Warriors of Poseidon 03 - Atlantis Unleashed

Keely, and she threw her head back, the cords in her neck straining. Still, her voice came through in measured cadence, no hint of the stress her body was under showing in her tone or in the suddenly lyrical rhythms of her words.
    “Atlantis must sink beneath the waves, in order to survive the Cataclysm. Ragnarok . The Doom of the Gods. The burning. We will rise again. Send a full measure of the best and brightest of us out among the humans. Send them to the corners of the world. Each of seven groups shall take one of the gems of the Trident. The Dragon‟s Egg. The Nereid‟s Heart. The Star of Artemis. The Vampire‟s Bane. The Siren. The Emperor. And, finally, Poseidon‟s Pride. Only when all are together again will Atlantis be allowed to rise. If the gems are not together and the Seven Isles attempt to rise to the surface, no matter the magic or technology of the future, Atlantis will be destroyed.”
    As she spoke her final words, she released her hold on the cushion and sank, unconscious, to the floor. Justice dove for her as she fell and encountered no resistance. The energy shield had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
    “Now do you believe me?” he demanded of his brothers, as he cradled her limp form in his arms. “Now do you see that her visions are true?”
    Solemnly, both Ven and Conlan nodded. Such simple words to convince them all.
    Such simple words, spoken plainly and fluently, but not in English. Nor in any other modern language that Keely could possibly speak.
    She‟d delivered her chilling pronouncement—flawlessly—in the language of the ancient Atlanteans.
    None of them could doubt her now.

Chapter 28
    Atlantis, the war room
    Keely woke from a fractured dream of glittering gems and sun-splashed jungle to the sight of Justice staring off into the distance. Dark circles lay like bruises beneath his eyes, which had changed color again and were now blacker than a tomb robber‟s heart. Fury rode the hard planes and angles of his face, and she shivered.
    At her movement, he realized she was awake. He stared down at her with a pained expression of joy, relief, and anger. Warmth and color swept across his face like spring following the icy dread of winter, and his arms tightened as he pulled her against his chest, murmuring something too quietly for her to hear. She realized she was sitting in his lap, on one of the couches back in the palace war room, but she was too exhausted to waste energy on being embarrassed at the intimate position. Someone had pulled her glove back on her hand, and she was grateful for that small kindness.
    “So, I guess I survived the Great Cushion Experiment, huh?” She forced a grin, but nobody returned her smile. Ven and Conlan stood in oddly identical positions a few feet away, with their hands behind their backs in a sort of parade rest. At her words, though, Ven dropped into a crouch so that he was on eye level with her and blew out a huge breath.
    “Hey, Doc, you scared us. Are you okay?”
    “I‟m fine. Just a little shaky,” she said distractedly, already searching through her memories of the vision for something useful.
    Justice lifted his head from where it rested on the top of hers. “Never again,” he said harshly.
    “Never again will we allow you to go through that.”
    She lifted a hand to his face, and he stilled at her touch. “There you go with the allowing again. I‟m not very good at taking orders,” she said huskily, her throat raw.
    Why was her throat raw? Oh. Right. There‟d been screaming. She’d been screaming. She‟d almost forgotten the pain, in the wonder of the vision, although she couldn‟t imagine how.
    Pain had sliced through her until she‟d been sure her arms and legs were being wrenched off her body. Slowly. By somebody who was seriously pissed off.
    “Dare to mess with a god‟s toys, and see where that gets you,” she said, shuddering.
    “Anyway, as far as touching anything that is anywhere near the Trident, you don‟t have to worry about me trying that again.”
    “Worse, it was all for naught. We now know nothing more than we did,” Conlan said grimly.
    “I offer my sincerest apologies that our trial put you through so much pain, Dr. McDermott. It is even more regrettable since we‟ve learned nothing new.”
    “Well, that‟s not exactly true,” Ven said. “We learned the names of all the gems. We knew we were looking for the Star, which is a sapphire, and the Vampire‟s Bane, a yellow