if they want to see the fire or want to see the humans.”
Several mermen and mermaids were swimming towards them, perhaps two dozen, Marco estimated.
“What rules are you breaking Kreewhite? Do you wish to be expelled from the village, or do you wish to see the whole village destroyed?” a large and mature merman asked loudly as he came upon them.
“My lord, this is my friend Marco, the one who killed the evil sorcerer, the one who I escaped with after I was caught. He is my arnelli,” Kreewhite spoke loudly and rapidly. “You said once that if it was a matter of him not having a place to go he could come here.
“He and his friends were riding with dolphins out in the sea when the storm came, so he came here for shelter,” Kreewhite explained. “He had no other place to go.”
“You expect me to believe that a legged-boy is friends with dolphins, and kills sorcerers, and just happens to come to our village to get out of a storm?” the village leader asked in a voice laced with sarcasm.
“Yes, Lord Neptin, that’s all true,” Kreewhite answered.
“And this friend of yours just happens to have the sorcery powers to start a fire with soaking wood?” Neptin asked.
Kreewhite faltered, and looked at Marco.
“My lord, I did start the fire, and it was with magic that I don’t understand, but please don’t blame Kreewhite for that. We only came here to seek shelter from the storm, and we thank Kreewhite for letting us rest here,” Marco spoke up, conscious of the many sets of eyes upon him.
“If you wish for us to leave, we will do so,” Marco added.
“Leave? Leave so that you can bring a shipload of human hunters here to destroy our village and murder our people? We have only five villages of mermen left in all the waters that we know, because the legged ones like you have killed and murdered so many of our people,” Lord Neptin responded angrily.
“No, you may not leave our village to go tell other humans where we live,” he thundered.
“But I must go on. The spirit of the island told me to,” Marco protested.
“Spirit of the island? There is no spirit to this island! You tell wilder and more outrageous stories with each passing second,” Neptin denied him, and Marco saw that a number of stout mermen were slowly closing in upon the fire platform in a menacing fashion.
“Not this island! The enchanted island – the healing island – the Isle of Asclepius,” Marco spoke quickly. The mention of the name brought a low rustle of voices as the merpeople whispered among themselves. “That’s where I was told I had to do something, to find something, to go on, on,” he stopped, trying to think of the correct word.
“On a quest,” Porenn spoke up. “I was with him. So was Glaze. We were in the caves within the island and a voice spoke to us. It told Marco to find something – a scale from a monster,” she said.
“From an Echidna,” Marco explained. “I have to get a scale from an Echidna.” He stopped speaking, as the crowd gasped audibly.
“Not from an Echidna,” Neptin spoke in a more conversational tone. “There is only one Echidna –The Echidna. She is the mother of all monsters, a great, dangerous, deadly and cunning beast.
“You are on your way to your death if you are going to seek the Echidna.”
“The voice would not send Marco on a suicide mission,” Porenn protested. “He is a favorite of the isle. He is the sign that the prophesized times are beginning. And the Lady Iasco has been very good to him; she must think that he has a great role to play in the rest of the prophecy. He cannot fail or we all will be doomed,” she spoke passionately, surprising Marco with her words.
“How would you know so much of such things?” one of Neptin’s nearby supporters asked.
“I am an acolyte of the Lady, from the Island of Ophiuchus,” Porenn answered.
“This all seems preposterous – you are an acolyte of the
Several mermen and mermaids were swimming towards them, perhaps two dozen, Marco estimated.
“What rules are you breaking Kreewhite? Do you wish to be expelled from the village, or do you wish to see the whole village destroyed?” a large and mature merman asked loudly as he came upon them.
“My lord, this is my friend Marco, the one who killed the evil sorcerer, the one who I escaped with after I was caught. He is my arnelli,” Kreewhite spoke loudly and rapidly. “You said once that if it was a matter of him not having a place to go he could come here.
“He and his friends were riding with dolphins out in the sea when the storm came, so he came here for shelter,” Kreewhite explained. “He had no other place to go.”
“You expect me to believe that a legged-boy is friends with dolphins, and kills sorcerers, and just happens to come to our village to get out of a storm?” the village leader asked in a voice laced with sarcasm.
“Yes, Lord Neptin, that’s all true,” Kreewhite answered.
“And this friend of yours just happens to have the sorcery powers to start a fire with soaking wood?” Neptin asked.
Kreewhite faltered, and looked at Marco.
“My lord, I did start the fire, and it was with magic that I don’t understand, but please don’t blame Kreewhite for that. We only came here to seek shelter from the storm, and we thank Kreewhite for letting us rest here,” Marco spoke up, conscious of the many sets of eyes upon him.
“If you wish for us to leave, we will do so,” Marco added.
“Leave? Leave so that you can bring a shipload of human hunters here to destroy our village and murder our people? We have only five villages of mermen left in all the waters that we know, because the legged ones like you have killed and murdered so many of our people,” Lord Neptin responded angrily.
“No, you may not leave our village to go tell other humans where we live,” he thundered.
“But I must go on. The spirit of the island told me to,” Marco protested.
“Spirit of the island? There is no spirit to this island! You tell wilder and more outrageous stories with each passing second,” Neptin denied him, and Marco saw that a number of stout mermen were slowly closing in upon the fire platform in a menacing fashion.
“Not this island! The enchanted island – the healing island – the Isle of Asclepius,” Marco spoke quickly. The mention of the name brought a low rustle of voices as the merpeople whispered among themselves. “That’s where I was told I had to do something, to find something, to go on, on,” he stopped, trying to think of the correct word.
“On a quest,” Porenn spoke up. “I was with him. So was Glaze. We were in the caves within the island and a voice spoke to us. It told Marco to find something – a scale from a monster,” she said.
“From an Echidna,” Marco explained. “I have to get a scale from an Echidna.” He stopped speaking, as the crowd gasped audibly.
“Not from an Echidna,” Neptin spoke in a more conversational tone. “There is only one Echidna –The Echidna. She is the mother of all monsters, a great, dangerous, deadly and cunning beast.
“You are on your way to your death if you are going to seek the Echidna.”
“The voice would not send Marco on a suicide mission,” Porenn protested. “He is a favorite of the isle. He is the sign that the prophesized times are beginning. And the Lady Iasco has been very good to him; she must think that he has a great role to play in the rest of the prophecy. He cannot fail or we all will be doomed,” she spoke passionately, surprising Marco with her words.
“How would you know so much of such things?” one of Neptin’s nearby supporters asked.
“I am an acolyte of the Lady, from the Island of Ophiuchus,” Porenn answered.
“This all seems preposterous – you are an acolyte of the
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