Chapter 12

"My council of warriors," said the queen. Twelve warriors, including Rory, gathered around a large piece of coral. Some looked angry; some were still somber after Finley's sending. Still others had looks of grim determination on their faces.

"I have gathered you here to discuss the issue of the humans. According to Rory, they are polluting our waters with their filth, which has caused the entire River clan to either flee or die. By their hands, Finley has perished. How shall we deal with these creatures?" The queen floated back to let the debate begin.

"We should attack!" roared one of the older, grizzled mermen. "These humans have hunted us and butchered us for years without end. Now they aim to slowly suffocate us and poison us until we all die. Attack-and let us be rid of them once and for all."

Many of the warriors tapped their spears against the coral in agreement. They murmured how it was far past time.

"And how should we defeat them, Maristus?" spoke a younger merwym. "The humans outnumber us thousands to one. You've seen their numbers increase by the year. We cannot surely kill every single human on the surface. It is a fool's errand."

Maristus glared at the merwym at the mention of fools.

"Aye," spoke up another warrior. "If we try to kill those who built up the hellish building, they will surely build another in its place, like a diseased fungus. They will spread without ceasing."

"And what of Finley's death?" said Rory with an edge to his voice. "Will he have died for nothing?"

"Speak not of him who you killed," cried a merman with silvery-green hair. "Finley's blood is on your hands."

Rory colored but said nothing.

"Calipus," said the queen. "The humans killed Finley. I will not have you malign the royal name." Everyone fell silent in anger and embarrassment.

"Calliope," said the queen. "You have been silent thus far. What say you to all this?"

An orange-haired, red-eyed mermaid considered her fellow warriors in silence for a moment.

"It's true that the humans far outnumber us. We may not be able to wage an entire campaign against them-but we must do something. In Finley's name and honor, we must avenge his death."

Spears clanked against coral.

"At the very least, this river of filth must be stopped. It's poisoning our food supply and making everyone sick. But these humans have guns. They are faster and more powerful than they were two hundred or even one hundred years ago. We will have to devise some sort of protection against them."

"There's no time!" cried Rory. "While you sit and ponder on how to defend yourselves, our people die and Finley's murderers go unpunished!"

"Do not act in haste, my son," murmured the queen. "Haste leads to poor judgement."

Once more, Rory felt the sting of a rebuke and fell silent.

Everyone considered what to do in the face of a vast enemy with more powerful weapons. At last, Calliope spoke up.

"The one thing that humans fear above all else is fire. We must destroy the building by fire, but we must also consider how they will never be able to build there again."

The queen nodded. "This will take time and planning to consider how to best attack with fire," she said.

Rory began to open his mouth, when the queen repeated firmly, "Time and planning. We will attack no later or sooner than the next full moon.

Rory suppressed a groan. The moon was only a sliver of silver, on its way to growing again. It was far too long to wait.

"Thank you, my warriors, for your honest thoughts and honorable intentions," the queen said as she glanced at Maristus. "It takes all of us to find the best solutions for our people." And here she looked directly at Calliope.

Rory swished his tail from side to side, failing to hide his irritation.

"We are disbanded. We will meet again soon."

Before she had finished her thought, Rory had already swam past the coral outcroppings.