Scales of Justice

Prologue

November 20, 1511

Flor do Mar Sailing Vessel

Indian Ocean

250 Nautical Miles Southeast of Tasmania

Captain—Joam is dead, Thomé, the first mate, made the sign of the cross over his chest as he yelled to be heard above the raging storm, and the galley fires were extinguished. There will be neither hot food nor drink until the storm subsides.

Afonso de Albuquerque was not a happy man. Rain lashed his rigid body from all directions, and he was buffeted by the high winds that were driving his ship forward. The storm came upon them suddenly three days earlier off the coast of Sumatra. He knew the waters around here were dangerous, but the spells he cast around the ship should have protected them from the weather. As he looked at his exhausted crew, valiantly striving to save the ship and its precious cargo, he had to admit the spells had kept them alive so far. The Flor do Mar wasn’t the most reliable ship but had been the best chance he had to bring his riches to his hidden home.

Merda, he muttered then yelled to Thomé, take the wheel, and stormed off before his first mate could reply.

All his plans were falling apart and if he didn’t do what he must, he would perish along with the rest of the souls on this ship before he could enjoy the benefits of the riches in the hold. He staggered to his cabin, the ship pitching so hard in the raging sea that he slammed into the walls of the narrow passageway hard enough to cause him to stumble. Before he shut the door to his cabin, he heard the words every seafarer dreaded, we’re taking on water.

He quickly stripped out of his oilskins and stood wide-legged in the middle of the room. He muttered lux splendida while adding his will into the words and glowing bluish-white lights sprang into life along the ceiling and the four corners of the cabin. He walked to his berth and opened the cupboard above and pulled out two identical charms carved from the beam above his bed. The charms were covered in carved sigils and each one had been filled with pure silver.

He continued to mutter incantations as he pulled his knife from the sheath at his belt and drew the sharp blade across his left palm. He placed the charms on the floor at his feet and turned counterclockwise while allowing the blood to pour from his hand in a circle. Before he could complete the circle there was a sudden crash. The ship pitched hard to port, throwing him violently into a bulkhead, breaking his left arm.

No, no, no, Afonso cried as he replaced the charms within the partially completed circle and knelt next to them as he supported his left hand with his right so he could close the circle with his blood. There was a flash of light as the circle closed and the sound of the storm and shouting of the crew was cut off as Afonso knelt in the artificial calm. He cried out in pain as he squeezed the broken bone with his right hand and ground out the word "Sanos" and channeled his will through the spell to heal his arm.

He panicked as he felt himself tipping over the edge of consciousness and cruelly gouged his knife wound to keep him awake. He placed his bloody left hand on the charms and held his right hand towards the men who made up his crew. He paused for a moment, wondering if the sacrifice would be enough but shook his head because he didn’t have any other option. His right hand glowed red as he recited the words to the incantation he had created for this eventuality.

The terrified screams of the four hundred men in his crew broke through the silence in his cabin. Afonso cried out in pain as the life-force from each soul on the ship passed from his outstretched hand, through his body and into the charms on the floor. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils as the magic melted the silver in the sigils and mingled with his flesh and blood. The ship continued to be tossed violently but he was secure in his magic bubble. Afonso felt it when the last man died and the power coursing through his body abruptly stopped.

His hands were shaking so badly from the power exchange that it took him three tries to unclasp the gold necklace from around his neck and thread it through the hole on one of the charms. It was only when he had the charm around his neck that he broke the spell circle and staggered to his feet. He was still affected by the tossing of the ship, but not as dramatically as when he entered the cabin.

Afonso held the other glowing charm against the beam above his bed and said, "Tabefacio," and smiled grimly as the talisman melted into the wood and the ship shuddered with a pulse of power. He shook his head in disgust as he gazed at the chests full of treasure taken from the Sultan of Malacca, knowing he would have to leave it all behind, along with the holds full of gold, silver and precious gems. Before leaving however, he slipped as many jewels as he could carry in a heavy pack on his back. He snapped his fingers as he left the cabin, and all the lights were extinguished except the brightly glowing silver sigils in the charm above the bed.

