Kingdom of Salt and Sirens

by J. A. Armitage

  The cave looked just like any other. I might even have passed it a time or two while I was out exploring with Shelbie. Yet I'd never realised someone lived there. Just another thing I should feel guilty for.

  "Hello?" I called out, only half-convinced I'd get any answer at all.

  Nothing.

  What a surprise.

  Despite the disappointment, I swam inside, Shelbie following just behind. I'd never leave her behind. Especially for something as important as this. She wouldn't let me either. Shelbie was my almost constant companion. She only left me when she had to go up for air.

  "Hello?" I called again.

  "Has no one ever told you it's rude not to knock?" an older voice replied.

  I jumped, not having expected anyone to answer from behind me. I batted my tail, spinning myself in the sea and facing the woman now in front of me. She was beautiful, with icy blue hair and silver tail that glimmered in the light. A far more interesting combination than my own dark hair and green tail.

  "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, I just came to ask about..."

  "Getting your soul back. Yes, I know. That's the only reason anyone comes here anymore. There's not much I can tell you though."

  "Not much is better than nothing," I responded. "Please tell me."

  She sighed. "Alright then, this way." She swam deeper into the cave, leaving me no choice but to follow.

  I should have asked her name. Or made some other attempt to be more personable. Usually, I was good at that kind of thing. It was just the stress of the situation getting to me.

  "Why don't you sit down?" She gestured towards a crude driftwood bench that she'd probably carved herself.

  Not knowing what else to do, I perched myself on it, letting Shelbie rest on my lap.

  "Do you have a name?" she asked, busying herself with something other than looking at me.

  "Mari," I whispered, suddenly unsure of myself.

  "Demetra," she responded.

  "It's lovely to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," I lied.

  She laughed. "I doubt that. Other mer only hear about me if they take the loss of their soul badly."

  I shuffled uncomfortably.

  "How did they get yours?"

  "I saved a man," I answered, feeling monumentally stupid. "Why did no one warn me?" I asked.

  "It feels like thousands of tiny knives are shredding the inside of our mouths if we try and tell children." She turned to study me, an intrigued look on her face. "You want to get your soul back, don't you?"

  "Can I?" I didn't even try to cover up the eagerness in my voice.

  "That depends. I've sent many a mer on a quest to get their soul back. None have returned yet. If you're willing to risk your life for your soul, then I can send you to the right place."

  "And if I am?"

  "What makes you so certain life isn't worth living without one?" she asked.

  "I'm sure it is. It's not my life I'm worried about," I admitted.

  "Surely you're a bit young to be thinking about death."

  "Then let me go because I can save the other souls."

  She paused, weighing up whether I was telling the truth. I was. Or at least, I thought I was. If I could save everyone, then I would. "Alright. But it will be dangerous."

  "I didn't think it wouldn't be." Nothing about this situation felt right, and I knew that if there was even a chance of making it right and rejoining my soul and body once more, I had to take it.

  "You'll need to go to land-"

  "How? I don't have legs." I gestured towards my tail needlessly. She knew what I was, she didn't need telling that I couldn't walk on land.

  "I have a potion for that. And for your pet too, if she wants to take it."

  I stroked Shelbie's head, unsure how to answer that. I didn't want to risk anything happening to her, but I doubted she'd let me travel on land without her. It would certainly be nice to have company while undertaking the most dangerous trip of my life.

  "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me yet, young Mari. Remember my soul is also in your hands."

  "Why haven't you gone after it yourself?" I asked, unable to keep my curiosity at bay.

  "Because without it, I saw a few people for who they really were and, to me, that was worth the price I paid."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. People's true natures, both mer and human, are always worth knowing. Just remember that you shouldn't trust anyone's view of you until you've lost all value to them."

  A chill swept through me. That wasn't a nice thing to consider at all. No one had treated me too badly yet, but maybe that was because they didn't know about my soulless state. Though it could have more to do with people's regards for Dad rather than anything else. Whatever it was, there was no rush to find out.

  "How do I free the souls once I'm there?"

  "That is unclear. I'm led to believe they'll be kept in some kind of container. If you break the chains that bind them, you should set them free."

  "And it's as simple as that?"

  She laughed bitterly. "Simple? Nothing about this is simple. First, you have to find the souls, then you have to work out how to break whatever it is binding them. No one has ever been successful, so we don't even know if that will be enough to recombine your body and soul either."

  "Right." I nodded, at a complete loss for anything else to say. Of all the things I imagined could happen on my eighteenth birthday, it was safe to say that this was not one of them.

  "Are you sure you want to take this quest on as your own?" she asked.

  "I don't believe I have any choice," I responded. "If I don't, I'll be soulless. Maybe this way I can reunite some other people with theirs too." I really hoped I could. I imagined being without a soul wasn't good for anyone.

  "Don't trust anyone or anything when you're on land. You'll hear stories about a mermaid who fell in love with a Prince. Don't believe them. No man will be your salvation."

  I frowned. I'd heard the story about the Prince before, but I couldn't recall the details. Needless to say, I wasn't very interested in anything a man could provide. I had one goal with going on land, and that was to free our souls. No one was going to distract me from that.

