After he had done that, Kamahl promised himself he would look into some other kind of work.

Veza swam for all she was worth, but Burke caught her just outside the chasm. He never seemed to get tired, and Veza simply could not keep up the pace. From the mirror around his bodyguard's neck, Laquatus watched as Veza was recaptured.

"Now you are mine," Laquatus said, "along with the empire."

Veza struggled in Burkes grip, but she was staring at the war being waged around her. In the distance, something new was happening on the battlefield. Veza allowed herself a small smile.

"Nothing is yours yet, Laquatus."

"Emperor," a mercenary's voice said, "are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what?"

"Look at the battle. Look! By the depths, what's going on?" Veza looked. Inexplicably, the hundreds and hundreds of serpent warriors who had been grappling with Llawan's soldiers were vanishing in mid-blow. His mercenaries found themselves face-to-face with trained imperial guards, and the guards adjusted much more quickly than their new opponents. Within seconds of the final serpent's disappearance, a hundred of Laquatus's mercenaries fell dead, and the rest fell back in disarray.

"Perhaps you only rented those warriors from the Cabal," Veza called into the mirror. "I'll bet it's not too late to get your deposit back."

"Get my troops back inside the chasm. Burke, kill that wench and bring her body back here."

Veza didn't wait for Burke to comply. Instead, she clamped on to the gel man's thumb with her short, sharp teeth. With a wrench that nearly dislocated her jaw, she tore the digit off and spat it back in its owner's face. Minus his thumb, Burke could not maintain his grip on Veza's wrist, and she was able to kick her way free and dart out into the open ocean.

Burke was close behind, however. Apparently he took any order Laquatus gave him to heart. He elongated his feet to give him more drive, and with each stroke he stretched his arms a little closer to Veza.

When his finger brushed Veza's foot, she panicked and dove for the sea bed. Burke changed course even quicker than she did and actually gained on her before she could hide among the seaweed and silt. She needed to go faster. She needed her tail. It was impossible, though. She couldn't change while moving, and the transformation was extremely painful. Burke would be on her before the process had even begun.

Just as his hand closed around her leg, the empress's ship swam into view. Burke snapped Veza's ankle, and she sank painfully to the sand. She cradled her injured leg and wondered why he wasn't finishing her off. She looked up, and saw the reason.

Burke was beset by the empress's barracuda. All twelve of the spindly killer fish circled around him, breaking their teeth on his body and occasionally ripping small chunks off. The pieces of Burke's body immediately floated back and rejoined the main mass. The barracuda were ill-equipped to deal with something that didn't panic, bleed, or feel pain.

Burke, on the other hand, was killing the barracuda with both hands. They were strong and they were fierce, but they were not faster than Burke, and they had bones he could break. Five of the fish already floated dead in the water around him. In a matter of seconds he would be through them and ready to finish Veza.

Veza concentrated. Laquatus was wrong, magic wasn't about being mentally, physically, and morally flexible. It was about understanding the world and your place in it. Veza felt the powerful tides flowing out of the chasm, felt the palpable force of the civil war around her, felt the bond between the barracuda and Llawan. I am a servant of Mer, Veza reminded herself. I am of the sea.

"Change," she commanded, and her legs merged seamlessly and painlessly into a powerful fish's tail. Burke was just finishing off the last of the barracuda when he noticed Veza's metamorphosis. He elongated his arm across the gap between them to clutch at her throat, but she shot off like an arrow through the air. She laughed, exhilarated as she screamed toward the empress's vessel, until she felt Burke's hand close round her lower extremities once more. The gel man's arm had continued to stretch after her as she swam, and now he had her snared in a long, tough line of his own bodily substance. He didn't have much power at this distance, but he was able to hold her fast. She now outweighed Burke, so he couldn't draw her toward him, but he was quickly pulling himself closer to her by retracting his arm and letting her weight carry him forward. Veza thrashed and clawed at Burke s unyielding hand.

Suddenly, the featureless killer stopped. Through the water, Veza could make out Laquatus's voice from the mirror around his servant's neck. Burke stood still, nodded, then released Veza's tail. He struck out, back toward the chasm.

Laquatus must have summoned him home. There was a cloud of bubbles and a whirling sensation, and Veza found herself and the remaining barracuda on the bridge of the Llawan's vessel.

"Greetings, Veza. We are so glad to see you alive. Is all as you described it to Olsham?" "It is, Empress."

"Then, my mystic, if you would begin?"

The cephalid mystic nodded and once more formed a complicated symbol with his multiple arms. Llawan joined him, and between the two of them they wound up looking like a strange new alphabet.

Veza looked to the screen. All of Laquatus's mercenaries had retreated back into the chasm and were fending off Llawan's troops. Veza tapped the captain on the shoulder and said, "Pull those guards away from there." He looked dubious, but he decided not to question her authority. Several seconds later, the imperial troops backed off.

"All clear, Empress." Veza anxiously counted the seconds. Once more, Veza spotted the flow of the shield defenders' transparent bodies as they positioned themselves in front of the chasm. "The shield is in position."

Llawan clicked, and her shield defenders formed their barrier, larger and thinner than they had ever created before. It sparkled like a sheet of ice, and Veza could even see a ghostly reflection of the empress's troops in it. Olsham reached out and traced a huge circle in the water before him, and the huge convex shield tilted slightly, sparking at its edges and reflecting the light back upon itself.

At last, a huge silver-white plane of energy flickered across the transparent shield. The energy flowed past the empress's servants and continued out to cover the mouth of the chasm. It was almost a mile across, wide enough to overlap the chasm opening by several hundred feet on both sides. It stretched from the ocean floor to the water's surface, and Veza knew it would stretch across the entire chasm, the magical impulses relayed by the crystals she herself had installed, to enclose the entire flood zone in a huge tunnel of mystical energy. A cheer went up among the bridge crew.

Olsham and Llawan opened their eyes. Olsham smiled and said, "Behold, Empress. The largest water portal ever created. Or rather, the largest portal barrier ever created. Nothing outside the chasm can get in, and-"

"Nothing inside can get out. As always, Olsham, you exceed our expectations." Llawan turned and noticed Veza's wound. "All hail the noble sacrifice made by our comrades, warriors and defenders both. And captain, get a medic to the bridge," she snapped. "Our valued sister is injured. Are you blind?" "Sorry, my empress."

Llawan floated down and gathered Veza up in her forelimbs. "Is the damage permanent?"

"No, Empress. I think it's a simple fracture." She flexed her tail and winced. "A very painful one, but a simple one."

"Veza," Llawan said softly. "Are you sure that Laquatus and all his troops were inside the chasm when the portal was created?" "Yes, Empress."