!" Ariel shouted as she ran down the hallway.

"But they could be anywhere! And in all likelihood, they are fleeing this place even as we speak! Or with Miss Anclagon!"

"I am not leaving them!" Ariel yelled with finality.

At that moment a maid burst out of a room in front of them, looking about in panic and terror. Her eyes widened when she saw Ariel and Grimsby running her way. "Your majesty!? What are you doing here!?"

"Never mind me!" said Ariel as she approached. "Have you seen my husband!? Or my daughter!?"

"N-no!" stammered the maid. "I haven't seen either of–!"

A shell struck the hall below them, knocking Ariel and the maid down. She started to get up, only to hear the whistle of another incoming shell. It was louder than any she heard before.

"Your majesty, look out!" shouted Grimsby.

One moment Ariel saw Grimsby lunging for her, throwing his body across hers. The next thing she knew the hallway exploded and the maid disappeared in a cloud of fire and dust. Ariel was slammed into the wall by the shockwave, striking her head sharply against the stones before she and Grimsby went rolling away. She lay sprawled out on the floor, her body both numb and in agony. Her hearing went out, replaced by a droning whine. She groaned as she shakily pushed herself onto her hands and knees. She felt something wet on her forehead and touched it, alarmed to see red staining her fingertips. The same red seeping from the multiple lacerations the shrapnel tore into her arms and legs.

A choking sound reached Ariel's ears. She looked up and saw the maid lying on the floor in front of her, chest heaving as she struggled to breathe. Ariel scrambled to her, kneeling as she rolled her onto her back.

"Help…me…!" the maid pleaded, her eyes wide and pleading.

"Just hang on!" Ariel said. She did not know what else to say or do. The woman's bodice was already dripping with crimson and her skin was growing cold. The maid reached out and clutched Ariel's hands as she drew fast gulping breaths, her life disappearing through the holes the shrapnel tore through her chest. The sounds of the gunships rang in the background amidst the terrified screams, the palace shaking as a fresh bombardment tore into it.

"Your…majes…ty…" choked out the maid, clinging tight to Ariel.

"I'm here!" said Ariel, unable to keep her voice from cracking. "You're going to be fine! Just stay with me! Keep your eyes open and–!"

Ariel watched in horror as the maid gave a final agonal gasp and then her head fell to the side. Her body went limp, hands becoming lifeless as her soul departed for the Otherworld. Her pupils dilated, eyes staring blankly into nothing as Death clouded them forever. They were like the eyes of a doll.

Ariel stared at the maid's body for a moment. Then she suddenly recoiled away from her and backed into the wall, as if the body might deliver a venomous bite at any second. A woman just died in front of her. She died! But how? Just a moment ago she was alive! She was breathing and speaking and scared and…now she as not. She was gone. Her life ended in an instant. It all happened so fast. Too fast. Was life really this fragile? Was that all it took to end it? To end her?

A coughing sound reached Ariel. She spun around and saw Grimsby's slumped form against the wall nearby.

"Grimsby!?" Ariel coughed dust out of her throat as she ran to him, almost tripping on her dress. "Grimsby, are you–!?"

She heard him cough loudly, then saw him lift his head. He was covered in dust. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his hair was disheveled. His favorite pocket watch lay beside him, the glass fractured like a spider's web. A large piece of wood was plunged through his chest.

And he was leaking black blood. It trickled from all his wounds. The half of his face she could see was mangled. The skin was torn away in patches. Yet instead of flesh, Ariel saw familiar, pale, non-human skin underneath.

"G-Grimsby?" Ariel stammered.

Grimsby opened his eyes and turned his face to her completely. There was no mistaking the jet-black eyes that looked at Ariel. Or the way his voice changed with every other word as he spoke, his breaths wheezing and labored. "I told you *cough* it was too dangerous."

Ariel backed away from him. "Y-you're…you're a skinner!?"

"Grimsby" answered her by reaching up and grabbing his ruined face, pulling it off. He discarded it like a rag, tossed into a fire to burn. Once again, Ariel found herself face-to-face with a skinner. He was thinner than the one that tried to kill Melody, his skin a moon-white and less gnarled and knotted. But there was also a thinness to his features.

"Apologies, your majesty…" he breathed, wiping a trickle of black blood that leaked out his mouth. "You were never…supposed to know." He was interrupted by a coughing fit, spitting up black. "None of you were."