Chapter 1

Present

July 8

Indian Ocean

250 Nautical Miles Southeast of Tasmania

A tentacle hit my chest and slammed me into the side of a wooden ship hard enough that I crashed through the side and into the hold. Not unusually, my sense of humor conjured a comical cartoon image of a perfectly shaped, Cyndi-sized cutout in the hull of the vessel, complete with pointed mermaid tail and trident.

Hey, I mentally shouted, although I was unable to hide my giggle at the cartoon image in my head while I righted myself and tried to get back into the fight.

Sorry about that, Cyndi. Brian called, as the tentacle withdrew.

Are you okay? Jason asked and stuck his head through the opening.

No worries, I answered with a smile, I got hurt worse the last time I fell down the stairs at the house.

You mean last week, before we started this adventure? Brian called with humor in his mental sending.

I’m not talking to you, you big oaf. But I am trying to figure out how much calamari I could make out of a kraken, I said as I swam towards the opening on the side of the ship, slowing down only long enough to give Jason a kiss and grab the trident I had dropped when I slammed into the wooden vessel.

C’mon Cyndi, I already said I was sorry, Brian laughed, besides, I think I’ve got this beastie wrapped now—oops, no I don’t.

Jason grabbed my hand, and we swam away from the ship and back to where Brian was trying to keep the nekahi from swimming away. It was amazing to see two legendary creatures struggling with each other, but as a mermaid I suppose something like that shouldn’t surprise me. I laughed at the sight of a massive kraken wrestling with a fifty-foot sea serpent. Even though Brian was four times the size of the nekahi, he was trying to keep from hurting the animal while the serpent didn’t have that same consideration for him.

The nekahi had greenish-brown kelp-colored scales on the upper half of its sinuous body but the scales on its underside were a pale blue. It was smooth like a serpent, but it did have a feathery dorsal fin running along the length of its back. Its huge, emerald eyes were on either side of a diamond-shaped head and its huge mouth, full of triangular teeth, could open wide enough to hold an adult dolphin. It was a beautiful, majestic and terrifying creature.

Even though we were almost four hundred feet below the surface, the sunlight filtering through the water from above was enough for me to see the vibrant colors around me. With my enhanced senses I could see farther on land than a human but my sight underwater was exceptional. Not only could I see clearly for miles when sunlight streaked from above, I could see in the deepest dark of the ocean in shades of white, black and gray. It was just another perk of my mermaid physiology.

We had been hunting the sea serpent for about a week after Brian had seen a story on the news about pieces of humpback whales washing up on Steels Beach in Tasmania. The whale carcasses showed massive bites and many sites were claiming this had to be the work of a megalodon shark. This was close enough to the truth so Brian, Jason and I set out to investigate. We were convinced this was a sea creature from Theria that had made its way to Earth through a dimensional portal.

A few months ago, I learned that my younger brother, who I thought died over a hundred and fifty years before, was alive and had been pranking the people of Loch Ness with his natural form. Nestor was a plesiosaur shapeshifter and was the basis for the Loch Ness Monster myths throughout human history. He would use a forgotten dimensional portal to travel between Earth and Theria whenever he felt like it. Unfortunately, he would leave the portal open for long periods of time while he was on Earth, which gave creatures from Theria the opportunity to migrate here where they caused serious damage to the marine ecosystem.

Before King Alister returned to Theria, he asked me to keep watch for any unusual activity on Earth which could signal the appearance of one of these creatures. Since I'd made Earth my home, and spent a lot of time in the ocean, I readily agreed. He wanted these creatures returned to Theria, if possible, but if not, we were tasked with destroying them before they inadvertently revealed our secrets. We know humans aren’t ready to learn about the existence of alternate dimensions or that creatures of myth and legend are based on shapeshifters who used to travel to Earth and interact more frequently with humans in the past.

As I studied the battle between the kraken and nekahi, I idly spun the trident in my hand hoping I didn’t have to use it to kill the creature. I thought it was kind of cute, in a scourge-of-the-sea kind of way.

