Dafarzi

It was a long journey to Dafarzi, longer than ever. Since Spindewas had fallen, she would have to ride out of the way through Mewhaven, and sail to Dafarzi from Carabas. It would take weeks, perhaps as long as month. King Graemund did not want his wife to leave. It was like saying goodbye to his eyes again, to the only light and beauty that he knew. Without Rapunzel, the world was a lot darker.

Rapunzel had trouble saying goodbye to him as well. She held his aging face in her hands, stroking his bearded cheeks. He was grizzled now, and his face was heavily lined. He was losing his hair. Little could be seen of how handsome he was when he was young. One of his eyes was so badly damaged that he wore a patch over it. The other had healed better, although the flesh around it was twisted and puckered, the eye unfocused and searching. Its green color always reminded her of their daughter.

“You will tell them the news?” he asked her as he gave her a last embrace. She detected a hint of worry in his voice. His hands slid over her middle, where a slight bump was developing. They had been trying for some time to have more children, but it had been difficult after she had a near-disastrous miscarriage ten years ago.

“Don’t worry, dear. They will be happy for us,” Rapunzel assured, her Dafarzian accent coming through as she gave a light laugh. What did he worry about? That the twins would think they were being replaced? That they were the sole heirs of Towerlot no longer? Or was it that they would fear another miscarriage, like he did? But she knew the Twins were not worry warts like him. “Sometimes I think you do not know your children so well, dear.”

“That’s what happens when they live so far from us,” he said. He always felt like he was living in a divided state, with the twins away. And now his other half would be leaving, as Rapunzel was packed away into the carriage, accompanied by a small army of guards that he hand-picked and knew and trusted. Yet he still could not sleep well at night.

---

The journey was not so wearying for Rapunzel, as it was exhilarating. She loved traveling, as it was the farthest thing from being locked in a tower. The journey took closer to two months, as she went out of her way to visit the Marquis of Carabas and his wife, as well as Queen Sara of Rumplier. That visit left with a sour feeling in her stomach, as Sara spoke hauntingly of her daughter who had run away. When Rapunzel asked what she though happened to the girl, Sara said that she had had a dream that she was eaten by wolves, and seemed oddly at peace about it. Sara was much more doting on her second child, her son, who was now treated as the firstborn heir.

By the time Rapunzel reached Dafarzi, her stomach was much larger. So much larger, that she wondered if she might be having twins again... or even triplets. She received frequent messages by pixie from Graemund, asking her where she was and how she was faring. He missed her so, was she on her way back yet? Rapunzel sent him due replies, and consoled him in knowing that the longer she was away, the sweeter would be her return.

After journeying a few days through the tropical coast and the jungle, enjoying every sight and sound of her beautiful homeland, Rapunzel came to the Capitol city. There was much cheering and music for her as she rode in her carriage through the street. She came out of her carriage when she was brought to the community dining hall. She wrapped herself loosely in a sarong, so that her growing stomach would not be seen. She did not want everyone else to know before the twins did.

The pleasure of seeing her children could not be described. Rapunzel touched both their faces, and then laughed with them as they discovered her long-awaited pregnancy. She eased into the chair, appreciated how soft it was and having Ainra’s help. She was not young anymore--and the pregnancy was bringing her aches and pains that she did not remember when she was sixteen.

“My, ya arms be strong, child,” she complimented Ainra, smiling and patting Ainra’s shoulder and upper arm. Now that she was in Dafarzi, her accent seemed to return to her full-force.

"We'da come ta you, Mama. Why make such a journey?"

“Why make such a journey?” Rapunzel repeated in wonder. “It be worth all te gold in Faecleir ta make such a journey. Ay, it makes me feel young again. Makes me feel free. An’ me missed Dafarzi so. Now, ye Papa would’ve come, if he weren’t so direly needed in Towerlot. Lots of trouble up Nort' in the lil’ kingdoms, tere be. Ot’erwise, he be well. We be happy ta be expectin.’”

“Now, how be tings with te two of you?” Rapunzel asked, relishing the sight of Nanji and Ainra. They were adults now, much more grown up than the last time she had seen them. She held both their hands, and thought back on how the two of them used to be small enough to fit on her lap.

