Sovannmacha and I said farewell in tears. When the mermaid queen dove back into the sea, I was left with a hollow feeling inside.

I returned to the ship again.

Once I was on board, the enchanted pearl began to conjure up a strong inkling in my gut. I just knew exactly where we must sail to.

"The edge of the gulf," I told my avatar friends after we all sat around the table inside the cabin. They simply nodded without any question. We hurled up the anchor and steered the course of our ship, heading north to our new destination.

The wind carried us as far as the end of the gulf. On the second day over the quiet sea, we spotted the bay of a strange island as Sovannmacha said we would.

I stared at the gray shadow that loomed over the seawater. We didn't see it at first, but it seemed to appear all at once. The thick eerie fog surrounded the gray coastline. The beach was framed with slick black rocks. There were no cries of birds nor the jumps of zealous fishes. Our ship narrowly squeezed between the jagged rocks that protruded from either side. The soldiers held their breath and watched warily around the dark water as they rowed in silence.

There was an opening of a gigantic cave with white foams and black weeds floating in and out from the inside. I got goose bumps just to imagine what lay within that haunting darkness. The mist thickened when we got closer. All around were the slippery edges of the sleek stones. Every once in a while, a vibrating roar echoed from the cave, making the men gulp.

"We are here," Tepi said sullenly. The sun seemed to hang low in the sky, and the breeze went still in the dead silence of this black sea.

"Tepi, what strategy have you schemed against the sea guardian?" Atith asked, sounding quite nervous.

"Urge the soldiers on, bidding them hold their oars well in hand," she said. "We will seek a helping strength from the war god's son."

"What did you say again?" Tusita cried from the behind the wheel in confusion.

"Issarak will be here soon," she said in a knowing tone. "We need his force to hold off this ancient monster of the sea."

"How, in the name of blessed Meru gods, could you mention that fool?" Tusita yelled.

"Shh!" Vorac hushed her.

But a moment later, we heard the sound of splashing water from another plowing ship behind us.

"O Yama, no!" Morokot came to lean over the railing. "That twerp son of Murugan has followed us!"

"They knew we could find the fish," Tepi simply told her. "I had been aware of their presence since the day we left the island."

Issarak's black oily ship crawled towards us at last. When both of the ships paralleled, Morokot yelled from the deck.

"Issarak!" she cried. "You crafty face! How dare you stand here like you have no shame?"

"You do not own the sea, Morokot!" Issarak cried back. "You used to be our ally, but look at you now, trying to please a miserable pack of weaklings!"

"We are no weaklings, Issarak!" Atith yelled. "You leeched on our effort to find the fish. You must be ashamed of yourself!"

"Silence your noises, both of you!" Vorac hushed them again. "You don't want to wake the sleeping monster over there!"

But the water already started to tremble. I could feel it through the wooden board underneath our feet. Tepi went out to the ramp.

"Makara shall rise in no time," she said. "You can't fight the monster and neither can we. I suggest we rally against it together before we get into a serious disaster."

"No need to give orders to me," Issarak scoffed back. "If you can't spur your men on to fight with might and main, you all can leave."

Morokot could no longer contain her rage, she stomped off to the side of the ship. I could see hot steam coming off her clothes.

"Morokot!" Tepi cried. For our sake, I held the girl back by her shoulders, but the heat that radiated from her body made me jump with a cry.

"Holy smoking godling, you're god damn hot!" I yelped, shaking my hands back.

The Fire Lord's daughter ignored me. A great burst of red fire came to life, circling around her arms. Before we could stop her, Morokot fired off a giant cloud of hissing flames from our ship.

The fire went like a cannonball at one of Issarak's main sails. But at the same time, Ravi appeared from behind a wooden mast. She twirled herself like a dancer and thrust her hands outward. A strong gust of wind slammed Morokot's fire into the water.

We stared open-mouthed. Ravi was extraordinary. She straightened herself back and turned around without another glance. Issarak boomed a laugh at us.

"You think you're so mighty with your gift, Morokot?" he said.

Before Morokot could retort, a wave knocked our ships. Everyone was thrown around the place. I grabbed a rope of the sail to keep my balance. Tusita, who stood above the deck, held on to the steering wheel while her other hand grabbed Vorac close to her protectively. Tepi steadied herself with the rail while Atith and Morokot rolled around the deck.

"The monster's awake!" a soldier from our ship cried in panic.

The water sprawled out of the cave in dark waves and foam. Gray seaweed with debris of unidentified objects sputtered into the sea. It looked like a whale had just vomited on our ships. Then a horrible screaming sound pierced our ears. It sounded like a door that hadn't had its hinges oiled for years.

The whole island shook, causing greasy black rocks to fall into the water. And ever slowly, a huge shadow appeared.

Every eye widened. A serpent-like creature the size of a mountain emerged. The monster's shadow cast over us like a veil of darkness.

