“What the fuck are those?” she half-screamed, staring at the blue man-shaped things that seemed to be staring at the four of them.

“They’re na fir ghorma,” Cam replied, his voice shaking ever so slightly. So that wasn’t good. Not in the slightest.

“Storm kelpies? I’m telling you, those aren’t kelpies.” She took an involuntary step backwards, colliding with someone’s chest. Jared’s she guessed, he wasn’t as warm as Flint was, and Cam was stood to her right.

“I don’t think the na fir ghorma are actual kelpies, Macey,” Jared added.

“No shit.” She looked the blue men up and down. They were certainly odd looking, and they did appear as if they came from the water. They even had webbed hands which would’ve made swimming easy. But then, what the heck were they doing here?

“So what do they do?” Flint asked, and she whipped her head around to look at him, shocked that he didn’t know. Even in the short time she’d known him, he’d been the most knowledgeable of the three of them.

“Erm, call storms, I think,” Cam stuttered. If storms were all they had to worry about, she didn’t know why he was so shaken.

“And?” she prompted.

“No one is really sure, they’re supposedly descended from fallen angels.”

Macey snorted. “Angels don’t exist.”

“You sound very certain about that for someone who’s something that shouldn’t exist too,” Jared pointed out.

“Not true. Kelpies are obviously real. Gods, heaven, and angels are not.” She pulled away from him.

“How do you really know that though?” Jared questioned.

“I just do,” she snapped, the magic already bubbling up inside her.

“Question is, what are they doing here?” Cam asked quietly, almost as if talking to himself.

“Walking towards us,” Macey deadpanned, trying not to sound too concerned, despite the hoard of blueness coming their way with gormless expressions on their faces. They kind of reminded her of the zombies in the stupid horror films her brothers had made her watch.

“I don’t mean that, I mean why are they away from the Minch.” He tapped his chin as if lost in thought. She did have to question why he thought now was a good time to start thinking about these things. Maybe later, once they’d decided what to do about them, and had done it, he could muse on the reasons behind it.

“The Minch being...”

“Oh you’re such a loch kelpie,” Cam teased, his expression lightening for a moment. Macey growled. All kelpies lived in lochs, there was no need for him to make it sound like he was some kind of lesser being because of it. Seeming to sense her anger, Cam held up his hands. “Meant nothing by it, Mace. The Minch is a straight of sea between the Hebrides and the Highlands.” She nodded, remembering where he meant from the map of Scotland she’d studied shortly after coming to land.

“Which answers none of the pressing questions. Like where are we? Why the fuck are there blue men making their way towards us? Or, you know, what are we going to do about it?” Flint sounded half-amused, half-serious, for which Macey was glad, and not just because it seemed to relax Cam a bit. He definitely seemed less on edge than before.

“Well I suspect we’re in the Staran above the Minch,” Cam suggested.

“So they’re supposed to be here then?” Jared asked.

“Erm...I’m going to go with no,” Cam said, looking towards the men again. Macey followed his gaze before sucking in a worried breath. That didn’t bode well at all. Several of the na fir ghorma had opened their mouths about three times as wide as they should be able to, which was freaky to say the least, a little terrifying at worst. Even from afar she could see sharp teeth protruding from their extended jaws. Scary. Especially given the clouds that seemed to be swirling above them. Which was odd in itself. Why were there clouds above the mists? That wasn’t normal she was sure.

“What do they want from us?” Macey stammered slightly, inwardly hating that she was showing such weakness in front of the three of them.

“How should I know, I haven’t exactly gone up and had a chat with them.” She was a little taken aback by Cam’s sarcasm. He’d never come across like that before. Her initial instinct was to snap at him, but really, that wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Can Flint burn them away?”

“Burn them?” the man in question asked.

“Yes, burn them. You can create flames, right?” He nodded in response to her question and lifted a hand, a small ball of orange flames hovering above it.

“I can, but that’s not exactly how attacking a water being works.”

“Oh.” Well, that was her out of ideas. Or was it? “What about another water being?” she asked cautiously.

“I honestly don’t know,” Cam answered. “But considering they’re getting closer by the second, I’d suggest we stop talking about it and actually do something.” Despite knowing that now really wasn’t the time, she found herself admiring this side of Cam. This Cam was a leader, which was an interesting switch considering it had been Flint who took the lead the most in the house.

“Okay,” she admitted, and widened her stance, noting that the three men joined her in a line, Flint to her left, Jared to her right, and Cam next to him. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do, but just standing there as a united front was enough for her.

“Can you even use magic again?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “But I guess we’re about to find out.” She concentrated on the water that bubbled in her blood and began to draw it to the surface. As she did, a chill wind began to whip around her, and one glance to her right and Cam’s outstretched hands confirmed her suspicions that it was him calling it.

Strands of green hair flickered in front of her eyes. By the waves, she really should have thought to tie her hair back. Rule 101 of getting into a fight: make sure hair was tied back. It was a rookie error really.

We are not here to fight.

A voice suddenly whispered in Macey’s head, faint as the wind. She looked at her companions and their startled expressions confirmed that they had heard it too.

“They certainly look like they’re about to attack,” she mumbled under her breath. “Do you think it’s a ploy to lower our guard?”

“No idea, but it would be wrong to attack them now. Let’s stay vigilant, but we won’t be the ones to start a fight,” Cam whispered back.

Macey nodded and waved at the blue men. One of them - a large guy with a massive sapphire mane - stepped forward and imitated her gesture.

