Fire & Ice: War Games

‘Thou rememb’rest
Since once I sat upon a promontory
And heard a mermaid, on dolphin’s back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid’s music.’

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer night’s Dream (Oberon I, iI, i)

Severus spent the rest of the day isolated in the solitude of his potions laboratory in his family’s estate. Emerging on the morning of the third day, the Slytherin watched as the black barn owl disappeared on the distant horizon with it’s package. Standing at the tower window, he turned to the owl waiting on his arm. “Make sure you get this to You-Know-Who.” The snowy owl hooted before spreading it’s wings and jumping out the open window. The Slytherin knew that unless warded by the estate’s master, the walls had many ears.



Rhododendron shrubs, vibrant rainbows of pinks, reds and white large trusses of bell-shaped flowers, crowded the princely little cottage. Moss clung to the stone and mortar of the cottage, the clear pink, double petaled flowers of the Rosa Perkins grew in clusters as they climbed the cottage’s corners. The pleasant aroma of the garden mingled with the salt air.

Child crafted garden steps, depicting brilliantly colored butterflies frozen in mid-flight, led from the cottage’s backdoor steps down and around the corner before dividing into a wishbone trail. The right side led to a barn nestled in a maple grove, weathered stone bricks rose from the ground to give way to the sturdy cedarwood floor. The gentle purring of a mother cat vibrated through the barn rafters as her litter suckled her milk while they lay in the hay.

Below in the crowded stables on the ground floor, the horses neighed softly. Their tails swung lazily from side to side as they stood restlessly in the stalls. Each coat glistened beneath the few golden rays penetrating the scowling heavens.

The left side of the wishbone trail wound it’s way around another group of Rhododendron shrubs until it gave way to the towering colossal over looking the tormented sea seventy feet below the imposing cliff. Thirty feet high and twenty feet wide at the giant’s base, only ten feet at the top, a lantern shining two great beams of hope across the tormented sea.

Moss blanketed stone steps led down the steep slope until they vanished beneath the oceanic waves. The foamy waves crashed against the bottom steps, washing seaweed ashore in it’ wake. Saturated algae clung to the last two steps as the North Atlantic ocean swallowed them whole. The white foam lingered on the steps as the salt water fled the close quarters of the shoreline.

Four pairs of eyes glanced at each other as four vials clinked together. Unstopping the blue-green liquid, they drank as one. Hurrying into the icy waters, the gasped and clawed at their throats as their lungs fought to work. Diving into the water, they sighed as they began to breath once again. Four faces twisted as their bodies cramped, searing pain cascaded through their bodies as their insides knotted and bones snapped, fusing together. Shimmering, sparkling scales replaced dermal layers as their legs fused together.

Far beneath the foamy surface, past the alien looking marine life, a dim glow beckoned through the abyss. Sea horses whirled in a spectacular floor show of acrobatics and a shower of colors. Bright violet guppies swam lazily along the surface of the fluorescent blue reef. White and black zebra striped tentacles flailed lazily on thrfacrface of the layers of sand covering the reef in parts. A su mov movement in the water above and the mimic octopus withdrew into the reef’s shelter.

A bed of pearl infested clams littered the ocean floor, sea urchins embraced the crustaceans lovingly. Barnacles trailed encased the rusted and crumbling chain of the Spanish warship’s anchor. A splash of a large tail brushed the sandy surface around the treasure trove of priceless gems and gold coins.

Following the mermaid’s lead at the a discreet distance, the four swam onward. Shells covered the bare, milky breasts of the ebony haired sea-maid as she swam through the desolated ship graveyard. Yellow-green bones, have covered by algae and seaweeds, preserved by the cold saltwater and frozen forever in the eternal catacombs of the North Atlantic seabed. Star fish clung to the rotting boards of the once majestic fleet. A fluorescent school of blue and purple fish wound their way through the labyrinths of broken planks and the shamble that was once a captain’s cabin. Ragged scraps of cloth waved playfully in the undercurrent caused by the passing fish as the mermaid swam unconcerned past without a second thought.

Diving sharply at the reef cliff, the mermaid was swallowed whole by the swarm of stampeding kin as they converged on the beckoning light. Grand Greek pillars of emerald ivory toward above the oceanic vegetation. An aquatic garden sprawled against the regal architecture. Grand terraces sprawled from the archalacelace, showcasing Poseidon’s genius.

Blending in with the almost frantic migration around them, the four swam towards the seducing structure. As they drew up on the enigmatic monument, they slipped from the main stream migration and instead swam around it. Swimming fast and hard, they were soon long gone from the sight of the wonders of the merpeople.

Diving off the sandy cliff into the black void, the four cohorts were increasingly aware of the passage of time. Four eyes exchanged worried glances as they pushed into the darkening abyss swallowing them. The fathomless oblivion gave way to the endless night of the darkest waters as the four continued on their quest.


A/N

Please remember to Read & Review, author thanks you.

Just wanted to ask, I\'ve been looking over the next few chapters waiting to be typed and I wanted your opinion on something. Sex or more blood shed in later chapters?

Saw the mimic octopus on the Discovery channel and added to the story.

My sister was watching Disney’s ‘Little Mermaid’ when I was trying to write this chapter. Somehow the pen got away from me and this is what it wrote.