"How…for how long!?" Ariel demanded.

"Grimsby" coughed again. It seemed just talking was an effort for him. "Twelve years."

Ariel gasped. "Twelve years!? How!? When!?"

"Grimsby" groaned as he pushed himself further up against the wall. "Do you remember…the winter *cough* when the princess was five? Your advisor…this man…was bedridden."

Ariel remembered the exact winter. "The doctor said it was pneumonia! But he got better! He cured him!"

"Grimsby" shook his head. "It was pneumonia. But that was…a symptom." He paused to take several heavy breaths. "Not the illness."

Ariel swallowed. She must have cut her lip when the shell struck, because she tasted blood. "What do you mean? What happened to him?"

"His body betrayed him," said "Grimsby" weakly. "He was stricken…by a perversion of his own flesh. Corrupted his organs. Stolen his vigor. It had spread beyond hope. There was *cough cough* no saving him…" He grabbed his collar and pulled at it, removing the neckerchief. "I was wearing a manservant…at the time. The Hive ordered I take him. I came in the night. He was fading *cough*. He would not live…to see sunrise. He awoke before I could start. Thought I was Death…come to claim him. I told him the truth, seeing as…he would die either way. Told him *cough* what would become *cough cough* of his skin. That I would take his place…till the Hive sent me elsewhere…"

"Grimsby" coughed again, this time more violently that before. Ariel caught a glimpse of his sharp teeth, now stained with black. "He did not resist me. He did not cry out for help. He had courage…at his end. And one regret. That his king and queen…would no longer have his counsel. That he would not be there…to guide you when you were lost…or see the princess grow." He grunted as he tried to remove the shard in his chest, his face twisting up in pain. Then he dropped his hand, unable to do it. "He asked…that I serve in his stead. Asked that I swear…to serve you…as he had. That I continue where he could not."

He made what Ariel guessed was a chuckle. It was hard to tell with his ever-changing voice and how raspy his breaths were becoming. "A strange human, that one. Staring his end and a 'monster' in the face…and his last thoughts were for someone besides himself." He lifted his head, looking Ariel in the eyes. "His death…was quick. Painless. Then I ate him…and took his skin. No one was the wiser. Till now."

Ariel looked up, hearing the echo of metal feet coming down the hall over the booming of the guns. Then she heard the rapid buzzing of a crank gun firing and the clash of swords. The clockmen were in the palace now.

"Grimsby" grunted as he shakily stood, using the wall for support. "Truth *cough* truth be told, I should have left years ago. I was not…supposed to stay this long. But when the order came down from the Hive…" He grimaced and hissed as he tried to put weight on one leg. "I asked to stay. That I keep this man's skin *cough* and his post."

"Why?" asked Ariel, watching as "Grimsby" struggled to stand. "You're not human. You're not one of my subjects. You don't owe us anything. We're…we're food to you!"

"If you're comparing me…with that traitor…then don't. I am not human. But I and my brethren…are no savages. A farmer eats his livestock, but he still treats it…with respect," wheezed "Grimsby" as he pushed off the wall, staggering before he found his footing. "I don't fully understand…why I stayed, either. At first, I argued there was more value…in my being here. That the Hive would benefit from having eyes and ears…so close to the throne. Yet every time *cough* the orders came…I found some reason to remain. I knew what was expected of me. I knew I needed to eat… more than what I could scavenge…and your human foods. But I was never able…to leave."

Ariel swallowed again. "Then…why?"

"Grimsby" looked to where he discarded his former face. "Because something…about that dying man's last wish…and something in you *cough* made a servant of the Hive like me…want to honor his request." He looked back at her, the firelight reflected in his black eyes. "Mother…and Brother Matthias *cough* were right. There's something different about you, mermaid. You…and those you touch…with your heart."

Ariel looked down, placing a hand over her chest. "With my heart?"

The clamor of metal and gunfire grew louder. "Grimsby" turned away from her. "They're coming." He hissed as he set his feet apart, fingers splayed before long claws sprouted from their tips. "You must go! Find your king *cough* and your daughter! Then find the huntress! I'll buy you…what time I can!"

"But what about you?" said Ariel.

"There is nothing you can do," said "Grimsby." He coughed again, swaying on his feet for a second. "No meal or magic will save me now. All I can do is help you escape…with the life I have left."

