The Fourfold Key

Chapter Ten: The First Key

Mermaid Lagoon was an eerie place. Large, barnacle-encrusted rocks stuck out at odd angles all over the place. A thick mist clung to the air. The air was cold and damp. But the worst part was the singing. Even through the makeshift ear plugs, Ruth could hear it. The haunting melody rang through the air, shrilling and high, their voices creating a cold, mysterious song. She couldn't understand what they were saying, and she didn't want to. Ruth shivered as the eerie wail grew louder. How am I going to find the Key here? There must be a million different places to hide it. Just as she thought this, her horse stumbled slightly. Ruth decided to leave it there and continue on foot. The rocks were slippery. As she walked, she began to hear words among the voice. She reached up and adjusted the wax. She turned her head and gave a start. There, sitting on a rock, was a merman.

His skin was pale green and his solemn eyes purple. Almost like seaweed, his hair was dark green, fashioned into a mohawk. The rest of his shiny green scalp was bare. His chest was broad and muscular. If he was human he would be one heck of a football player, Ruth thought. Her head told her she should be afraid, but his presence was somehow calming. His light-green body was littered with dark green freckles. His human body ran down to the waist, and there it changed from the pale green to a dark, purple, scaly tail. It was like a fish's tail, only bigger. He turned slightly to the side, and Ruth saw he had a dark purple fin running down his back. The merman lifted his head, and began to sing.

Ruth tried to block the noise, tried to ignore it, but it pounded and shivered into her. The music flowed through her, chilling her to the bone, and yet giving off a comforting warmth. Her eyelids grew heavy.

The next thing Ruth knew, the singing stopped. Ruth blinked, then gasped, horrified. She was underwater! She held her breath, preserving what little air she had left. Looking to the right, she saw the merman that had lured her under. Ruth's lungs begged for air, and she fought against the urge, but she couldn't hold her breath for much longer. Before she knew what was happening, she swallowed a huge breath of air. How am I breathing? she wondered, more with relief than surprise. She looked over at the merman, who was, to her surprise, swimming toward her.

"Greetings, human child. Why do you enter our domain?" His voice was low and musical. Soothing.

"I—I don't know," Ruth stammered. Then she grew angry. "You tell me! You brought me here!"

"Fear not," he said softly, ignoring her outburst. "I am Sea Foam. I am here to whisk you away from your nightmares. Come, to the City of Eternal Contentment."

"The City of Eternal Contentment?" Ruth asked, resisting the urge to snicker at the dumb name. "What's that?"

"The City of Eternal Contentment is our city," Sea Foam said in his soft, whispery voice. "We bring humans we find here to ease their heartache. Those who do not wish to come are left in the lagoon, doomed to die. Which do you choose, mortal girl?"

"Well, maybe I'll stay just for a little while," Ruth said, realizing that if the Key was anywhere, it would most likely be there, in a place from which no human returned. Sea Foam made it sound pretty impenetrable. Plus, she didn't really like the idea of being left here to die. "I'm Ruth."

"Good. This way, Ruth." He began to lead her deeper into the water.

"So," Ruth huffed, trying to keep up with him, but since she didn't have fins, she wasn't getting very far. "Does this City of Eternal Contentment or whatever have, like, a leader?"

"Yes, as a matter a fact, it does. Her name is Conch." Sea Foam turned a sharp corner around a massive boulder. "She lives in the biggest shell under the sea, for she deserves no less."