1 "I met Emma," Aylard said, changing the bandage on his shoulder, glancing up at Emony from his straw bed. "My guess is Lenah arranged it, but if you had a hand in it too… thanks.""I most certainly did not. That damned witch just does whatever she wants. Give me that."He took the old bandage from the recovering human, smelling it as well as he could with his nearly useless nose. He couldn't smell any rot…Whatever. He wouldn't really mind if he did die. With a grimace, he threw the messy cloth into the corner of the room, onto some random sick person."Can I ask you something?" Aylard inquired."Clearly. You just did. But I might not answer next time.""How would she have gotten into the bathhouse? How and why would she have managed to get into Terrena, in the first place? What would a mermaid be doing on land?"That was a question he couldn't answer."Maybe Lenah teleported her there or something. Anyway, your condition is improving. Painfully slowly, I might add.""As it turns out, I'm human.""Sucks to be you. You're lucky to be alive. I had Lenah unlink us, by the way. No more black magic keeping you that way. Where did she go, anyway? Oh, right. I expect they'll be bringing your breakfast soon. Make sure it doesn't taste funny before you eat it all, she might have put something in it like she did in mine yesterday."The witch in question strolled into the room at that very moment. Aylard was in the middle of checking his pocket to make sure the flask with the defective love potion remained unopened."What do you want?" Emony asked, suddenly irritated."Just to see you two, grumpy… Oh, no, that's not it. I'm here to bring a few messages. One is for Aylard, from Emma."He could already feel the day taking a turn for the worse. "Don't be ridiculous. She's got nothing to say to this human.""Oh, but she does…" Lenah said, walking over and patting Aylard right on his injured shoulder, making him wince in pain. "She wants to wish him a painless recovery. And she says she'll be in touch.""She will not be in touch," he growled."I think she might.""She will absolutely not. Nothing in the world is more unlikely," he said."Emony. I'm not a threat to her.""What? Well, of course you're not," he cringed. "If you tried anything, she'd make you strangle yourself with your own hair.""No, I'm serious," Aylard continued. "Whether we meet again or not, I owe her my life. I'd never hurt her. Lenah, could you tell her I'm grateful for her well wishes? And tell her I'm sorry for barging in on her like that yesterday. Tell her… I didn't see anything… What? Why are you looking at me like that? What is wrong with you?! Damn it, shut up! It's not like she's at all similar to you two monsters in the first place! She's… good! Or at least something resembling it!"Caught off guard, both Lenah and Emony burst into laughter."You're a top-notch idiot, Aylard," Lenah chuckled. "But I'll make sure she gets the message. One more thing. I need you two to get ready. We meet the king at sundown. I'll conjure you some better clothes." The bastard king of Evaria was a fat man. He was around forty years of age, Emony guessed, but his health certainly wasn't holding up. He was sitting on a large, cushioned armchair carved out of ravenwood, his stomach reaching all the way to the oak table in front of him. Next to him stood a slightly younger man, far slimmer and more muscular, with a smaller beard but much more armor and weapons. Emony wondered how good he was with his sword."So, you're working with a lamia," King Raynardt said, breaking the long silence that had stayed in the dining room nearly since they had come in."Yes," Emony said. He was supposed to pose as a human."And why is that? Why do you need to work with one beast to defeat another? It's never been necessary before. Lamias turn people to stone, remember Westmire? The thing should be executed, not collaborated with.""That's not very accurate, my king," started Lenah, twitching, "But more importantly—""The lamia… is a useful asset," interrupted Aylard, sitting at the table across from Emony. "We would not have gotten half as far as we have without her – … it.""Oh? And where have you gotten? Absolutely nowhere, as far as I've heard. You've sent men back here, begging for our help, and for one of my statues! And I gave it to you, damn it! You should be able to deal with this on your own from now on. What nonsense. "Men of the lake"? What are those? Men that have drowned, you say? So drown them again!"If he judged the king to be of average human intelligence, Emony would have to act like an idiot, he realized. He looked over to Lenah, searching for advice. She shook her head."I'm afraid, my king, that it is not that simple," continued Aylard. "The men of the lake cannot be defeated so easily. Swords do not kill them – not even by beheading. The best we can do is cut off all their limbs, but even after that, the fiends do not really die, and they can put themselves back together in time. I've fought them myself, it's impossible to win. I'm afraid… We must ask you for your help again.""Before they come here," said Emony. "I've no doubt they will eventually. We sent the lamia to negotiate with