"Grimsby" grasped the wooden shard in his chest and pulled it out, shrieking at the pain before tossing it aside. Then he wiped his hands through the wound and flung them out, scattering blood droplets across the hall. A large glob of it struck the dead maid and rapidly spread across her till she was a featureless black mass. Then her body seemed to deflate, the black slithering over the floor to join with the skinner's shadow. The hole in his chest shrunk as the muscles of his body grew, but only just. "Now go! Run while you can!"

Ariel tried to move, but her legs were frozen. "But–!"

"Grimsby" turned and snarled at her, baring his teeth and pointed red tongue. "I said run!"

Ariel turned and sprinted away as fast as she could, spooked to action by the skinner's yell. He was a skinner. Grimsby was a skinner! All this time! Right under their noses! He was in their home! She left him alone with Eric! With Melody! With her sisters and family! How did they not notice!? How did nobody notice!? There must have been something they missed! Some clue to tell them Grimsby was no longer himself! How could they be so blind to the danger that was under their roof!?

She slowed down. They never noticed because there was nothing to notice. There had never been any clues or danger. Nothing had changed. For twelve years that creature acted in Grimsby's place. And for twelve years he served them no less faithfully than Grimsby would have. He flawlessly filled in the role Grimsby left behind. And despite his orders and the toll it exacted on his body, he stayed with them because he wanted to, even if he could not understand why himself. Because that same fealty Grimsby once felt for her and Eric was passed onto this nameless creature.

Ariel's thoughts were interrupted by a wet smack behind her. "Kekö gaken!"

She was halfway down the hall when she stopped, turning back to the skinner. She saw the scattered blood droplets spreading out, covering what was left of the walls, ceiling, and floor in pitch black. The same black was spreading over "Grimsby" as well, melding him with whatever nyctophile magic was at work.

"Grimsby!" Ariel shouted back to him.

The skinner looked over his shoulder at her.

"Thank you," said Ariel. She grabbed what was left of her skirt and bowed to him. "For everything."

"Grimsby" regarded her for a moment. Then he faced her, holding himself as Grimsby always had. Heels together. Legs straight. Chest out. Chin lifted. Left hand behind his back and right hand on his chest as he bowed at the waist and then straightened up.

"It was an honor to be of service, your majesty," he said, using only Grimsby's voice as the darkness enveloped him completely.

Ariel turned and ran again, hearing the approach of the clockmen. She rounded a corner and kept running. Then she heard the skinner let loose a piercing scream, followed by a burst of gunshots amidst the clash of teeth and claws on metal, and then a window shatter as the gunfire continued. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, struggling against the part of her that yelled and pleaded for her to return and…do something! She felt guilt in her stomach. She was leaving him to die while she escaped. But if she went back, she knew she would be captured or killed. If that happened, "Grimsby's" sacrifice would be for nothing.

The shrieks and gunfire continued, growing fainter amidst the distant bombardment till they vanished. Ariel kept going till she reached the northern tower stairwell. The stairs going up had been demolished, but the stairs going down were still intact. She started descending, but then something struck her.

The bombardment of the town was still going. But the ships were not firing on the palace anymore.

Ariel ran to a seaward window, peering through the broken glass. Her hunch was right. The ships were continuing to fire on the town and marina. But they were not targeting the palace anymore. Not one shell had fallen on them since the one that slew the maid and mortally wounded "Grimsby."

Why?


Eric and the guards led Attina, Andrina, and Aquata, and their husbands down the tower stairs as fast as they could. The guards flanked them on all sides, swords drawn and at the ready. They descended the stairs quickly, avoiding the stone and wood now littering the steps. How the tower was still intact after the shelling was beyond them, but they were not about to question their fortune. That, or why the bombardment on the palace had stopped. They experienced more than enough of that. They were all covered with dust, soot, and pieces of debris, courtesy of the artillery that once battered the palace. Eric had a piece of cloth tied around his head, the makeshift bandage stained red where his forehead had been cut. Atlas was carrying Aquata, a tourniquet tied tightly around her left calf where shrapnel pierced it.

"We're almost there, your majesties!" said the guard captain as they reached the bottom of the tower, running across the ballroom to the doorway. The chandeliers had been knocked from the ceiling, lying in crumpled heaps. Broken crystal littered the floor, crunching under their feet as they ran. They reached the other side, the guards knocking the doors open without slowing down. They ran down the hall and through another set of doors before bursting into their destination–the throne room.

