Chapter 18

When the coast was cleared I asked Drake to take me home before Baba Yaga tries something else. He didn't need to be told twice. He waved his hand and soon after we were escorted out to the departure portal. I thought we would leave same way we came but it turns out this keeps troublemakers from escaping. It was a huge swirling pool of liquid gold and silver with the exterior basin made from marble. It looked like it was fire hot but it was ice cold. We just had to look at the mirror like surface and imagine where we want to go. It will transport us where we needed to go one at a time. But the luggage goes at once or it will be lost in the portal. You will be able to retrieve it in six thousand years by then you wouldn't want it. We arrived home and the limping witch arrived at our front door an hour later. Drake was so angry that she had the nerve to show up to his palace of all places. She explained that I am an imbalance in the hidden world that she intends to fix. I asked her what her problem was. She eats children and teenage girls. Was I on her list of people she intended to eat. She made the mistake of saying yes. It was the last anyone heard or saw of her again. What did Drake do? I don't know. I never bothered to ask him. All I know is she broke the rules and she paid for it. What rule you ask. I have proven myself innocent thrice to be precise. Which means that I am protected. If anyone on any side tried anything. The penalty is death. She should have remembered since she was there when they wrote it.

Dracula came back with a bitter expression face that refuse to soften. So I asked him what happened. He tried to force a smile on his face but he failed miserably. He was shaking head to toe so I hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me and for some reason his hands refuse to let me go. It felt like I was wrapped in solid marble. I stayed in his arms till he felt it was safe to let go. I kissed his cheek and walked upstairs to change into workout clothes.

I joined the trainees in the artic room. I had done the ax swinging and the hand to hand combat and was about to meditate on the ice block when Drake walked in. He explained that my training was temporarily halted. I asked him if I had done anything to earn his anger and he smiled at me. He had other reasons to remove me from class. He wrapped a heat blanket on me as we walked out. I asked him if he is still angry about what happened the first I walked into that room. He gave me an Are you kidding me face? and laughed out loud. I felt like I was a total idiot. He took my hand and escorted me to the library. William was there with the necessary documents. I saw the reason I was summoned. William being an identical twin actually resembles James and Drake doesn't want to lose control. William will be civilized as long as I was there. I had to play mediator.

When the deal was done I was introduced to a group of pixies and gnomes. One pixie in particular was Angie. She was three inches tall with curly brown hair wearing a blue bell flower dress. She took one look at me decided that she doesn't like me but she seemed to like Drake very much. So she wasted no time proving how much she hates me. Drake simply picked her up with two fingers and told her politely that he doesn't want her at all. She made a fuss and ran back to her home. I smiled, "I have competition" He laughed merrily, "You are irreplaceable and have no comparison. This whole idea of competition is your imagination" We sat down to have breakfast as William walked out of the door. He wished us well and turned into a wolf. I waved at him and wished him and his father good health. He licked my face and slowly walked out before howling and speeding off like a bullet.

Drake said he was feeling adventurous so he had an incredible idea. He shyly asked me if I wanted to go to London. I wrinkled my nose as I answered him, "I rather go to the coast of The Hague, Netherlands and spend time in the tulip fields. Or go to Norway and spend time with Vikings and actually skate on thin ice. Or maybe even go to Iceland and busy myself in the black sandy beaches, or hot springs then watch an erupting volcano before calling it a day to watch the Aurora Borealis. I could definitely go to Malaysia and spend time with the corpse flower. Or even go to Australia to have fun diving with the Great White Sharks particularly one called Deep Blue without a cage or any form of protection. Also I could get a mini submarine to explore the great barrier reef." He seemed amused, "Am I being stereotypical?" I gave him an are you seriously stupid expression and he agreed he was. I suggested that we go to Los Angeles. He seemed amused but apparently he promised not to go there for the next thirty years so we decided that we go to Norway. There was a slight problem with the guy who opened the portal. He looked like he was a beginner. It turns out he was a novice so we landed butt first awkwardly in Ireland of all places.

I was greeted by two women. One them was a woman wearing a coat made from polar bear skin. She was smiling at me funny. It turns out she was the mermaid queen of the Arctic region. Her name was Brita. Which means bright and vibrant. She had bright green eyes and her hair was three shades of red. She had scaly arms and face. She also had webbed fingers. She smiled and I saw that she had teeth that resembled mine. She must be a carnivorous mermaid just like Tiamat. She seemed amused and I realized she can hear my thoughts. So I reached out to touch her. She grabbed my fingertips and smelled them before she grabbed my face. She smelled my face and neck. There was another mermaid. I remembered that I met her the same day I met Tiamat. She came and yanked my hair, smelled under my arm, my back, my feet and pinch each toe very hard. It was awkward for me but the mermaids don't have the same sense of embarrassment as we do.

After which the other one caressed my face and I was shown the underwater marvel of Atlantis. The crumbled castle was held together by magic. The seaweed grew like vines. The Great White Sharks, killer whales and giant squids patrol the underwater city. The sentry of mermaids keeps these beings under control so they won't attack the creatures that live there. Mermaids exchange seashells and directions to avoid humans. They were eating a mako shark and clams. Also a broken WW2 submarine was used as a hotel. Sharks were observed to be escorting its customers to and from. There was an eerie light that emanated from the castle. The houses were still resembling the roman city it was rumored to be with a touch of the demolished look. A few were missing a roof. Others were missing a wall. A few had no doors. I doubt that locks worked either. There was little to no privacy. The sharks swam in frenzy through the roads, alleyways and city center. They work really hard to defy their masters. Every moment of every day they try to fight off the hold the merpeople had so that they can devour the people of the city. If one got really unruly it was fed to the killer whale. The only person these gliding monster obeyed to is Tiamat. Of course I should have remembered that other problem they have were human explorers in search of the city. To tackle this problem. They came up with creepy idea to keep humans away from the city and away from the merpeople. They had convinced the killer whales to attack the boats. After a few years of terrorizing the tresspassers the whales had convinced them to stay away from certain areas. Things got so bad that the government has called them a menace and are discussing what to do. This particular mermaid was Atla the Merqueen of Atlantis. I asked Drake if we were going to Atlantis. He gave me a weird look and kept walking. The mermaids made a sound that resembles laughter. It turns out they were using mind maze to talk to me. That's why he couldn't see or hear them. So I apologized and walked with him to the mysterious hotel. We saw a old woman waving at us. He recognized her as an old friend so we walked towards her. She escorted us to where we were safe from trouble makers. It was her house not the hotel. She had known Drake for many years so she helped him without question. The place had meat and fish hung for drying on the ceiling. We got our room which was nothing romantic like the cave. It was ordinary but pleasant. He walked outside to find someone who can get us back to his Castle. I got in the bathtub and the water took the form of the Tiamat. She waved her hand and the water lit up like the sun. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a very familiar pool. It was the one I thought Tiamat slept in. I realized that I was transported back to her island again. I told her that Dracula will be very angry and she connected with him mentally. I was allowed to talk to him once and the connection was severed. The last thought was the kraken and I will face each other before this trip is over