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“We could play games,” said another mermaid, swimming up and shimmering with glamour. “You would like our games.”

“No, he would not,” I said, urging Jory away, out of reach of her seductive voice.

“But I think I would,” argued Jory, tugging free of my grasp, his eyes glazing as they sought out the siren who was winding a tendril of his hair round her finger.

“Tell him what you would do to him when you had finished playing with him,” I said to the siren, as we tugged Jory between us—she holding one arm as I grasped the other.

She grinned, showing her pointy teeth beneath her sensuous lips. Jory blinked at the sight of those teeth, the enchantment loosening its hold on him. “We would…” she said silkily, putting her face close to his, “ eat him .”

She leered, dropping her glamour, and a chorus of laughter followed as he cried out, “ Aargh !” yanking his arm free of her grasp to swim frantically away, calling to Jack, “ Let’s go !”

Jack was having his own altercation, for on wriggling his new lower limb to test it out, he had shot forward, straight into a mermaid’s shoulder.

He howled in pain as the furious mermaid whirled round and struck him a blow on the face, leaving three angry welts on his cheek from her talon-like fingers.

“Which way is the island?” I asked, anxious to be gone from this perilous cavern.

“That way,” said one mermaid, pointing upwards.

“No, this way,” beckoned another.

“Over here,” called another.

“I have no time for your games,” I said, quelling my alarm as they began circling me at a dizzying speed, and I lost sight of Jack and Jory.

“Let them go,” ordered Merharion. “Lead them to the island. Close the gates behind them, lest Amara send trouble to avenge us for aiding them. Take them quickly, for they will not last long in those waters.”

“This way,” hissed a mermaid as she swam past me.

We passed under a waterfall whose violent cascade hurled us into somersaults that our inexperienced swimming skills could not escape. The two mermaids ahead, and the one following behind, had to snatch us free of the eddy, and tow us onward, their clawed fingers sharp and painful on our arms.

We swam through tunnels, passing in and out of caverns, our guides yanking us to safety as we nearly impaled ourselves on sword-like stalagmites in one cave and were almost blinded by squid ink in another.

Finally we reached tall, broad gates that glowed like mother-of-pearl by the light of my lamp but were solid as iron. It took two mermaids to tug back the bolt, and we were ushered impatiently through them, out of the caverns and into the moat surrounding Amara’s island.

Though I felt no cold in my legs beneath my tail, my upper body began to shiver as soon as we entered the waters on the other side. They were very black and very cold. Jack chattered with cold as he drew closer to me, hoping to share the light of my lamp in the deep gloom.

“We must stay together,” said Jory. “You go in the middle,” he told me, and we all linked arms.

“Turn off your lamp,” ordered one of the mermaids.

“I cannot,” I said. I was not going to use up my last wish to extinguish it .

“The draig will find you in no time if you don’t,” hissed the mermaid.

“Put it in your sack,” said Jory.

I did so, the mermaids berating me for wasting time as my cold fingers fumbled to undo straps and ties. The lamp still glowed faintly through the sack, so we put my sack inside Jack’s, and no light shone through.

It was horribly dark now. “We cannot see a thing,” I said through chattering teeth. “You will have to steer us.”

There was more cursing of mortals by our guides, and we were shoved from behind as they urged us on, gripping the backs of our collars and propelling us forward, hissing that we must swim harder if we did not want to perish from the cold, and ordering us to silence if we did not wish to attract the attention of the draig .

A dark enchantment lurked in the icy waters. I sensed despair and fear surrounding a malevolent presence. I felt doomed. I was sure this was how my life would end—consumed by some foul creature of the deep.

I would die, and Rose would suffer a fate worse than death, married off to an ugly dwarf, for dwarves were always very ugly and liked to live underground.

Poor Rose would pine away in a cavern, if she were not pining in a sorceress’s dungeon already.

Mother would never know what had happened to me.

She would be left alone and grow old and uncared for in our cottage, and the whole kingdom would sink under tyranny—the mortal inhabitants enslaved and displaced by the rule of the Black Rock dwarves.

And I would never see Beran again. My dearest friend since childhood. My only friend, excepting Rose. And I would never unravel the mystery of where he went when he left us, or who it was that bound his limbs in fetters and chains.

The gloom deepened, and it was something of a relief when my terror was gradually dulled by the sensation of cold. Perhaps I would not die in the jaws of a draig , but by freezing.

“ Wake up !” Something slapped my face.

I struggled to open my eyes. The cold was lulling me to sleep, and I did not want to fight it.

“We’re almost there. Wake up!” More slaps, and I was shaken violently until I murmured a protest.

