Chapter 10


As the queen’s ugly scream echoed off the walls, Dean swore he saw a flash of blonde hair lash around the corner of the wall across the room. Taking this chance as the queen threw her royal tantrum Dean dashed across the room to the door and sped through. Immediately he saw Mallory curving around the corner. He followed her and called out her name. Mallory stopped in her tracks and spun her head around. Her blonde hair flew about her head as her blue eyes met his and she came dashing into his arms.

They were so happy to see each other again. Dean kissed her just before they ran out of the castle together, listening to the guards scrambling around, trying to listen to the queen shrieking.

After Dean kissed me in the hallway, I was too blown away to do anything. So Dean grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. After a while, I regained my composure and ran beside him, holding his hand. When we dashed out of the castle doors, we skidded to an abrupt halt and stared horrifyingly at the scene in front of us.
I guess I never realized it, but the castle was on a big cliff in the middle of the Kanzati Ocean. We were overlooking miles and miles of blue, sparkling water. Every once in a while there were scattered islands, but everything was beginning to look hopeless for us. I was devastated. I tried so hard, just to be let down, by something I can’t control. It’s just not fair!
All of a sudden we heard hollers and footsteps running toward us. We both looked over our shoulders.
Could this get any worse? I wondered. Queen Lamia’s guards spotted us and were heading this way.
I was frozen. I couldn’t move. After all this hard work, they were finally going to get us.
But apparently Dean had other plans. He pulled me around the corner of the castle and we ran to the other side of the cliff. We stopped at the edge and both looked back at the running guards, hopelessly.
This is it, I thought. We’re done for good. What will my mother think? If I could just SEE her, one more time!
But then an idea popped into both of our heads at the same time. We stared out at the ocean, we looked down at the rushing water, and then we looked at each other, then at the guards. They were getting closer.
Dean leaned down and kissed me and then we jumped.
It was a long way down to the water. A hundred feet or more. But I wasn’t scared. At first. Dean was right there, falling beside me. I was squeezing his hand. And plus, the falling wasn’t the bad part. It was actually kind of fun. It was anticipating hitting the water. What would it feel like? Would it-
And then it hit me. Literally. The sparkling water that looked so calm and peaceful slammed into me. My breath whooshed out of me, and my vision went all black. My whole body went numb. And the water was so cold! Was I already dead? Is this what heaven felt like at first? I decided that this couldn’t be heaven. Heaven would be so much better than this.
But that’s when my feeling came back. I could feel Dean’s hand in mine. I could feel fins rubbing up against my legs.
That’s weird. I thought fish would be scared of us and swim away.
And then my vision came back. At first, all I could see was blue. And then my blonde hair floating around my head. And then Dean, he was staring at me. No, he was staring at something behind me.
Ohmygosh! I know why I felt fins! This is the part where some huge fish, a shark maybe, devours us into itty bitty pieces!
I squeeze my eyes shut in defeat. If the queen and her guards don’t kill us, the monster in the ocean will. That’s just the way it’s going to be. We tried hard, but it just wasn’t enough. There’s now way to get out of this one.
Anticipating the monsters teeth digging into my body, I shuddered. But instead of teeth I felt Dean grab my arm and pull me to the surface. I opened my eyes.
Wow! Instead of a monster swimming by us, there were people swimming around, staring at us curiously. There were women, men, teenagers, and little children. And they all looked EXACTLY like us. Except for one tiny detail. Instead of legs they had a fin.
Mermaids! Real, live, mermaids. Wow!
The children were hiding behind some of the women, clutching their tailfins.
I was mesmerized by their fins. They we amazing. Everyone had different colors, like green, purple, blue, pink, even black, but they all had one think in common. They all had sparkly scales that caught the sunlight and glimmered.
Once Dean and I finally kicked ourselves to the surface, we gasped in the air, thankful to finally be out of trouble.
But then when we realized a couple of the mermaids grabbed our ankles and were pulling us down again, we began to have doubts about the ‘out of trouble’ thing.
Come on! Even the mermaids are out to get us? I mean, come on! Give us a break!
I was surprised about how much strength a couple of the mermaids have. They pulled us down like we were a bunch of seaweed!
I didn’t have time to struggle. I didn’t have time to do anything. Before I knew what was going on, the mermaids grabbed our hands.
All of a sudden I didn’t have to hold my breath anymore. I mean, I couldn’t breathe or anything, but my lungs weren’t about to explode either. I looked over to Dean. He looked relaxed too.
“You have to stay holding our hands. Once you let go you’ll have to breathe air again.” The mermaid holding my hand said to us in a sweet, melodic, voice.
The mermaids began swimming, pulling us along with them.
‘Where are they taking us?’ I wondered.
“We’re taking you guys to land. The water is a very dangerous place for land bearers.” The mermaid said, almost as if she could read my mind. Maybe she can.
So I just floated along, enjoying the moments that I finally get to relax. Once in a while I would look back at Dean, but I tried to make sure I didn’t think anything. Just in case.

