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

cooperate.”
    “Lyssandra’s right. We won’t cooperate with you!”
    Orpheon gave Gwen another sneering smile. “We can be quite persuasive, but I hope you do not surrender too easily. I am looking forward to this.”
    He called in a loud voice, speaking to the merlons in their own language; Gwen realized that through some magic in the communication shells, she could understand. “They can now hear and comprehend the orders they are given. They no longer have the excuse.” Orpheon stroked in the water, pointing toward the highest underwater building. “Now, take them into the hall of the merlon king. Barak is waiting for them.”
    The merlon escorts led them into the many-towered structure. The fortress gate was threatening, made of the forbidding rib bones of enormous dead fish and studded with jagged teeth from giant sharks. The archways were draped with rippling algae curtains.
    Colorful fish flitted everywhere, as Gwen might have expected birds or butterflies to do in a garden. Inside the great undersea palace was an open courtyard, a huge throne hall that looked out upon an undersea cliff that dropped off to regions of the sea that were deeper yet. Merlon servants used clubs to beat on large, round drums, sending rich vibrations through the water.
    Orpheon spoke in a loud voice. “My Lord, I have brought the prisoners you requested.”
    The answering voice came from a throne surrounded by feathery seaweed. “I asked for two — only two. But three is better than two. Five is better than three. You brought me five. That is better than the two I demanded — and what I demand, I get.”
    “Yes, King Barak,” Orpheon said with a bow.
    Pushing away seaweed, a lanky merlon covered with ornate shell garments stood up from the throne. Taller than the other merlons, his skin was iridescent, and the pupils of his overlarge eyes were slitted. The scalloped ruffle across his brow and down the back of his skull was larger than any other merlon’s; rust-red fins ran down his spine in a spiky frill. “Welcome to Oo’regl, capital of the Ocean Realm of Szishh. I am King Barak. I am your King. I am your master.” He came forward, stroking more than walking, to glare at them. “I am so glad to have new strangers. I get bored easily.”
    His voice held a snarling hiss. “We will eat. I command a banquet. I summon food for all of us.” Then he turned. “Well? What are you waiting for?” The merlon guards darted away like startled fish in a pond.
    Then from behind the tall throne emerged another figure. A human living among the merlons, like Orpheon. Straight, jet hair framed a handsome face made all the more mesmerizing by the man’s unusual eyes — one green, one blue. It was almost impossible to look away from him. Slightly taller than Vic, the man was dressed in shimmering robes made of a silken fiber that sparkled as if it were woven from spun jewels.
    Beside Gwen, Sharif spat out a violent curse in a language she didn’t recognize. Straining against one of the few merlon guards that had remained in the hall, Sharif cried out in the underwater language, “You killed my brother.”
    Gwen had recognized the man, too. She had seen him before in the stands at the Ocean Kingdoms Learning Center and Amusement Park. He had worn jeans back then, and his brow had been furrowed in an expression of intense anticipation. This mysterious man had somehow driven Shoru the killer whale into a frenzy, endangering Gwen’s life.
    Her heart turned to ice. She also realized that this man — directly or indirectly — had murdered her parents.
    Azric.

9
     
    VIC HAD NEVER EATEN underwater before. After being surrounded by sharks, having his throat slashed, nearly being drowned, being taken to the hall of the merlon king, and coming face to face with the evil man who had killed Gwen’s parents and made his own mother flee to save his life, Vic couldn’t say he was particularly hungry.
    King Barak seemed completely manic, excited