The Viking Throne: The Cursed Seas Collection Read online

  Pierce swam through the banshee. He seemed to cringe from the freezing temps surrounding the banshee’s current spot. I was caught between the huge predator and the supernatural legend.

  “Pierce meet me back at the lobby!” I yelled.

  The Pliosaurus swam in reverse away from the cabinetry so its giant eyes could scan the area for more prey. The ancient beast had cracked the kitchen island in two. I grabbed a piece of granite as big as my chest to use as a shield and swam low to find another way out of the kitchen.

  The banshee appeared in front of the exit to the butler’s quarters. The foul ghost pointed again.

  The Pliosaurus moved its massive, stout body with multiple fins to propel itself through the water efficiently towards me. As Pierce did, I braved the freezing waters surrounding the banshee and swam right through it. I found myself in a dormitory hallway, various doorways on either side of the hall. There was a window at the end. My ticket out.

  I didn’t dare look back. I just kept swimming as fast as I could. Even with the dumb block of granite, I still moved with decent speed. The cracking of wood and collapsing of walls and support beams didn’t faze me.

  The Pliosaurus bastard crashed its way toward me. My predator training served me well. The freezing water turned warm with the dinosaur proximity. I was a couple lengths from the window. I prepped the granite and smashed my way through the window, aided by adrenaline.

  I swam a few lengths out from the mansion and then looked back. I could see nothing but teeth in the window. The teeth steadily moved backwards. I turned right to swim back to the front of the mansion then stopped. I had an idea but had to act with haste. The banshee was probably leading the beast back to the sirens in the lobby. I swam back to the broken window.

  “You, big blubbery bastard! Come here. You son of a bitch! Come on!”

  I barely landed the last syllable when teeth slammed against the window frame. They receded. Then came roaring back as the beast cracked the stone wall. More hits caused the window to shatter completely. Its wooden frame, floating splinters.

  I smiled but also wanted to take a pee. I swam away but stayed within visibility of the beastie. One or two more charges of the dinosaur’s snout would set it free.

  THUMP.

  THUMP.

  The crumbling stone wall created a cloud of debris. I couldn’t see it just yet.

  SNAP.

  The lumbering dinosaur nearly took my head off as it emerged from the mansion.

  “Shit!” I twisted away and almost lost control. The beast so close was intimidating. I went ahead and took that pee in that moment. I had to get some water between myself and the beast.

  I lunged down towards the sea’s bottom and hugged the ground, keeping a steady pace to the lobby. The windows of the right wing of the mansion held my right flank. The Pliosaurus was approximately four or five lengths away from me.

  I made the turn to the lobby. “Here it comes, mates!” I yelled.

  Jacob and Pierce were stacking the bullion next to the Poseidon statue. I burst through the doors. The Pliosaurus’s snout and bared teeth followed but couldn’t fit through the doorway, so it retreated. If it could break through the stone wall window opening in the right wing, it could dispatch the front entrance much faster.

  “Hurry, mates. We haven’t much time. It will bust through in an instant.” I swam right to Poseidon and attempted to move the tall, triumphant marble statue myself.

  THUMP.

  “I wish I hadn’t waited in the lobby for you now. What the hell are you doing?” Pierce swam up next to me. His look: bewildered. His fear: palpable.

  “If we can tip Poseidon, that dumb beast will swallow the trident.” I grimaced and pushed the god’s lower back.

  THUMP.

  The doorway widened. The Pliosaurus was able to open its mouth a bit wider as it slammed into the mansion’s front again and again. Its snout inched ever closer to the statue.

  “Jacob, get your bloody arse over here!” Pierce yelled and pushed on Poseidon’s back.

  Jacob swam toward the statue. I looked down and thrusted once more to tip the statue. When I looked up to see Jacob’s progress, he had disappeared. I didn’t have time to process just what most assuredly happened to the mate—the banshee.

