As Grandvier disappears into the Vehiculum pool Sotvig turns to her daughters Hexanna and Deskelta.
“We must get you two ready to travel to Atlantis.”
The girls look at their mother unsure about their task. Hex speaks first, “I don’t fully understand why we must go to Atlantis. I know you said that we need to get a wibble seed but why do we need this seed?”
“It is needed to assist your father with freeing us from our bondage from the Scarf of Dominion. That is all I can and will tell you for the moment. After you have returned and your father gets back you will be told more. Now off with you two, go pack a bag.” The girls run off to their home with reservations about their task but with a sense of adventure since they have never left the swamp before.
Sotvig thinks to herself, May the swamp watch over my family.
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Six battle hardened goblins are lined up in a row standing at parade rest. Sotvig, walking in front of them, stops in the center of the line and faces them.
“You six have been chosen to travel with and protect my daughters on their journey to Atlantis. They are aware of the mission and they are in charge of completing it. You are in charge of protecting them no matter what and making sure they return home. They will let you know when they have completed the mission and then you will bring them home. The merfolk are not half the warriors you are but they will have the home field advantage and the numbers, so if you can avoid fighting you should. Do you understand me?”
The six shout in unison, “Yes Ma’am.”
“You have one hour to get ready and meet me at the Vehiclulum pool. Dismissed.”
The six warriors turn and, staying in formation, run off toward the armory. Sotvig watches them go. I hope they are enough to keep my girls safe.
The Six sit outside the armory assembling their gear. They are the elite warriors of the tribe and they are usually led by Grandvier himself, but this time they’re playing babysitters to his kids.
Adin was the first to make his concerns heard. “Why are those girls even going to Atlantis? We stopped having anything to do with those water rats centuries ago.”
Piat piped up, “Who cares why? Our task is to accompany the girls there and to protect them. That is all that matters.”
“Fine, but why can’t Sotvig or one of the other council members go? Hex and Des are just little girls.”
Chityri shakes his head while placing his arrow gauntlet on his wrist. “Are you so thick, Adin? They are the chief’s kids and the water rats wouldn’t dare hurt them for fear of the chief declaring war on them and wiping them out. Do you not remember the beating the chief gave that invasion force from Atlantis?”
Adin considers his fellow Six’s words as he straps his sword to his back. “I see your point. I still can’t get over that beating the chief gave them. It would have taken at least three of us to do what he did by himself.”
Tri speaks up flexing his muscles, “Speak for yourself. I could have done the same with one arm tied behind my back.” Tri places one arm behind his back, raising the other up and into a fist like he was gonna fight someone.
Dva quickly steps behind him and grabs the arm he placed behind his back and in a flash Dva kicks the back of Tri’s legs sending him to the ground. Dva follows his decent to the ground sits on top of him still holding his wrist and grabs the opposite ankle pinning Tri to the ground.
Laughing, Dva says, “Oh yeah, Tri? You could take them one armed? When was the last time you came close to pinning the chief in practice?”
All of the others laughed as Tri laid there helpless on the ground.
“Get off me you sneak, that wasn’t fair.”
Dva let’s Tri up hopping back as he swings a fist at him. Before it can go any farther Shest stands up in full gear and claps his hands together getting their attention.
“Enough, time to finish up. We have a mission ahead of us. We need to get in the right head space. The merfolk are not strong but they will be numerous. Their magic is water based so we need to be aware of our surroundings. The less bloodshed the better, so let the girls do the talking and just stand there looking intimidating. We are not allowed to know what their mission is so don’t ask. They will tell us when they’re done and we can return. Dva, Chityri and I will be assigned to Hex. Adin, Tri and Piat will be responsible for Des. There will always be one warrior with each of them at all times and if the situation become dangerous we will get them out immediately, understood?”
The others shout “Aye, Aye Captain.”
“Let’s head out.” The six warriors head off to the Vehiculum with fifteen minutes to spare.
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Hexanna and Deskelta are packing their bags in their room. “Des, what do you think Atlantis will be like?”
“I have no idea little sister. Like you, I have never left the swamp.”
Although they were technically princesses they did not live a life of ease; they both had helped harvest mushrooms and caught swamp fish with their hands. They have on multiple occasions settled issues among their people but to them that was vastly different than going to another dimension to negotiate peace among their people and another.
“Hex, do you think it will be as easy as just buying a piece of fruit and returning home?”
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Hex laughs a little, “Of course it won’t be. That is why we are to try and re-establish trade between us and the merfolk. If we go there just wanting to buy a fruit it is going to raise a lot of red flags. We don’t even know why we need the seeds from this fruit.”
“I wish I had time to do research to learn more about this fruit and why it is so important to dad’s plan.” Des said with a sigh.
Hex just rolls her eyes knowing that her sister just wants to go to the Tombs to sit around and read. Hex finished packing and looked at her sister trying to shove a book into her bag. Walking over to her she takes the book and lays it down on her sister’s bed.
“You don’t need it, we wont be gone for that long. Plus, maybe everything will go great and you will be able to buy some books there to bring back.”
Her sister grins at the thought. “Well let’s get going, it’s time we meet mom and The Six at the pool.” Des closes up her bag and heads out.
Hex is left shaking her head. “Oh sister you and those books.” She grabs her bag too and follows after.
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Hex walks up to see Des asking their mom is it was alright if she got more books depending on how things went.