them—""Negotiate with them? With the undead? Now I know what's happened. You've gone mad! Lady Lenah, what kind of company do you keep? How did you meet these idiots?!"The witch shifted uncomfortably in her seat."My king… you've heard of the "king of the lake" by now. The situation truly is grave. He is someone I fear as well.""The king… Even you cannot beat him? Some dead pretender?"She shook her head. "I can feel the effects of his magic even here, halfway across the kingdom. It's the darkest kind there is, and there is a great deal of it. If he marches south, there will be deaths measured in the thousands. And you know him."The king looked grimly towards the witch. Emony still didn't know what their relationship looked like – it was said that the king hated magic and everything to do with it, yet the two of them knew each other well. Behind his back, Lenah called him a brat. He sat up straight in his chair."What do you mean, I know him?" the king asked."It's your half-brother, Aulduyen," he said."Curses, that arse? And he's leading an army? I thought I'd been done with him ten years ago… Lenah, I've been receiving reports from my emissaries. They've been arriving in villages and towns to remind them to pay their taxes, only to find them empty. Blood everywhere, the places burnt down… but no bodies. You're saying this is the cause? The men that came before you knew nothing of it, only that the corpses attacked the garrison I sent to Coldbarrow and terrorized the villagers. I thought this was a minor issue!""The dead become his soldiers," said Emony. "He controls them like puppets with his magic. If he's already started to attack… Palehome has been destroyed, then?""Palehome? Huh. So, you've no idea what's been going on, either. And I thought at least you would be well informed. Yes, Palehome is gone, but that's the least of it. If what you say is true, so is just about every other village and town north of Coldbarrow! That unfortunate little village must be nearly the only one left, and even they cannot pay their dues right now! Well then, it's safe to say that old fool has got plenty of soldiers. So, what does he want? What any undead wants, I suppose. Death and destruction? No, but Yperian sent men to my castle asking about some dumb girl… Why?""He wants his wife back.""What, that lowborn strumpet he married in the village before he died? The mermaid? You've got to be joking! Ha! Well, admittedly, he cared far more for her than he did for the throne, the dull fool. Well, he's in for a surprise! The siren is a statue. I was going to have her brought here to be executed ten years ago, but the convoy met a stray lamia on the way. Maybe it was your "asset". In any case, I had the pretty sea monster on display in my garden. Up till three days ago, when Yperian's knights came over, petitioning me for it!""A lamia?" Emony gasped. "Are you sure—""My king, Raynardt! The king—" Lamiah begun."The king, the king! I am the king! Cease giving the title to that fool! He's a pompous, undead vagabond, that's all he is! Even when he was alive, he never cared for anything but a good fight! If he wants one even now, he can have it!""This may be unwise—""Was it, without a doubt, a lamia?!" Emony demanded."Yes! It was a lamia; some merchant survived the encounter and told me about it! Now not another word! I've already called out to the lords and ladies of the kingdom. Their armies will be amassing here soon. He wants his girl back? I already gave her to him! Is he unhappy that she's a rock? Then he can attack, and he can die again! What is he going to do with her, anyway? Take his throne back, put her on it? Can he bring her back to life, too?! Well?! Don't look amongst yourself like you've got some conspiracy going! Can he?!""Not with ravenwood," Emony said, trying to shake the sickening feeling he was getting out of his head. "If she's really been petrified, it's been far too long. But Lenah, Tiphaine inherited the Eyes nine cycles ago, in autumn. You say ten years, but how long ago, exactly, did this rebellion happen?"He saw the witch's blue eyes begin trembling. "Emony… You don't want to know…""What are you talking about?" demanded the king."No… This can't be happening… But… but Verena said the king might be able to help Tiphaine, to free her from the curse. She said he had enough black magic to do it.""The king could help?! Are you friends? What, are you playing both sides?! Lenah, explain yourself!""It's the Eyes," Lenah said to Emony, shaking her head. "Nothing of this world can break it. It can only move on."Emony got up from his chair without a word of warning."Lenah, Emony, was it her?" Aylard gasped. "Was it really her?""I'm sorry, King Raynardt," Emony said. "I have to go. It was a mistake, bringing the statue to the king of the lake – it will only serve to enrage him. I will make sure it does not reach him," he said."What is wrong with you, you damned vagabond? Where do you think you're going? You want to make decisions on your own? I'm in charge here! Your people asked for that damned statue, you got it! Now you think you can leave your king's table whenever you want? Sit down!"Emony eyed the weapon on the king's guard. He did not stay still. 