  The statue moved. Although, I wasn’t quite sure if we caused the movement or if it was the Pliosaurus’s relentlessness. One more good charge and the doorway would be wide enough to accommodate the massive predator. Its elongated snout pushed through. Its upper jaw hit the bottom of the chandelier and the bottom part hit the floor. Its incessant chomping would hopefully be its doom. It retreated again and readied for a rage-filled, hungry charge, its prey in striking distance.

  “I hope this works, old one.” Pierce put his shoulder into it and propelled his legs in a hurried, power-inducing pattern.

  “It will definitely block it for a bit. So, we can swim away and regroup if need be.” I gritted my teeth.

  Poseidon tipped forward. The heavy square base tilted, his trident underneath the chandelier.

  We let go of the statue. Poseidon began his long, slow descent into a horizontal position. Or at least it seemed as if the heavy statue took forever to fall. The damn dino was nowhere to be found.

  Pierce shook his head. I shook my head, too, and began to surmise another strategy.

  The entryway to the mansion was newly reformed, huge, asymmetrical. Stone fell to the sea floor. It was as if the doors never existed.

  Poseidon continued to fall and would hit the lobby floor in seconds. The Pliosaurus’s entire head appeared just outside the threshold of the mansion.

  I gulped more water than my lungs could handle and choked.

  William’s flesh was wedged in between the beast’s teeth. It pushed forward and opened wide.

  Poseidon’s trident was thrust in perfect, dramatic pose, ready for the kill.

  Chapter Four

  Poseidon’s spear struck the roof of its mouth. I didn’t anticipate the amount of blood that would spew from the Pliosaurus’s mouth. A red cloud burst forth from its massive maw. The Plio tried to spin and shake its massive head to rid himself of the pesky god. The chandelier was not spared the dinosaur’s rage as it swung and smashed into the upper level banister. The Pliosaurus retreated out of the lobby and away from the mansion with Poseidon still wedged in its jaws.

  The plan had worked, and we’d rid ourselves of the beastie, yet there was still the mute banshee to deal with.

  “I believe that worked to great effect. Did it not, Pierce?”

  “It actually did. Bravo, good chap. Poseidon in his craw should keep him busy enough for us to move the bullion to the ship.” Pierce swam to the hall where Jacob finished stacking the bullion.

  I swam down to aid in the endeavor. We were technically successful in Monty’s mission.

  “Let’s use these to grab as much as we can and swim up to the ship.” Jacob handed Pierce and me tablecloths to move the bullion faster. Apparently, the banshee had spared him.

  “Good idea. Any way to get the hell out of here faster, the better.” I opened my tablecloth and began to pile bullion in it.

  I looked up to grab a stack when the banshee appeared again, this time farther down the hall. Its wispy white robes floated in a hypnotizing fashion. I stared for a few moments at the creepy bugger. It did nothing but observe Pierce and Jacob frantically stack the bullion in their respective cloths.

  Pierce grabbed my shoulder. “James. Get going, chap. The more you stare, the more time you give the Pliosaurus to finish his dental work.”

  “My fault. Sorry.” I shook my head and reached out for the bullion.

  Soon, we each had a full sack of bullion and began our ascent out of the mansion to the ship. Our siren bodies didn’t need to worry about the bends or strength while underwater. We easily cut through the sea at a steady clip. I looked down for a cloud of blood that would soon be followed by the Pliosaurus, but luckily there was none. The bottom
of the ship was directly above.

  Without even knocking or signaling our presence, our square prisons emerged from the underbelly of Monty’s great ship.

  “I won’t be able to fit with the bullion in this damn fishbowl he has us trapped in,” I observed.

  “Put the bullion in first, and I am sure he will unload it,” Pierce said.

  Pierce and Jacob both placed their bag of bullion in the square prisons.

  I shook my head and begrudgingly followed suit. I never liked being dictated to in any situation. I quietly repressed my problems with authority in the Siren Guard because I knew I could move up the ranks quicker, faster. The higher the rank, hopefully, the fewer orders I would have to take. That logic didn’t work. The further ranks I achieved, the more orders came in. The temptation to flee into the deep was pronounced in that moment. I just wanted to swim away and find my family. Right the wrong I felt I’d inflicted on us all. I had to stay patient, though. If I swam away, Monty would kill me with a decisive push of a button.