“Here take this bag of gold I freshly harvested to help with your negotiations. Des my dear, if everything goes well and you have gold leftover, I am fine with you getting a few books to bring back.” Sotvig waves Hex over, looks at her children and says, “I want you girls to be safe and listen to The Six if they think there is danger. You know the goal of your mission to Atlantis, do not take unnecessary risks. There will always be one of The Six with you at all times.” She waves over Shest. “Shest is in charge of your safety and if he or one of the others say there is danger then you better listen.”
Shest says, “We have already divided ourselves into who is protecting who. Dva, Chityri, and I will be guarding Hexanna, Adin, Tri and Piat will be guarding Deskelta. We are going to transport two at a time through the pool. Adin and Tri will go first, then Deskelta and Piat, followed by Dva and I and lastly Hexanna and Chityri. We are going to go through in 10 second intervals.”
The girls nod in understanding. Sotvig embraces her girls giving them each a kiss. The girls get in line with The Six. Sotvig goes over to the key stone and starts pressing in the symbols for Atlantis. The first two jump in while the others wait the allotted time to see that nothing has happened. Des waves goodbye to her mother as she jumps in. Right before it was Hex’s turn, she runs up and hugs her mother one more time then runs back and jumps in with Chityri.
Sotvig stares at the pool with a longing in her heart and steps away from the key stone. “Good luck my sweet girls.”
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As soon as Adin and Tri step out of the portal they are met by four merfolk soldiers pointing spears at them. Without thinking they swiftly disarm the soldiers and start tying them up as Des and Piat stepped out of the portal. Des takes in the scene and at once tells the two to stop. They hesitated because they were not sure how this should go. In their minds the soldiers were a threat but at the same time Des is in charge.
Des, noticing the hesitation in their movement, orders Adin and Tri to let them go. “You have already disarmed them there is no need to tie them up. We are not here to make war.”
Soon after the Dva and Shest arrive followed by her sister and Chityri.
Des walks up to the merfolk, “I am Deskelta and that is my sister Hexanna. We are the daughters of the Great Grandvier, chief of the swamp goblins and protector of the Griby Swamp. We come to Atlantis as ambassadors to restore trade between our people. These six with us are our body guards sent to protect us from any threat. I apologize for their behavior. Like you, they were just following orders.” She motions to Adin and Tri to return their spears. “Please lead us to your king, if you will.”
The merfolk take their spears eyeing the goblins with mistrust. One of them reaches into a bag at their side and pulls out a bowl with a light blue liquid in it. The liquid is clearly not water that the goblin’s were familiar as it did not spill out while in the bag. The merman cups the bowl in one hand and speaks a language that the goblins had never heard before. Then the bowl ripples and someone responds in what sounds like the same language spoken by the merman. The merman gives a quick reply to the bowl and drops it back into his bag.
“We will escort you to King Daigon the 401st . Please follow us.” The merman points at two of the other soldiers, speaks to them in their strange language, and waves to the other one to follow. Two of the mermen begin heading towards the city of Atlantis as the other two stay guarding the portal.
“Let’s get moving group,” says Hex happily. Without a reply they starting following the merfolk.
The girls finally have a chance to look around see that they are on a white stone path with water on both sides. The water sparkles in the sunlight from above. The girls take a moment to look over the side of the path as they walk; the water is so clear that they can see what appears to be sand a hundred feet down with strange plants varying in colors from green, blue, and even pink. There are schools of fish visible too that the girls had never seen before either. So many strange and wonderful things lay beneath the water. Piat taps the girls on the shoulders pulling them away from the water and points ahead. The girls look up and see buildings carved from what they assume is the same stone they were walking on. The buildings are cylindrical and flow up and to the side in different directions as though they were underwater but frozen in motion. Each building has it’s own unique color which from a distance causes a gradient effect.
They start walking between the buildings and a feeling of being underwater overtakes the goblins who stop walking as they try to wrap their minds around the feeling. The soldiers stop and look back smirking at the goblins who are clearly uncomfortable with the change. They finally tell them to get moving and keep walking on. The goblins hesitantly start following. As they continue, they slowly adjust to the environment. They do not see a single merfolk on the streets as they are heading through the city. All of the buildings have strings of colorful beads in the place of doors and Shest notices that some of the beads are swaying as though someone had just passed through them. With no one else on the streets there is an eerie quiet to the city.
Suddenly they find themselves in a large open circular area with food stalls made of stone on the edges of the circle. The girls notice that there is fresh food on all of the stalls as though the merchants just stepped away. .
Hex calls to the soldiers, “Excuse me but can you tell me which stall has wobble fruit we used to trade for with your people.”
The soldiers stop and turn to them, looking quite annoyed. They look around for a moment then one of them points to a stall behind them. The stall is filled with purple melons that are stacked like a pyramid with one melon at the top.
Des chimes in, “Is there a way we can try one? We have heard stories of how delicious they are.”
The lead soldier replies curtly, “No. Our orders are to take you to the king and that is it. Now let’s keeping moving, we are almost there.” The soldiers turn and walk on. The sisters look at each other knowingly and jog a little to catch up with them.
They weave through the streets and finally come to a building that looks a giant coral with windows, balconies, and one large double door made of solid wood in the middle. A soldier stands on either side of the door with their spears crossed. Their escort walks up to them and says something in their strange language. Steadily, the heavy doors open inward as they though they were gliding. Their escort waves for the group to follow and walk in.
“Alright we are going in. Remember the girls are never to be left alone and keep your head on a swivel.” Shest murmurs and leads them into the coral castle.