Episode 66: Fishy Friends and Foiled Escapes
- Crystal Crawford
- May 17
- 6 min read
A couple minutes later, a man stumbled up to the barred door of the orb room, sopping wet. He was middle-aged and grisly looking, with a scar above one eye and a salt-and-pepper mop of long, greasy hair that matched his salt-and-peppery five o’clock shadow.
“Anglemoor,” Trenchcoat Man said.
We all rushed toward the door.
Up close, Anglemoor smelled like salt water and seaweed. He looked more like a weathered sailor than a fish-shifter to me, but then what did I know? I was just thrilled to see him.
He tipped his head, shaking water out of his ear, then raised a hand and spit something out into it. “Wardbreaker,” he said with a smile, shoving it through the bars. “Had to carry it in my mouth.”
Trenchcoat Man took it with a smile. “Thank you, my friend. I owe you—again.”
“Nothing owed between friends,” Anglemoor answered. “Flip the top, twist the knob, press the button.” He gestured to the small device Trenchcoat Man now held.
Trenchcoat Man followed his instructions, and there was a whump in the room, like a change of pressure in the air.
Trenchcoat Man snapped his fingers, then grinned. “We’re back in business.” He flashed in and out of the cells, freeing the elementals just like he’d done in my dream, then turned to look at the rest of us. “Gather in, everybody!” He looked back at the door. “You too, Anglemoor. No sense in hiking back down the tunnel just to swim out. But first, care to wipe that illusion from the elemental so Rupert can wake him?”
“Already done, boss,” he said. “Did that on my way in.”
“Excellent.” Trenchcoat Man smiled, then lifted his communication device. “Ang’s here, Rupert. You’re up.”
“10-4,” Rupert answered.
Trenchcoat Man turned to the rest of us. “Gather in. We’re headed to shore.”
We all hurried toward him, and he clapped.
My shoes hit wet sand a moment later.
“Umph,” Trenchcoat Man grunted. “Heavy lift, but we all made it.”
When my eyes cleared from his magic’s bright flash, I discovered we’d landed underneath the pier attached to the diner at the far end of the strip of beach. The beach ahead of us was covered with nearly identical goons, all dressed like the bodyguards we’d seen at Vorcos, roaming back and forth, setting up rods along the water or patrolling those already set.
I immediately spun, worried we’d been spotted—
We had.
A huge group of guards were standing behind us, on the slope of beach next to the diner, staring right at us.
“Where’s the elementallll?” Collin sing-whispered to me, bouncing nervously.
Trenchcoat Man spun toward the rest of us. “Gather i—Ouch!” He stopped mid-sentence and plucked something out of the back of his neck. “What the—”
“It’s a ward-dart,” an all-too-familiar voice said from overhead. “Fun little invention, isn’t it?”
There was a whump, and some kind of force-field slammed up around the whole group of us.
I could see it shimmering.
Chloe’s dad stepped out from the doors of the diner above us. “Clever trick, however you managed to undo my wards down there, but I had alarms set for anything in or out of that bunker. I suspected you’d try traveling.” He smiled. “I came prepared.”
A helicopter sounded in the distance, moving toward us.
“Grab the blonde one,” Chloe’s dad growled, then gestured in frustration as his men moved toward Chloe. “Not my worthless daughter! That one.” He pointed at Emery.
We all huddled in around her, but his goons busted into the circle, grabbing for my sister.
“No!” I screamed, pushing toward her.
Emery kicked and screamed, too, but a second later, we all had guns pointed at us.
“I suggest you cooperate and live to fight another day…maybe,” he said, then turned to the two men who had Emery. “Bring her.”
He and those two goons strode off, toward the empty section of shore where the helicopter was approaching… and where the woman who’d pretended to be Chloe was waiting for him.
Chloe’s dad took a few steps, then turned back to address his men.
“On second thought, move the ward and bring them all. I want them all to watch me ride off with her. Besides, they’re out of the blast radius from here.”
He still wanted us to get blown up.
“Let’s go,” the goons with guns said. One of them jabbed a gun into my back, forcing me forward, while the rest of them did the same to the others. The man who had a gun on me was so close to my back, I could smell the stale coffee on his breath. It made me want to gag.
Some of the goons must’ve been in charge of moving the ward, like Chloe’s dad had instructed, because that shimmering force field marched with us all the way down the shore to where they’d cleared a place in the sand for the helicopter to land.
Chloe’s dad turned to Trenchcoat Man. “You almost thought you’d won, didn’t you?” He laughed, stepped closer. “I detest the way you play the hero, always trying to befriend poor supernaturals, acting like you’re rescuing them from the big bad wolf.” He let out a harsh laugh. “Well. Most supernaturals squander their powers. They just try to blend in, be ordinary—keep their powers hidden. I’ve never wanted to be hidden. I want everyone to see who I am. And soon, they will.” He leaned close to Trenchcoat Man’s face. “I will do this again—and next time, I’ll make sure you can’t stop me.”
Trenchcoat Man spat in his face.
Chloe’s dad jerked back, furious—then got his reaction under control and sneered. “I’m half-surprised your little idiot sidekicks didn’t bust into my perimeter again to try to rescue you. I saw them skulking about. Robert and Angelfish, is that it?” He snapped his fingers. “No, Rupert and Anglemoor. That’s right. I guess your friendship just wasn’t important enough for them to risk their lives.”
Trenchcoat Man glanced past him, at the water, and his lip twitched. “Oh, they had other things to attend to.”
Panicked shouts broke out from that direction, and we all looked.
“Like that,” Trenchcoat Man said.
A hulking elemental had risen from the surf, and was stomping toward the shallows.
“Ryannnnn!” Collin yelled, pumping his fist, then grunted as the goon behind him jammed the gun into his back.
The elemental stormed into the shallows and began smashing down the rods Vorcos had set.
The Vorcos team at the shoreline splintered into chaos, trying to figure out what to do about it without getting themselves smashed.
Collin turned to stare at me. “You’re sure he’s on our side?” he whispered.
“If not yet, he will be,” I said. “But he’s already doing a great job.”
“Argh!” Chloe’s dad growled in frustration, then turned to the men who held Emery. “Let’s go!”
He took off toward the landing spot for the quickly approaching helicopter, and the men followed, dragging Emery between them.
“Daddy!” Emery yelled as they dragged her away.
My heart broke. “Em!” I thrashed, trying to break the goon’s grip on me, but he just held tighter, the gun digging into my back.
“Emery! Hold on!” My dad elbowed the man who held him, and tried to make a dash for Emery—but he quickly had a gun to his head. “Don’t move.”
A whimper escaped me. This was going all wrong.
Chloe’s dad had Emery, and the helicopter was coming in low, almost to the shore. His right-hand woman was waving at Chloe’s dad, summoning him over near where the helicopter was about to land.
They were about to get away, and take my sister with them.
My panic mounted.
“No!’ I screamed. I couldn’t lose her again. I craned my head toward the water. The helicopter was coming right over him.
“Ryan!” I yelled. “Ryan! Stop them!” I knew it was a long shot—he probably couldn’t even hear me—but I screamed again, with everything I had. “Stop them! Ryan, please!”
The elemental lunged up and snatched the helicopter right out of the air.
***
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