Yvette’s heart was pounding so hard she was certain the others could hear it once she turned back into her normal form. The beach they had arrived on looked completely empty, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there was possibly someone out there, hidden in the trees, watching them. Waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Or what if their approach had been seen and now their enemies were on high alert? Nautia had managed to, temporarily, nullify the electrical barrier stopping them from swimming to the island and assured her that they wouldn’t be able to tell, but she couldn’t help but wonder if the mermaid was only saying that to calm them. It had been far too easy getting back to the island and she could just feel that something had to be wrong.

“Come on,” Gervas whispered, his hand gripping hers and dragging her forward and away from the beach, shaking her from her panicked thoughts.

Behind them Nautia followed closely. In her hands she carried a large green trident, made of some kind of material she couldn’t identify but looked almost like liquid jade. The mermaid walked backwards, slowly moving the trident back and forth while she whispered an incantation, the beach’s sand slowly rolling back to wash over their tracks.

Before long the three were in the trees and Yvette felt a tiny bit better as they hadn’t been attacked at least. “What now?” she asked.

“We make our way towards the tunnel,” Nautia said. “The closer we get, the harder it will be to avoid their patrols. Don’t underestimate them. They aren’t all the most skilled warriors, but if they catch you unawares they will not need to be. More than a few of our scouts have learned this the hard way.”

Yvette nodded, memories of the arrows coming quickly to mind. If not for Gervas she likely would have been killed. Even with him she’d almost met a deadly end. Empire or not, they could and would be dangerous if she wasn’t careful. She glanced down to her hand, Gervas’ fingers still locked with hers. Judging by how tightly he was holding her, she suspected he was as nervous as she was. She glanced back towards Nautia. “Is your focus going to hold up okay?” Yvette asked, motioning to the trident.

“My focus will be fine,” Nautia said. “Merely focus on yourselves.” She then knelt down and pulled a small bag off of her back. It was covered in a strange, glistening flora Yvette couldn’t identify. Unwrapping it revealed a small brown cloak, still dry. The merfolk then slid it up and over herself, the cloak even hiding her face with only a blue hand appearing outside it.

“Will that really do any good?” Yvette asked. “They’ll still be able to tell you’re not human.”

“It’s not so they don’t know I am their enemy,” Nautia said, her tone slow and holding a hint of condescension. “It’s because my particular shade of blue does not blend in well with the wildlife. Shall we?” Without waiting for an answer, the merfolk began to walk. Yvette couldn’t help but notice that when she did, that faint squishing sound she had heard a few nights ago seemed to be coming from the mermaid, albeit far softer than she’d heard then. She didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse to know how close she’d been to the merfolk then.

Gervas started walking after the mermaid a moment later, pulling Yvette behind him slowly. She felt her heart begin to pound even more before she glanced back out towards the sea. It had all seemed so much easier to argue to help them yesterday, when she’d been so far away. Now that she was on the island it felt so much scarier. She tried to take solace in the knowledge that they weren’t doing this entirely alone, that out in the sea the key part of their plan was waiting.

Dozens of merfolk who would create the ‘distraction’ that would hopefully buy them the opportunity to get to the phoenix’s nest. There was no telling how well it would work, if it would work and, in the end, how many of them might get hurt or worse in the attempt.

Yvette felt her stomach do another small jump and gently squeezed Gervas’ hand. Bit by bit they made their way through the trees, coming ever closer to the town. She could once again see it in the distance, now nearly as close as they had been when she and Gervas were first attacked.

Yet, this time, nothing happened. There wasn’t any glint of metal or vicious arrows tearing through the air at them. Despite her growing unease, there didn’t seem to be any patrols coming towards them.

Still, they had a long way to go and she knew she couldn’t allow herself to get too calm yet. There was no telling when or if someone might come upon them while they were moving. Every leaf rustling in the wind, every light movement of the branches rubbing against each other, every creak of the trees made her get more and more tense, her hand gripping Gervas’ so hard she thought she might break her own hand.

The fact he didn’t even seem to mind made her wonder if he was just as tense as her or if she was so weak he didn’t really mind. A small part of her wanted to use a spell to amplify her strength in order to see if he would give her a larger reaction. Another part of her shoved that thought aside because she knew it was only something she was thinking to avoid focusing on the stress of knowing they could possibly get in another fight to the death soon.

Gervas turned to look at her before giving a small smile. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

Yvette loosened her grip slightly and she couldn’t help it. A little relief washed over her. She knew it was silly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that, maybe, if he said it then it was true. She nodded and continued behind him, giving him one more squeeze, far softer this time.

