Chapter 1: Prologue

Crash. Boom. Six year old Sandra Shan hated heavy storms especially when the sounds of thunder and lightning felt like an explosion. Clasping her ears together, she dug into the folds of the covers hoping to drown out the noise outside.

“Oh honey, it’s okay,” reassured a sweet voice. “It’s only thunder. It can’t hurt you.”

Sandra’s mother Linda always knew what to say. She sat down on the bed, parted the dark hair from Sandra’s face, massaged her back, and began to sing.

“Remember the words?”

Of course she did. How could she not? Her mother had been singing it to her since she was in diapers.

“Okay Sandra sing with me,” Linda smiled. “Join me when you’re ready.”

Honor thy King Atlas
True ruler of the Sea
Unite the four princesses
And bring back Atlantis to harmony.

As usual Sandra preferred to hum the tune which made her mother laugh. At the moment, she didn’t feel like singing. Thunder and lightning echoed even louder.

“Read me a story mommy,” begged Sandra covering her ears again. “Please.”

“Oh all right,” giggled Linda. “If this will get you to sleep then so be it. What story would like to me to read?”

“Atlas and the Sea Kingdom!” squealed Sandra.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me? You seem to love that book,” said Linda. She turned toward the bookshelf to find it. Slipping a finger through each spine of every picture book, she finally stopped at one bound together by old leather permeated by the aroma of sea water. Lying next to her daughter, Linda opened up the worn out pages filled with ancient text and drawings as she began to read to Sandra her story.

“Long ago when ancient Gods ruled over the world of Man,” she began. “There existed the magical city known as Atlantis. Surrounded entirely by water and ruled by the wise King Atlas, Atlantis paid tribute to the sea god Poseidon who honored the Atlanteans with vast array of magical gifts, powers, and even protection. However, there was disarray within the kingdom as King Atlas’s jealous brother Prince Gadeirus sought to covet the throne for himself. Declaring war against the nearby land kingdoms, Gadeirus murdered a young princess who happened to be the human daughter of Poseidon and framed Atlas for the crime.”

“That was bad,” muttered Sandra clutching her covers even closer.

“Yes it certainly was,” responded Linda as read on. “Upon learning that his favorite daughter had been killed and believing Atlas to be the culprit, Poseidon flooded Atlantis drowning the great city into the ocean. Many Atlanteans did not survive but those that did, including King Atlas and Gadeirus, were cursed by Poseidon to live as immortal sea creatures with the bodies of both a human and a fish.”

“Mermaids!” laughed Sandra with glee.

“Yes honey. Mermaids.” Linda sighed. “As the legend goes, King Atlas and the surviving Atlanteans lived for centuries underwater flourishing and adapting to life as a magical undersea kingdom. Eventually, Prince Gadeirus’s betrayal was discovered by Atlas and Poseidon. To punish the traitor, the sea god banished him to the deepest, darkest depths of ocean floor where they say he still plots to one day overthrow his brother and take over the city. As for King Atlas and the seafolk, the long years have been difficult for them as they longed to return to the world of humans. With the blessing of Poseidon, many Atlanteans began to surface on land. Some even remained, settled down with the humans, and even had children. However, the call of the sea proved to be much stronger as the seafolk returned to Atlantis with their children forever turning their back on the land dwellers.”

“Mommy, did King Atlas visit the land too?” asked Sandra.

“Sandra I’ve read you this story a billion times and the answer is always yes,” clucked Linda. “King Atlas also missed being on land and because he had no children of his own to be heirs to his throne one day left Atlantis to the world of humans. Once on land he seduced several mortal women whom bore him a daughter and each carried the first initial C in their name…”

“Like Cassandra!” corrected Sandra.

“Yes just like your full name Cassandra,” said Linda. “Anyway, King Atlas vowed that once each of his daughters reached their full age then his magical gifts would be bestowed upon them. When that happens, it is expected that his daughters must leave the world of land to return to Atlantis to claim their rightful positions as monarchs of the undersea kingdom.”

“Mommy what is a monarch?” asked Sandra.

“A monarch is someone who leads kingdom like a king, queen, prince or princess…”

Linda’s explanation was interrupted as a loud pounding came at the front door. It looked like Sandra’s bedtime story would have to wait.

“Stay here,” she ordered her daughter. “Don’t leave your bedroom until I tell you to.” Linda slowly shut the door as she went downstairs to answer the door.

A few minutes of inaudible murmurs could be heard as Sandra got out of bed to listen through bedroom door. From what she could interpret, her mother was shouting as some other voices answered back in response. Curiosity kept eating away at her as she slowly turned the knob of her bedroom door open just a smidge before sneaking near the railing of the stairs to overhear the conversation downstairs. The loudest being her mother’s while a male and female returned the discussion.

“I TOLD HIM THAT I DON’T NEED HIS PROTECTION! I CAN TAKE CARE OF HER BY MYSELF!”

“Linda, it is not safe here! We can find another sanctuary to take you both to. His enemies are increasing and will stop at nothing to get to her!”

“WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS? SURELY, YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THEM?”

“I assure you we have everyone safely hidden away. There is no way they can be traced. Our sources have informed us that you have been compromised and there are spies ready to come after you at any moment. We have to leave here now!”

“WE ARE NOT LEAVING! I’M TIRED OF RUNNING! EVER SINCE I MET THAT MAN OUR LIVES HAVE BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF ALWAYS HAVING TO LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER…”

“Linda, think about the danger you’re putting yourselves in…”

CRASH! BOOM! SMASH! The storm kept getting louder. Sandra could not hold her ears any longer as she called out.

“Mommy!” she wailed from the top of stairs.

Her mother turned toward her with shock as she mouthed the words.

“Sandra, go back to your room…”

Yet those words stopped the moment the spraying of broken glass, splintered wood, concrete, dirt and debris exploded through the windows and doors. A blinding light flashed across Sandra’s eyes as she felt herself lifted up by a hulking presence. She attempted to scream for her mother but to no avail as she saw a mixture of bright lights and shadows overlapping each other before the strong stench of smoke filled her nose. Immediately the room turned black as the crackle of red and orange flame engulfed the house into an instant inferno. Sandra tried to keep eyes opened as the smoked stung her vision at the same time she kept coughing through the haze. Tears filled her eyes as she felt herself being carried away from some unknown force before she made one final glance as the image got further and further away.

Lying facedown on the floor was her mother surrounded by a pool of blood. Sandra tried to call out to her mother one more time as the strange presence carried her off. Exhausted and dizzy, she succumbed to the blackness.