When Eder arrived, Adalhard and Cernunnos surprised him by being ready to go. Adalhard gestured to the surface to let Eder know they should retreat.

Eder nodded and held up a finger as if to say but first…

Then, Eder performed his golden shield spell on Adalhard. Adalhard startled but felt glad of the protection. Eder gestured for Cernunnos to stay still. Cernunnos paused, and Eder performed the spell again.

With Adalhard and Cernunnos protected, Eder shooed them towards the ship and swam back to his sister.

Adalhard made a grab for Eder but missed. He turned to Cernunnos and found the other man wild-eyed. Cernunnos gestured at the Ferrans.

For his own sake, Adalhard translated what he thought Cernunnos said – what are they doing?!

Adalhard shook his head. Then, he held up his pack. They had to get their information back to the ship. Adalhard started on a reluctant swim to the surface, hoping to come back and aid the Ferrans. Cernunnos lingered a moment but followed. They swam for the rock, where the Salacious Maiden sat.

Adalhard swam and watched the battle. He glanced away, only to steer himself right.

Below, Eder rejoined Inez. The cultist tried to snap his way through his icey prison. The shark mouthed the icicles but failed to pull apart as many as its rider. Inez concentrated on a spell. Nothing happened. Eder hung back and seemed to work on a spell of his own.

Adalhard watched, and still nothing happened. He couldn’t help himself. He paused his ascent, and so did Cernunnos.

Inez, eyes closed, tried to cast something.

The cultist broke through the ice. The infected merman swept the rest of the icicles from his path. He dismounted his shark and swam through first, tentacles held high above his head. The shark followed.

Adalhard swam a few paces in Inez’s direction, but he was too far to help.

Inez’s casting time fell short. Her spell failed, and a disappointing hum, like a broken machine, sent waves from her location.

The shark lunged forward, but Eder’s spell, a simple barrier, blocked its attack. Inez, safe for the moment, started work on a new spell.

The shark began to circle, and the cultist watched, commanding the shark to separate sister and brother.

Inez didn’t turn and continued her casting. Before the shark could lunge again, gold rings appeared around its mouth, core, and tail. The magic rings glowed and flashed into place, maintaining a subtle radiance. The shark’s forward movement halted, and it began to float.

The cultist’s face twisted into a snarl. He began to circle around their magic minefield alone.

Cernunnos jerked Adalhard’s arm, pulling Adalhard’s attention to their own location. Adalhard’s gaze followed Cernunnos’ eyes. He saw an obstacle between them and their ship.

A group of five Tagtrumian merman sped through the water and blocked their path. A few displayed tentacles.

Adalhard and Cernunnos each armed themselves, one with a harpoon and the other with a machete. They located and swam behind an intact trap spell.

The mermen tried to swim around the trap. With his machete, Cernunnos swiped at one. The merman dodged and floated mere inches from the magic circle.

Adalhard didn’t strike with his harpoon. Instead, he swam close to Cernunnos, grabbed the tail of the dodging merman, and swung him into the magic circle.

The bubble spell activated, catching two mermen inside. One merman, who had hung back, began a spell to free his comrades.

In the meantime, Adalhard and Cernunnos now faced only two mermen warriors. Adalhard drew blood from one’s arm, and Cernunnos nicked a fin. Though both men could defend themselves well enough, they couldn’t match the speed and agility of men adapted for underwater living.

Cernunnos’s opponent swam high and dived, knocking the machete from his hands.

Adalhard put his harpoon in the charging merman’s side, saving Cernunnos. He dragged the harpoon down their attacker’s flank. Adalhard expected the merman’s comrade to retaliate. He shielded his head and neck, but the strike never came.

Cernunnos tugged Adalhard’s sleeve and pointed.

Kiramek mermen, natives of the equatorial seas, attacked their opponents. The colorful barbed swimmers made short work of the injured Tagtrumian. They also interrupted the mermage’s spell, leaving two cultists trapped in the bubble.

Adalhard and Cernunnos swam for the Salacious Maiden. Seeing the Kiramek mermen, Adalhard now worried that the Tagtrumians would lose too soon. He didn’t want to face any mermen, and he worried the Kiramek warriors would attack Inez and Eder.

