"Wake up and be quick, we haven't much time!"
Ayriel sleepily rubbed her eyes and looked toward who was shaking her. She saw the look of urgency in the woman's eyes and obeyed.
Studying the mermaid she was following, Ayriel could see the battle armor that encased her body and a lump formed in her throat.
"Mother, what is going on? Where's Father?" she asked.
"He'll be right behind us," her mother quickly said. They reached the bottom of the castle, deep in the blue waters of the sea.
Upon reaching a cave just beyond the edge of the castle, she spotted her father. Before she could swim up to him, her mother guided her into a small chasm in the earth.
"Stay down and be silent," her mother whispered. "I promise to come back and get you. For right now, it's important that you stay hidden until I return."
The young maiden nodded.
"Yes mother, I love you."
Her mother smiled and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. She waved her hand over the chasm and whispered an incantation.
The chasm closed in around Ayriel with just enough space to move around and see the surroundings beyond her hiding place.
"Daenemerya! We need to go now," exclaimed Vymeon, Ayriel's father. Looking to where his wife hid their only daughter. "We'll be back for you sweetheart."
Somehow Ayriel knew that today would be the last time she would see her parents and the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach only deepened her suspicions. Not before long, she heard war cries and the clashing of swords which seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Peering through the crack, she could somewhat make out some of the merpeople battling two-legged creatures. They looked peculiar, their clothes black as night and their faces shielded by bony coverings.
All of a sudden, part of the fight broke out about three feet in front of the chasm. It was so loud. She peeked and witnessed one two-legged creature shatter her mother's scimitar in one swing of his own sword. Black as death it was. She turned to swim away but caught sight of eyes looking at her through a crack in a chasm.
Ayriel's eyes widened as her mother stopped short, leaving enough time for the warrior behind her to thrust a sword all the way through her mother's chest. Daenemerya clutched at her chest as the warrior twisted left and right.
Both mother and daughter heard a loud wail as Vymeon came up behind the warrior putting him in a headlock. Removing the mask, the King saw a man struggling to breathe.
"Foolish humans!" He exclaimed and blasted the warrior away from his wife, the Queen, and swam quickly to break her fall. Removing the sword from her suffering body, he held his beloved close. He bowed his head, praying to the gods and beseeching them to end this war to spare his only daughter's life. With an epiphany hitting him like a brick, the king knew what he had to do. Seeing the look in his eye, the queen smiled weakly and placed her hand on his cheek.
Watching the exchange, Ayriel's resolve broke and tears streamed profusely down her face as she shrieked.
"Mother! Father!"
Glancing at his daughter, Vymeon mouthed one phrase.
I love you.
It was at this time Ayriel noticed more warriors coming. They surrounded the king and queen like a frenzy of hungry sharks.
The king took his wife's necklace and connected it with his own, completely unbothered by the warriors around him. He watched it begin to glow.
Ayriel's heart broke as she saw the brightness engulf her parents and emit a wave of blue energy, obliterating all the warriors in the area.
The remaining wraith-like warriors took note of what happened and fled back to land leaving Ayriel alone to her devices.
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