Rapunzel listened, her brows knotting, as Airna spoke of receiving word from Prince Dayerin. She remembered the young prince when he was a lad and she had brought the twins to play with him and his sister while she visited with Briarose. As a boy, he had been big for his age and a bit of a trouble maker. She didn’t worry about him, so much as she worried about Briar. Rapunzel imagined the same thing happening to her... losing her husband, her children, and having to marry the Emperor. It made her feel deep and dark despair.

Nanji’s kiss on her forehead brought her back to the present.

"What do ye be cravin' Mama? I'll askd te chef ta make ya whatever ye want?"

Rapunzel could not help but smile at her son, so fun-loving he was. And come to think of it, she actually did have a craving for something. “Ye know wat I would like? A nice plate of greens... big, juicy leaves, an’ if ye can, get te kind tat has a blush o’ red on ta edges? Ye know ta kind, yah? Wi’t a bit of oil and vinegar sprinkled on top? Tank ye, dear.” She brought his head closer to her and planted a kiss on his nose.

As she sat and waited for the greens, she noticed an incoming pixie message. She immediately thought of her husband, and clucked her tongue. He had already sent her a message the night before, what could it be this time? The little creature flew into her outstretched palm, and its glowing changed from green to purple as it stood in her hand, meaning it had reached its recipient. But she did not recognize this pixie.

“You must be the Queen of Towerlot,” the pixie spoke in an airy voice. Rapunzel nodded. “Aye, wat be ya message?”

“Lufgaw of Effledus wants to know what security measures your kingdom will take against the empire,” the pixie recited. “That is all.”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened at the pixie. King Lufgaw was the last person she was expecting to send her a message. She had never met him in person, though she was friends with his wife. Queen Sereya was the one who greeted the human visitors if ever they were allowed into Effledus. And Rapunzel had a few months ago, given that it was necessary to negotiate with Effledus to end a border dispute.

“Towerlot has a small army tat has assembled, as well as a force of mounted warriors. We also have bands of our finest archers posted at our many towers. Our castle and capitol is walled, and fortified wit catapults at ta ready,” Rapunzel told the fairy. “But ta most of our defense is underground. We have a network of tunnels to transport water and supplies in case of seige, and it runs t’rough the kingdom. Do ya have any more to suggest, King Lufgaw?”

With that said, the pixie turned green again with a full message. But she did not leave immediately, and looked at Rapunzel expectantly. She seemed tired, grumpy, always flying back and forth with these messages. “Might I have a bite of food for the long journey?”

“Tat was very nice of ya, Airna,” Rapunzel commended her daughter for feeding the pixie and showing it respect. The pixie was satisfied with the grapes--grapes were Pixies’ favorites, after all. As soon as Nanji entered making a lot of noise, the pixie flew off with the bag in tow.

“Tank ya, Nanji dear,” she said as the plate was set before her. She knew how Nanji liked to do his own serving, but it still surprised her. At Towerlot, there was a large wait staff. It was something Graemund couldn’t do without. But as much as she could, Rapunzel liked to do things for herself.“I like it tat ya give yer servants a break. Makes ya a popular Prince, yah?”

She looked about the dining hall and paid special attention to the female servants. She could imagine that they all fancied her handsome and outgoing son. She smiled slyly as she took a bite of the steamed greens. The spices! How she missed them back at Towerlot! She didn’t want Graemund to shovel out gold coins just to buy the spices she liked, so she never asked for them and grew almost accustomed to blandness. But as soon as she came home, her tongue quickly became spoiled.

“Ah! T’ese greens! Ta spices!” Rapunzel enthused over the food. There was a long tradition in her line of ancestors, of women who had the intensest cravings for greens. Her name, as it was, came from Rapun lettuce, because that was her mother’s favorite. It had originated as a witch's curse, but it had since become a blessing, because of the longevity and health that came with the greens. “Ya must have some, child,” Rapunzel insisted, bringing a spoonful right up to Airna’s lips.