Adalhard and Cernunnos swam for their landing site. They fled through the center of a full-blown battle. No one paid them any attention, and they reached the rock.

“Lately, they always show up at some point,” Cernunnos remarked, bursting through the surface. He had already pulled his diving bands free.

Adalhard did the same, and both men climbed a ladder out of the water.

“Inez and Eder,” Adalhard gasped.

Ginger helped take the equipment. “You left them down there? Oh, no.”

Cernunnos put a hand on her arm. “I think they’re alright for now. Let’s just get the Salacious Maiden over the water. Dangle a ladder and maybe add something to it to make it easier to spot.”

Adalhard nodded. “Fly to the point just right of the exposed spire.”

Sylvia took off.

They dangled the ladder, but Inez and Eder didn’t come. So, against his better judgement, Adalhard jumped in. He had saved the Ferrans from jail, but this situation he had placed them in was much worse. He wore only the wrist band and stayed close to the surface. He grabbed the red flag at the end of the ladder and prepared to get their attention.

Several feet below, he spotted Inez and Eder, both alive and presumably well. They still fought.

Their trap shields fizzled into nothingness, one by one. The tentacled merman rose above their heads. His extra appendages squirmed in the water, seeking the Ferrans.

Nearby, two unactivated shield circles floated in the water, steady and firm. Eder and Inez swam behind those circles, and four tentacles came their way. Two tentacles met previously placed circles, and another met Eder’s newly summoned circle.

As the Ferrans hid behind their array of shields, Inez cast her spell. Or, rather, she controlled a previous spell, changing it where it rested.

Adalhard was impressed. Changing a set spell was something only mage’s who knew their spells well could do. Inez had a strong grasp on the anatomy of those golden rings. Adalhard was even more impressed that she chose to target the rings around the trapped shark.

The shark barreled through the water, dragged by Inez’s rings. Bubbles trailed, and the whole mess hit the cultist, carrying him far from their fight. While Eder conjured their own safety bubble, Inez searched the area. She whipped her head, sending her braid trailing through the water.

Adalhard recognized his opportunity and waved the flag, jiggling the ladder as he did. Inez spotted him, and she grabbed her brother’s arm.

The Ferrans began to swim up, but Kiramek mermen swam for their position. The cultist also returned. He would reach them before they could swim to the ladder. He would reach them even before the Kiramek mermen: their potential rescuers...or captors.

Inez smiled. She took her brother’s hand, and together they cast a six-ringed spell, gleaming in gold. The cultist reared its tentacles and froze. Hundreds of golden rings bound the cultist: tail, arms, torso, and head. The cultist floated, stiff like a statue, but without the weight that would drag him to the bottom of the sea.

With joined hands, Inez and Eder swam. They left the cultist behind and took hold of the ladder. Adalhard climbed on above them and tugged.

As they waited to be pulled up, they watched the Kiramek mermen destroy the Tagtrumian cultist. Repeatedly, the Kiramek froze and burned him, till every particle of his being dissolved.

Thorough, Adalhard thought.

On the cockpit’s floor, Adalhard sat in a puddle and smiled. He watched as Cernunnos hugged both Inez and Eder.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright. And, I’m so proud of you!” Cernunnos squeezed them.

They seemed half-pleased, half-suffocated. Cernunnos had not seen their escape, but Adalhard had detailed the battle for him.

Adalhard rose, dripping water all over. “Inez. Eder. I want you to know that you have performed better than any mage I’ve ever taken to the Volanter site in terms of bravery and quick thinking.”

“You didn’t even complain,” Cernunnos said, with a grin. “Well, not that much.” He still had an arm around both their shoulders.

“Do we have to go back?” Eder asked.

Adalhard shook his head. “No. We got everything we needed.” He had wanted to copy extra information, but the cultists spoiled that. He resisted the urge to say so and was glad he did.

Inez and Eder smiled wide.

Adalhard couldn’t help voicing his next concern. “Though, I am disturbed that we brought the infection this far south. That isn’t good.” Adalhard looked out a window, even though he knew he would never see mermen from their height.