  The square receptacles ascended back into the ship. A few minutes later, they dropped back down. I swam in. The adrenaline that pulsed through me dwindled, and the depression set back in.

  Back in the brig, Montgomery awaited us. “Well done, sirens. Well done indeed. That was a considerable treasure you found. Keep up the good work. Expect similar voyages in the future. There is so much to be found. You boys deserve a delectable dinner for your troubles.” Monty’s red coat seemed more obnoxious in the pale fluorescent bulbs of the brig. His smugness evermore enraging with each of his visits.

  He put his left arm out, and a crewmember of his held a bucket. Three funnels hung from it.

  “That better not be what I think it is,” I yelled from inside my prison.

  The crewmember opened a small hole in the top of our cages and inserted the funnels. The disgusting chum squished through the funnel and into the water. Fish guts, skeletons, blood, and bits of barely edible flesh invaded the water. This was our food. Chum. The scraps from their dinners.

  Monty moved closer to my glass. “There should certainly be enough protein somewhere in that mess for you to keep your strength, sirens. Refusing to eat will be your decision to perish. This is all we serve here.”

  I pushed a floating fish head away from my face and scowled at him.

  “Oh, I like you.” He smiled and stared at me. The smile was of the most disturbing, perverse nature.

  I held his stare even though he seemed to enjoy it. I didn’t want him to gain any mental advantage. The fucker.

  He backed away. “Enjoy dinner, mates.”

  Pierce and Jacob succumbed to the disgusting chum before I did. They ate and scraped the flesh off the bones with their teeth and did the best they could to survive. Their hunger was great, and so was mine. I shook my head in defiance. I tried to hold out as best I could, but it was of no matter. If I didn’t eat, I would never see Maggie or Imogen again. The night of their abductions played out in my head again and again. I was feeling the effects of the alcohol that awful evening but felt in control and able to function. I had been worse many ‘a night before that one. I should have been able to save Maggie.

  We had been playing like we always did just a few moments before. Maggie would swim into her room with her mother, and I would follow soon after, flailing around like a goofy squid monster while Maggie clung to her mother and laughed hysterically. We did it over and over, and Maggie laughed and laughed, her curly blonde hair waving with each giggle. Imogen smiled, crooked and beautiful, every time Maggie swam to her. Imogen holding Maggie in her arms was the image burned in my brain. How could I fail to protect my family?

  I finally grabbed a few bits of chum. I forced a swallow and nearly vomited, but I kept it down with the solemn promise to myself that I would see my family again.

  Chapter Five

  Pierce, Jacob, and I were dropped out of our cages again. With three months of consistent dives, we all seemed happy to be out and able to talk to each other. A small comfort and a reminder of some normalcy. This time we were tasked with more treasure hunting, except this time we were in what used to be a fjord, or the area between submerged cliffs. The mission was to search every cliff for more treasure, not the villages below where sirens lived. We were given electric torches to scour any caves hidden from the surface’s light. If we were to signal or attempt to signal anyone, we would be dead. We didn’t dive deep. We kept to a cliff side.

  “Fjords. What could possibly be of value in these cliffs?” Jacob said.

  “Many of the wealthiest citizens of Norway took to these cliffs in the hopes they could survive the sea’s rise. There will be plenty of loot, in theory, awaiting us here.” I swam ahead, admiring the lush greens of the Norwegian rocks.

  “You hail from Ireland. How are you privy to such information?” Pierce asked, flipping his flashlight on and off.

  “These fjords were used for special Siren Guard maneuvers. We were tasked with using these cliffs as a tactical failsafe in warfare. Much like the Spartans who used Thermopylae’s narrow entry point to halt the Persian advance. These cliffs were meant to be used as an advantage in battle. Surprise tactics, stealth swim, and funneling the enemy to openings ripe for slaughter. I know these types of places well.” I smirked at the memory of how much fun I had in the Guard on training expeditions.

