Free Crystal Doors #2: Ocean Realm (No. 2) by Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta

vicious claws into her arm. But how much more harm could they do to her now? She wished she’d had a chance to say goodbye to Uncle Cap.
    Finally, when she could bear it no longer, Gwen drew in a huge breath, knowing that it would be heavy, liquid death and not blessed air. At least she would foil whatever plans Orpheon and the evil merlons had for them.
    But as she drew in a gulp, instead of choking she felt the cool water rush through the slash wounds in her throat. It was like breathing! Water flowed in, filled her lungs. It was the strangest sensation, like a dense bubble inside her. The slashes in her throat were . . . gill slits! Orpheon had worked some kind of spell, and she was drawing oxygen from the seawater.
    Gwen coughed, jerked, spasmed, and took in another gulp. Her vision began to clear. She blinked in amazement. Water circulated through her windpipe and lungs just like air. Because of the thickness of the seawater, she had to work harder to breathe — but she was breathing! Breathing water.
    She turned to see Tiaret thrashing, amber eyes bulging as she desperately tried to hold her breath. Vic had already succumbed and was now sucking deep breaths of water through his gill slits, an expression of comical surprise on his face. He looked at Gwen and pointed to his throat. She nodded. Sharif was also breathing through gills, as was Lyssandra. When Tiaret finally began to draw in water, she fought with a greater determination, struggling until a second merlon seized her other arm.
    Their captors continued dragging them downward, far out to the depths of the sea. Once the five friends grew too weary to struggle any more, their merlon captors paused to fit them each with a heavy belt made of seashells to reduce buoyancy, like the weights scuba divers used. Uncle Cap had kept something like that with his gear on the purple speedboat.
    Then the merlons took hold of the sharks’ fins, as if the deadly creatures were pet dolphins, and let the predators pull them and their captives swiftly along. The journey seemed interminable.
    Gwen’s eyes gradually adjusted to the dimness. Knowing they had no chance of escaping, she grew dismayed. Only an hour ago, their future had looked bright and optimistic. Uncle Cap had just arrived, the repairs to the city’s harbor were almost complete, Rubicas was re-creating his shield spell, and all Elantyans were preparing to stand together against the merlons.
    But they had been caught off-guard yet again.
    Their undersea captors towed them over anemone-strewn coral reef cliffs and dropped down into a waving forest of golden and green fronds that looked like the doolya stalks they had used for filling Rubicas’s tank. The sharks guided the group through the seaweed forest, knowing their way.
    Because of her interest in marine biology, Gwen couldn’t help being intrigued by her environment. Although being held captive by merlons dampened a bit of her natural scientific curiosity, she looked around her, identifying species of fish, mollusks, and undersea plants — some of them, that is. There were plenty of creatures here she had never seen before. She wondered if even the most famous undersea explorers had ever seen such marvels.
    On the silty sea bottom, giant purple clams gaped open, showing what looked like large gray tongues inside. The shadows of the passing sharks triggered a reflex in the clams, and the big shells slammed shut like warehouse doors being locked for the night.
    As they were all dragged along, Vic showed wary interest, and Lyssandra appeared withdrawn. Sharif looked stunned and outraged while, from the mesh sack dangling on his chest, Piri throbbed through a series of angry reds and oranges. Tiaret’s entire body seemed to project righteous fury, but she had ceased her overt struggles, for now.
    Waving to get everyone’s attention, Vic pointed ahead, and Gwen turned to see something she had never expected to encounter again: the Golden Walrus. The broad cargo