Chapter 11

Rory swam back to the citadel as fast as his fin could propel him through the water. The burning hatred he felt for the humans pushed him faster and faster until his chest burned and his gills ached.

Humans are killing us... killing my kinsmen! Killing venerable ones and tiny roe, before they even have a chance to take their first swim.

Humans and merpeople had never gotten along well in any case. But to dump their refuse into the ocean like it was one huge waste receptacle was inexcusable. The plants and tiny animals that breathed life into the world would die; the world above would run out of air.

Serves them right if they choke on poisoned air. If we must consume their poisoned water, let them suffocate.

Such tiny life also fed the largest creatures imaginable. If the whales and great sharks died, the smaller fish and bottom scavengers would have no carcasses to feed on. Then those fish would die and the middle predators would have nothing to feed on...

On and on and on... humans have brought nothing but death to the ocean.

It was unsurprising, really. What would you expect of such savage creatures that enslaved their own kind, who tossed them over the ship's edge whenever they became too sick or weak to carry over the ocean?

If they can so wantonly murder their own people, what makes you think they would care about anything living below the surface? Rory bitterly asked himself.

Rory's thoughts circled round and round his mind like a great tunnel of tuna. He swam over to the citadel's canteen, where he hoped Finley and Keltrain would be. He would need warriors for this human invasion.

They were there, along with Jasper and Neptid, eating a late second meal. Rory raced over to them and struggled to put all he had seen into words.

"What?" exclaimed Keltrain. "The humans are poisoning the river?"

"The river folk are gone?" asked Finley.

"Murdered.Slaughtered. Every single one of them, except for a venerable one had happened to gone traveling," replied Rory. "We need to go back and attack them now."

All the young warriors exchanged glances. Jasper and Neptid seethed in anger; Keltrain looked like he might vomit, and Finley's brows furrowed in worry.

"Rory," said Finley. "Don't you think we should tell the queen? We never attack humans unless they directly attack us-"

"There's no time, Finley!" said Rory. "The humans have killed our cousins through their gross destruction, which is just about the same cursed thing as attacking!"

Jasper and Neptid nodded.

"Besides, who knows how long this has gone on? It could have taken months or years for that vile filth to make its way to our citadel. This must end. Now."

"Aye!" roared Neptid.

"Will you go with me, my kinsfolk? I ask as your prince and your commander. Let us bring these humans justice for our lost kind," said Finley.

"Aye," all replied.

"Excellent, mermen. We will need our spears and our wits. Follow me," said Rory.

As soon as they had gathered their weapons, Rory led the way to the river where the sludge flowed incessantly into it. They swam until a very hundred yards of the edge and waited to see what the humans might do.

To Rory's surprise, the humans were just standing about. They didn't look like they had war or destruction on their minds; they were just carelessly letting their waste flow into the river without a second thought. Humans were contemptibly all alike: greedy, selfish, uncaring about what impact they had wherever they went. They even looked basically the same: dirty brown or muddy yellow hair and dull eyes. They were nothing like merfolk, with brilliant variation and multicolored scales, fins, and hair. True, there were some humans with brown skin, as opposed to the color of curdled cream; but then again, curdled cream was simply another shade of brown, albeit a very light one.

Still, even with difficulty telling one human from another, Rory considered that these might be different humans than when he first left. Something about their outer garments looked off; and the one who constantly held a wooden stick in his mouth was nowhere to be found. Something fluttered in the pit of Rory's stomach.

But he clenched it firmly down and chalked it up to nerves before a battle.

"Listen," he said to the others. "The best way to take them will be by ambush. On my signal, rush them together. I'll go to the closest edge; Finley, you hide in the foxtails. Kel and Nep, you stay to my right, and Jasper, you take the farthest left."

Everyone agreed and spread out.

The few minutes of waiting were agonizing to Rory. He imagined sinking his spear into the side of one of the humans and how good it would feel to defend his home, to rid the merfolk of the human scourge.

Rory waited until the humans were standing close to the river. He gave the signal to attack.

Rory and the others jumped out of the water and lunged their spears at the humans. But the humans seemed almost prepared for such an attack. They jumped out of the way, although Neptid's spear managed to catch one land-walker in the lower leg. Keltrain's spear just grazed the edge of a human's head, enough to make the human shout and curse and fall to the ground and scurry away in fear.

They dove back into the water to gather more spears. When they leaped out of the water again, Rory managed to throw one spear into a human's shoulder.

Then the world exploded.

A thunderous crack ripped the air around them, and Rory saw a flash of red to his left. He barely had time to look before he saw Finley begin to sink beneath a churning pool of frothy crimson.

Rory let out an agonized scream. He saw one human withdraw a smoking barrel and motioned for the other humans to run. The humans were escaping, and the black sludge still poured into the river.

Rory dove into the river to catch Finley.

Finley's final breath left him before he sank to the bottom of the river.