Chapter One: Secrets of the Deep
Growing up, Liana mastered three things; the art of keeping secrets, prying them from others, and wielding them like a blade to gain power over those unfortunate enough to cross her path.
“Never let them find out who you truly are.”
Those words echoed in Liana’s mind; words she never questioned since she was a child.
Kneeling before the towering merman, feeling the heavy weight of his gaze upon her, Liana drew strength on the vow she’d made to her mother years ago and steeled herself for what lay ahead.
“Freya Claystone, I have to say... For such a young mermaid, you have certainly outdone yourself,” the Overseer said.
“My lord, you give me too much praise,” Liana replied, forcing a respectful tone.
“Nonsense, my dear,” the Overseer replied. He stood from his seat. “Not only did you help get me an audience with the king, but your insight into how we should deal with the small rebel groups impressed him so much that he put me in charge of the entire operation. Me! And not the Prime Overseer!”
Liana’s sharp eyes swept the room, drinking in every detail with a calculating gaze. A sly smile curled onto her lips. To her right, standing at the far end of the room, were three formidable guards, their huge muscles rippling beneath their heavy black armor. Seven more lurked behind her, while another five patrolled the left end of the room with lethal grace. Each guard wore a menacing metal-plated mask, concealing their identity and adding to the aura of danger that permeated the space. Their plasma guns gleamed in the dim light, poised to be unleashed at the slightest hint of trouble.
Darkness shrouded the grand hall, save for the ethereal glow of the silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting a web of light over everything below. Deep azure curtains hung from the towering floor-to-ceiling windows, their folds pooling gracefully on the floor. Someone had already shut tight all five doors leading into the room, and at least two guards stood near each one, their weapons at the ready.
The air was thick with an uneasy tension, and Liana could feel the deadly gazes of the guards boring into her.
She decided to focus her thoughts on her target.
Mezrick Goldwin, the Overseer of a small sect in the underwater kingdom of Trennivia. He was infamous for his insatiable hunger for power and, Liana knew firsthand that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. But it was his darker side that made her shudder with disgust. She knew his true nature, a repulsive and twisted being that thrived on the pain of others. The mere thought of it made her skin crawl.
Mezrick’s strides resonated in the grand chamber as he made his way toward her. “So, my dear Freya,” he said, his voice laced with a hint of amusement. “What is it you desire as a reward?” His emerald eyes bore into Liana’s, almost as if he were daring her to refuse his offer. The Overseer’s thin lips twisted into a sly grin, revealing rows of sharp teeth. His long curly brown hair cascaded down his broad shoulders, framing a thick beard that almost concealed his mouth unless he spoke.
“Freya, tell me,” he said. “What is it you want the most? If it is within my power... No, even if it isn’t, I will grant your heart’s desire.”
“The reward I seek, you ask?” Liana replied. “My lord, serving you is more than enough. I ask for nothing more than to remain by your side.”
Liana’s heart raced as she felt a sense of unease settle over her. The presence of so many guards around Mezrick was unusual even for him, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Other than the ones already in the room, more guards were stationed outside, two at each of the five doors that led to the hall. It was clear that Mezrick was taking no chances, and Liana couldn’t help but wonder what he was planning.
“You wish only to serve me, you say?” Mezrick’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Well then, as a loyal servant, I’m sure you won’t mind telling me what you were doing on the lower floors of my mansion a few hours ago tonight.”
She forced herself to meet his gaze, but the merman’s eyes were now filled with suspicion and malice.
Liana looked away. “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
Mezrick’s large hand suddenly wrapped around her neck. “Don’t lie to me, you spying serpent!”
Liana gasped for breath as she clutched her neck, feeling the bruises forming under Mezrick’s grasp. He lifted her until her feet left the floor and tightened his grip. “You forget that I am an Overseer in this kingdom, and I know all that goes on within my walls— and more so within my own house. Now, before I’m tempted to crash your scrawny little neck, I will give you a chance to keep your life.”
Mezrick threw Liana on the floor.
Liana scrambled to her feet, her throat still raw from Mezrick’s brutal grip. She quickly bowed her head, her eyes cast down in submission. “Forgive me, my lord,” she said, her voice shaky. “I... the Prime Overseer forced me to find any secrets you may have had. He was angry that the king chose you to solve the rebel problem instead of him.”
