Ch. 19

“Rosemary, when can we stop to eat? I’m starving!” Michael complained. He was clutching onto his stomach and looking longingly at a bird that was flying away.

“No. Just a little longer and we’ll be at Velencei Lake,” replied Rosemary. She looked at Michael and smiled, trying to lighten his mood. Nothing seemed to be working for him. Rosemary looked at the map to make sure they were going in the right direction and sped past the last mountain peaks.

Her face lightened. A wide smile spread across her face. Then she yelled, “Look! The lake! Isn’t it amazing?!”

It was. The smooth water shone, reflecting the sun. The beach was of fine, white sand. Trees surrounded the lake, showing camping areas that were, for now, deserted. You could see fish jumping out of the water, and mermaids were sitting on the beach sunning.

Michael wasn’t impressed. He said to Rosemary, “It’s a lot smaller than I expected. I mean, we passed tons of lakes that were bigger on the way here. What’s so great about it?”

“Oh, right. I forgot. When you’re a magical creature, you feel a power that is so great and magnificent that you see no flaw in it. You’re human, and don’t feel the power. To me, it’s beautiful. To you, I’m guessing that it’s a small, dirty lake. That’s okay, I guess,” Rosemary replied. She raced the last few yards and landed softly on the sand. The mermaids that were there quickly slid back into the water.

Rosemary breathed in the fresh air saying, “It’s just like I remember it when Bodoleck took me here. The sights and sounds, everything! But we have to get down to business. Michael, I don’t expect you to know a single word I’m saying, so I’ll translate later.”

Michael, looking confused, stepped out of the way to let Rosemary walk to the edge of the beach in front of the water. The waves crashing down barely touched Rosemary’s toes.

“Mermaids of the lake! I am here at last! I am the daughter of Margaret, the one who left you the bottle! I have proof that I am who I say I am, so please. Show yourselves. No one here wants to harm you in any way possible. They can’t!” Rosemary yelled. She spoke a different language that Michael didn’t understand. All he heard was numerous hisses and growls, with some syllables to tie them together.

Then a wave came up, carrying a mermaid with it. The mermaid said in a sweet voice, “We have some tests for you underwater. Please, come. You do look like Margaret’s husband, but we can not be certain. Many creatures have come, and we don’t know for sure. Few knew that it was the bottle that we kept safe for our dear friend. Come.”

The wave opened to show an empty area. When it did, the mermaid dissolved into water. Rosemary was starting to dissolve, too. Seeing the confusion on Michael’s face, Rosemary told him in words he understood, “I’ll be back. Don’t worry. They just have some tests that I have to take to be sure that I really am her daughter. I’m the only one left that can take it. My mother put it here after Veripema became evil. See you soon!”

By then, Rosemary was completely gone, and the wave closed, taking her with down with it. Michael stared at the spot that Rosemary just stood, and kept staring until he realized that some campers had left a bag of chips on a bench nearby. Michael grabbed it, wondering when Rosemary would come back up to the surface.

He didn’t know that it wouldn’t be for a while. Rosemary already knew what the tests were, and they weren’t easy. There was a physical test, a riddle, and a magical test. You had to immobilize the strongest merman, solve a riddle, and get past the shield. But even if you did all of those, you had to be the person. And Rosemary was the person. If you did all of those and you weren’t the person, you got a very difficult potion that brought to life one person.

But still, Rosemary was nervous. She wasn’t that strong, and she wasn’t good at riddles. She had no idea how to get past the shield, or if you needed to do anything. This was going to be difficult.

Once they were at the bottom of the ocean, the mermaid turned to Rosemary and said, “I am sure, if you are the person, you know the tests. Tell me, to be sure.”

Rosemary took a deep breath. Only bubbles came out when she exhaled. Then she said, “I have to immobilize the strongest merman here, solve a riddle that involved my mother, and get past some sort of shield.”

“Very well. We shall get started. By the way. I am Bubblespray, the leader of this tribe. The strongest merman is Garglemouth. He will be here shortly,” said Bubblespray.

As soon as she finished the word ‘shortly,’ the water in one area swirled. Out of the vortex came a merman. He was probably seven feet tall and very muscular. Even his tail had bulging muscles, and his tail fin was about three feet wide. Overall, he was outstandingly huge.

“I have to immobilize that?” Rosemary asked Bubblespray.

Bubblespray smiled. “Everyone says that about my brother. Don’t worry, he doesn’t fight you. He will do the best he can to not bring any harm to you, but he is difficult to immobilize. Even I can’t do it. Physically or magically.”

“You can use spells?”

“Four. That’s it. It would be best not to use any of the elements. They don’t work the way you would hope them to. Well, good luck. You seem nice. I hope you win. All the others just wanted to get the bottle and go. Hardly any of them knew what it was that they were fighting for. None of them knew what they had to do. I really think you are what you say you are. Good luck!” And Bubblespray vanished into another vortex.

Rosemary turned and looked at her opponent. She wasn’t ready, but Michael was waiting for her. He couldn’t survive without her, seeing as her aunt was after him and could easily be at the lake the next day. So she had to do it no matter what. She had to win no matter how tired she was.

“You ready?” Garglemouth asked her.

Rosemary hesitated a moment, then said confidently, “No, I am not. But I have to do it sometime. Why not now?”

“Good point. I must say, you are the most interesting creature that has come here. I’ll give you two warnings. The first one is that no one has ever gotten past me, and the second one is that I have no weaknesses. Now begin,” Garglemouth commanded. He got in a defensive position and looked at Rosemary without blinking.

Rosemary looked at him. She was regretful that she had ever considered doing this, but if she did, she would die, and so would Michael and who knows who else would die, too.

She said to Garglemouth, “I may not be ready, but I will fight you anyway. I am doing it for the memory of my mother, for Bodoleck and Medeleck, for my half-sister Susan, and for Michael, who is the prey for Veripema. I plan on winning, but I don’t know how. But I will start now.”

And she ran towards him, the water making it difficult. She was almost there and then. . . .