And at the other end, the main doors to the palace and hopefully their way out. The room was completely empty save them. It bore none of the scars the rest of the palace did. Being on the landward side of the palace, the shells had not been able to touch it yet. The main doors were closed, the heavy crossbeam set in them. They could hear the clash of swords from outside as the fighting carried on.

"We made it!" said Attina with relief.

"It's not over yet, Attina!" cautioned Eric. He stopped, allowing the group to run past him. "You all escape! I have to find Ariel and Melody!"

He was about to turn and run back when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw the guard captain facing him. "We have to find their majesties, sire! I am not about to let my king search for the queen and princess without an escort! I will go with you! My men can see to their highnesses! You four, go get that door open!"

"What are your orders, captain?" asked one of the guards as the four men ran to open the door.

"After you open the door, clear a path for their majesties to the stables!" said the captain. The men started lifting the crossbeam off the doors. "Do whatever it takes! Once you're there, grab what horses you can and ride out the southern gate! Do not stop for anything! Anything! Keep going till–!"

The four guards had just started opening the doors when there was a brilliant flash and then a deafening crack. Then one of them went flying backwards, soaring above the group's heads and smashing through the throne. He lay still, a large burn mark in his back.

"Close it up!" shouted one of the remaining men as they hurriedly put the crossbeam back. "Close it!"

The men all but dropped the crossbeam in place and sprinted back to the group as another flash and crack happened behind the door.

"It's no good, captain!" said one of the guards. "The bailey's completely overrun! Our men are fighting them, but at this rate…!"

A piercing scream came from outside, followed by more flashes of light and loud sharp crackling sounds through the broken windows.

"Form up!" the captain shouted. "Defensive positions!"

"What is it?" said Eric as another scream was suddenly cut off by a flash. The guards quickly moved to form a circle around them, eyes darting about in search of the first sign of an attack.

"You mean besides the army of metal men trying to turn this place into a rock heap!?" said Andrina.

Aquata looked to her sister. "Really!? Sarcasm!? Now!?"

"It's that noise," said the captain. "Listen!"

Eric perked his ears. All he heard was the sounds of metal on metal, slicing, and screaming. Then there was another flash and crackle. "It sounds like a battle out there!"

"It is," said the captain. "But that's not gunfire we're hearing! Not with that volume and that flash!"

Eric listened again as another flash went off. The captain was right. The sound was too sharp and echoing to be caused by gunpowder. His certainty of the captain's hypothesis grew stronger when it sounded again. That was not guns or cannons. Yet it was a familiar noise. Eric was sure he heard that noise many, many times before. Where?

Before he or anyone else could speak, they heard a new noise. A noise that did not belong on a battlefield. A noise that gave everyone chills.

Laughter. Someone was laughing like a happy child out there amidst the cries of pain and bloodshed. They heard clashing and slicing metal and the thud of bodies falling to the ground. Then it all went quiet. No more screams. No more clash of weapons. No more flashes or crackles. It was eerily still. Then came the jingle-jangle of metal accompanying the sound of boots ascending the steps to the door. Then the sound of a blade being drawn.

The captain adjusted his hold on his sword, eyes fixed on the door. "On guard, men!"

Suddenly a dozen sequential shimmering streaks of metal slashed the main doors, cutting cleanly through them. Each strike was fast and fluid as it tore the main doors apart in the span of a heartbeat. Then there was an explosion like thunder and the doors were blasted inwards. Eric and the others shied back, covering their faces as burning wood and hot metal showered across the room.

"Knock-knock!"

Eric looked up to see Remora walk through the smoldering remains of the door, her scythe draped across one shoulder and yellow lightning dancing on the blade. Blood was splattered across her and her weapon, lending a grisly horror to the visage of her smiling porcelain white mask. A horde of clockmen followed behind her, green unblinking eyes fixed on him and the princesses.

Eric's eyes widened. "You're Sable!"

"The name's Remora!" The masked witch tilted her head to the side. "And you're King Eric!" Though he could not see her eyes, Eric could tell her gaze had shifted onto the princesses and princes. "Would you look at that? Just the fish I was looking for! All wrapped up in a tidy little package! With you three, that makes five mermaids! Two more and I'll have the entire set!"

Dread lay its frigid hand upon Eric's heart. "Five?"

