"Wait.... but.." the ghoul started, but Long ki ran over to the stairwell.
Aotian stood up and followed him. "Brother are you crazy? At least explain what you are going to do!"
"I told you right, I'm gonna create an illusion that she is in water," Long Ki said while he was briskly walking down the staircase. His lover tiredly sleepy on the bed near the window. Her forehead was clammy with sweat. "mu baby....baby..." she softly mumbled. With tears in his eyes, he delicately wiped it and softly caressed her cheeks. "Wifey, I'll find our child."
He held her hands gently. "Xiao Tian, do you have a pin or something sharp?"
Aotian held out a knife to him.
"No, I don't want to hurt her too much," he whispered and kissed her cold hand.
"I have," Felia shouted as she ran down. "Here, take my brooch," she removed the brooch for her shoulder pads and handed it over.
Long Ki carefully cleaned it over the fire and gently pricked her jade like finger.
Yukiya softly hissed.
"shhh, it's okay. I'm here it's okay," Long Ki whispered, caressing her hair. Just as a small drop of blood dripped down, he wiped it with his kerchief. "This is enough. We can lure them up with this," he held it tight with a huge grin. "Your name is Felia, right? Can you take care of her," he whispered.
"Yeah, definitely," she cheerfully said and sat right next to her. "I will keep her safe and sound. So don't worry, go find your child and come soon. I wish to play with him,"
Long ki nodded. A small tear rolled down unknowingly. He swiftly wiped it away and glanced at his brother. "Come with me,"
Aotian ran after him. "Do you think just a drop is enough? When she fell in water before, they didn't find her. Brother.... this idea feels weird." he said while running.
"hmm, fishes are very sensitive to blood, they can easily sense their kin." He said confidently and ran over to the side of the boat. Without any delay, he dropped the kerchief down. He said a small spell as the blood drop on the kerchief slowly started spreading on the surface.
The waves that were silent till now suddenly became turbulent.
"Oh, they definitely sense her," Long ki frowned and glanced down keenly.
Aotian wordily peered at him. "What are you going to do after they come up? you.....you are not planning to kill them, are you?" he whispered with a deep frown.
"So what, they stole my child first," he shouted. His serine red eyes turned golden as he glared at him.
Aotian stepped close and held his trembling shoulders tightly. "Brother, listen to me. Do not engage with them. We can try to have a peace talk with them. Resorting to violence will not end well."
"Shut it, do you think they will be willing to have a talk with us? Those Mers hate us to the bone. For a mistake our ancestor's made, they still hold a grudge against us. Who knows what they will do to my child when they find out about his dragon heritage," he said. He clenched his hand tightly to control the tremble.
"Brother...."
"Not another word, watch carefully, we have to get an upper hand," he said peering into the bluish water.
Aotian sighed. 'His heart is now shaded in hate. I should not let him do this,' he thought, biting his nails. "Give me a chance then, I will try talking to them. They don't seem like senseless beasts either. So let me try," he pleaded.
"No Tian, I don't wish to risk my child's life. Besides, didn't that Mer slash you like that, how can you still have the heart to forgive it? I know you have a tender heart brother but things need to be resolved with a firm hand. So don't fret, I will take care of this." Long Ki said with a frown.
"Brother this is not right. That creature I met, it did not seem like it wanted to kill me. If it had wished so it could have slashed my throat in seconds, but it didn't. It was only protecting its territory. Brother... please they are not heartless as you think. Please give them a chance. We can talk. Maybe we can try talking to their leader," Long Aotian tried convincing his brother.
His brother's firm eyes went soft for a second, but it became old again. "I said I will take care of it. You just support me," he said with a scowl.
Aotian sighed he glanced back at the ghoul who was hesitantly watching them and gestured for him to come close. "Do you think this is a good idea?"
"Your highness, I'm not sure of this. I think we are risking Ms. Yukiya's safely as well. I don't agree with your brother's theory as well. Mer's, they are the king of water ways, salty and well as fresh. so this is a real bad thing to do." He whispered softly.
"Why didn't you say so before?!!!" Aotian shouted.
"Your brother is not in the situation to listen to anyone." The ghoul sighed, glancing at Long Ki. "He is grief stricken and will do anything. Your highness, you are the only person who can stop him. Try talking sense into him,"
Aotian growled and scratched his head anxiously. "It's too late. He already dropped her blood,"
"Oh my lord, this IS bad." He suddenly ran over to the sails and raised them high. "We need to leave as fast as we can. Mers can easily topple ships. And ship as flimsy as this would take only two Mers to take down," he said frantically.
Raijin helped him along with the controls. Slowly the ship started to move ahead through the crashing waves.
"What are you doing!! Stop the boat," Long Ki shouted, glancing at them both.
"Master, our boat can't handle an attack from them. Why don't we..."
"Listen to what I say!! Stop the boat now, I will wait for them to come up," he growled loudly.
Raijin sighed and helplessly glanced at Aotian.
"Brother it's better to put a safe distance. What if the boat collapses and they capture Yukiya? We have to think about that too, right?" Aotian slowly said, letting his words sink in.
Long Ki paused. "but....but what if.. What if?,"
"It will not cause a problem in our plans. It's safe to be vigilant dot you think," he whispered softly.
Long ki nodded. "go,"
The ghoul and Raijin speedily worked with the sails and the wheels to control it. The winds were in their favour, but the sea was not. The waves were so high that their ship fumbled from side to side.
All of a sudden a small screech was heard below and the ship hit something.
"They are here!" Long ki said anxiously, glancing down.
"It's bad, our ship is being pushed to the side," the ghoul shouted, holding tightly onto the wheel. The ship was tipping to the right by the huge wave as well as something from under.
A small shiny green silhouette was seen underwater. Only its tail was visible. Without any strain, it was easily pushing the sides of the ship.
Aotian swiftly jumped up, transformed into a dragon and flew over to the other side, firmly pushing it. The force of the mer's push was so strong that his muscles cracked. 'That thing is definitely as strong as a dragon,' he thought, gritting his teeth. He hovered right above the water surface, pushing the ship to the left.
The Mer on the other side was working hard to topple them, and Aotian was fighting against its force.
All the While Long ki started at them with a frown. He peered at the creature. It was slightly slower than what he had seen from under the dark waters, but its strength did not diminish.
A few more swam up and pushed onto the side of their boat.
On the other side, Aotian was not able to handle the force of the push. The ship was continuously tipping to the right, pushing him underwater. A few Mers swam closer and slashed at him. 'Shit, this was a bad plan,'
Long ki stood waiting...waiting for the right moment. His hands heated up and a small flame ball hovered over it. 'If I throw it down, they will all burn to a crisp,' he thought.
"Master, don't," Raijin softly whispered from the side. "Even if you kill them, how will you find your child? Let's try talking to them please, please I'm asking you something for the first time in my life. Will you not listen to me," he whispered, panting softly.
Long ki froze up and glanced back with his eyes wide open. "You..... but my child.... they have my child."
"All of this might just be a misunderstanding. Please let's try talking," Raijin said and went over to the side. "Hey you, can we talk," he shouted aloud.
A Mer glanced up and hissed. His face so similar to human but its hair was like sea weed green and wavy.
"We want to talk. We mean you no harm. Can we talk to your leader," Raijin shouted.
The Mer, who glanced up before, whined and whistled.
"I don't understand you. Can you talk in my language," he said, mouthing each word carefully.
The Mer scoffed.. "stu—pid!" he said and went back to pushing the boat.