Still the silence made every step more worrying. What she wouldn’t have given just to hear a bird’s chirp or the chittering of a squirrel. The lack of any animals only made it feel more and more nerve wracking.

Nautia suddenly went still and raised a hand up for them to stop. Gervas went entirely still and she followed his example, even holding her breath lest it somehow give her away. She strained her ears, trying to hear what, if anything, could be out there. For a few moments she wondered if the merfolk hadn’t heard anything at all and was just being paranoid.

Then she heard a light crunch of a leaf being stepped. Both she and Gervas lowered themselves to the ground, kneeling behind the bushes and waiting for whatever had made that noise to appear.

Three men appeared after a few moments, walking slowly through the trees as well. One had a bow nocked but relaxed, the other two carrying spears. While they did seem to be moving quietly through the area, they didn’t seem at all tense. If anything, they seemed quite relaxed, if silent. Her eyes narrowed when she watched them pass by.

They suddenly stopped and she felt Gervas let her hand go and reach for his sword. One of the men knelt down by one of the trees before shaking his head. “No, just a bit damp. No sign of the fish.” He then got back to his feet and they began walking once more.

Yvette felt herself beginning to relax. The scouts didn’t seem to be entirely on alert and, even if they were, Nautia seemed to be more than capable of noticing them long before they arrived. There didn’t seem to be any need to worry afterall.

No sooner did she have those thoughts before reality itself seemed to want to prove her wrong. The sound, if it could be called that, echoed through not just her ears, but her entire body. A voice calling out from, well, she couldn’t imagine where. Words that were more a sound than actual words, yet so precise and so definitive that they couldn’t be anything more than a single meaning. ‘Under attack.’

The word, perhaps words as she couldn’t quite understand it, rattled through her body. Was she under attack? Was it a message? A warning? How had it even--

Before she could properly process what the meaning was she heard rapid, heavy footsteps. The three men came running back then, any calmness now gone from them, in fact they looked half panicked. Unfortunately her heart almost skipped a beat when she realized they were heading straight towards the village now, not taking the same meandering path they had before.

They were going to run right through the foliage that Nautia was using for cover. Yvette started to get to her feet, but Gervas didn’t let her. He instead reached up and grabbed her shoulder, holding her still and shaking his head. Yvette lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes locked on the mermaid.

Nautia didn’t move, though. She was kneeling on the ground, her trident laying in the grass in front of her.

One of the men ran past the mermaid, not even looking. Yvette was absolutely certain the man had to pass within inches of her. He’d been so close, but he didn’t even seem to notice her. She supposed the cloak was a far better concealer than she first thought.

The second went past her as well. How Nautia could remain so perfectly still without lashing out she didn’t know, but she had to admire the nerves of the woman.

But nerves or not, the third was running straight at Nautia. She wanted desperately to call out, to warn the mermaid. Any second now the man was going to run into her. For a second it felt as if the world slowed down and it was all she could do to not scream and lunge forward.

The third man stopped in mid step. The movement happened so fast Yvette couldn’t even be sure she saw it happen. One moment the mermaid was kneeling, hidden amongst the bushes. The next she was on her feet, springing up in front of the man like a snake. The trident followed, the prongs jamming up into his chin and out the other side of his skull. One of her hands was already up, over the man’s mouth, not that he had time to scream.

Then she, and the body, were back down on the ground.

Yvette didn’t move, holding her breath and waiting for some cry of alarm from the other men, some sign that they had noticed the attack.

However, there was nothing. Within moments the other two were gone, not even looking back for their missing comrade. Her heart was now pounding so hard she was certain it might burst out of her chest. Eventually Gervas slowly rose back to his feet. “Let’s go,” he said quietly.

“What about the body?” Yvette asked.

“No time,” Nautia said. “The attack has begun, did you not hear the alarm? It won’t distract them forever and if we’re going to have any chance of success, we need to go now.”

Yvette gave a small nod, though she did find her eyes drawn to the bush that the body was now hidden under. She could see a few traces of blood, but even now it was hidden well enough she wouldn’t have guessed it was there. She wondered how long until they’d find it. Or would the animals find it first?

She then shuddered when she remembered there didn’t seem to be any animals here.

Yvette tried to focus on what kind of animals could still be here while they made their way closer and closer to the town, rather than the hidden body behind them and looming danger that awaited them.

------

The village was a bustle of activity. While the pier was once more entirely empty, Yvette could see at least three ships out on the water now. People were gathered near the water’s edge now, spears in hand, bows out and occasionally shooting out into the water.