“The Primer Overseer? I should have known he was up to something. So he tried to ruin my reputation by uncovering whatever little dark secrets I might have.” Mezrick laughed. “A classic but effective tactic. It seems you got caught up in the middle of our little power struggle. And it’s even more unfortunate that you found out about what I was keeping down there.”
The guards walked closer to Liana; surrounding her. The doors opened and the other ten outside entered and locked them.
“Tell me, Freya, does the Prime Overseer know what you found down there?”
“No, my lord,” Liana quickly said.
Mezrick leaned in closer to Liana, his eyes scanning her face. “Are you sure you’re telling me the truth, my dear?” he asked, his voice tainted with suspicion.
Liana held her breath as she nodded frantically. She knew the consequences of lying to the Overseer were dire, and the guards surrounding her made it clear that she was completely at his mercy.
Suddenly, one of the guards approached Mezrick and whispered something in his ear. Liana strained to hear what was being said, but the words were muffled. Mezrick’s expression changed as he listened, and Liana couldn’t tell whether it was for better or for worse.
“Well now, you are telling the truth,” Mezrick said. “My guard over here tells me he’s been watching you since you left the lower chambers. He says you haven’t tried to contact anyone since that time and have been in your room.”
Just like I needed him to think.
Liana couldn’t help but smirk privately. She had played her role perfectly, just as she had been trained to do.
Mezrick walked back to his seat, taking a deep breath before sitting down. His piercing gaze remained fixed on Liana as if he were trying to read her thoughts. Liana could feel the stare, and she knew he was contemplating her fate. She couldn’t help but imagine the horrifying fate that awaited anyone who dared to cross this ruthless merman, especially after what she had seen in that chamber.
The thought twisted her stomach, but she maintained her composure.
A disappointed sigh came out of Mezrick’s mouth.
“Take her to the chamber,” he said. “Let’s make sure it’s quick. I have no time for traitors in my court.”
“My lord, wait—”
Before Liana could finish her sentence, she felt something cold and sharp pierce the back of her neck. An electric chill ran down her spine and in just a few seconds, Liana lost sensation in her arms and legs, and blinking was the only voluntary action her body would allow.
Sedative, she thought, as everything around her blurred and eventually went dark.
***
“Sir, what are you going to do with her?” a faint voice said.
Liana squinted her eyes as she gradually regained consciousness, the world coming back into focus. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. Her hands were bound tightly above her head, and she was hanging above the floor, swinging slightly like a ball on a pendulum. The room was dimly lit, with shadows dancing on the walls from the flickering lights scattered around the room. In front of her, she could make out the silhouette of a figure standing in the shadows, but the features were impossible to discern.
Calm yourself, she said in her mind. This isn’t the first time this has happened to you.
Slowly, Liana opened her eyes.
“Ah, you’re awake, my dear Freya,” Mezrick stepped out of the shadows and approached her, a wicked grin on his face. “I’m sorry for having you drugged earlier, but you’d agree I had no choice, right?”
“Please don’t do this, my lord!” Liana cried, trying to sound scared.
Mezrick chuckled. “My dear, how can you possibly know what I’m about to do? But, then again... They said the same thing.” Mezrick turned to his right and Liana followed his gaze.
Liana gritted her teeth in anger as she gazed upon the gruesome scene before her. The stench of death filled her nostrils, and she fought back the urge to retch. The dozen rotting corpses sprawled across the room were a chilling reminder of the cruelty of the trade for merfolk tails. The victims were mostly young mermaids, their once beautiful bodies now mangled and decayed. Their torsos had been mercilessly severed from their tails, leaving a sickening trail of dried blood and peeling skin in its wake. Some of the corpses belonged to mermen, their lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling.
As Liana took in the sight, fierce anger bubbled up inside her. The shadow organizations behind this gruesome trade were as vile as the people who carried it out. And Mezrick, the suspected culprit, was no different.
Liana lowered her head and saw the gruesome sight of dark, crusted blood stains on the floor.
“We were going to clean this up today to prepare for the new ones being brought tonight,” Mezrick said. “But now I have to deal with you before that happens.” He sighed. “I guess I have to tell my human associate that his next shipment will have to be delayed.”