Nanji blushed waving his hands. "Ah~!" He said and took a seat. Ainra giggled and turned to find her mother with a forkful of greens. Boy did she love greens, her mother always told her it was a female family thing. Ainra wanted to declined but her mouth disagreed. She took a forkful into her mouth and she moaned. She covered her mouth with her hand. "My Goddess, t'at's delicious!"She said through her hand. Nanji shook his head. He didn't not like greens but he didn't crave them like his mother and sister did. "Ye bot' be crazy," He said and took a peice a fruit from the bowls. It was then Ainra registered what her mother said about Nanji. Nanji could have any girl he wanted. They all loved him but he didn't seem to take a liking to any of them. Then she wondered if any of the men took a liking to her. It was a quick thought. She hadn't had time. She abandoned the thought just as quickly. She had a war to concern herself with now. She'd like Nanji have all the fun.

Rapunzel settled into the routine in Dafarzi. She insisted that her twins go about their business, and not change anything for her sake. She liked to watch Ainra train and Nanji dance. She also liked it that she had opportunity to do domestic chores. She experimented with cooking in the kitchen, putting together the most exotic ingredients found in all of Dafarzi. She wove fabric on the ancient looms and she visited those who were ill and assisted the local healer. Such were things that she never had the opportunity to do when she was in Towerlot.

After being in Dafarzi for one week, she sat on her balcony in the afternoon, overlooking the coast. She was practicing her sitar, for she had grown rusty since she had last visited. She set her instrument down and stood up to stretch, feeling the tension in her growing middle. She rested her hands on the small of her back and jutted her belly out as far as it would go. An irksome fly buzzed in her ear, and a loud bird squawked in the trees of the palace gardens. It left behind a flash of bright rainbow feathers.

Her eyes were drawn to the coast, where something glinted in the bright sun. It appeared there was a man washed up on shore. She dashed inside, accidentally kicking her sitar in haste. “Nanji! Ainra!”

---

Swimming without gills and a fin was harder than he could ever imagine. Liryamm the Shark-Eyed heaved half his body out of the water and onto the shore and lay there in exhaustion. He had been swimming for hours, as he fled Itsasker. He knew that such a swim would have taken a third as long if he had his fin. He was a little ashamed that the journey had been so rough. He had even gotten some help from a pod of dolphins, and he still ached all over.

The worst pain was in his new legs. Walking was bad enough--it was a knife stab with every step, as his mother had promised. He thought that swimming would be more pleasant, as soaking his legs in saltwater was a remedy for the knife-stab feeling. But kicking against the current seemed to generate a new kind of pain, like they were being struck repeatedly by a mallet. But that didn’t really concern him. What really hurt was the torrential rip through his heart.

I couldn’t save her.

He closed his eyes and still saw that moment replay, when sweet Corarielle made her silent jump and dissolved. Once a beautiful, affectionate, talented mermaid-turned-woman... and now, nothing. Just a little white foam that will be scattered by the bow of a rowboat. He probably swallowed a little bit of her as he was swimming.

Why couldn’t he do it? Why couldn’t he take the head off of that cursed prince? That infantile human boy, spoiled, selfish, callous to the core of his heart, who used Cora as his charming mute play thing. Lir had killed things before, lots of things. He didn’t lower his blade because he was soft. Something had changed his mind in that moment. He had thought of Cora... he thought he saw her, heard her voice. She was telling him not to do it. It seemed like she was there, touching his arm, but it must have been his imagination. She was sea foam, nothing more. That was the end for Cora.

“It should be the end for me too. I failed,” he murmured, reaching his sandy hand into his belt and taking out his long knife. He considered it. He thought about what it must be like to become sea foam...

Rapunzel had to catch her breath as she watched her twins jump over the balcony and to the beach. The sheer athleticism! “I am so proud of tem,” she breathed to herself. There was no way she could follow after and catch up to them. They could handle the situation, she was sure. Plus, she had to recover from the flashback that assaulted her when she saw Nanji climb down Airna’s hair. It’s not the same... she tried to tell herself. But it hurt her scalp just looking at it.

Liryamm’s eyes widened as the two strangers ran towards him. At that point, he had the knife aimed at his heart, and he was prepared to dissolve into sea foam. He froze when they drew near. Why did these two humans care if he lived or died? In all his experience so far living with humans, no one had cared all that much. Probably more humans wanted him dead than alive, after he tried to harm the Kalgrist prince.

He didn’t understand what they were saying. He had navigated the Kalgrist Empire not understanding the language, and that had been a reason for his failure in preventing Cora’s demise. He did recognize one word... blade... because that was essentially the same in the Empire, and it was something that came up often. And he saw the woman reaching out her hand for it.

