Fire Stones

Chapter 12

“It's not going to be an easy journey,” Varun told me as we swam further into the depths of the sea. The rainbow light had vanished – here in the very deepest parts of the sea, everything was inky black, so dark that even the water-powers Varun had given me did not permit me to see. “My power here is great – but it is not absolute. There are many warring factions within Water – factions that divide our power. Some of the gods, like Abzu and Tiamat of the very ancient days, wish to have great power – a power they believe can only be consolidated by wiping all the earth of our planet off the map, flooding it over. They will never be content until water covers the face of the deep in its entirety.”

“But human life could never survive!” I exclaimed. “Not like that.”

“I know,” said Varun. “But they don't care. They feel that they are gods – they are entitled to do whatever they like. Mortals aren't even worth a thought to them. They don't value human life any more than you value the life of a cockroach or gnat.” He saw my shocked face. “Don't worry, Mac – we don't all think like that. I don't think like that. I love human beings – I walk among them. I believe in a world of balance, where Fire and Water can survive together in harmony. That was what I learned when I was with Vesta – that two opposing elements can be more than the sum of their parts. A lesson she taught me, that I will remember until the end of my days. But Abzu and his kind disagree....”

“Abzu?”

“A god of the Ancient Sumerians. Once before he threatened to cause a flood that would wipe out all upon the earth. But that time there was a hero to stop him, Enki of the Mesopotamians. Now he threatens day by day to escape from his watery prison. You see, he was imprisoned for five thousand years – his punishment – and now that time is up. We will pass his house as we go down; he lives among the jagged boulders at the very bottom of the ocean, where I believe the stone is hidden. He will speak to you, I would wager – probably insult you. Don't listen to him. He believes that all who are anything other than water deities are worthless. Even Vesta he despised...” Varun looked angry when he said Vesta's name. “He spends his days collecting treasures from the bottom of the sea, looking for sunken treasure. Which is why I suggest we make a detour to his home. In case he found something we're interested in.”

“Like the stones?”

“If so, we'll have to figure out a way to steal them. Abzu's not exactly the most giving guy I know. And we won't be able to stay long. Once I stop holding you like this, my powers will only last for a few minutes – after that, you won't be able to breathe. And I don't want Abzu knowing I unified with you – he might get suspicious.”

I gulped. This Abzu didn't sound like the kind of person I particularly wanted to meet in a dark alley – or in the dark of the ocean.

“Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you.” Varun wrapped his arms tighter around me, his stance turning protective. “I promised Chance, didn't I? That I wouldn't let anyone hurt you?”

“I trust you,” I whispered, squeezing his hand.

“Do you really love him, Mac?” Varun couldn't resist asking, and I could see the look of pain in his eyes.

“I...I do,” I stammered, taken aback by the directness of the question. “Of course I do.” But something in me hesitated. I knew I loved Chance – I couldn't stop thinking about him. And yet my love, I realized with a sinking feeling, wasn't exclusive any longer. Whatever I felt for Chance, I felt for Varun, too. Did that mean that the feeling wasn't love? Or that my feelings for both were too strong?

“I hoped you wouldn't say that,” Varun whispered. “I guess I did hope that coming down here – coming down to the ocean and seeing how beautiful it was...I hoped it would make you homesick.”

Varun's eyes met mine. I wanted to swim in their blue. “It did, Varun,” I whispered back. “I don't know what that means. But this place – it's so beautiful. Like I'm connected to it. It's calling me.”

“The true siren song,” said Varun. “The song of the sea. So lovely that nobody who hears it can ever forget...”

We arrived a few hours later at Abzu's door – if you could call it that. Abzu's palace was a monstrosity of coral, built out of abandoned sunken ships and coral reefs, studded with shining gems. Piles of bones – of hapless sailor, I could only imagine, a shiver running up and down my spine – held the beams of wood aloft.

Varun knocked. No answer.

He knocked louder. Still we heard nothing.

“Maybe he's not around!” I ventured hopefully.

“Enter!” My heart sank. A deep, booming voice called to us from within.

“Brother Abzu,” Varun bowed low as he entered. “It is Brother Poseidon, come to pay a visit to the furthest reaches of my kingdom.”