Interesting, Liana thought. So Mezrick was now trading with humans.
She looked up and saw that her hands were bound by magnetically linked cuffs. Her eyes darted around the dark, chilly room, taking in the scattered chunks of sharp metal that littered the floor. She realized that brute force would not be enough to free herself from these high-tech restraints. To her right, she spotted a row of large cold storage appliances. A chill ran down her spine as she imagined the horrors that must be hidden within, the sinister merchandise that Mezrick dealt in.
“Someone fetch me some pure water,” Mezrick ordered, and one of his men brought a bucket full of it. Mezrick moved near Liana and poured the water all over her.
Liana gasped as the water hit her body, the sudden shock causing her muscles to convulse. She felt her legs fuse, elongating into a shimmering silver tail. The weight of it pulled on her arms, causing her to clench her fists in pain. Mezrick eyed her with both shock and delight, relishing the power he held over her.
“Silver... A silver tail... A rare specimen indeed.” He knelt and was about to lay his filthy hands on Liana’s tail when she spoke.
“The human you claim is your buyer... What’s his name?” she asked. Her change of tone took aback Mezrick and the rest of his mermen.
She was done playing games with him; done pretending to be helpless.
Mezrick quickly moved back. His eyes narrowed as he studied the woman before him, a sly grin slowly creeping onto his face. “It seems there is more to you than meets the eye. And here I thought we could do great things together,” he said, his tone dripping with malice. With a flick of his wrist, he signaled to one of his men, who stepped forward with a menacing look in his eyes. “Kill her,” Mezrick ordered. “But be sure not to damage her tail. It may just fetch us quite a fortune with our clients.”
The masked man walked closer and aimed his Plasma Gun at Liana.
“Any last words?” Mezrick asked.
Liana’s eyes narrowed with defiance as she locked gazes with the guard holding the weapon. She then turned back to Mezrick, a sly smirk crossing her lips.
“I was taught a lot of things as a child,” she began. “But one thing I learned on my own is that people—humans, merfolk, or otherwise—can say and do almost anything when they feel they have the upper hand; when they feel they are in control. But what do you think happens when they lose that control?”
Her words hung in the air, heavy with a warning that Mezrick seemed to ignore.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but you just wasted your last breath there,” said Mezrick. “Had you begged for your life, perhaps I would have considered sparing you. Get rid of her.”
Liana’s sharp ears picked up the ominous whine of the Plasma Gun charging up; a weapon known for its deadly accuracy and destructive power.
But something was off. The guard in front of her was holding the gun with an almost obsessive grip, his finger lingering on the trigger as the weapon charged for far longer than necessary.
“Hey,” Mezrick said to the guard. “You don’t need to charge it up so much. Are you trying to blow her up? Remember, I need that tail of hers.”
“Oh, I will blow up something alright,” the guard suddenly said. “Just not her pretty face.”
“What?”
With a fierce determination in her eyes, Liana braced herself for the inevitable attack. She closed her eyes and smirked when the guard aimed his weapon not at her, but at the magnetic cuffs holding her arms. He fired the weapon and the plasma ray pierced through the cuffs, shattering them and releasing her from her shackles.
When she landed on the ground, she’d already reverted to her human form.
“Your aim has improved, Captain Glades,” Liana complimented.
The guard removed his mask, revealing piercing dark eyes that glinted in that dark place. “Well, I can’t have my subordinate upstaging me now, can I, Lieutenant Morgan?” Leo Glades said with a smirk.
“What’s going on here?” Mezrick said, panicking. His men aimed their weapons at Liana and Leo.
“Captain?” Liana said.
Leo nodded. In one swift motion, he reached for a device on his waist and pressed a button, unleashing a powerful pulse that emanated from behind the guard. The pulse spread like wildfire, disabling every electronic device in the vicinity, including the plasma guns.
“Sneaking into my secret chambers, having an agent infiltrate my guards, jamming devices... Just who in the ocean are you people?” asked Mezrick as his men came forward to protect him.