“Blade?” he repeated in their language, his Mer accent thick, reminiscent of bubbles falling off a sea turtle’s shell and gulls picking at the meat of crabs, and all things having to do with the ocean. For a moment he hesitated. But then he looked into the woman’s green eyes and found himself handing over the knife. She was very persuasive. Her words, though he could not understand them, were oddly comforting.

After relinquishing his knife, Liryamm picked himself up and stood up with a grunt. Water and sandy kelp poured from his silvery armor. He still eyed his knife in the girl’s hand. He kind of wanted it back. But his attention was also drawn to the tropical landscape and palace behind them.

“Where... this place?” he asked, using the few words he had learned in the Kalgrist Empire. Hopefully they would be able to understand it.

Airna placed his accent. He's Merfolk. She licked her lips quickly and spoke in perfect Mer. "We are in Dafarzi. You look tired. You are welcome to stay here and rest. I am Princess Ainra. This is my brother Prince Nanji." Nanji blinked when he recognized his name. He gave short wave and a smile as Ainra handed him the blade. She never took her eyes off him. "Perhaps after some rest, We can talk about why you're trying to end your life?" She said.
Nanji was impressed by his sister. She knew so many languages. Even Mer. He could have to if he bothered to study. He look up at his Mother. "He be alright, yah!" He called and looked at Airna. She was starting intently into the Mer Man's eyes. "Come now." She said and stood up, she offered her hand and the twins gave him an identical smile. "You are safe now."

The expression on Liryamm’s face turned to amazement. For one, he had been discovered on the beach by twin royalty, and for another, the princess spoke fluent Mer. It was a relief to him, but also, oddly, a burden. He would have to explain what had happened to him. As she asked him why he had been suicidal in that moment, he knew he would have to answer her. Her voice commanded the truth.

“I am amazed, Princess Ainra, that you speak the language of the Mer,” he replied to her, still stunned. “You can call me Liryamm. I come from the Mer... and used to be one.” He looked down wretchedly at his human legs. He thought them very ugly, like two knobbed trunks of a tree, and littered with tiny black hairs. The knees were the most unsightly part of all... rough and bald, like the top of a wrinkly walrus’ head.

“I have recently been wounded in my heart. But I can not speak of it now,” he added, nodding to her suggestion that he can talk about it after some rest. He tentatively took the hand she offered, but then he dropped it when he was startled by a woman calling in the distance, in another language.

“Good! Bring him in. I’ll meet ya at te gate,” the woman shouted to Nanji. She waved a moment from the balcony, and then disappeared as she made her way through the palace interior.

“Dafarzi...” Lir repeated the place she had told him. He looked worried again. “Is that part of the Kalgrist Empire?” The Mer had not much concerned themselves with the surface world, and so his knowledge of land geography was lacking.

Liryamm considered Airna and Nanji and wondered if he should reveal his enemies. It was clear to him that they were twins, and among the Mer, twins were very rare. But whenever they were born, they were regarded as special. Many of the Mer deities were twins. Some were benevolent and some were destructive. He decided to put his trust in these twins of the surface world, as they seemed to be benevolent.

“Prince Veliclar of the Kalgrist Empire is my enemy,” Liryamm admitted as they walked. “I am probably a wanted criminal in his lands. I made an attempt on his life... two days ago. So you see, Princess Airna, I swam here to escape. If you are friends with Veliclar, then I will leave.”

He looked down at Airna’s hand in his. Her hand was warm and smooth, like a sea shell sitting on a sunny shore. He feared that she would find his skin clammy. She was different than the other human women he had encountered. Perhaps she and her brother were deities of this world. And that would explain why she spoke his language so perfectly. In an act of dawning reverence, he took his hand from her's yet again.

"Please, my hand is not worthy," he murmured quietly in Mer, averting his eyes in respect.

Liryamm did not understand why this fair Land Goddess was insistent on holding his hand and even raised his chin so he would look her in the eye. There could be a dozen reasons for it. It did not remind him at all of the way human women made advances in the Kalgrist empire. They had a language of flirtation that required interpretation, and if Lir had not been told by other men that a lady was making overtures at him, he would never have known. Mer courtship was something different entirely... a language of tail swishes and underwater dances. If he wanted to court a woman, he knew not what to do without his tail.