It was the strangest and largest creature I had ever seen in my life. Its lower jaw was of a crocodile, the snout of an elephant, the tusks and ears of a wild boar, the darting eyes of a monkey, the scales and the flexible body of a fish, but its swirling tail was feathered like that of a peacock's. The monster's wide jaw hung open, revealing a set of boar tusks and sharp pointy teeth.

With its elephantine head wagging furiously, Makara crawled towards us. It paused for a moment as if being blinded by the light. Just the sight of it gave me a horrible shiver in my bones.

"Issarak!" Tepi called out for the avatar attention. "I swear over my honor in this covenant and let you come as our fighting companion. You shall be the right hand of this fellowship, therefore you must not be vain."

"What good does it bring if we ally?" he asked. I stepped towards the railing.

"I will share you the scales," I said, causing everyone to look at me, but I went on. "Sovannmacha, the queen of mermaids, had granted me her enchanted pearl. I am now the only one who could catch the Rainbow Fish."

"How do I know it's not part of your trickery?" he said.

"Issarak, do think carefully," I said. "Why would I waste my mortal life over a trick?"

He was silent. Then he turned to look at Ravi. Something passed between their eyes and he turned back to Tepi again.

"Take heart, daughter of Thorani, the Holy Mother," he declared. "We agree to be your trusty comrades now yet only once. We shall join the battle at sea, but no more friendship will remain on land."

"I take your words, son of Murugan," Tepi said with a nod.

Makara roared again as it slowly floated forward. The monster sailed to our ships and then opened its peacock tail in a sign of defense. Then it started wailing like an angry elephant and bared its crocodile teeth.

Some of the soldiers went mad in terror. They kept bumping into each other like blind people. The other just froze in paralyzing shock. The crew on Issarak's ship were no different. No matter how their captain raised his voice, everything was in a wild state of chaos. I saw Vijay, the giant avatar, multiplied himself into twenty-six duplicates, trying to double the strength on their side.

The sea monster advanced closer. Water gushed from its mouth, disgorging other monsters. Some were half-lion and half-fish creatures while others were strange aquatic lizards with long tails and sharp teeth.

Now I knew why Tepi needed extra force. We couldn't fight against the ancient creature on our own.

"Take arms!" Issarak shouted.

On our ship, Atith and Vorac tried to organize the soldiers.

"Everyone!" Vorac cried out to calm them. "Slacken not a whit of courage in your hearts. The gods help no coward! What fear could you have when they watch upon you and be your guides? We must now face the challenge with valor and might!"

As the daughter of the Lord of Inspiration, Vorac did calm the soldiers to take arms and readied themselves.

"Tepi!" I ran to her side. "You must keep the monster distracted while I go after the fish."

She looked at me like I was crazy, but then she remembered that only I could get near those deadly scales.

"Atith and Vorac should go with you," she offered quickly.

"No, they have no protection like I do," I said. "The fish can harm them."

Tepi frowned as to consider the option. But we had no time left and she finally nodded.

"Nikita, be very careful," she said.

I gave her a nod and turned to leave.

The moment I jumped into the dark cold sea, the water was freezing against my skin. The thickness of the salt water kept me afloat and especially lighter. Then I began to swim away from behind the ship.

Suddenly, Sovannmacha rose from the water before me. Her tail flipped faster than usual as if she was in some sort of excitement.

"Hurry! I saw the fish!" she said. I didn't have time to be surprised or ask. The sea maiden spun around and gave one stroke of her tail to go forward. I dove under and kicked my feet in the water to follow her.

We swam through the black rock away from the ship and skirted around to the opening of the cave. I couldn't see anything except the sparkling golden tail of the mermaid. When she turned and saw me barely catching up with her, she went back to take my hand.

"Hold fast to me, Nikita," she said, and I did as I was told, wrapping my arms around her body from behind. Then Sovannmacha swam swiftly through the dark entrance. The mermaid thrust her tails repeatedly until we went deeper into the cave.

I could feel the cold and warmth in the blackness. Sovannmacha and I resurfaced and looked around. Stalactites hung from the roof with pointy edges overhead. The smell was horrible. I felt as if I had swum right into a fish market.

Then the water trembled around us. We heard a flapping sound of another tail.

Sovannmacha looked into my eyes.

"It's here," she whispered then she looked past me with her eyes grew wide.

"Nikita, behind you!" she said. I quickly turned around and found a pair of glowing fishy eyes staring at us—one was red while the other was blue. It looked like a giant goldfish. Indeed, its scales were fiery red and icy blue, all glowing in the dark.

I could hear crackling and sizzling sounds from where the fish lay. The water froze and boiled around it.

The Rainbow Fish narrowed its eyes into tiny slits. A loud crash was heard outside the cave. All the yelling and screaming began to erupt between Makara and the avatars. The cave ceiling shook violently. The Rainbow Fish started to recoil from us.