I’ve got an idea, Jason said and darted toward the head of the sea serpent, narrowly escaping its snapping jaws. Even though Jason was a fraction of the animal’s size, his sudden movement distracted the nekahi enough that Brian could make his move. He surged forward and wrapped his massive purple tentacles around the body of the nekahi, encasing the creature in a writhing cocoon.

A little help, he grunted.

What else do you want us to do? Jason asked, I just swam towards its head to give you a chance to wrap it up. Besides, it seems like you’ve got things under control, again.

Yeah, didn’t you say you weren’t sure you even needed our help since it was only a nekahi and you could eat one of these for breakfast? I mentally laughed.

Okay, I admit I was a bit cocky, but it’s been centuries since I’ve encountered one of these things, I forgot how slippery they could be—he stopped talking so he could yowl in pain—and how sharp their teeth are.

Brian shifted a tentacle away from the mouth of the struggling serpent and wrapped it around the muzzle of the sea creature to keep it from biting him again. I handed my trident to Jason then swam to the head of the writhing animal and looked it in the eye.

Hey now, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you, we just want to get you back home, I mentally cooed; the same way I would talk to a spooked horse. I’m going to try singing to it so prepare yourselves, I sent and began once Brian and Jason let me know they were ready.

There have been stories of mermaids on Earth for thousands of years and in many of the legends mermaids used their voices to send sailors to their deaths. While I must admit my voice isn’t much when I’m on land, I haven’t heard of anyone dying from my singing, yet. However, when I’m in my mermaid form, I can use my song to influence any living thing, human or animal.

I sang to the nekahi about its home on Theria, how it was far away from where it wanted to be and how we were friends who wanted to take it home again. As I sang about the warm waters around Cetacea, the country where I’m from, I added a sense of longing to the music and hoped the animal was being affected.

Whatever you’re doing seems to be working, Brian sent, it’s not struggling as much.

Making sure to keep away from a mouth that could swallow me whole, I continued to sing as I reached out and scratched a patch of scales near the feather-like fins on top of the nekahi’s head. As I did, the creature let out a single deep, bass note I could feel to my core and seemed to relax.

Jason, I sent as I continued to scratch the creature’s head, come up here so she can get used to you, too.

Jason leaned my trident against the hull of the ship and swam up the other side of its head and began petting the nekahi.

How do you know it’s a girl? Brian asked.

I’m not sure, I just have a feeling, I answered.

She seems to like this, Jason said as the serpent let out another of those deep groans.

I’m going to loosen my hold a bit to see how she reacts, Brian interrupted after a few minutes.

I continued to sing, and we kept our hands on the nekahi’s head as we waited for her to start fighting us again; when she didn’t I felt we were in the clear.

It’s not that I’m ungrateful that she seems calmer now, but how are we going to get her back through the portal? Brian asked.

I’m working on that; I answered and began to sing about swimming home and hunting in familiar waters. After about fifteen minutes the nekahi began to struggle against Brian’s hold again but this time I was convinced she would be willing to follow us to the portal and I explained my plan to Jason and Brian.

Brian kept two of his tentacles wrapped around the nekahi; one like a leash and the other like a muzzle on its mouth and began to lead the sea serpent in the direction of the portal. Jason and I kept petting and scratching, but we also applied pressure to get the animal moving the way we wanted it to go.

What about your trident? Jason asked.

We’ll come back for it, I sent. I want to explore the ship anyway so it will give us a good reason to keep the visit with my mom short.

Brian made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, even though it’s hard to differentiate the noises a two-hundred-foot squid-like creature makes, but I agreed with him nonetheless.

Yeah, that probably won’t make a difference, but a girl can hope, I sighed and kept singing as we swam towards the portal to Theria.

Lundsail 9, 10,258

Planet Theria

Kingdom of Cetacea

Palace Communications Room

That was the longest two-hundred miles of my life. While it would normally take me less than an hour to swim the distance, it took us a full day to get the creature back home. With all due respect, the next time you ask me to help capture an escaped nekahi I’m going to say something that will get me banished. So, I’m apologizing ahead of time, I said to King Alister as I finished my report on how we managed to get the nekahi through the portal and back to Theria.