Drops of water dripped on to the sill, and Ginger wiped them away. Adalhard left the window and looked at the mess they’d made of the cockpit. Ginger worked to wipe it up.

Inez squirmed free of the hugs. “Nothing we can do about it now. We’ll have to come back later. Or, we could count on those Kiramek mermen. They really know what they’re doing when it comes to this infection.”

Adalhard shot her a questioning gaze.

Eder added, “Oh yeah. They know what to do. Destroy the body completely. Leave nothing intact. And, they do it ruthlessly.”

“Well.” Cernunnos sighed. “I am thankful for the aggression of this particular culture, so long as they let us be.”

Adalhard agreed, but he planned to send someone to investigate the situation later.

By nightfall, they left their equatorial location behind.

Above deck, Ginger and Sylvia kept company, wary of their poorly prepped ship, but both agreed to fly straight to Groaza.

Below deck, Inez and Eder collapsed. They spent hours working on the wormhole spell, and to Adalhard’s amazement, they pronounced the magic circle not only understandable but brilliant. They worked, until their exhaustion took them to slumber.

Together, Adalhard and Cernunnos eased Eder down the hall to his bunk. Then, Adalhard carried Inez to her berth and tucked her in with her brother. He closed the door to their room and found Cernunnos in the lounge, staring out the window.

“I wonder if she’ll ever come back,” Adalhard said, thinking about Camellia – again.

“I was sure she would. Pop out, see some sights. Then, come back home. But, it’s been…a long time. Now, I’m not so sure she’s coming back.” Cernunnos sat back in his chair and crossed one arm over his chest. The other rested under his chin. “Maybe, she can’t. Maybe, they’re trapped out there.”

Adalhard watched Cernunnos, surprised to see him so serious. “I admit,” Adalhard began slowly. “Your read of the situation was correct. When she was young and I was younger, I liked her. Twenty years ago, do you remember when she stole that camera and tried to photograph her wreath?”

“I do remember that. I gave her a long lecture about letting thirty-seven-year-old anthropologists chase you around the green.” Cernunnos waved his hand dismissively. “I scolded her about the camera, but my heart wasn’t in that part.” He laughed and looked at Adalhard. “I remember I said you would ruin her fun before it even started. Of course, I had a bigger problem with Sorin. He was the real issue. Four-hundred-year-old vampire all over a seventeen-year-old dhampir. Thank god, she wasn’t his student.”

“He’s part of the reason I didn’t pursue her, but then he died.”

Adalhard remembered the shocking news and the short investigation into Camellia’s potential involvement. In the end, Groaza and the AAH both resolved to let the matter drop, concluding that the Vetouins had killed Sorin and Groaza could not afford a war with that country. Some vampires objected to the decision, but most let Sorin’s memory fade.

Adalhard continued, “After that, I focused on my work. She seemed less and less herself. Less vibrant. Less...happy.”

Cernunnos stared at Adalhard. “Shall we say...you withdrew your affections?”

“I did.” Adalhard nodded. “But not forever. We’re both older. She and I.”

Adalhard thought of Camellia. She and her determined friends got a ship and exited the wormhole. Camellia, every bit as determined as her friends, got a ship to prove him and everyone else wrong.

Adalhard promised, “If she comes back, I will do something about it.”

“That’s very vague. What do you mean by that?” Cernunnos raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll say something about how I felt and feel now. I’ll apologize for what I did and what I assumed, but I won’t just allow her to continue on in this manner. I’ll help this time. Any way I can.” Adalhard frowned. “And, if I can do all of that well, and convince her that I’m worth the time...I might end her fun – as you would say. Not before it started but, apparently, long after it was done.”

Adalhard looked out the window and grew quiet. He thought of Camellia, solemn and sad. He hoped to see her again, however he could, whether she was happy or unchanged.

“Good luck,” Cernunnos offered, poker-faced.

“What exactly did she say about me in that note? Could I...read the part that pertains to me?”

“I’d rather you don’t,” Cernunnos countered. “It wasn’t meant for you. But, if she doesn’t come back in the next year, I’ll let you read it. If you still want to. You may have moved on by then.”

Adalhard considered the compromise and nodded.

While Adalhard looked out the window, he prayed Camellia would return.