“What do you want?” she shouted, hoping they could hear her through the mist. It had become a little less foggy now, and she was able to make out more and more detail of their strange surroundings. They seemed to be standing on a frozen loch, or river, or... some frozen body of water. A thin layer of frost covered the ice, forming strange patterns that looked like they weren’t just random.

We need help.

“Join the club,” Flint sighed.

“Maybe they can help us get waffles if we help them in return?” Jared asked hopefully and Macey had to hide a grin. This maybe wasn’t the best time for Jared’s sense of humour.

“How can we help?” she shouted, having taken on the role of negotiator. She was used to it; letting her help in resolving arguments had been one of her father’s strategies. People were more likely to give an innocent looking girl what she wanted than a king.

The Storms are in uproar. They told us to find the Seven Wardens. We asked the Staran to take us to them. Now we’re here. But there are only four of you.

Macey grimaced. Yes, they were working on that. Not that she fully believed in the whole Warden thingy. It was a little too far-fetched, even for a kelpie.

“How can the Wardens help you?” she asked.

The blue men’s leader did something like a shrug, but it didn’t quite work. It was clear they weren’t used to being out of the water.

The Storms will know. You need to come with us.

“Sorry, we’re kind of busy right now!” Flint shouted before she could reply. “I don’t trust them,” he whispered. “It’s all too much of a coincidence that they found us here. We need to get to Malan, he will have some answers. I hope.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Macey asked.

“Then we can visit the na fir ghorma?” He smiled sheepishly, seeing the flaw in his argument. They had no idea how to get to the blue men, nor where exactly they lived. The Minch was a large area.

“We will come with you!” Macey called to the groan of the guys.

“Who put you in charge?” Jared complained. “I wanted waffles.”

“Are there any other princesses amongst us? No? See, I’m the only one. I outrank you.”

“I’m not a kelpie,” he began to argue, but she cut him off by walking towards the blue men.

“Do you promise us safe passage?” she asked, feeling very important. This was like something that happened in books.

Of course. You will each have to hold hands with us. The Staran won’t let you enter our kingdom otherwise.

“Oh, you’ve got a monarchy as well?” She was beginning to see similarities between the two kelpie kinds.

Yes. I am Muahwa, the Crown Prince. Take my hand.

She looked at his outstretched, webbed, slightly slimy hand. By the waves, she hadn’t expected to touch a merman when she woke up this morning. Although he might eat her if he knew she was calling him that. What else were those giant mouths for if not to eat people? They seemed to talk with their minds only; none of them had uttered a single word since they’d appeared.

Nodding at her companions to do the same, she put her hand in his, surprised at the warmth of his skin. They each chose a blue man to touch... okay, that sounded strange. Creepy.

Ready?

Before she could nod, they were pulled into the nothingness of the Staran once more.

The nothingness happened again. Though at least this time she was ready for it. Almost. The painful tug in her stomach didn’t happen this time either, which confirmed that they’d been pulled out of the Staran early last time. Or at least, it did in Macey’s mind; Cam and Flint may end up feeling different.

She looked around, surprised to find herself standing inside what appeared to be half a bubble surrounded by water. She shuddered. It felt unnatural, she shouldn’t be in human form while surrounded by water. How was she supposed to breathe? Or swim?

Okay, she knew how she’d swim, she was just as capable of swimming in human form as she was when a full kelpie, but that wasn’t the point.

“I don’t like this,” Flint murmured from behind her, and she could sense his uneasiness. She let go of the hand of the blue prince and turned to meet his worried eyes. His fire seemed dimmer than before and she wondered why. Until she began cursing herself, that was. How hadn’t she realised that being underwater, even if it was in a bubble of air, would be uncomfortable for someone whose whole body was filled with fire?

Instead of saying anything, she slipped her hand into Flint’s and squeezed. He returned the gesture, a weak smile flitting over his face.

“I thought you floated on the top of the water?” Cam asked shortly after arriving himself, with Jared and his na fir ghorma.

We used to, but now the humans are too many.

“Ah.”

It is safer to live beneath the seas and surface only at night.

“For you maybe,” Flint muttered darkly.

You’re perfectly safe Flame-Man. Nothing has broken through our dome since we created it.

“Why do you even have a dome?” Macey asked, still slightly in awe of her surroundings. She looked up, watching as marine life went on above the dome. A shadow passed overhead, swinging its tail from side to side in a graceful movement. Well, she never thought she’d see a shark swimming above her head. Or at least, not one that wasn’t in an aquarium. She shivered slightly, wondering what else was real, and suddenly feeling like she was a sheltered loch kelpie. No wonder her people traditionally went on quests, there was so much more to life than their one loch.

We need air as well as water. Our ancestors discovered this way of getting both.

“But I don’t feel wet,” Jared said, stepping up behind Macey and stroking her back gently. If he carried on doing that, then she certainly would be.

The air is filled with what we need. The salt and the essence. It gives us what we need while still allowing us to breathe.

“I’m so reassured.”

“Flint!” Macey scolded, mortified by his sarcasm. They were guests. Instead, the na fir ghorma Prince seemed to chuckle, his shoulders lifting up and down as he did, but no real sound coming out, nor did it appear in his mind.

I feel the same on land Flame-Man. But I promise you are safe.

“Thank you,” Macey answered hastily, before Flint or one of her other men spoke without thinking and ruined a good thing.

We’ll be having a feast in your honour this evening, I’ll have some clothing sent to your room.

“Room?” Macey squeaked, causing Flint to squeeze her hand this time, and Jared to press his hand more firmly against her back.

Yes, room. You are the Wardens, correct?

“I...yes,” she answered, realising that denying it wouldn’t do them much good right at this moment.

Then I will take you to your room.