Elan raised his empty hands and roared in farewell.

Soren and Kadir repeated the gesture. Honorably met, honorable war. Ironic, with the megalodons shadowing their city—the definition of dishonorable war. But in Elan, they had met an honorable opponent after all.

Perhaps they would not win today. Perhaps Atlantis would fall. But Elan might succeed in saving his son. Perhaps he would do so with Zara, and a new queen would awaken.

Hope spread with every new merman they empowered to stand against oppression and choose freedom.

Choose their orders. Choose their bride. Choose love.

Elan swam hard away from the army.

They swam to the half-way point between the city and the army. Hopefully it would be enough of a head start that the megalodons would see and be attracted to them as lures, but not eat them immediately. It was a small hope, but it was all they had.

The old ruin was stationary. Aya, Balim, and Ciran must be working hard.

“King Kadir.” Lotar pointed at the triumvirate of megalodons converging on the castles.

Kadir stopped kicking. The others did as well. They floated back on the swift current toward the megalodons.

Leading the three, like bobbing bait, struggled the young warrior Soren had seen before.

Gailen shouted. “There is the lure!”

Unlike before, this time he was lopsided, his mouth bloody and cheeks puffy with bruises. He drifted toward the Life Tree blindly, beyond any desire to war, only frightened and young and hurt.

“He got chewed on,” Gailen said. The inhalation pulled the warriors toward the Life Tree. “Looks bad. And there is only one. What of the other two?”

Tial made a noise. “I do not see teeth marks.”

No. A mer had worked the youth over. Had he changed his mind and tried to run?

The youth could not outswim the megalodons anymore. Now they converged on the city, they would swallow him down.

Soren clenched his hands. Even flying hard with the current, he could not save the youth a second time.

From the Life Tree entrance, a figure emerged.

“Faier has him,” Soren said.

Faier grabbed the young warrior and dragged him into Queen Elyssa’s castle. The youth collapsed into his arms, exhausted. The castle sealed up behind them, closing its entrance to enemies, hardening into a ball that was impenetrable. It was an effective defense.

But not against megalodons.

The first reached the castle and inhaled.

They were not lured by the sight of Soren, Kadir, and the other warriors!

The castle strained on its ball but did not break.

The megalodon lowered until the castle was inside its mouth. Its teeth crossed the widest point. It closed its jaws. Sharp teeth sliced Kadir’s castle in half.

Kadir grabbed onto a stable boulder in the sea bed. The rest of the warriors stopped beside him. His jaw hardened.

Soren felt ill.

The lower half of Kadir’s castle fell to the sea floor in a broken mess. The megalodon opened its mouth. The upper half fell out, mashed to bits.

Where were Faier and the youth?

The megalodon rolled sideways and eyed the descending structures. Normally, a hundred mer might shelter inside the castle. This time, only a single orange spot flew out.

“Is that a house guardian?” Tial asked, raising his voice to be heard over the wind.

“Yes,” Soren confirmed.

Benji attacked the megalodon’s exposed eye.

The megalodon moved sideways, rolling to escape the infuriated creature. Guardians and sharks were natural enemies. Although the house guardian was a tiny speck against the huge monster, it attacked like a needle, and the megalodon exhaled to change direction, scooting away from Aya’s castle.

Faier and the youth shot out of its mouth.

They had survived!

Faier flew for the Life Tree.

The second megalodon approached the Life Tree. Attracted by the flashing lights, it bypassed Aya’s castle and focused on the broken sanctuary.

Behind Soren, the army condensed into a troubled unit. A single, juicy unit of warriors who did not wish to be here and were probably horrified by what they saw.

The second megalodon moved forward as though contemplating going to the army. Then it backed away and focused on the Life Tree again.

Tial looked at Gailen. “It has been an honor serving with you.”

“And you.” Gailen stared up toward the surface and sighed. “I wanted to open a sushi restaurant.”

“Megalodon is a specialty no one had tried before.”

He smiled faintly. “Shall we?”

Tial and Gailen let go of the sea floor and swam for the second megalodon.

“Hold!” Soren swam after them. “What are you doing?”

“We are the youngest.”

“The megalodons are not responding to us lures. They will eat you in one bite. You will get yourself killed!”

“Do not ruin our strategy. Be inconspicuous.” Gailen shouted back at him. “You must tell Lucy’s young fry about our heroism on the day of their birth.”

“You are crazy!” he shouted, helpless to do more but obey. “I do not ask this of you.”

Gailen’s response was torn away by the sudden return of the eerie wind tunnel. The second megalodon, at the Life Tree, positioned itself over the crackling light.

Gailen and Tial flew at it hard. They waved and shouted.

Even though they were still a great distance away, their noise and activity finally caught the attention of the megalodon.

It obligingly left the Life Tree and floated toward them. Its eerie noise started.

Gailen and Tial hurtled out of control through the water and were sucked directly into its maw.

No!

They both scrambled. Tial kicked hard. Gailen disappeared into the mouth and kicked out of it.

The jaws closed, and then the megalodon realized it did not have them. Unlike the slow, steady pace it used for following the youth, now it sped forward, a fin-flick that crossed half the city in a stroke, and closed again on both mermen. They were going to be sliced in half.

Soren bunched himself to fly.

The first megalodon smashed into the second, jostling it sideways for a bite.

Tial and Gailen split, flying opposite directions.

The megalodons smashed into each other again. Gailen and Tial flew up, aiming for height and distance. The two megalodons passed over Soren and the other warriors hugging the ocean floor. The ground shuddered beneath Soren’s grip and his legs were torn from underneath him, but his grip held. The megalodons passed by.

The current shifted to yank him the opposite direction – away from the city and toward the army.

Behind him, the army shifted nervously. Their giant, ancient enemies sailed toward them like harbingers of doom. Perhaps they realized Elan was no longer in charge. Discipline first failed at the edges, and then the center split into a screaming mass of terror. Warriors dropped their tridents and dove for the sea floor.

The megalodons settled their differences, opened their giant maws, and feasted.

Soren turned away.

If there had been only two megalodons, Aya’s plan to lure them away from the city would have worked.

The third megalodon floated over the city. Tentacle sucker-scars marked its mouth. This was the monster he and Aya had faced in the trench. Its eerie call clawed up his back.

The crack of the Life Tree drew its interest. It hovered over the sanctuary, turned, and studied the inhabitants.

Kadir made a helpless noise and pushed off the ground. He shifted to fins and kicked toward the sanctuary.

“Kadir!” Soren shoved off the ground and flew after him.

They could not arrive in time.

The third megalodon positioned its deadly, teeth-filled mouth above the broken sanctuary and inhaled.

Kadir tumbled at the maw. Soren fought for control.

Elyssa floated up behind a shining white shield. She was not sucked into the jaw, but floated calmly between the megalodon and the Life Tree. A brilliant white avatar, she glowed with energy.

Kadir hurtled backward into the protective shelter.

She grabbed his hand.

He curled around her.

The jaws of the megalodon began to close around them.

Soren lifted his trident with a roar. He flew straight into the black mouth, his trident aimed at the roof for the monster’s inner skull.