Remora whistled sharply. The clockmen behind her parted, allowing two of them to step forward. They were carrying something in their hands.

Eric gasped as he realized the somethings were actually someones. It was Alana and Adella and Nemo! They were out cold, hanging limply against the chains tightly binding them. More than that, they were no longer human! Their fins dragged over the floor as the clockmen stepped to Remora's side, holding the royals aloft to display them.

"Alana! Adella!" shouted Attina.

"Nemo!" yelled Atlas.

Attina and Andrina suddenly leapt forward, only to be grabbed by their husbands. Aquata struggled in Atlas' arms, but he refused to let go of her.

"What did you do to them!?" yelled Andrina.

"Let them go, you witch!" added Aquata, fighting hard to get free.

"And what are you going to do about it if I say no?" said Remora.

Aquata kept fighting against her husband. "Where's Carlotta!?"

"You talking about the fat maid? I killed her!" Remora rapped the flat of her scythe with her knuckles and then nodded at Adella. "Along with this one's main squeeze! Him, that stupid chef, and all the guards you had outside! Oh, and a bunch of horses!" Remora slashed her scythe through the air, the sound echoing in the room. "You lot aren't going anywhere!"

Eric felt the breath leave his body. Their escape route was gone. Remora had them trapped! They would be dead if they tried to make a break for it. They could not evade this many clockmen, or Remora herself. And she just admitted to killing Adella's husband along with Carlotta and Louis! She even sounded pleased about it!

"No!" screamed Attina. "You monster! You beast! You animal! How could you!?"

Remora cackled, wiping a streak of blood off her scythe. "Just following my orders, princess!" She raised a hand, counting off on her fingers as she went. "Bring down Seahaven. Take half the population as prisoners. Do whatever I like with the rest. Capture the king and Triton's family alive if possible, or at least the princesses. And kill anyone else who gets in my way!"

She made a circling motion with her hand. "Half of you spread out! Find the rest of the royals! Remember, the Master wants the princesses and the queen alive! Kill anyone else who tries to stop you! And if you find the brat, report her location to me! The rest of you, stay here and keep this lot pinned!"

An arc of electricity jumped across her mask as she took her scythe in both hands. "I'll take them myself!"

Half the clockmen ran off to carry out their orders. The rest fanned out, forming a wide perimeter containing Remora and the trapped royalty and guards in the middle. The clockmen holding Alana, Adella, and Nemo drew back behind a wall of green crystalline eyes and metal bodies.

"Protect their majesties!" shouted the captain. "Guard them with your lives!"

Remora cocked her head as the guards took positions. "Isn't that admirable? Faithful soldiers of Seahaven, ready to lay down their lives for king and country. But you know what they say?"

She gave her scythe a spin. "Actions speak louder than words!"

Before the captain could give another order, Remora was charging right at them, laughing like a lunatic. He and four others ran out to meet her, sword drawn back to run her through. But Remora easily parried it away, then swung her scythe back at him in a horizontal slash. The captain raised his sword to block.

Eric watched as Remora's scythe snapped the captain's sword in half with ease, and then did the same to the rest of him. She charged past his body, still laughing as another guard slashed for her neck. She blocked his sword with the shaft of her scythe and then swung at his own neck, separating his head from his shoulders. She moved with the momentum of her strike and spun to cut down the third guard, burying her scythe through him and into the floor. The last guard tried to take advantage of the stuck weapon and rushed Remora, yelling as loud as he could. He stabbed for her face, only for Remora to release her scythe and dodge the sword. She pivoted and seized his face before driving her knee up into his gut, lifting his feet off the ground and doubling him over. Then she brought her elbow around and drove it down into his back, crushing his spine with a pincer movement. His legs went limp as his brain lost all connection to them.

"This one's broken!" shouted Remora, grabbing the man by the neck. She gave it a sharp twist and it cracked, the guard going limp. She dropped him to the floor and grabbed her scythe, ripping it free. "Bring me another!"

The rest of the guards stared at Remora. Their eyes were wide, and their swords shook with fear, just like the royalty they were honor-bound to protect.

"No?" Remora looked them over. "No takers? None of you brave enough to try your luck against me?"

One of the guards dropped his sword and ran, screaming with fright. Remora snapped her fingers. The guard barely went ten feet before there was a single gunshot. He fell dead on the floor, a hole in his head and a trail of smoke rising from a clockman's chain gun.