  "Thank you for the advice."

  "Are you still wanting to do this?" She gave me a disbelieving look, almost like she expected me to change my mind.

  "Yes. I need to do this."

  "Very well. Swim to the shore and drink this. Give the smaller bottle to your seal if she's willing to take it. The legs will hurt at first, but once you're used to them, they'll be less of an annoyance." She handed me two small vials of swirling blue liquid. "And good luck. You'll need it."

  4

  The rocks cut into my hands as I dragged myself up on to the shore. My tail was useless. I could already feel how it was going to get in the way.

  "I guess this is it then," I said to Shelbie, who was still bobbing up and down in the water.

  Taking the larger of the two vials, I uncorked it and drank the lot. It didn't taste bad. Far from it. There was just no taste at all.

  Discarding it, I looked back at Shelbie. "Do you want to join me?"

  She made a sharp movement which I assumed was a yes, though I wasn't too sure. Even so, I leaned down and scooped her up, thankful for the strong muscles in my tail for keeping me steady.

  "You don't have to drink this if you don't want," I told her, determined not to put her in harm's way.

  She opened her mouth wide, clearly giving me permission to drop the liquid in.

  I took a deep breath. If this was what she wanted too, then there would be no arguing with her. She'd follow me on land whether she had a suitable form or not, and I was under no illusions what they'd do to a random seal caught on land. That wasn't going to happen on my watch. She was far too precious to me.

  She licked her lips the moment the potion slipped down her throat. Here went nothing.

  I waited, unsure of what to
expect. After what felt like forever, my tail began to tingle, and the green colour started to fade. A sharp pain sliced the middle of me and I almost screamed out. At least it wasn't as bad as losing my soul had been. Though maybe it was. Perhaps I just couldn't feel pain like I used to because the part of me that felt it had been destroyed.

  That was messed up. I was missing being in pain.

  Looking down, I found two perfectly formed legs in front of me. I wiggled my new toes, surprised at how easy it was. Turning over so I was on my hands and knees, I tried to push myself into a vertical position. That was what all the humans I'd ever seen had done with their legs.

  The moment my feet were under me, I wobbled and fell on my ass.

  "Ow." Alright, I could still feel pain then. I'd just been being melodramatic before.

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten, hoping it would centre me and let me focus on getting my body under control. I didn't want to fail before I'd even begun.

  "Start by putting your clothes on," a male voice said.

  I craned my neck around, surprised to be hearing anyone. The man wasn't anything like I expected. He couldn't have been any older than I was and he shimmered in the sunlight. Was he a ghost? Or just some figment of my imagination. Either seemed more likely than him being human.

  "Hello?" A figment of my imagination wouldn't respond to a simple greeting. Somehow, I knew that would be true.

  "Hi," he responded, giving me an awkward wave. "You brought clothes? Right?"

  I nodded. The sea witch had given me a waterproof bag filled with all the things I might need as soon as I reached land. Once I'd reunited our souls with our bodies, I'd make sure she got the recognition she deserved for the part she played in saving so many people.

  "I suggest you put them on before you stand up. If one of the humans sees you before you do, you'll end up arrested.

  My eyes widened. I didn't want that. I hadn't realised that being naked would be such a problem on land, it was the norm beneath the water. I should have known. Otherwise, the sea witch wouldn't have sent clothes with me.

  Rummaging through the bag, I pulled out what she'd placed there, noting how sturdy the material seemed to be. And how black. It wasn't a colour I particularly liked, but right now, I didn't have much choice and would wear what I was given.

  With a lot of fumbling, I managed to dress myself, conscious of the man's eyes on me but not intimidated by it. It almost felt like he was another mer, and not someone I needed to worry about at all.

  "Who are you?" I asked him.

  "Someone like you," he answered cryptically.

  I twisted around properly now I was dressed and took another good look at him. He clearly wasn't mer, which could only mean that what he had in common with me was the state of his soul.

  I nodded, not wanting to voice the weakness out loud. Instead, I looked over to where Shelbie had curled up after taking her version of the potion, only to find a black dog in her place, about the same size as she'd been, but a lot fluffier.

  "Shelbie?" I asked.

  She bounded over and pushed a head beneath my hand. I scratched absentmindedly, no doubt in my mind that this was the same animal I'd spent most of my life around, even if she looked a little different. Which hardly mattered really. I looked different too.

  "Did the sea witch send you?" I asked the man, eager to know where he'd come from.

  He shook his head. "I'm sorry, she didn't. I only came here because I saw you struggling."

  "And you knew how to help?"

  He shrugged. "I had a vague idea. Not many mer come on land."

  "I'm starting to understand why." I pressed my hand to my stomach, mourning the loss of the thing I'd never even thought about before.

  "Are you ready to try and stand again?" I didn't call him out on changing the subject. Not when I was almost glad he had.

  "Yes, please."

  "Okay. You need to go slowly. Remember when you first learned to swim?"

  I nodded. The whole process had been torture from start to finish. But at the end of it, there had been nothing more wondrous than the ability to travel on my own.