No, he interpreted this Earth woman’s behavior as a welcoming to her land, and nothing more. Perhaps she was also interested in converting him to their religion. She probably was not a true Goddess, he came to realize, but as princess and a twin she must be a mortal representative of the Goddess. They sometimes had those in the Mer kingdom.

“I am grateful, Princess Ainra,” He said after she assured him that they were not loyal to the Empire here. He shifted weight on his feet and felt a particularly painful stab in his heel. He had become proficient at masking his pain, however, and continued. “Do you think I could learn your language? It must tire you to speak in Mer. Though you speak it very well.” He cracked a small smile as he complimented her.

Rapunzel’s eyes were wide as Nanji told her about Airna and the washed up Mer man. She had to admit, it was not her idea of a perfect match for her daughter. In fact, her daughter had always been so independent, that she could not even think of someone who would be a perfect match for her. “Are ya certain, Nanji boy? Our Airna wouldn’ta be givin’ ta lovey eyes to a fellow after she just met him... let alone a seawrecked Mer...”

But Rapunzel saw them approaching, and was surprised to see Airna holding the Mer’s hand. And curiously, the Mer did not have a tail. He had legs... so what was he, exactly? But one thing was certain, as she caught a whiff of him. He smelled plenty fishy. She smiled at him and tried to be welcoming. “Welcome to our shores,” she greeted in her basic understanding of Mer. Then she spoke to Airna in Dafarzian. “Airna dear, why don’t ya have ye foundling Mer fed and clothed and shown to a bathtub, yah?”

At that moment, a servant came outside and told her that she had pixie mail waiting inside. Rapunzel excused herself, leaving the Mer in the hands of the twins. She then hurried to her room and received the pixie. Like always, she expected it was a long and worried message from her husband. But instead it was another message from Effledus.

“As a friend of the Queen Sereya, My Lady Queen Rapunzel is invited to a celebration at the royal court of Effledus. King Lufgaw’s wife Queen Sereya is announced to be pregnant with an heir.”

Rapunzel clapped her hands excitedly at the news of Sereya’s pregnancy. What timing, why, they could be bonded by the experience of being pregnant together! And Sereya was so young and this was her first time... Rapunzel definitely could give her some helpful advice. And it was so rare to receive an invitation to Effledus! If only she could make it there.

But it only took Rapunzel a moment of thought to realize that she could. She rose from her chair and left the pixie waiting expectantly as she cracked open a massive trunk and began rummaging.

“Now where be tat old magic carpet?”

Liryamm was oblivious to the silent dialogue going on between the Twins. He was looking all about him, taking in these strange surroundings. Dafarzi was much more beautiful than the parts of the Empire he had seen. It was very green here, and all of the plants seem to have giant leaves and even more giant flowers, and there was a proliferation of colorful flying creatures. He recalled that his Grandmother, the Dowager Queen, had called these winged creatures “fishes,” because that was the closest Sea equivalent. Soon after arriving on land, however, he learned not to call them that, else he would be laughed at.

“Birds,” he said in the Empire language, reminding himself of the word.

And then he registered Airna’s question. She wanted to feed him. He had had his fill of every type of raw sea creature, and so he decided not to ask for it. He will try what the land people ate. “Are the birds edible?” he asked, looking wonderingly at a particularly loud squawking parrot.

Meanwhile, Queen Rapunzel found what she was looking for and lifted the hefty roll of material from the trunk. She unrolled it on the floor, but kept her distance from it. The carpet had once belonged to her mother, who had used it spirit Rapunzel to and from Towerlot. She associated it with painful memories, and so she had not pulled it out for a very long time. She pressed her fingers to her mouth in contemplation and stared down at the carpet and its elaborate tangle of woven designs.

Unlike a normal carpet, this carpet had life in it from the moment it was unrolled. There were sapphire threads in it that twinkled and caught the sunlight entering the room. It was powered by the sun... that was its source of magic. Rapunzel pulled the curtains fully open, spilling sun all over the rug. Its material began to wave, and slowly it began to hover.

