Now that Fabe said the mermaids were in prayer, I could hear a faint sing-song hum coming from the largest archway. The hum rose and fell, rose and fell. Those weren't snores we'd heard.

Hiding behind pillars, I motioned the others to follow my lead. Our sandals squeaked from the damp stone block stairs, so we inched across the shiny floor like snails. Maybe if we were quiet enough...

Clang.

I spun around and saw Marylea's panic-stricken face. She stood right by a pillar, a portion of the chain resting between her feet and the pillar. Apology was splashed across her face.

The humming ceased, and evolved into loud and alarmed voices. Then small shadows appeared within the large archway.

I willed my body to turn invisible, or at least sink into the ground.

"Run!" hissed Fabe.

We had barely run past three pillars when the floor began to rumble.

"What was that?" squeaked Marylea.

"Nesseria," whispered Keenan, his eyes wide.

Before I got a chance to ask him what a Nesseria was, it ambled into the soft light cast by the pearl lamps.

"Oh my god," murmured Marylea. "It's Jabba the Hut."

I did not know what a Jabba the Hut was, but if she meant a gigantic, wrinkly and bumpy blob of moss-colored fat with tiny eyes and tiny arms, she got it right.

Terror flooded me like quicksand. I found myself unable to move.

Nesseria moved quickly for something so large and lumpy, shifting one lumpy side after another. It wore a thick metal collar around its neck, or lack of it. The collar was linked to a heavy chain that extended from the middle of the hall.

Before I could say anything, my peripheral eye caught a flash of movement. Marylea's streak of red hair billowed as she made a run for the exit.

My heart sank into the pits of my gut. Why, Marylea?

Then came a loud roar that sounded like one an ancient hulking dinosaur would make. The roar shook the hall. I looked up at the ceiling because I felt it would collapse.

Loud high-pitched shrieks came from the large archway. Minute figures, each waving a trident, came running from behind Nesseria. I didn't know mermaids sprouted legs out of water.

I felt a hand on my back. It gave me a slight push. "Go, go, go!" said Keenan.

The mermaids sprinted towards us in a mad fury. They were not about to let their objects of worship go.

I looked forward to the airlock entrance. The swim from the cave to the surface was a long one. I looked back at the running mermaids. They were rapidly gaining.

I looked at Keenan, who was staring at me with a mix of panic and confusion.

"We can't outswim them," I said. "Run ahead. I'll stall."

"No!" Keenan's response was swift and firm. "I am not leaving you here."

"Oh no. I'm not staying." I turned to run, but stopped in my heels to add, "Keep Marylea and Fabe safe, please!" I caught a distraught expression on his face before I spun around and sprinted towards the center pillar.

The chain holding Nesseria was reaching its full length. Nesseria was stationed as a guard, not as an attack. I was about to change that.

When I got to the foot of the pillar, the mermaids were a dozen pillars away. I raised my sword and began hacking at the chain that was wrapped around the pillar. My blade met metal with a hearty clang. I struck again, adding more force with each swipe.

My arms began to fatigue. I spread my legs, braced myself for a heavier strike.

My blade missed its mark and struck the pillar instead.

A crack appeared on the glass. An idea popped into my head. What the trout, it was worth a try. Instead of aiming for the chains, I positioned my blade to hit the glass.

The crack grew wider and wider, until it was nearly as wide as the pillar itself.

I swung my sword wide and struck the pillar with all the force I had left.

The pillar came apart. Ocean blue liquid gushed at me. The cold liquid stung my skin and filled my nostrils. The torrent pushed me to the ground, its force pinning me down.

Then a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the outpour.

I looked up and saw Keenan's face, flushed from sprinting. His chest heaved heavily. I had never noticed how wide and blue his eyes were.

His eyes popped. "Watch out!" He yanked my arm and I stumbled towards him. Something cold and slimy brushed my other arm. I turned to look. Bile pushed up my throat.

It was the body in the pillar. He was dressed in a light-blue Caval that might have been white in its early days. The cadaver sprawled across the ground in a puddle of mint-blue liquid.

Tears sprung to my eyes. He reminded me dreadfully of Templeton.

A blood-curdling roar woke me to my senses.

"Nesseria's free." Keenan tugged at my arm. "Hurry."

I looked over my shoulder to see he was right. The chains were free. Nesseria was shuffling at an even faster pace now, leaving a horde of mermaids behind it.

I nodded at Keenan and kicked off at a sprint. Fabe and Marylea waited for us at the entrance to the air lock.

"Go!" I shouted, waving them forward. They hesitated, but did as I said and disappeared down the tunnel that led to the air lock.

I looked over my shoulder. Nesseria was about five pillars away from us. It picked up speed the more it ran. This was going to be close.

Keenan was falling behind. I slowed down and put my hand on his back. "Faster!" I cried.

The mermaids seemed to have caught on to my plan and were shrieking in fury. I could barely make out their faint cries. "Nessie's free!" "Run faster!"

Blood pumped like acid through my veins. I pushed on Keenan's back, giving him some momentum, while making sure he didn't fall.

We finally got to the air lock entrance. "Go ahead," I said to Keenan. "And swim!"

This time, Keenan did not object. He knew he would drag me down if he waited.