Before I knew it I fell asleep, letting the mer-people drag me along. When I woke up, Dean and I were lying on the sand, the water washing up our legs. I stiffly sat up. Believe it or not, but the sand isn’t the comfiest substance in the world.
Dean was already sitting up, staring at me with concern.
“Dean?” My voice was shaky. “Where exactly are we?”
“Well,” he answered. We are about 3 miles away from the beach where we watched the sunset together.”
“Three miles?” I whispered, more to myself than Dean, or, in that case, anyone else. “How are we going to get back?”
I knew both of us were fully exhausted and definitely not up for a three mile swim, while battling sea monsters, or whatever was out there.
“I can help with that!” A deep, but friendly voice said from way up high behind me.
“Stinga!” Dean yelled and got to his feet quickly.
I looked back and saw a huge lizard type creature swimming in the water. Oh yeah! Stinga, the one who healed my feet and hands. The, oh what was it, Leviton? Lavitan? No, it was… Leviathon! Yeah that is it. I get up, too, and follow Dean to the large Leviathon.
It was very large, and kind of shaped like a snake. It had a large, flat head. It also had big golden eyes, just like the unicorn.
“Mallory, this is Stinga, the one who healed your feet that one time and Stinga… well… you know Mallory.”
“Hey Stinga! Nice to meet you!” I said and ran up to the creature. “Thank you So much for healing me! I wish I had you around all the time when I got injured!” I laughed.
He laughed too, a booming laugh that I felt in my chest. “Actually, I might be able to help with that.” He brought his tail near me. In it he had a flask curled up in it. He handed it to me. The bottle was full of red liquid. “Every time you have an injury put one drop on it. It should heal right away.
“Oh, really? Thanks!” I could hear Dean chuckling behind me.
“Well, I should probably take you two back now, things are going to get worse. With the soldiers I mean.” Stinga bent his head down to the sand and Dean stepped up. He held out his hand to me. I took it and stepped on too. His head was so big that my whole bedroom would’ve fit in it!
“You guys should get some sleep up there. It’s a long journey!” Stinga called to us.
Dean agreed and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my forehead as we both laid down. As soon as my head it Stinga’s head, I was out. I fell asleep feeling Dean’s warm arms around me.


When I woke up I was laying in the bed in the tree house. I was a little confused.
How did I get here? Surely Dean couldn’t carry me all the way here. He’s tired too, right? Was all this a dream? Did Dean never take me riding on that unicorn? I knew it seemed too real to be true. Did I never lay with him on the beach after that? Didn’t I wake up in his arms, still on the beach? What about the bluffs? The creepy, dark cave, where the soldiers captured us? Was that all a dream?
Or was it all my imagination? Did I make up Queen Lamia myself? Is she a figment of my imagination? I do read a lot of books. She could be a mixed version of a lot of the evil characters I read about? But surely not. I couldn’t make up someone that hideously evil and spoiled. Right?

Am I going CRAZY!?