“We are but humble merfolk seeking to put an end to your despicable business, Mezrick,” Leo stated. “So, my trusted lieutenant, how do you propose we—”
Mezrick’s eyes opened wide with shock. In a quick and precise motion, Liana grabbed the tranquilizer gun sheathed on Leo’s hip and shot her captain in the back of his neck.
“It’s nothing personal, Captain,” Liana whispered to Leo.
“What are... you... doing?” Leo said, his eyes wide with shock at first, but in a few seconds, they closed until he fell unconscious.
There was a dead silence in the room for a while.
“I have to say, my dear,” Mezrick spoke. “I was not expecting that. So, what game are you playing here?”
Liana sighed. “Are you sure those are the last words you’d want to say?”
Mezrick laughed. “You may have disabled our weapons, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely defenseless. You and your partner had no chance of winning earlier and now the odds are even more greatly against you.”
“Are they?”
Mezrick watched in disbelief as Liana’s abilities came to life before his very eyes. He could only stare as shards of ice shot up from the ground, encircling her with a protective shield. Her hand moved, and tendrils of water followed, responding to her every command. Even the guards were taken aback by this display of power.
“Impossible,” Mezrick uttered, his mouth shaking. “They... They don’t exist anymore. The Element Masters are myths.”
“If that’s the case...” Liana clenched her fist, causing icicles to shoot out toward Mezrick and his minions. The sound of their screams filled the air as they were impaled one by one. One of the masked mermen was foolish enough to charge at her, but his bravery was quickly met with a watery grave as a water tentacle shot through his skull.
Without missing a beat, Liana reached out with her hand and manipulated a powerful water tentacle to wrap around Mezrick’s waist. His screams of terror echoed through the rooms, but there was no one left to save him from his inevitable fate.
Suddenly, Liana’s reflexes kicked in as she dodged a dagger thrown from behind, narrowly avoiding certain death at the hands of a sneaky guard. With a fierce glare, she turned and faced him, ready to unleash her fury.
“Face me with your own strength, you monster!” the guard cried; a desperate attempt to make her refrain from using her power.
Liana stood over Mezrick with an icy glare, her expression betraying no emotion. She focused her energy, freezing the water tentacle around his waist and dropping him to the ground with a thud. Ready for anything, she assumed a fighting stance, daring the guard to make a move.
The guard lunged at her with a metal pole the size of a sword, but Liana was too quick for him. She dodged his first swing and delivered two powerful punches to his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. In one fluid motion, she twisted her body and unleashed a devastating roundhouse kick, sending another attacker flying across the room.
Mezrick’s fear grew as he watched in horror as Liana grabbed the guard by his neck, her grip tightening by the second. She held his gaze for a moment, then glanced over at Mezrick.
Without hesitation, Liana clenched her hand, severing the man’s head from his neck.
“And that’s twenty-one,” Liana said to herself as dark warm blood dripped across her face. “Now where are the others—” With a swift slash of her hand, she called forth water from the air and formed it into a deadly, razor-sharp disc. She aimed it at the three guards who were attempting to flee through the door, and with a fierce determination, sent the blade hurtling toward them. The disc struck its targets with deadly precision, slicing through their necks and decapitating them instantly. Blood spurted out in gory arcs, coating the walls and floor in a gruesome display. Liana’s expression remained stoic and unyielding as she surveyed the carnage around her.
That leaves only one more, she thought, and looked to where Leo lay unconscious.
Liana smiled and approached Mezrick, her eyes cold and mocking as she looked down at him. The ice wrapped around him like a cocoon, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. Mezrick’s voice was barely above a whisper as he begged for his life, his fear palpable in the air.
“P-Please,” he pleaded, his voice trembling with terror. “I’ll do anything. Just spare me.”
Liana walked over to him. She gestured her hand and the ice wrapping him melted into water.
“I’m going to only ask once, Mezrick,” she said and manipulated a small paddle of water into her hand; forming an ice dagger. “Where is the Fhedili Eliem? Where is the Record of Elements?”
Mezrick’s fear turned into pure terror. Mezrick’s eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for a way out. But there was no escape from Liana’s icy snare.
“Kill me,” he muttered, tears flowing out of his eyes. “Please kill me. If he finds out that someone else knows about them, he’ll think it was I who told them. Please, my fate will be worse than death. Please kill me.”