As Keenan ran down the tunnel, I stood at the tunnel entrance, watching Nesseria and the mermaids progress. The mermaids were falling behind their guard dog. For such a large, burdened creature, I was surprised at how fast it moved.

Nesseria got closer, closer, until finally I couldn't see the head perched atop its huge body.

"Nessie, over here!" I shouted, waving my arms.

The creature gave a bellow and came right at me.

The mermaids, ways away from Nesseria, emitted cries of rage right before their creature rammed itself into the tunnel entrance.

I backed away to avoid its slimy folds of skin. The base of Nessie was crusted with dirt and barnacles. It pulsed like a toxic octopus.

Nesseria was well wedged between the hall and the tunnel. Muffled cries came from behind the large creature. I heard the clink of chains as they tried to pull Nesseria out of the tunnel mouth.

Before finding out if they managed it, I ran down the slippery tunnel and into the air lock.

I found Marylea, Fabe and Keenan wading into the air lock. I gave a cry of desperation. "Why're you still here?"

"We had to know you were safe," said Keenan.

I was tempted to glare at him. "I appreciate it. Now let's get the trout out of here."

We dove into the icy water. All the air I had in my lungs was knocked out immediately. I kicked my arms and legs in a frog-style. The three of us made our way down the tunnel, guided by shimmering sunlight that came through the cave mouth.

My lungs were about bursting when we reached the cave mouth. We were all slowing down, exhausted by the run and the anxiety of the chase.

I waved them on. Just a little more to go.

It felt like ages to swim from the cave mouth to the surface. I continuously looked behind my shoulder to see the mermaids had gotten past Nesseria, but no mermaids came.

Finally, we burst through the surface and started gulping air. Warm air filled my lungs. It tasted like sweet honey.

Wasting no time, we kicked towards shore. I hoisted myself up to the smallest rock, then turned around to pull Marylea up. Fabe climbed to shore on his own and helped pull Keenan up.

My muscles burned, but we were not safe yet.

"To the woods," I wheezed.

We half walked, half crawled across the grass to the wooded area. Then we crawled behind some thick shrubs and lay there, catching our breath.

"I think I swallowed enough water to last a week," wheezed Fabe. We shared a small, tired laugh.

We had lain for a minute or so before heads began bursting from the water. High-pitched shrieks and cries pierced the air.

"You have betrayed your own kind!" One of them hissed. "But you'll be bringing them back to usssss. We know you will."

This struck fearful suspicion in me. Why ever would we bring the boys back to be embalmed?

Then I heard a gasp and a fearful cry.

"Ash - what's happening?"

I turned my head to the side to see the two boys shaking from head to toe. Their eyes lolled to the side to reveal only whites.

"Trout!" I sat up and pressed the back of my hand against Keenan's forehead. I pulled my hand back almost instantly. It was searing hot.

"Oh no." Without thinking, I got to my feet and shouted back to the mermaids, "What did you do to them?"

The mermaids, all five of them, threw their heads back and cackled.

"Don't you wisssssh you knew?" hissed a black-haired one. "Bring them back and we will cure them."

"And have you turn them into cold statues?" I glared at them. "Not on your filthy scales." Then I ducked back down to the shrubs. Their laughter pierced my heart.

"They will die and rot in twelve hourssss," replied the mermaid. "With ussss, they'll stay alive a little longer. We might even let you accompany them. At leasssst until the ssssacrifice. You're welcome to join them, of coursssse."

Marylea gave me a pleading look. "Don't," she whispered.

"Why are you doing this?" I yelled. "What do you have to gain?"

A sad look flashed across each of their faces, and I was convinced I'd imagined it.

"Many yearsss ago," the black-haired one began, "a dasssshing young man arrived in our midsssst. We welcomed him with open armssss, fed him our besssst delicaciesss, and clothed him with our besssst dresssss. He charmed each of ussss, made ussss believe we were hissss one and only... Then we found out he'd been having usssss all, playing ussss... but we'd been so ready to forgive him, that'sss how sssstupid we were..." She clenched her razor-sharp teeth. "Then he leffffft!" She let out a loud roar unbefitting of so beautiful a creature, and it sent shivers down my soaking skin.

A golden-haired mermaid continued, "We vowed never to let a boy play ussss again. By keeping all the pretty men to oursssselvessss, we are doing fellow women a ffffavor."

Their story stunned me into silence. I was torn between sympathy (absurd as that was), fear and hatred. Then I heard a raspy croak, and everything else fell away but fear. I looked back at Fabe and Keenan – both of them had stopped shaking, though they were ghostly pale and could hardly keep their eyes open.

Keenan's lips moved. I leaned forward so I could hear him.

"Mount...Dagger."

Then his eyelids slid shut. His head lolled to the side like a relaxed puppet. Both of them had passed out.

"Help us save them," I pleaded, desperate for any kind of help. "Please. They are not like other men. They are kind, and genuine, and honest. You must believe me."

The mermaids rolled their eyes.

"Ssssssilly girl," spit the black-haired mermaid, baring her teeth. "There is no ssssuch thing as an honesssst man. You have twelve hourssss. We'll ssssee you then." She gave a piercing shriek of mirth, and the other mermaids joined in. Together, they swished their tails and dove into the lake. The lake surface rippled for a few seconds, then turned into a picture of tranquility.