  "This is a bit like that. Don't move too quickly at first. You'll have to find a new centre of balance while you walk. But you'll pick it up quickly. I've never seen a mer not."

  How old was he? He might look my age, but if he was talking about all the mer he'd seen come on land, then he couldn't be. As far as I knew, no one had even ventured this far in years. No one dared to. At least I now understood why.

  Following his advice, and stifling my questions, for now, I got to my feet. My whole body trembled, not used to the distribution of my weight like this. I couldn't let myself falter though. I had too much I needed to achieve, the last thing I wanted was to collapse again and draw it out longer than I had to.

  "Brilliant. Now take a step forward," he instructed.

  Slowly, I put one foot in front of the other. Shelbie rushed around my feet, not needing nearly as long to acclimatise to the new set of legs. Why couldn't I have it as easy?

  Another step forward. Another. Another.

  I laughed. This wasn't too bad. I could feel what the man meant about my centre of balance, but other than that, I felt like I was getting the hang of this.

  "You're doing well."

  It was only then that I realised I didn't know his name. Nor did he know mine. Maybe that was more purposeful than I first thought. Or maybe it was just rude of me not to ask.

  "What's your name?" I risked.

  "Aaron. Yours?"

  "Mari." I stumbled, and he reached out to catch me, only for his hands to go through me. "You're not..."

  "I can be," he cut me off. "Sometimes. But not as often as I'd like."

  "I'm sorry," I whispered.

  "Don't be. You didn't do anything to make this happen." Something unfamiliar crossed across his face. If it had made any sense to me, I'd have said it was hope I saw. But that couldn't possibly be right.

  "I'm here to free mer souls. Maybe if I find them, I can find yours too?" I ventured, hoping I was right in thinking that was what we had in common. It was what made the most sense to me, but it might insult him more than I'd intended to if I was wrong.

  "I doubt you can, but thank you for the offer." He seemed sincere, but I didn't like the way he seemed so defeated about it.

  "I can at least try."

  He nodded. "Maybe. But I won't hold my breath. You have my promise of help, so long as I'm able."

  "Thank you." I was certain my eyes lit up at the offer. Any help was greatly appreciated. Especially if it came from a handsome, if somewhat transparent, man.

  I looked around, trying to work out which way I needed to go.

  "That way." Aaron pointed towards a gap in the rocks. "It'll take you towards the city. After that, you'll have to find your own way."

  "Thanks," I said again. I wasn't even sure I'd have gotten this far without him. I hoped his offer of help was a sincere one. I was going to need it if I was going to save the mers' souls.

  And I was going to succeed. No matter what it took.

  5

  I caught myself on the wall, not wanting to admit that I was struggling to walk, but having to slow down for fear of doing some permanent damage to my now human body. I'd never had to deal with being this breakable and it wasn't a great feeling.

  "Are you okay?" a somewhat familiar male voice asked.

  I looked up, unsure who I'd find until the dark hair clicked into place.

  "You?" I asked, feeling my eyes widen.

  Something odd crossed across his face. Almost like shock. But it was gone before I could confirm what it was lurking in his eyes.

  "Yes, me. But only because of you." He gave me a charming smile.

  "I'm glad you made it alright." A warm glow filled me as the realisation sunk in. He was only alive because of me. I'd made a difference in someone's life. Maybe that was worth losing my soul over. Who would decide that? I supposed it depen
ded whether or not there was a god. Or gods. I wasn't picky about which.

  "I did. Thank you for that."

  We stood looking at each other awkwardly. I had no idea what etiquette was expected on land when it came to situations like this.

  "Would you like to go for a drink?" he asked.

  Would I? Was that the kind of thing I should agree to?

  I nodded, unsure what else to do. "That would be lovely."

  "I know a quiet place down the street here, you can tell me how you gained legs." He gave me another winning smile.

  "Alright, but I might need a hand getting there." I gestured down at my legs, already teetering unsteadily again. It was taking longer than I wanted to accept to get used to them.

  A gust of wind blew past me. That was odd. It had been such a calm day up until that random gust. Was there something in that?

  "What's your name?" I asked as he slipped an arm around my waist and helped me to stand.

  "Erickson. Yours?"

  "Mari." Maybe I should have given him a false name, but it was too late to second guess myself now, we were already on our way to the counter.

  "I have a lot of questions for you, Mari."

  "I hope you'll answer some for me too," I responded, hobbling along with his help. At least I wasn't falling over still. That would be embarrassing. Shelbie darted in front of us, yapping and checking on me. That was something at least. She hadn't been changed at all by her transformation into a dog.

  "Here we are." He pointed towards a small cafe with his free hand.

  Had he purposefully ignored my question? I didn't dwell on that too much. I wasn't in the habit of not trusting people. Perhaps I should be after what happened to my soul and the advice I’d been given. In his case, it seemed like I should though. I'd saved his life, which meant he owed me.

  The inside of the cafe was warm and homey, with worn wooden tables and comfortable looking chairs. Far more comfortable than the ones we had under the sea. Apparently, that was one of the advantages of living on land. Though so far, I hadn't seen enough of those to want to stay here permanently.