The man sitting in the throne rose to his feet. He was as dark as Varun was golden – his long black hair tangled upon his shoulders, his skin still dark – though somewhat pallid from so many centuries without sunlight. His eyes blazed with an intensity I had never seen before. It was not Chance's passion – no, this was seething hostility, powerful in its darkness. I could tell from the way Abzu moved that he was a man of great power; his muscles rippled with the ocean waves.

“Brother Poseidon,” it was Abzu's turn to bow. “What an extraordinary pleasure.” Yet from the way his tongue seemed to curl about his teeth I got the impression it wasn't a pleasure at all, extraordinary or otherwise. “It is fully within your rights as King to call upon my home. Is there something I can do for you?”

“A social call, merely.”

“And you've brought...a mermaid? A siren?”

Varun and I traded glances.

“A human,” Varun said at last. “My human. My girlfriend, in fact.”

“Girlfriend?” Abzu's aching laugh seemed to shake the walls of the palace. “A human girlfriend? You're the same as ever, aren't you, Poseidon.” He looked me up and down. “And what will you do when the waters come, my dearest?”

I said nothing. It was best to play the part of a fool – human and all too intimidated – than to let him suspect that I was Vesta.

“They won't come,” Varun said firmly. “I'll make sure of that. Humans must survive – regardless of what our war is with Fire. We cannot waste life needlessly.”

“I'll be sure to spare her when the flood comes.” Abzu nodded, smiling to himself. “Man thinks himself a terribly powerful little creature, doesn't he? All his ingenuity, his creativity, his imagination. And yet all it takes is one tidal wave to turn him to naught. I discovered a shipwrecked treasure this afternoon. Not twenty miles from here.” He motioned to a treasure chest that lay open on the floor before us, all manner of gold and gems spilling out. “Men lived and died for these riches. But now they lie here – along with the corpses of those capsized sailors – utterly useless. And you want me to spare the vermin?” he laughed. “In five thousand years one gets up to a lot of collecting. All of human history turned to shiny rubbish! But I'm not complaining, Brother Poseidon, even though you never freed me. You always treated me well – although you could always have done better. You did your best. And now that my time is up, I will be sure to treat you kindly when I become King of Water!” he grinned maniacally.

I gulped.

“I'm not afraid,” Varun scoffed. “If you wanted to have me killed today you would have done it by now. But you know that the Water deities would pin the crime on you, and imprison you once again. You know that I have the support of the other Water Ones.”

“For now,” Abzu bowed with excruciating politeness. “My kraken gain in strength daily.”

“For now.”

The two smiled at each other – evenly matched in power and strength, only mutual self-interest keeping them from tearing out each other's throats.

“Now,” Abzu began. “Shall I show you my collections? I have a wonderful collection of tridents inlaid with pearl in the other room....”

Varun winked at me as he followed Abzu into another room.

I instantly realized the upside of being a despised human. Abzu hadn't even noticed that I existed – certainly not enough to mind leaving me alone in the main room while he showed off his collection of jewels and finery to Varun. And so it gave me time – time to make my way into a small room just off the main chamber. I looked around wildly. If I were hunting for a jewel – where would I go first?

But a strange feeling seemed to awaken within me. A feeling of surety – of certainty – of power. Suddenly I was breathing naturally, on my own. I felt my lungs expand with oxygen; a blue shimmer seemed to appear before me. I followed the light, entranced by its beauty, my feet traveling of their own accord to a pile of gemstones in the corner of the room. Each was more beautiful than the last; each sparkled with unimaginable loveliness – and yet my hands knew where to go. I reached deep within the pile of jewels, my fingers colliding with one smooth stone, moon-shaped. Immediately I felt power course through me like adrenaline. I pulled my hand out of the pile, a single sapphire in my palm. Heat flashed through me like fire; I pressed the stone to my chest and felt its warmth. This was the healing stone. This was the stone that would save my mother.

I looked down at the stone in my hands.

If I had my doubts about being Vesta before, they were gradually vanishing. This stone, so smooth and warm in the palm of my hand, told me more than any dream or vision ever could. It seemed to call out to me, to call me “Vesta,” to challenge me to embrace my destiny.

“And here are the sixteenth-century gold pieces,” I heard Abzu saying from the other room. “Pre-Erosion – genuine! From the Spanish Armada.”

There was no time to think. I hurried back to the main room.