"Then again, I'm getting tired of swatting pissants like you." Remora raised her left hand towards the group, metal shards forming a gauntlet. "So let's cut the dead weight loose."

One arc of electricity jumped on Remora's gauntlet. Then a lightning bolt blasted out of her palm, splitting repeatedly. The bolts wove through the royals and struck the guards simultaneously, piercing through their chests like bullets. A loud thunderclap filled the throne room, and then the men fell dead to the floor. The princesses screamed loudly, horrified by what they witnessed.

Eric gaped in shock at where two of the guards' smoking bodies now lay, his mind unable to grasp what just happened. Not ten seconds ago these were living, breathing men with lives and families of their own. Men who risked their lives to keep them safe. Now they were–.

"Eric! Behind you!" shouted Aquata.

Eric suddenly remembered who was still in the throne room with them. He spun around and saw Remora was standing right in front of him! But where was her scythe?

"Taking your eyes of me…" she started. Eric grabbed his own sword and drew it. Remora seized his forearm before he had the blade free, stopping him. "Was a big mistake!"

She squeezed with violent abruptness. There was a pop and then pain exploded through Eric's arm. He screamed loudly and let go of the sword, falling to his knees as Remora kept clamping down. She grabbed the front of Eric's jacket and hauled him off his feet as if he weighed nothing. The clockmen quickly moved in, grabbing the princesses and princes. They struggled against them, but a life of royal luxury and almost a year on land did not build the strength needed to resist cursed metal. They were quickly pinned to the floor, a clockman holding each down as others began binding their new prisoners in chains.

"Now then…where are your pretty little mermaids?" Remora pulled Eric close, giving him a glimpse of her blue eyes through the mask. "And where's Lara?"


The clockman's eyes went dark when Lara cleaved it down the middle, the halves falling away from each other. The molten metal ignited the carpet, flames starting to grow till they leapt onto Lara's armor and sunk in. Lara went to the edge of the balcony and looked down. Most of the stairs had been decimated by the shelling. There would be no using them. Not that it mattered to her.

"This leads to the ballroom, right?" she said. "I'm not imagining that!"

Melody came up beside her, looking down. "Yeah! Right at the bottom!" She looked behind her. "Lara…my family. You didn't see–?"

Lara shook her head. "No. I didn't see any of them."

"Do you think they made it out?"

"I don't know, Mel," said Lara. "But right now, we gotta focus on staying alive long enough to see them again!"

"Couldn't you fly me somewhere safe first and then come back?" asked Melody. "Actually, why didn't you fly me out of here to start with?"

Lara shook her head again. "Not with those automatons and the ships outside. I might be able to shrug off a stray bullet or two, but you can't. And I definitely can't take one of those shells any better than you!"

"Then how are we supposed to get out of here?"

"One thing at a time!" Lara hooked Melody's waist with her tail, pulling her close and wrapping an arm around her. "Hang on tight!"

Melody barely had her arms around Lara's neck when she leapt off the balcony, spreading her wings out. They began falling towards the bottom of the tower, Lara's wings slowing their descent. The bottom was littered with stone and debris. They were almost to the bottom when Lara beat her wings, keeping them in the air for a moment before landing. No sooner were their feet on the ground than they were running again. The ballroom sprawled out before them, littered with broken chandeliers and rubble. The far hallway was on fire, as was almost anything flammable. The once majestic fluted columns were cracked or collapsed, and the large windows were broken. Outside, the garden was burning brightly, sending smoke up to stain the darkening sky. There was not a clockman in sight. There was, however, a clear line of sight to the patchy oak forests that lined much of Seahaven's shores.

"There!" said Lara, heading for one of the shattered windows. "We go this way and I can–!"

Then Lara smelled it. That pungent chlorine-like odor of ozone. Right before she heard that familiar high-voltage crackle and saw the flash of light in the corner of her eye.

Lara halted abruptly and swung her tail out, blocking Melody's path. She did it just in time. Another two steps and they would have run right into the lightning bolt that tore across the ballroom, blasting a hole in the far wall and leaving a burning trail in the floor. Melody shrieked and darted backwards, tripping and almost falling to the ground.

"Well, well, well…"

The hairs on Melody and Lara's necks stood on end. Slowly, they turned to face far side of the ballroom. They did not need to see to know who was responsible for that lightning bolt. They both remembered that voice vividly. But they looked anyway.