It wasn’t the most effective method for fighting an undersea threat, though. She wondered if it was having any actual effect on the merfolk at all. She could see people stationed along the walls as well, likely searching for any more threats that would try to catch them unaware.

Fortunately while they were near enough to see the village, they weren’t going any closer, instead veering around towards the back of it and to the base of the volcano. The assault of the merfolk seemed to be quite a fitting distraction as most of the defenses seemed to be on the beach and trying to ensure the merfolk didn’t come closer.

Unfortunately when they finally came within view of the tunnel, Yvette felt unease swelling in her stomach once more. There were two people stationed outside it. The assault had them on alert as well and both were standing with their backs against the wall, their eyes focused on the village.

Nautia let out a soft sigh. “Damn it. I was hoping this distraction would lure off all of their soldiers,” she whispered.

“What do we do?” Yvette asked.

“Do you know any spells that can affect them from here?” Nautia asked.

Yvette shook her head. “No.”

“Truly I can tell that master mages are incredible individuals,” Nautia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“How about you? You know magic, don’t you?” Yvette asked.

“I do, but nothing that could be at all accurate, or subtle, from here,” Nautia said softly. “Nothing at all that can fly?”

Yvette shook her head and eyed the two. Their focus was heavily on the village, if it was possible to get near enough, she knew she had forms that could grab them. Perhaps the troll form. But she’d need to get them by surprise. She eyed the tunnel for a moment before glancing over the path they’d have to take to get to the pair. Very rocky, but not a lot of places to hide. At least, not as a human. “I think I have an idea.”

“Yes?” Nautia asked.

“If I can get them unawares, I think I can take them both out. We’ll need to move fast, though. Before anyone else notices they’re missing,” Yvette said.

“Catch them unawares how?” Gervas asked.

“Easy, sneak up on them,” Yvette said before tapping her bracer and activating her reagents.

“How do you intend to do that?” Gervas asked, his voice going cold and distrustful.

“Easy, I’ll be much, much smaller. Trust me, okay?” Yvette said with a smile before holding out her arm. “I have just the right spell.”

“Petra,” Gervas said. “I don’t think that’s a good--”

“It’ll be fine,” Yvette said. “Just trust me, please?” He gave another sigh before nodding. She quickly whispered the incantation for her spell before her magic surged through her. Quickly her body began to lower to the ground and she felt a light, tingling sensation when fur burst out all over her body, her bones and skin molding themselves to her new, designated form. Within a few seconds Yvette the person was no longer there, instead a small, gray puppy was standing before them, her little tail wagging.

“That... is adorable,” Nautia whispered, her eyes locked on Yvette. “I did not expect her to have such a form. I take back what I said. She is astonishingly poofy.”

“She’s just full of surprises,” Gervas said. “Petra, are you sure about this?”

Yvette gave a small nod. She felt odd, though. Something felt wrong, as if there was a tingling going down her spine, or electricity coursing along her fur. Not enough to hurt, but still enough to make her feel mildly uncomfortable and want to desperately run off. The same she had felt when she had first come to the island. No wonder no animals wanted to be anywhere near the island. She gave a soft shudder but tried to tune it out. She crept slowly out from the bushes and began to make her way towards the tunnel, keeping herself as low to the ground as she could.

Even if the rocks themselves weren’t very big for her normal size, as small as she was she found she was able to easily crawl around the rocks to keep herself from being noticed. She just had to be cautious when she went so she didn’t disturb any of the rubble.

Unfortunately, she was quickly finding herself covered in dirt and rocks, the form’s rather thick fur almost seeming to absorb the environment. She wondered how in the world dog owners kept their pets clean when it was so easy to get dirty. Still, she was almost to them, she only had to--

Oh no.

Yvette went entirely still, struggling to control the sudden tickling of her nose. She shook her head, struggling desperately to suppress what she felt coming. She could feel it building inside her and even as she pawed helplessly at her nose, it didn’t reduce the sensation. She was so close, she only had to go a little further. If she could just control it for a few more minutes, she’d be fine. Just a little--

It wasn’t enough. She let out a soft, helpless little doggy sneeze. Unfortunately, that scattered up more dirt and within a few moments she couldn’t stop sneezing, little sneezes erupting from her one after the other despite her desperate efforts to suppress them.

Eventually her nose was clear again and the tingling stopped. She actually began to think that her mistake had gone unnoticed, until she realized there was now a shadow over her. She looked up at the surprised face of one of the guards, who was staring down at her.

Yvette wished she’d thought harder about this plan now.

MelodyAvant

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