2 "Emony! Wait up! Wait up, damn you! Do you know what you're doing? Do you know where she is?" Lenah shouted behind him."We sent her to Coldbarrow! I'll start there!""Wait! Urgh, you idiot, stop moving!"A bolt of blue lightning suddenly zapped Emony from behind, making him stumble to the ground on the steps out of the castle. His forehead hit the stone floor, hurting him. Footsteps ran over towards him and stopped in front of his face."Stop running like a chicken with your head cut off – don't you know I can teleport you there?! Urgh! Look – I'm sorry! But… Tiphaine… It really was her! I saw it in her memories a few nights ago!""Damn it, does the king know?"Aylard ran down the stairs behind them, closing a door behind himself and barring it shut."What's going on?!" he demanded. "Was it Tiphaine who petrified that girl?!""It doesn't matter! Does the king know?!""He... He might! There are other things that can petrify people, but not for decades! What if he starts going down the list?!""Dammit, does Tiphaine know that it was her?!" he yelled out from the ground."No, but… Emony – it's too late! Those knights left with the girl three days ago!""So what are you saying?! That she's already dead?! Urgh, go away, Aylard! You can't hear this!""Shut up! I'm on your side right now! Lenah, fill me in! Is Tiphaine in danger?"Emony felt Lenah's magic fizzle out and he quickly regained control of his limbs again. In an instant, he got back up from the ground."No! Lenah, don't you dare tell him, we can't trust him with this! He cares too much about the other humans!""So do I! But be quiet!" Lenah shouted. "I'm looking through his mind, give me a moment!"Aylard suddenly fell onto the ground beside Emony, groaning in pain. A second later, he was foaming at the mouth as black sparks fizzled out of his chest. His eyes rolled to the back of his head."Okay! Done! Sorry, Aylard, I was in a rush – but you can trust him for now, Emony! Let's go, before Tiphaine or the king start guessing!""What? No! Not with him!""Emma can sing to him later if you still don't trust me! Teleportation!" An instant later, an unnatural, revolting warmth filled his mouth and lungs. They had appeared right in the village square in Coldbarrow, just like he and Tiphaine had weeks ago, but the place was hotter than a desert. The night air was so thick with black magic it was practically visible."This means trouble. Lenah, dammit, couldn't you bring us closer? The encampment is on the hill three miles from here! The lake… Lenah? Lenah?! Are you okay?!"The witch was hunched over beside him, coughing madly into the ground."Go! Just hurry, Emony, I'm fine! Divines, there's so much of this darkness! Go and talk to the king! See if Tiphaine is there! We'll go see the humans. We'll have to walk, I can't use that kind of magic in this. And where is everybody?""The village is empty," said Aylard, quickly looking around. "They must have been evacuated. The knight commander mentioned that being a last resort, I remember. Didn't you say Coldbarrow was safe, Emony?!""I thought it was! I don't know what happened! And I don't care. I'm going. If you find it first, destroy that statue!""Emony, if we do that… Who knows what he'll do?!" gasped Lenah."Nothing to Tiphaine," he growled. "Now go! If she's in the lake, I'll find her!""I thought you were afraid of—"Without listening to another word, Emony ran off and jumped into the lake, creating a tail from his legs as quickly as he could and swimming madly off into the depths. The king's puppets were crowding the dark water in far greater numbers than they had when she had been there last. There were corpses floating around everywhere Emony looked. She ignored them all, focusing on her task as she darted as quickly as she could towards the underwater palace.Soon, the castle walls became visible underneath her. The water was dark, but strange lights glowed from it as they had before, making it easy to navigate. The black magic that had filled the air was even thicker in the water, making her feel like throwing up blood. In order not to come off the wrong way to the king, who was likely watching, she slowed down when she came close and made her way as casually as possible to the rotting wooden gate before the palace. She tried to slow down her breathing. I have nothing to hide… I'm on his side… I have nothing to hide… Divines! No bra! If he kills me now because of that… But I have to risk it.Standing before the gate, a fresh corpse bared her way, but suddenly, it bowed down low towards her and stepped aside, letting her pass. With that, the king surely knew she was there.She swam into the courtyard with the statues of mermaids on either side of the marble path. It was completely empty, aside from them, not a living soul was there. She went further inside, towards the palace. Then, all of a sudden, the huge, magnificent doors opened in front of her of their own accord, a torrent of water pushing them ajar from the other side."Emony!" exclaimed Tiphaine, right across from them.She was leisurely standing in the ornate hall with Verena at her side. Emony was impossibly happy to see