Surely you must be exaggerating the difficulties, Josef said. The large communication screen was split in two with King Alister’s image on the right and Josef’s on the left. Josef was the CEO of Rex Industries and the head of the Tionchar organization on Earth.

I narrowed my eyes at the screen and took a deep breath before I answered. Not only was Josef my boss, but he was also my friend. I had only recently joined the secret organization and I really liked being part of a group that tried to make Earth a better place. There were Tionchar operatives on each of the known planets across the dimensions. While each of the planets looked geographically similar, there were vast differences of magical, technological and scientific development between each. The High Kings and Queens of Theria created the secret organization to guide planets from behind the scenes to assist in peaceful growth.

Imagine a fifty-foot toddler, hopped up on so much sugar it has syrup rather than blood running through its veins, then give it a mouth full of rows of knife-like teeth, and the worst case of ADHD you’ve ever seen. Are you doing that? I asked and the two men on screen nodded. Double that and you might be able to get an idea of what it was like.

I sat back and sipped my tea and felt the healing elixir sooth my ravaged throat. Even with my accelerated healing as a shifter, I was still sore from having to sing so long. Every time I tried to take a break, the nekahi would start to struggle and I had to start singing again.

The way I hear it, you cried when the nekahi was released back into the wild, Alister teased.

She was so cute, I sighed.

And some of the palace guards had to intervene when it looked like the animal was going to come back and attack the ones who had worked so hard to keep it safe, Josef added with a grin.

I never said Cora was perfect, I just said she was cute, I shrugged.

Anyway—well done. You and your team have done another amazing job. That brings the total number of Therian creatures you’ve either rehomed or destroyed to seventeen. Let’s hope Cora is the last of them. I look forward to seeing you in person next week. Sire, if you don’t need me on this call, I’ve got a few things to take care of, Josef said to Alister.

Alister smiled, Not at all, I’ve just a few things of a personal nature I want to cover with Cyndi. See you next week.

Josef nodded and signed off. Before Alister could speak, his chair was pulled back and his fiancée, Aileene, sat in his lap and got comfortable.

There’s a chair next to me you know, Alister grinned at the feisty red-headed woman on his lap.

I know, but I like this seat better, Aileene said and kissed him on the cheek.

My Queen, I said.

Not officially, at least not for another, Aileene pursed her lips and looked up to the left, thirty-six days, twenty-three hours, forty-two minutes and give or take thirty seconds—not that I’m counting or anything.

If you ladies will excuse me, Alister chuckled and started to stand.

Oh, no you don’t, mister, I’m comfortable and think it will be better if you stay right where you are, Aileene smirked.

Fine, Alister huffed but since he was smiling fondly at his future wife, I knew he really didn’t mind.

I laughed, So, how are the wedding plans coming?

Aileene beamed while Alister grimaced and muttered, I had no idea royal weddings were so complicated.

Aileene kissed him lightly. I suppose that’s one of the drawbacks of you growing up on Earth, you really didn’t have any idea what you were getting into by becoming the High King.

I don’t mind the High King part, it’s all the pomp and circumstance I could do without, Alister grumped.

C’mon, it’s not that bad, Aileene teased.

I really couldn’t care less about the ceremony, Alister said as he rested his chin on Aileene’s shoulder. As long as I get married to you that’s all I care about. The ceremony is only a day after all, our marriage will last a lifetime.

It took me two tries to get their attention again after Aileene showed her appreciation to Alister for his romantic comment; at least they had the grace to look embarrassed as they turned their attention back to the screen.

Enough about us, Aileene laughed, how are your wedding plans?

A joyful smile animated my face as I shared our plans. I couldn’t believe Jason and I were getting married in just over three months and I was anticipating spending the rest of my life with my true mate.

I’m looking forward to a small ceremony on the cliff overlooking the beach below my house on Earth. I’m planning on buying the other houses on either side of mine so the private beach will truly be private; that will also give the two of you your own space when you come to visit. You are still coming to officiate the ceremony, aren’t you Sire?

I wouldn’t miss it for the world, he smiled.

How’s Jason adjusting to life as a merman? Aileene asked.

"He’s doing really well. It took him a month to get used to keeping his arms at his sides and only use