“ G-get m-me out of this c-cold ,” I heard Jory say weakly.

“Mortals are so flimsy ,” said a mermaid in disgust.

“ Hush ,” hissed another. “It’s passing beneath us. Let it go by, then we’ll toss them up.”

The feeling of doom reawakened. I knew the creature was close, and though I had always disdained my sister when she squealed at a mere rat or fire lizard, now I wanted only to scream.

A cold hand with sharp nails clamped over my mouth, and a voice hissed in my ear, “ Not a sound, or it will drag you down .”

This did not allay my terror—what was that thing gliding beneath our feet?

Even in the inky water, I could make out a darker shape snaking in the depths. Jack whimpered, and the slithering shadow paused. It was listening.

We all held our breath, not daring to move. Even our shivering ceased for a long, tormented moment as we waited to see if the creature would move on, or if our doom had come.

It moved on, and the terror abated enough for the shivering to return .

“ Throw them up !” hissed a mermaid, and we were propelled upwards. My head broke the surface of the moat water, and I gasped as my lungs filled with air once again.

“ Quick !” urged the mermaid behind me, and my shoulder hit something hard.

“ Hurry ! Climb, fool !” And the mermaid tail was yanked from my legs.

My mind was so disordered from fear, and my lungs burned as they struggled to adjust to breathing air again.

My numbed hands would not work properly.

I was shoved up against a wall of stone, and there were metal rungs in the wall, and if I could only grasp them, I could pull myself up and escape that undulating, monstrous shadow gathering speed as it turned back towards us.

It took every last drop of my will and strength to grasp the rung above me and heave myself upwards.

“ Hurry !” cried a voice behind me.

Jack’s terrified face appeared below as he was tossed against the wall. I saw a row of wickedly sharp fins break the surface of the black water—an arcing row that grew and grew—how long was that monster?

Two rungs more, then I scrambled frantically onto the stone paving at the top, with Jack right behind me, giving me a shove to help me over.

We heard Jory yell, and Jack looked down and yelled his brother’s name.

Jory clung to the lowest rung, but the water beneath him churned like a boiling cauldron as something dark and deadly swarmed after him.

“ Take my hand !” yelled Jack, flinging his body over the edge of the paving.

I lunged after him to grab hold of his waist and keep him from being dragged over. My hands were so numb that I had little strength to hold on—I was losing my grip. His shirt began to tear, so I grabbed at his belt instead and held on with sheer will.

“ Jory !” yelled Jack, pulling on his brother’s hands as I pulled on Jack’s waist.

The creature had hold of Jory’s legs. He would surely lose them.

I cried out a wish for Jory to live—but my lamp would not grant it while it jostled inside the sacks on my back.

We were inching across the stone paving towards the water. Jory would be devoured first, and then Jack would tumble into the jaws now snapping at his brother, and then I would slither over the edge to share their fate.

I felt Jack give a last desperate tug, a final cry of effort, and suddenly Jory’s head appeared as he hurtled upwards and onto the paving, where he sprawled, panting and gasping for air.

“ Ha !” he said, a manic note of triumph in his voice when he could speak. “ Another close one !”

“You’re hurt!” I said, noticing a gash on his left leg.

Jory looked down and winced as he lifted back the tattered fabric to see the wound. “Just a graze,” he said bravely. “It took hold of the end of that fish tail and pulled it clean off.”

“Along with your boots,” said Jack. “At least you still have your belt and sword.” He sniffed the air. “And you don’t smell of bog anymore.”

I shuddered to think how close Jory had come to being lost to us again. The shudder went unnoticed, masked by the violent trembling that wracked all our bodies. The night air was warmer than the icy water below, but we were chilled to the bone .

“Let’s get going,” said Jory, clambering unsteadily to his feet. “Pity we couldn’t keep the tails,” he added. “They’d be worth a fortune back home.”

“I hate mermaids,” said Jack grimly, struggling to stand. “Never want to see one again as long as I live. Hate sea monsters. Hate Faerie.”

I left my lamp in my sack. The silvery glow of moon and stars was enough to light our way, and I dared not risk drawing attention.

“How big the moon is in Faerie,” murmured Jack.

“I wonder where Rose is,” I said, turning to look up at the stone walls of Amara’s house.

It was more castle than house. Jagged turrets pierced the starlit sky. I hoped we would not have to search high and low for her, for exhaustion was now pressing on me like a leaden weight. My lungs still burned, and my legs did not feel altogether my own.

Jack tugged down his sopping jerkin. “We are coming, my lady. Hold on.”

“But what is coming for us, I wonder?” muttered Jory as we set off.