“If who finds out?” Liana asked.
Mezrick was shaking his head like a madman. Liana plunged her hand into his mouth and held down his lower jaw when she saw him attempt to bite off his tongue. She held him down with all her might, but even that didn’t prevent him from escaping her grip. Mezrick ran over to the dead guard’s body and pulled out the ice shard that had pierced him.
“All hail, Alzakim,” Mezrick shouted, his voice filled with fervor. Liana watched as he plunged the shard into his neck, blood spurting out in a crimson fountain.
Still reeling from the shocking turn of events, Liana spun around to face the source of a muffled grunt.
“So, stopping a madman who trades the organs of his people wasn’t your primary goal, Lieutenant Liana Morgan. If that’s even your real name.”
Liana didn’t answer. Damn it, I didn’t inject him with enough of that sedative.
“And I assume you will not tell me what this Record of Elements is all about, are you? Or perhaps you care to explain how you are a Water Element Master suddenly.”
“Are you going to report this to headquarters?” she asked, her tone and expressions sending a clear threat.
“You must be insane to ask that,” Leo said. “Of course, I won’t. As if anyone would believe me when I tell them that frail-looking Liana is an Element Master.” Leo laughed and walked over to Mezrick’s corpse. He reached for Mezrick’s necklace and pulled it from the dead merman.
“Over six months of following this guy around and now we have it,” Leo said, holding a small round device between his thumb and index finger. “This little beauty contains the data on all of Mezrick’s clients. With this, we’ll finally be one step closer to ending this ring of organ trade in our kingdom. Let me just send the data over to our chief commander. And don’t worry, lieutenant... Your little secret is safe with me. Having an Element Master on the force might not be such a thing.”
Liana smiled and tears hung in her eyes as she watched Leo grab a communication device he’d dropped when she knocked him out.
“Say, Lieutenant, how about we stop by our favorite restaurant? As your superior, I have to congratulate you on a job well done.”
Please stop, Liana pleaded in her mind.
“Or even better. Why don’t you come over to my place? My little sisters would love to meet you. Since you joined the agency two years ago, you have been the major subject of all the stories I share with them.”
Stop Leo, please, can’t you see I know what you’re doing?
Liana looked at the way he held the communication device. As his right hand keyed in the commands required to send the data, the little finger on his left pressed and held a small hidden button on the side of the device. The day the two of them infiltrated Mezrick’s staff, Leo had told her that while the device he had looked like the ones Mezrick’s guards had, he had a secret button that if held for over five seconds would send a distress signal back to the agency, prompting their immediate action.
Leo was trying to hide it but his hands were shaking. He’d probably held the button for over twenty seconds now, meaning that in the next ten minutes, the place was going to swarm with agents.
“So what do you say, lieutenant?” he asked. “We’ll you be joining us for dinner tonight?” He wasn’t even looking at her.
I’m sorry, Leo.
Discarding her emotions, Liana controlled the water in front of her until it slowly crystallized into a sharp shard of ice. Liana was taught three things; the art of keeping secrets, prying them from others, and wielding them like a blade to gain power over those unfortunate enough to cross her path.
However, there was the fourth lesson; one she learned through experience.
She knew what she had to do. Leo had figured out her secret, and that was not something she could allow. With a quick flick of her wrist, she summoned a shard of ice as thin as a nail. Then without any form of hesitation, she whipped her hand and plunged the shard through the back of Leo’s skull. Liana’s eyes narrowed as Leo’s expression shifted from shock to realization. The sound of the ice piercing through flesh and bone was sickening, but Liana didn’t flinch. With a sudden clench of her fist, the ice shard burst inside Leo’s brain, extinguishing his life in an instant.
Leo’s death was quick and painless, she thought.
This was the fourth lesson; that those who somehow figured out her secret—regardless of who they were...
Always had to be silenced.
Liana clenched her fists, hoping her hands would stop shaking as she approached Leo’s lifeless body. Not even a trusted ally had to be spared. The stakes were too great and her mission too important. he forced herself to calm down and focused on the storage device he had taken from Mezrick’s body. Leo had already copied the data onto his device so his team would at least have something to track down the organization involved in Mezrick’s repulsive business.
