Eighth Circle

Balduur was greatly impressed.

'Magdorr!' he gasped.

'She's got a ray gun,' Tom explained.

'You mean that thing is like a crossbow?'

'Yes. But it fires bolts of light.'

Balduur shook his head in disbelief.

'I heard mermaids were dangerous ... but never like this.'

'She's not a mermaid.'

'Then what is she?'

'A girl in a dolphin suit. They have them in my old realm.'

Tom watched as the dolphins nosed the boat towards them. It reached the rocks and the girl gesticulated with her gun. She clearly wanted them to get into the boat. It wasn't the reception he had expected. A show of force was being used to intimidate them.

Balduur picked up a rock and weighed it in his hand.

'I'm not going anywhere with that sea bitch.'

'Don't try anything clever,' Tom cautioned.

Balduur wasn't listening. The rock left his hand and a bolt from the girl's gun vaporised it in midair.

'I'm Princess Liala!'

She glanced around menacingly and sprayed the water with searing bolts of light that threw up vast clouds of steam.

'I've come to rescue you!'

Tom wasn't impressed by the performance. He had been tricked by girls who claimed to be princesses. Some were genuine. Others were phoney. This one looked as if she was part of an underwater circus act.

'I've come to take you to safety.'

That was an old trick and he wasn't falling for it. Experience had told him that people who claimed to be rescuing you were usually planning the exact opposite. He was wondering what to do next when Balduur grabbed his arm.

'Orcas!'

Tom caught a glimpse of black-and-white bodies among the dolphins and had second thoughts about the girl's claims. She could be genuine. Indeed, that seemed highly likely. He watched as her gun flashed and bloodied orcas rocketed into the air. Others floated to the surface.

The girl seemed to be getting the better of them when one crashed in and knocked her off balance. Her gun fell in one direction and she fell in the other. Before she could retrieve the gun the orcas were upon her. Tom watched in horror as they threw her around like a plaything.

He had seen orcas do it to seals before eating them. They tossed her back and forth and would have beaten her to pulp if a big wave hadn't rolled in and washed her onto the rocks. He dashed in and picked her up. Her dolphin suit was ripped to shreds and the top fell apart. She looked very much like a mermaid now and very shapely.