Remora lowered her smoking right hand as she walked out of the burning hallway. Arcs of golden electricity jumped across her body and her smiling white mask, the long braid of her hair swaying behind her. "Found you, brat!"

Lara growled, a light coming to her eyes as she gripped her sword tighter. "Remora!"


Willard stood on the gray pebble beach, staring out at the black water. Four guards stood at attention behind him, hands on the hilts of their swords as they watched the water uneasily. A large crowd had gathered farther back, people watching the sea and their king with trepidation. Willard's arms were folded as he stared out over the swells, frowning as he drummed his fingers. What was taking them so long?

As though sensing his impatience, a single figure rose out of the black. Ursula's short white hair and lavender skin shed beads of tainted ocean water like rain off an oil slicker as her tentacles drew her onto the land. In her wake rose an army of mutated monstrosities made from bits and pieces of the ocean's most dangerous residents. Sharks, rays, eels, crustaceans, squid, barracuda, poisonous jellyfish–all blended together in every fathomable nightmarish combination to form a bestial horde bred solely for war. Their numbers filled the entire shoreline from one end to the other. They bayed, snapped, hissed, clicked, and growled like a starved pack, gnashing their biological weaponry about. The guards shied back, frightened by the thousands upon thousands of nightmarish soldiers at the witch's back. The people screamed and turned to flee, scrambling back to what meager safety the town might provide. Yet Willard remained impassive, only sparing the monsters a scanning glance. Then his attention was back on Ursula as the sea witch approached him.

"Ursula," said Willard, giving her a short bow.

"Your majesty," said Ursula. She stopped before him and gave what Willard assumed was a curtsy. The sly smirk on her lips made him doubt there was any genuine respect behind it. She glanced at the terrified crowd. "Not rolling out the red carpet for me?"

"You'll have to forgive me," said Willard. "I didn't have enough to reach here from the castle."

Ursula chuckled. "You're a funny one." She drew closer, reaching out and tracing his jaw with a finger. "And a smart one. That's why you're still standing. And why my babies are staying put instead of running to gorge themselves on your people."

Willard glanced at a shark-headed mutant that was eyeing his guars. "I hope your 'pets' are house trained."

"Oh, don't worry. They're more intelligent than they look." Ursula jerked her head towards them. "Some of them even talk. But they're all smart enough to follow orders. And to know what happens if they disobey them. They won't lay any sort of appendage on your subjects without my saying so. Which reminds me…"

"Yes?" said Willard.

"I have a message from the Master for you." Ursula withdrew her hand, sliding a tentacle up behind Willard and resting it against his neck. "Never forget this. You and your kingdom aren't meeting the same fate as your former allies because you proved your loyalty and usefulness to us. And it will stay that way so long as you continue to do so. But betray us, or outlive your utility…"

Her tentacle reached around his neck, applying carefully metered pressure. "Are we clear?"

Willard glanced down at the tentacle. Then he brushed it off with his hand, ignoring the slime it left on his clothes and skin. "Perfectly. And I have a message for your Master as well. I am no fool. I know Maelstrom is not one to be trifled with. And I will not do so, provided I am given what I was promised. You would be wise to not forget that."

Ursula's smirk faltered for a moment, but then it grew. "We have a deal, then?"

Willard extended a hand to her. "From this day forth, Strihaven and its people swear loyalty to Maelstrom."

Ursula grinned. "That's just what I wanted to hear." She took his hand and shook it firmly, then let it go. She started to chuckle, a smile spreading over her lips. Then it quickly evolved into full blown hysterical laughter. The mutants responded to her voice, roaring and howling even louder.

Thus did Strihaven become the first kingdom of the Alliance to fall to Maelstrom.


A/N: The day has come. The ocean turns black. Fire rains from the sky. Monsters and beasts emerge from land and shore to lay waste to the world of humans and merfolk. One kingdom falls, with four more seemingly fated to follow in its wake. In the midst of this chaos and death, Lara and Remora find each other once again. And this time, it is with weapons and hostility bared openly and freely. Their inevitable confrontation begins in the next chapter!

This was a hard chapter to write. You spend countless hours over years building an entire world, only to then burn it all down. But the story will continue! Until next time, everyone!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The Little Mermaid," Disney, or any of its associated characters and intellectual property. I do not own the listed song(s). Everything else, however, is mine =)