When Alani heard the song which she herd from the egg she knew she was getting close. Eventually she found a cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Alani saw shrewd faces. The merpeople had greyish skins and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Alani as she swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch her better, their powerful, silver fishtails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.