Liana gathered all the water in the room and compressed it into a dense ball. With a swift motion, she released her fist, and the water exploded into a thick grey fog that filled the entire room.
With trembling hands, Liana made her way to the back of the dark room, her heart pounding in her chest. She knew she had to act fast before anyone discovered what had happened. As she crawled through the hole she had made earlier, her mind raced with thoughts of guilt and regret.
Once inside the dark space, she took a deep breath and carefully sealed the hole with the crystalline bricks she had removed earlier.
But as tears streamed down her cheeks, Liana couldn’t help but feel the weight of her actions. She had taken another innocent life, and the guilt was almost unbearable. Yet, she knew she had to stay strong for the sake of her kingdom and her people.
In a moment of self-doubt, Liana whispered to herself, “Come on, this isn’t the first time you’ve had to do this. You’re doing this for your kingdom; for your realm.”
With those words, she wiped away her tears and steeled herself for what lay ahead.
Liana’s tears mixed with the sweat on her face as she whispered through choked sobs, “One day, I’ll be a protector, not a murderer.”
But there was no time for self-pity. She had to act fast before the rest of the agents arrived.
She disabled the transmitter on the device and established a secure connection.
A voice crackled through the device, “I assume the mission was successful.”
Liana gritted her teeth and replied, “Not quite, your highness,” Liana replied. “Mezrick knew of the records’ whereabouts—or at least of their existence—but just like the mermen and mermaids I’d come into contact with in the past, he killed himself just after hearing me make mention of them.” Liana pressed a button and a holographic projection appeared above the device.
“So another dead end,” the king said and sighed.
“That might not entirely be the case,” replied Liana. “Before he killed himself, Mezrick said something. ‘All hail Alzakim’ Sire, if I’m not mistaken, Alzakim was the name written in the ancient Arianan scrolls. It translates to—“
“The Child of Destruction,” the king finished. “The one who’d bring forth the destruction of all the realms. But what connection is there between Mezrick and that old prophecy?”
“I don’t know, but pondering on ancient myths will not solve our problem of finding the Record of Elements.”
The king chuckled. “You’re always too skeptical about the myths and legends of our people, commander. Ah yes, your partner at the agency? Leo was it? How is he?”
Liana’s heart beat faster, but she calmed herself.
“Unfortunately, he saw me using my power. I had no choice but to dispose of him.”
“And it was for the greater good, commander,” the king quickly said. “Always remember that.”
“Yes, sire.” The words tasted bitter in her throat, but Liana focused on the task at hand. “My king, I’m currently looking at the names of dozens of Mezrick’s clients, but I don’t think this device has any information on those records. Wait a minute, what’s this file? Interesting. According to this, Mezrick’s most recent client is called Victor Cain. It could be the human he was talking about.”
“Let not the troubles of the land-dwellers concern you, commander.”
The king chuckled. “I say that, but actually, your next mission may involve you going to the surface.”
A smirk crossed Liana’s face. “Does this mission have anything to do with her?” The king knew exactly who she was referring to.
“Indeed. Our spies have been monitoring her over the past few months, and they tell me she has finally awakened.”
Liana heard some voices coming from the other side of the wall. The agents were arriving.
“Sire, we may have to resume this conversation once I return to Rathzoria,” Liana whispered. “I have some company over here.”
“Of course, commander,” her king replied. “But for the millionth time, my child... I am not a king; for I have no kingdom...”
“Yet,” Liana interjected. “Soon you will rebuild what the Rathzorians stole from us millennia ago.” Liana paused and smiled. “To me, Father, you will always be the one true king of Arianis.”
Liana cut the connection and listened to the commotion on the other side of the wall. Soon she heard gasps and cries. The agents had probably found Leo’s body.
She rested her back against the wall and looked into the dark space above her. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her hands around her legs, and rested her head on them. The agents would probably investigate the place for hours.
With a heavy sigh, she leaned back against the cold, hard wall and gazed up into the darkness above her.
Her thoughts drifted to the surface, a place she hadn’t set foot on in years. As memories flooded her mind, Liana couldn’t help but whisper to herself, “The surface, huh? Who would have thought I’d be going back there?”
“So you’ve finally awakened, Ashley. I guess I’ll be seeing you soon... dear cousin.”
