Chapter 24

I sat and watched as the other Merqueens arrived to discuss my future. Soon Tiamat, Zuni, Brita, Aquene, Atla and Zola sat down by a cozy campfire to decide where I must go. They seemed sincerely concerned about my safety. They were already protecting things that are game changers. The fountain of youth, the city of gold, a few dragons, and few other surprises. In the end, I was asked by Zuni to move to Kong Island. I told her I will do as I am told. I explained my concern to Zola that I was intimidated by the human cannibals who lived there would make me the bride of Kong or some kind of sacrifice to Kong. Zola tilted her head and blinked twice. She waved her hand slowly as if to dismiss my fear. Zuni also waved her hand and all the gators calmly walked out of the water as a whirlpool formed in the tranquil waters. Zola swam towards it and she got sucked into it. I swam towards it and turned around to wave goodbye. They waved back too.

I held my breath and got sucked into the whirlpool too. It spun me to Kong island. The vortex turned into a geyser and spat me out to the on coming waves. I was taken ashore by a huge wave. I was greeted by the seven native tribes that call this island home. These guys were wearing outfits made from animal skin. Their tribes are identified by the plumes on their heads or seashells necklaces or animal or human bone necklace they wore. Their leaders wore a crown made of animal ribs sown together. Their huts were made from coconut leaves, mud and cow dung. The hut had no doors. I decided that the cave that I first slept in would suffice but Zola showed me the danger of being kidnapped. I decided to stay in a hut in the mountains. She seemed happy since the tribe is said to be the most deadliest.

I remember how my uncle made a wooden cabin from scratch. I asked if I could make one. She waved her hand and a tree walked up to me. It had hands, legs and a bearded face. It introduced itself as an Ent. These guys are responsible for taking care of the forest. They only allow certain trees to be cut. So he said he will ask around to see if there was any that were eligible for uprooting. He made a sound and more of his kind showed up. The meeting of the Ents began. I decided to explore the tide pools again. I sat down at my usual spot and admired my surreal surroundings. Until further notice this is my home.

I got bored so I decided to go swimming. After a few hours of snorkeling to explore the breath taking lagoon I surface to see that a group of men rowing a boat toward the island. I realized that humans have arrived. This meant trouble for everyone so I picked up a conch shell from my bag and blew all the air from my lungs into it. The people on the boat looked everywhere to figure out where the sound was coming from. They called out for help. Some looked hopeful while others looked apprehensive. The cannibals heard me and came to find out what the commotion was. They were annoyed till they saw the boat approaching and got ready to fight. They threw spears at the intruders. I blew the conch shell again and the larger animals that stayed hidden started to hurl large rocks at them. These intruders shot bullets till they ran empty. They had to run for it. They had no choice but to get back in their boat and row away. I watched as they tirelessly scampered to get as far away as possible. I swam back with the conch shell and they gave a joyful cry. Zola nod her approval and I sat down to enjoy the view. Corazon came and sat next to me. She is Zola's daughter. She watched my expression till she felt like she should talk to me. She slowly transformed into a beautiful woman. She had knee length snow white hair, translucent soft skin and normal pearly white teeth and vivid green eyes. I was surprised that they can do that. I should have remembered that all mermaids can change to look like humans. She smiled at my shocked expression. She had trouble talking to me the same as all the other mermaids. Despite her speech impediment she seemed adamant on talking to me. So I decided to teach her sign language. She has never heard of it. She was curious to learn how it is done. She was amused as I taught her hand gestures. The other mermaids learned it too which made it easier to talk to others if they felt like they shouldn't touch them. There are people these ladies won't allow them to touch. They could use it instead of speaking if that is what they wanted.

I was busy building my cabin when a short cute woman arrived. She was someone I met when I was running away from the previous witch queen. She was one of the singers at the neutral hotel. She introduced herself as Marion the Banshee. Both sides have once again convened and an invitation arrived written in urgency. I was invited to Semenov's palace once more. When I got there a witch cast a spell and tried to remove my vampire half. She was burned immediately by the witch queen. The spell used fire so I was covered in third degree burns. I was taken to the medical wing and I was healed. I walked out of the room and another try it again. This one killed the others and strived to separate me from my vampire half. She managed to split me into two people. It looked like I had a twin. But that lasted five seconds and I was made whole again. I fell to the floor hard. I looked up to lunge at her. I saw a silver light ran vertically. She was sliced right down in the middle. She fell in two different directions. I saw a samurai wielding a katana dripping with blood. I was dragged back to the room again but this time I was not healed. I was asked to stay there writhing in pain till they sorted this out. When they had solved the issue I asked them if they can allow me to leave. They decided that it would be best if I leave. They made a mistake of escorted me back to Zola burnt. She angrily roared at the one escorting me back. I had angry blisters all over my body. I passed out the moment she grabbed me.

I woke up to see that I was surrounded by strange looking creatures. They were light brown in color with tree bark like skin. They wore a heavy duty work clothes. There was a witch dangling upside down. Her throat was slit and a steady stream of blood was flowing. I drank till I had enough. I waved my hand as I got up. The witch was removed from the hook she was dangling from and dragged outside to the thick black smoke. The ceiling had thick roots sticking out here and there. The table was made of chiseled rock. The chair was wooden and ornately hand carved. There was a wooden table. It had drawers filled with vials of usual ingredients. There were vials of moss, tiny flowers, tree bark, not to mention some weird liquids too. Some were glistening while others felt hot to the touch. I realized that I was in the witch queen's palace. I walked out of the room to a series of tunnels. I followed the trail of smoke and found a pile of corpses either beheaded or burnt. The witches were burnt to charcoal. The witch queen and Drake were watching the roaring fire. She looked humiliated while he was furious. I wanted to comfort him but I had a conflict of thoughts. One half was angry to see him the other was happy to see him. I chose to forgive him and hugged him. He was shocked at first but he got over it. I wept and he held on to me.