Rapunzel decided that she would ride it again. Those bad memories were far in the past, and it was something that could be of great use to her in the present. She stepped forward with determination and sat upon the carpet. It felt solid beneath her, even though it was floating in mid-air. She gripped a tassel in each hand, used for steering.

“Outside, to the gate,” Rapunzel gave it a command. The carpet jolted forward and she gave a little surprised yelp. It flew straight out of the balcony, circled the palace, and brought her to the gate where the Twins and the Mer still stood. It took less than a minute. The carpet’s transportation was not instantaneous, as some of the newest carpets were. But it could get to a place faster than any other means, tying with the speed of a dragon.

“Who wants ta go wit me to Effledus?” she asked cheerfully, sitting on the floating carpet and laughing merrily. It was a four passenger carpet, although that was small compared to some of the luxury limo-carpets, which could transport dozens of people.

Rapunzel expected that her twins would react as they did, and she held up her hands to calm them down. “I appreciate ta concern, my children,” she assured once they finished their round of arguing with each other. Even their arguments was something that could bring a smile to Rapunzel’s face and make her love them even more.

“I am going ta Effledus because I be invited. It is a a celebration for Sereya, as she be expectin’ her firstborn. Besides, I best talk to ta King Lufgaw or his advisors in person. T’ey sent me a concerning pixie message about our defenses in Towerlot.”

She paused a moment, worrying about the state of things back home. She hadn’t received a message from her husband for a long while, it seemed. He was probably just busy, but she felt like she caught his worrywart bug.

“As for t’is carpet, it belonged to ye Grandmamma. It was collecting dust in a trunk. Now I don’t believe either of ye have traveled by carpet before? It be safer t’an it looks. Who's coming, now? I don't want ta miss te party.”

Liryamm the Mer stayed out of the discussion about the rug, as he could not understand a word of it. But he couldn’t take his eyes away from the floating material and shimmering blue threads. He imagined it was the closest one could get to swimming in the air.

Liryamm stifled a laugh as Airna elbowed Nanji in the abdomen. Squabbling was frequent with the twins, but it was not something he was unfamiliar with. Mer folk bickered all the time with their siblings. Seeing Airna and Nanji quarrel brought him back to living in the Mer palace with six half-sisters. They were noisier than a flock of gulls.

He considered what Airna had offered, about joining them on the carpet. It was no small thing for her to invite him. It meant she trusted him and wanted him around--who would want to ride midair with someone they were suspicious of, after all? He knew vaguely of Effledus and King Lufgaw, they were names he had heard thrown around in Kalgrist and even under the Sea. Lufgaw was supposed to be welcoming to any other creatures asides from humans. He had a slight hope that there were other Mer living in Effledus... perhaps there was someone there who could help him get back his tail?

“I have nothing to lose, I might as well go to Effledus,” Lir replied to Airna. “But are you sure there is room for me on the carpet?” He was smiling from the laughter he suppressed while watching the Twins and their antics.

“Hop on, hop on! Ta Mer is welcome along... I never t’ought I’d see a Mer fly, yah!” Rapunzel giggled, seeming to regress to the adventurous young girl she once was. Then she spoke to the twins in a warm voice: “An’ after ta party, mayhaps we can stop by Towerlot an’ say hello to ya Papa.”

Rapunzel gave Nanji’s shoulder a little swat after hearing his comment. TheMer did seem to be hesitating, but she didn’t like Nanji muttering and being a little bully about it. “Let him take his time! Would ya go jumping aboard a floating carpet full of strangers, Nanji Boy? Well, now, perhaps ya would...” Rapunzel chuckled a tad as she imagined her son in such a scenario. Of course he would jump without a second thought.

Liryamm finally took hold of Airna’s outstretched hand and lifted himself onto the carpet. The shifting surface had startled the twins, but it felt right at home to Lir. It brought him back to floating among the waves, back when he had his tail. He relished in the sensation. And then he began to use his feet and hopped up and down to make more waves.

“Ah, Mer fellow, stop rocking ta rug, yah?” Rapunzel requested as she hopped up and down and had to grip the tassled edge tightly to keep steady. Lir got the message through her tone and ceased his movement. He apologized in broken Kalgrist and took a seat beside Airna.

“I wish I could live on this carpet,” he confided to her in Mer. “It is the closest thing to waves.”

