Enkansh and Drevin returned to the clamshell bed with 8 more mermen. From the sheer numbers of worms they'd seen arriving, the mers were just barely enough to drive the worms away to another place.

The mer prince had returned with a heavy heart. He wanted to mourn the death of a new friend but it was imperative that they quickly get the human out of the snake prison he was locked inside.

Enkansh though was more irritable than sad. The siren had a way of channelling most of his emotions through the pipes of surliness. True to his nature, he wore a dark face the entire time they travelled back and forth between the clamshell bed and Silisia.

"The snakes are gone,

" the siren said as he looked down at the spot where a ball of red had previously been.

"And so is the human's body.

"

A terrible speculation was arrived at by all of them. Maybe the snakes had released Syryn's body and he was stolen away by one of the worms looking to score a quick meal, they thought. Drevin was deeply disturbed by the imagery of Syryn being pulverised into digestible bits of meat by a worm deep inside the sand.

"Oh, Syryn....

" the sorrow in his voice plucked the heartstrings of all those who heard him.

Enkansh had his arms folded and was staring at the sand, thoughts heavy with the fate of the human who was supposed to be Silisia's saviour. The Oracle had been wrong then. No, experience told him, the Oracle had never been wrong. Syryn couldn't be dead. How was he going to save Silisia if he was dead?

"Look!

" A guard shouted.

"I see something in the sand!

"

Drevin looked in the direction that the guard was pointing. He could see what looked like a dark-haired head jutting out of the sand. He could recognise that head after all the times he had seen it.

"It's Syryn,

" Enkansh said in a subdued tone.

The unmoving 'dead' Syryn suddenly raised his head and hacked out sand from his mouth. His gills were also filled with sand making them feel gritty and rough.

"Can I get some help?

" He pitifully asked the shocked audience.

Enkansh was the first to make a sound.

"You're alive...

" He hadn't entirely dismissed the idea that Syryn could still be alive but the siren hadn't hoped because hope was a double-edged weapon.

"Syryn!

"

The siren swam right behind the silver-blue mer who was rushing off to pull the human out of the sand.

"Drevin, the worms haven't left!

" Enkansh reminded him.

"We have to be careful or we're going to get dragged in.

"

Drevin need not be told twice. He swam faster than he ever had. The prince held onto a hand that popped out of the sand. With a hard yank that would have destroyed anyone else' arm sockets, Syryn's torso was pulled out of the sand.

"Fuck Drevin! That hurts!

"

The merman paid no attention to Syryn's complaints. With the siren's help, the mage was freed from his sand prison.

And when they were at a safe distance from the sand, Drevin pulled Syryn into a crushing hug that squeezed his ribs inwards.

The mer guards looked away from the intimate scene but it was already etched in their minds. It confirmed the rumours that they heard about them. From the way their prince had hugged the human, it appeared that they were in love with each other.

"Syryn, I'm so happy,

" Drevin's words were heavy with emotion.

"I thought you'd died.

"

"Me too,

" the mage mumbled. His cheek was pressed against warm mer skin. After the ordeal he had gone through, the hug from Drevin felt like a gift.

"We are never going anywhere beyond the borders of Silisia,

" Drevin said to the mage.

"Danger seems to be waiting for you everywhere.

"

Syryn could agree with that. However, he also saw the events in another light. Syryn had the ability to survive harsh situations that would have killed a lesser human. He was physically strong and could understand the language of marine creatures who apparently liked him enough to come to his aid.

"It's fine, Drevin. I survived the shipwreck and then this. There's nothing to worry about.

"

The prince separated from the embrace to check on Syryn. His gaze looked over every inch of skin on Syryn's face, neck, torso, arms, and legs.

"What happened here?

" The prince asked, frowning at the reddened skin on Syryn's hand.

The skin on his fingers and palm were inflamed. The mage hadn't noticed the subtle stinging during his fight with the infinity worm.

"I'm not sure,

" he replied, recalling the wet sensation that he felt while trapped inside the snake ball.

Drevin rubbed his thumb over the palm of Syryn's hand while contemplating the surreal twists that his day had taken.

"We'll go home as soon as the worms have been driven off,

" the prince told him.

"I dont want you getting snatched or encountering any more trouble on the way so we're going to leave together, Syryn.

"

"And you're going to tell us exactly how you survived the snakes and worms,

" Enkansh added like a warning.

"Think carefully Syryn. Don't leave out a single detail of your miraculous escape.

"

The mage nodded. He would just play dumb.

Giving him another subtle look of warning, Enkansh joined the mer guards who were taking out jellyfish toxin from the bladders on their hips.

_____

Drevin and Enkansh were restless the entire trip back to Silisia. Strange did not begin to cover the depth of unexplained that had happened to them in the span of a few hours. Neither could understand why the snakes had attacked Syryn, why the worms had shown up at the clamshell bed and how the frail human had survived the entire ordeal with nothing but a reddened palm for the trouble.

Enkansh had already known that Syryn wasn't just a simple human. The mage's survivability wasn't much of a riddle when he'd experienced first-hand what Syryn was capable of. What he wanted to know was who had been targeting Syryn's life.