her again. Tiphaine slithered overexcitedly across the marble floor towards her. Emony dashed forward as well, embracing her tightly."What's this for, Emony?" she asked. "I'm happy, but… no, it doesn't matter. I've missed you, too! I know it's only been a few days, but… I was worried. But… you've returned so soon? What are you doing here? Are Lenah and Aylard with you?""It's all okay," Emony said, relaxing her embrace, nodding hastily before looking around. Verena was swimming over to them."We need to leave," she whispered before the mermaid could make it within earshot. Tiphaine tilted her head at Emony in confusion."It's nice to see that you're back, Emony," said Verena, reaching them and giving her a friendly greeting. "I hope you are well. Did you retrieve anything of value from Terrena? We weren't expecting you so soon, you really do travel quickly.""It's Lenah's doing. She teleported us here. Actually, we need to get back to her right now. It's very important. Tiphaine? Come on.""What's going on?" Tiphaine asked.The gilded doors that were slowly closing behind them suddenly pushed themselves wide open again, flooding the hall with unnatural light. There, amidst the swirling water, stood the king.In his arms lay still a beautiful stone statue of a mermaid.Verena's arms shot up to her mouth, only slightly covering her gasp of surprise."Our queen has returned!" the king bellowed. "My love, my guiding star! She has come back to us!"Tiphaine was speechless, as was Emony. Her mind raced to find out what she should do. She couldn't face the king in battle, she didn't stand a chance. She couldn't escape, either, there were far too many corpses in the water. She had no good options. Starting to tremble slightly, she remained quiet and lowered her head, bowing to the king and queen."She has returned to us!" Aulduyen boomed happily, making the world shake. "Imarah, you've made it home!"Verena swam over towards them quickly to inspect the statue. She and the king were becoming more ecstatic by the second."Emony, you found her," said Tiphaine happily, though with a hint of confusion. "But she's… petrified, am I seeing that right? How did that happen?""Tiphaine," she said, as quietly as she could without indicating that she was whispering. "She's been petrified for ten years. Listen to me. The first chance I get, I'm going to kidnap you.""Oh, come, do not speak so shyly before me now, you two!" shouted the king, gazing at them and smiling madly with delight. "Our queen has returned! I have you to thank for this, I know it. I will reward you both exquisitely. Whatever you desire is yours, you need only ask. Oh, but first! First, we must celebrate, together! We must have a feast! A feast, worthy of my love!" 3 Tiphaine The feast was… unnerving. The king sat beside his throne at the end of the long table with the petrified queen at his side. He was talking to her constantly, as though completely unfazed by the fact that she was a statue. The many fish that lay on their plates were those that Verena had managed to catch at a moment's notice, cooked over a black fire that the king lit with magic in the water.Verena had asked if her sister could hear her – and she did say "maybe", but, watching her join the king, she felt like she may have given them false hope. No one could be revived from the stone after more than a week, if it had been ten years…But who was to blame? Was it her? The only mermaid she ever remembered meeting was Verena, but she was the only thing in the world that was cursed with the Eyes. What else could have caused this? There were other things that could petrify people, but for ten years? That kind of magic was rare. Still, she refused to believe it was her.But… but Emony was constantly signaling her to be quiet.Why, Emony? Do you think it was me?"My queen, how do you like the palace?" the king asked delightedly. "Oh, I know it's gotten a little grimy since you left – I've only just been back for a month or so myself, so I hope you'll forgive me. But now that you're back, fixing it will become our top priority!""Aulduyen, you know she likes the algae," Verena said. "That was always your pet peeve.""Is that so? In that case, it will remain as is. What do you think, Imarah? Ha, I am a fool! I know you cannot really move just yet, but I cannot stop imagining that you are! All these years, I've been picturing your face in the abyss, looking for a way to come back and retrieve you… and now you're finally here! We've just got to fix up this one little snag. Don't worry, it will be quick. I've amassed quite a large amount of magical power; I only need to find out how to use it properly. And I've got an expert that can show me! Lamia? What was it… ah, yes, Tiphaine? Yours is a name worth remembering. Oh, do not fear, finish chewing first. I'd just like to ask you – how quickly do you think we could get to work on the depetrification process? I imagine you must know something, since you possess a curse that could cause something like this yourself. I can see a string of magic connecting you to… Oh, never mind. How quickly do you think our queen might recover?"She found herself quickly growing