  “Was it your idea to train here, then?” Pierce asked.

  “It was.”

  “I am sorry. I find it rather pointless for you to drag your troop up here.” Pierce swam ahead and into a cave.

  His blunt nature didn’t bother me. He was young, cocky, and eager to get the job done even for his enslaver.

  I followed him into the cave and laughed at his meanness. “The rest of the sirens enjoyed the scenery, and we had more than a bit of fun.”

  “When would there ever be an engagement of significance in these cliffs?” Pierce continued his brazen assault on my choices as a leader of sirens.

  “One may never know what the future holds. Oh, look at this!” I slapped my torch to stop it from blinking. The light showed the wooden remnants of the top of a ceremonial house. There was no structure attached to it. It was just the decorative spire.

  “There must be something else in these caves if an ancient spire was just lying about.” Pierce pushed farther into the cave system.

  “Wait for me, mates.” Jacob lumbered into the cave. His swimming was sloppy and slow.

  I would have to work on it with him. “If you are going to keep up with Pierce and I, mate, you will have to push yourself harder.” I didn’t care about his feelings.

  “I hadn’t had to swim this much. I was a sub mechanic,” Jacob said.

  “You still have to maintain your swim skills. First rule of the Guard.” I swam away to catch up with Pierce who was into God knows what. I hoped he didn’t rouse another banshee.

  The torch’s beam showed the way. Sirens could see well in dark water, but caves were too dark for even our enhanced vision. I stuck close to the rocky bottom of the cave. A human skeleton lay on the cave floor. Then another. And another.

  There were people who settled in these caves, but why wouldn’t they leave? They had to know the water would rise and eventually drown them. Unless these skeletons were much older than the polar ice cap melt.

  I stopped to examine the ground near one of the skeletons and put my fist up. Jacob knew to stop. At least, that part of his training had taken hold.

  “Why we stoppin’?” Jacob asked.

  “These dead. I want to know how they died. They don’t appear to be very tall. Might even be from the Middle Ages of man. From my estimation, none grew to over five feet five inches tall.”

  A rock next to the skeleton I examined glinted and gleamed in my torch’s light.

  “Jacob. You may prove useful after all. Can you pick up that rock and see what is shining underneath?” I pointed my torch to the rock.

  “Sure can.” He swam over and pus
hed the rock.

  I quickly swam over to examine the newly revealed item. “This is a hilt of a large broadsword.” My enthusiasm for military history and weaponry served me well. “My medieval musings were correct. There had to be a battle in these caves, except a sword of this nature would not have been used by Vikings. This looks like an English sword.”

  “I don’t think Montgomery would want a rusty old hilt,” Jacob observed.

  “I suppose an English sword in a Viking cave would make sense since most of the Viking raids were carried out in England. This sword could have been stolen, or it was an Anglo-Saxon’s who was sent to kill Vikings? The bodies strewn about would indicate it so.”

  “Pardon me, sir, but does any of this matter?”

  “I suppose not. It could mean they were fighting over something valuable, perhaps. Let us catch up with Pierce and see what he found.”

  I swam through an area strewn with stalactites and stalagmites reaching for each other. I was careful not to get hung up on their deadly points. Whatever was back in these caves had been well guarded. Someone had gone to great lengths to hide said treasure or objects, but to what end?

  Something clanked and thumped to the rocky bottom of the cave. Of course, Pierce had disturbed whatever structure lay ahead.

  Jacob followed close behind me. He moved slower, his body too large to afford agility among the spiky cave. We were at the end of the natural barriers, and the cave opened up as our torches could barely cut through the dark water ahead.

  “Do these things get any brighter?” I asked, staring at my torch.

  “I think there is only one setting, sir,” Jacob answered, panting from his swim.

  I pointed my torch up, and the cave’s ceiling was not too far above us. Below us, I could see the light from Pierce’s torch. I swam down quickly to aid him in the search for more treasure, but also for answers as to why this cave had been the site of an ancient battle.