“And we’re off!” Rapunzel announced, her voice command making the rug jolt forward.

Rapunzel gritted her teeth and tried to suppress her misgivings for taking out the carpet. It was a most fool-hardy thing to do, now that all of her old memories were rushing in at her. Her scalp began to hurt and she began to feel dizzy. That view outside of the tower window kept coming back to her. She felt a deep need for Graemund, as she always felt when she had these flashbacks...

No! I need to get through it myself, she shouted internally. She plowed forward with the rug and even drove it to faster speeds and greater heights. The palace grew small below them, and all of Dafarzi’s greenery melded together, and the whole capital city was just filled with specks.

Liryamm was relaxed as a well-fed seal. The carpet ride was most enjoyable to him, and he puzzled over why it frightened the Dafarzian family. He looked over the side of the carpet and saw ocean. Beautiful, wide expanses of ocean. The delicious salt smell was carried into his nose. He was tempted to dive right in, so inviting it looked.

His brows drew together, however, when he saw a massive shadow growing over the water. And then there was the telltale shriek, and he knew at once what it was. It was a terror to land and sea.

“Griffin!” he shouted in Mer. Every Mer feared the Griffin. It fished through the sea with its front eagle talons, grabbing dolphins and squid and even the merfolk. He recalled a time when he was playing a ball game with a group of Mer, and there had been a griffin attack. The great talons plunged into the water and grabbed the slowest mermaid. She was carried off screaming, and was probably ripped apart by the Griffin’s nestlings.

And here the griffin was swooping down, preparing to do the same to this little group on their carpet. Queen Rapunzel urged the carpet faster. Lir rose to his feet on the carpet and drew his spear from its holster on his back. His shark eyes blackened and he snarled at the flying beast. But even the greatest warrior had a very poor chance of killing a griffin with a single spear, especially when they were both moving at high speeds.

“Have you any weapons?” he asked the twins in Mer. He was remarkably steady as he stood on the wavering carpet. His skin was slightly sticky and his webbed toes were able to get a good grip.

The Mer stood shocked as he watched Nanji jump onto the griffin’s back. “I hope your brother knows what he’s doing,” he replied to Airna. Though there was dread in his voice. He really did not want to see this spirited Dafarzian man killed.

Lir was debating joining Nanji on the griffin’s back, or jumping into the water to distract it. While looking on the horizon, however, he saw a second mass approaching. A second griffin. It seemed impossible. When he learned about griffins in Mer school, they were always told that the winged beasts were solitary hunters. But clear as day, this was another griffin, and it was flying straight towards them.

Rapunzel had slowed the carpet, frozen with worry for Nanji. She clung to Airna and clasped her hand to her mouth, wide-eyed as she watched her son ride upon the creature’s back. Even with the second griffin approaching, she could not leave Nanji behind.

“We may have to abandon carpet!” Rapunzel suggested frantically.

Lir caught the gist of what she said and shook his head. The griffins would get them just easily in the water. “No, no! We stay on the carpet.”

He hoisted up his spear and just as the second griffin was within range, he threw it. The spear lodged itself in the griffin’s feathered shoulder, but it did not do near the damage Lir had hoped. The griffin dipped in the air, mildly annoyed by the wound. Lir turned to Airna, ready to say goodbye. It looked like he might be able to die that day after all. But he found that his one regret would be that he would never see this kind earth woman again.

“Airna, I must...”

But before he could finish his goodbye, there came a horrible commotion from below. He spun around and saw that the water was foaming and a vast serpentine head shot up, spraying water all about and distracting the griffin. The gulls screamed and fled the sky. Lir had never seen a sea serpent so vast-its shining head was larger than the griffin’s, and the part of its neck that protruded was as long as the keel of a great ship. He had only heard stories about one this large. It’s broad, spiked neck swiveled out of the water and lunged at the griffin with lightning speed. The griffin did not fly away quick enough, as the serpent’s wide jaws clamped down on its wing. The griffin shrieked and turned to defend itself. A second serpent head, just as large, popped out of the water and lashed out at the griffin’s neck. Feathers flew.

“The great twin serpent!” Lir gasped. He dropped to his knees on the carpet. This was the legendary form of the twin Mer dieties of destruction, the two-headed giant sea serpent.