The Mermaids Madness

from her lungs. They sank through the water, hitting the rocks a moment later. Talia pushed Snow and Danielle up before following. As far as she could tell, the water had protected her from broken bones, but her back would be an interesting collage of cuts and bruises.
    The merfolk were already closing in, swimming through the wall and spreading out to block the moat.
    “Where’s Lirea?” Danielle asked.
    “Gone.” Talia picked up a rock and hurled it at the approaching warriors. It glanced off the side of a merman’s head, knocking him back. Another threw a spear, but the throw was clumsy, and the spear ricocheted off the wall behind her. Talia drew the knife they had taken from Lirea. “They’re sluggish, as Morveren said. Distracted. Get Snow and the knife away from here. Stay near shore but far enough back to avoid their spears. If . . . when Snow wakes up, she should be able to summon the Phillipa .”
    Talia tossed Lirea’s knife onto the rocks by Danielle, then reached into the water for another fist-sized stone. The merfolk slowed. They might be tired, but they weren’t stupid. She counted at least twenty, with more likely hidden beneath the water. Even on land Talia would have been hard-pressed to fight so many, and Lirea had a literal army waiting beyond that wall. Talia threw, but this time her target twisted aside, and the rock splashed harmlessly into the water.
    Three merfolk swam through the moat, weapons extended like lancers charging. Talia leaped back as the merfolk burst from the water. Talia twisted sideways, bending her legs in a sik h’adan fighting stance. She sprang between two of the merfolk, positioning herself close enough that they shouldn’t be able to spear her.
    They floated low in the water, most of their bodies beneath the surface. Talia struck one with her knee, but in the deeper water she lacked the power to do much damage. Still, the blow brought the mermaid’s face up, allowing Talia to smash an elbow into her nose. She spun sideways and hit the merman behind her with the same elbow.
    “Get ready,” Danielle shouted.
    “I thought you were supposed to be retreating!” Talia grabbed the mermaid’s hair, twisting her around to keep her between herself and the uninjured merman.
    Beyond the wall, one of the kelpies reared from the water and bellowed an enormous Gronk! Bowing its head, it lunged toward the large central archway of the wall.
    Blocks tumbled from the arch as the kelpie burst into the moat. Waves surged ahead of its passage, tossing Talia and merfolk alike. Talia scrambled back, trying to escape from the kelpie’s path. She could see a lone rider clinging to the kelpie, pounding its neck and shouting.
    “Your doing?” Talia asked.
    Danielle smiled. “Could you do something about that merman on our kelpie?”
    Talia’s next rock hit the rider square in the back. He yelled and dropped into the moat.
    “Don’t be afraid,” Danielle shouted. She returned Lirea’s knife to Talia, then waded into the water. “We’re not going to hurt you!”
    Two enormous flippers, each one longer than Talia herself, dug into the rocks as the kelpie reared back. The kelpie’s underside was pale blue, darkening into bands of brown and muddy green. Huge nostrils flapped open, snorting sour air. Its head was vaguely equine, with an elongated snout and spines along the neck. Dark ropes nested behind each of the bony ridges circling his body. Each rope was knotted with large loops for riders to cling to.
    “We’re not going to hurt you, you coward!” Danielle shouted. “We need your help.”
    Talia searched for a weapon. “They’ve trained that animal to obey. If you can’t control it—”
    “I don’t control them,” Danielle said. “I ask for their help. But he knows we’re not undine, and he can probably smell the blood in the water. I think he’s scared.”
    The undine had fallen back to avoid the kelpie, but they appeared to be regrouping. The three Talia had fought were circling around, while others crept toward the shore behind the kelpie. “How scared?”
    “Can’t you see him shaking?”
    “Good. Tell it Halaka’ar the three-headed sea dragon is coming. Halaka’ar consumes light and breathes darkness, and he wears the skulls of his prey around his necks. His gaze petrifies all who look upon him, and his jaws devour body, mind, and soul. I know the prayers to divert Halaka’ar’s wrath, but it has to help us.”
    Danielle stared. “Remind me