nervous, not knowing what to say. "R-ravenwood bark is what I've always used," she said. "It's worked every time on Emony, and on everyone else… It works instantly, but... not after they've been gone for very long.""I see… Perhaps the problem was quantity? I'll cut down the whole forest if I have to.""That… could work? I'm sorry I can't be of much help. I'll try to figure something out.""We'll do our best to find more solutions," Emony said, swimming over to her quickly with a swing of her golden tail and grasping her hand. "We have a friend, a witch, I'm sure she will be able to tell us something. We just need to go to the surface and ask her.""Really? That's excellent! Thank you, Emony. Please do so as soon as possible – I'd rather not discomfort Imarah for any length of time – but you may finish eating, of course. You've earned a reward. Wouldn't you agree, Imarah? Speaking of earning things – I believe you've expressed discomfort at your new siren nature. Of course, I do not understand in the least – mermaids are the most graceful of creatures – but if you wish to become a werewolf again, I can give you that gift whenever you wish. I can see the magic tying your soul to your altered form, it should be easy to remove. Of course, we will have to do that on land, lest you lose your ability to breath underwater.""Thank you, my king, for the offer. I'm… very grateful.""You've earned a reward! Actually, I feel like it will do nothing at all to repay the debt I owe you. If there is anything else at all that you may desire, you will have it. I'm sure my queen would want me to make this promise as well.""Thank you."With a final nod, the king hastily turned around again and ran back towards the statue of his queen, taking her hand with his own and speaking to her again.Verena swam over to him and Tiphaine, a smile clear on her own lips, too."I'm so happy you've managed to return my sister to us. I knew I could count on you, Tiphaine. And you, too, Emony. You've done an excellent job.""We're just glad to help," she responded."You've helped far more than you know. I was getting impossibly worried about Aulduyen. You saw what he was like only yesterday, Tiphaine. He was talking about invading the south, to scour the whole world with the puppets. But now… Look at him. He's so happy… I only feel regret that so many people died already. The horde of corpses was completely unnecessary, all we needed was you two. Tiphaine, are you looking forward to being able to take off the veil? I'll be sure to convince Aulduyen to help you with that tomorrow.""Do you… do you think I might really be able to? I've been so afraid to get my hopes up. Emony? You might be able to see me without turning to stone!"She was shaking her hand, so excited. Emony couldn't bring herself to tell her. She smiled, giving her a moment of happiness.If only it were possible, she thought."I'm sure we'll be able to help you," Verena continued. "Aulduyen says the curse is more deeply rooted in you than in Emony, Tiphaine, after all, it is the Eyes, but I'm sure he'll be able to do it. You helped return his queen to him. He'll do anything for you. I – Oh, I'm sorry. Please excuse me, Emony, I can see you'd like to say something to Tiphaine as well. In private, I suppose? Well, you'll know where to find me. Have a great time."The mermaid swam away, apparently after reading the anxiousness Emony was trying to hide from her face. Tiphaine was still so excited, sitting beside her."Can you imagine, Emony? We might finally be free of this. I'll be able to see the world without these crystals covering my eyes, and you'll be able to see me for real… So why are you so worried? Your heart is beating so crazy I think it might stop. What's wrong?""I can't say," Emony said."We're back to that again? Well, you… um… you said you were going to kidnap me?"Emony nodded, nervously waving back at the king. He was pointing at her, still speaking happily to his queen."We need to leave, Tiphaine," she said, not moving her gaze from him. "We need to get far away from here, before things turn ugly.""Why would things turn ugly, Emony? We just gave the king what he wanted, look how happy he is. Won't things get better now? Don't you think the king could free Imarah?""No. We need to get to Lenah.""But… our curses, too… Don't you want to be free of them? I've been waiting for ten years. And you desperately want to be a werewolf again, I know it.""Trust me, there are things far more important. Just ask the king over there. No, don't. Stay away from him. I'll tell him we're leaving. We're off to go get Lenah, and she'll help him find a way to free the queen. Then we can come back and get you cured of the Eyes, okay?""Why are you lying to me, Emony?" she asked, a small trembling in her voice. "Was it really me?"She spared her a glance, her expression full of worry, and leaned in closer to her. "Please just trust me, Tiphaine."Her cute little face harbored so much fear... Emony was never afraid. She was right. It was her."I trust you. But we'll come back, right?" Tiphaine asked, her hope sinking in her throat."We'll come back," Emony said again, her heart skipping a beat with every word.