"No, no! It's alright, fishy lad!" I tried to calm the creature. "If you just let me have your scales—"

When the fish heard the word 'scales', it let out a burst of frenzy bubbles, sending a wave of heat and cold through the water. Then the fish flicked its tail and broke through Sovannmacha and me like we were its cage.

"Catch him!" Sovannmacha cried out. With a prayer, I leaped upon the fish, wrapping my arms around its freakish form. The scales of fire immediately stung my arms like burning flames. My other hand was also frostbitten by the icy ones.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I yelped. The pain was awful but was not unbearable. Obviously, the magical pearl was protecting me from this deadly old tail.

The fish shook its body, trying to shrug me off of its body, but I hardened my grip and kept holding on. The mythical creature towed me out of the rocky cave mercilessly.

"Nikita!" Sovannmacha swam after me. When we got out of the island, the Rainbow Fish wiggled its body once again. It even managed to slap my face with its fins a few times.

"I would love to grill you if you were born a salmon, you stinky tail!" I hissed and gritted my teeth.

When the fish jumped up from the water, I caught a quick scene of the battle. Makara had bitten off the Naga head from our ship and chewed it like a piece of meat. The soldiers tried to defend with their swords and shields against the merlions and sea lizards. The vicious creatures kept attacking them from all sides.

Tusita was yanking the steering wheel, trying to keep the rocking ship under control. I saw Atith managed to pull the fallen soldiers out of the broken masts. Even Morokot got all fiery. Her hands hurled out the fire until the giant sea monster screeched and recoiled from our ship. Makara then paid attention back to Issarak's instead. The monster's crocodile jaw snapped at their sails and broke their oars before tearing out chunks of wood from their deck.

Before I could see another horrible episode, the rebellious Rainbow Fish plunged straight back into the black sea. It kept twisting its body.

I knew the fish expected me to burn and freeze, only that I didn't. Then it started spinning itself around. I felt as if I was inside a whirlwind. My brain almost came out of my ears. Sovannmacha was crying after me. The Rainbow Fish was as fast as it was big, even my mermaid queen could hardly keep up.

"Nikita!" Sovannmacha shouted underwater. "Don't let the fish bring you down any deeper!"

"Don't tell me, tell him!" I cried back. This freak of nature looked like it could go on forever. I could feel the pressure starting to grip my lungs.

In my moment of desperation, I clasped my legs around the fish and pulled its long floating barbels, causing the holy fish to halt in pain. Then without delay, my fingernails dug into the icy scales and scratched off one. The Rainbow Fish hissed in rage, arching like a bouncing horse back and forth. I scratched and yanked off another one out of its fiery side. The red scale glowed like burning coal in my hand.

After I got what I was after, I let go of the Rainbow Fish at last. The sea creature swam back into the dark water towards the cave. Sovannmacha came to me again.

"Are you alright?" the queen asked.

"I swear to the gods, that woeful fish is the last thing I would ever want to hug," I said.

"Do you have the scales you sought for?"

"Yes, my lady, I do." I showed her the glowing prize in my hand.

"Now you should go back," the mermaid queen said. I nodded and started to swim in my pathetic way again. Sovannmacha grabbed me by the waist and brought her soft lips to mine.

I melt into her kiss until she pulled away and looked at me in the eyes. With her hands still around me, she flipped her tail and we began to rise back to the surface.

Once we burst from the water, I felt the vibration around me. The fighting hadn't ceased but rather that it had intensified. The storm blew wildly around the ships, curling up water and broken debris everywhere.

Makara was still attacking us vigorously. Issarak's soldiers began to throw golden nets and chains over those crawling sea creatures. They would soon vaporize into mists. But the biggest of them all was still in full force. Makara would pull his enormous body in protest when they tried to chain him, plunging a handful of soldiers into the sea.

Makara roared and slammed his elephant head against the black ship and smashed two masts like a pair of toothpicks. I saw Ravi rushing out. She threw her hands in the air. The wind obeyed her. It whirled into a small whirlwind, wagging down upon the monster.

Makara thrashed blindly against the raging storm. I looked at Sovannmacha and realized it was best for the royal mermaid to leave.

"Please go, my lady," I said. "It's not safe for you to stay."

After a nervous glance at the sea monster, Sovannmacha didn't seem to want to leave me.

Another distance crashing sound reached my ears. I turned warily back at the ships.

"Go, my lady!" I said again. "I will be alright."

"Before I leave you, Nikita," Sovannmacha said in a sorrowful tone. "Will you promise to remember me?"

"Yes, my dear queen," I said and went over to embrace her. "I will always remember you."

With a tear rolling down her smooth pale cheeks, she nodded once and then kissed me on the forehead.

"Take care of yourself," she said with a small smile before tearing herself from my grasp.

Sovannmacha turned away and dove back into the sea again.

In the midst of the raging chaos, my heart clenched with sorrow. I watched her golden tail flicking through the waves. When the mermaid queen disappeared, I realized this time, she would never come back.