by Tricia Barr
“My darling Felicity,” the general bellowed so all could hear. “You have blossomed into a beautiful young woman, and as such, you deserve a trinket fit for a woman. My gift to you.”
He opened the box in his hand and held up a stunningly gaudy necklace. The effervescent colors of what was undeniably their stone winked at them clandestinely, making Marcus’s heart race. How foolish of him to frivolously give such a treasure away. Even if he hadn’t known its true value, he should have known that such a rare stone was worth keeping. But now that he did know its value, knowing that he had not seen its like in over two thousand years, he ached for it. The longing was almost enough to make him shove through all these people, snatch the necklace, and resort to whatever violence necessary for his escape.
His irrational fantasy shattered at the sound of applause from the crowd as the general secured the necklace around Felicity’s long neck.
After the adoring crowd gathered around Felicity and caused enough separation between the general and his daughter, Ayanna went to draw the general away, leaving Marcus to his devilish task. He put on his most debonair façade and glided over to the young debutante.
The girl was fairly pretty, innocent as a vestal virgin, and clearly overwhelmed by all the attention she was getting from the strangers who wanted to gawk at her neck. He suddenly knew exactly what his plan was to be.
“Good evening, Miss Felicity,” he said with a voice like honey. “Could I possibly steal you away for a dance?”
The young girl blushed furiously and nodded without a word, suddenly forgetting her admirers and taking his hand as if they were completely alone in the courtyard. He led her to the darkest, farthest end of the courtyard, where they could enjoy some privacy for him to work his magic. He placed his hands on her in a waltz stance, and her little body melted like butter.
“I must say, that is a gorgeous necklace,” Marcus said. “But it does not do your neck justice. You are too fair, too radiant, and this clunky thing makes you appear frail as though you are under a huge weight. If I might be so bold, I have a necklace that would make you look like a goddess. And if you will accept it, I would be honored to take you as my wife.”
She swooned quite dramatically, and he felt the smallest pang of guilt for manipulating the heart of one so innocent. But it needed to be done.
With his power to create illusions, he imagined a necklace made of stars and moonlight, a delicate and divine piece of jewelry, and it materialized in his open hand. Felicity’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. She stared at it for a long time, and at him, and then she did something he did not expect—she threw herself at him and trapped his mouth with hers. He was so well-versed in the language of tongue that he nearly forgot what he was supposed to be doing; too many years of being a dedicated scoundrel.
She drew back enough to say, “Come with me upstairs,” then pulled him through the shadows and into the house. He had assumed she would be so dazzled by the imaginary necklace that he could simply remove the real necklace and put the fake one on her neck. That plan had clearly backfired, and if he had any hopes of removing that necklace he would have to remove a few articles of clothing as well.
She took him into what he presumed was her room and shut the door behind them. She pushed him on the bed and began ripping at his clothes. He was momentarily paralyzed with confused indecision. The old him wouldn’t have hesitated to take whatever he wanted from this girl. But he wasn’t just Marcus the pirate anymore. He knew himself, knew his purpose and knew that his soul mate was out there waiting for him somewhere. On the other hand, his carnal nature that had been ruthlessly indulged in this current lifetime was demanding to be satisfied. Then again, this girl was so innocent, if he gave in to her urges she would never be able to marry the caliber of man she was destined for. But he needed that necklace and getting it was all that mattered.
Finally decided, he went along with it, tugging at the laces on her dress. With one hand, he touched her in ways he was sure she had never been touched before, sending violent shivers through her whole body, while the other hand stealthily unclasped the necklace and slid it away.
Too late, they heard voices just before the door opened. They startled and looked at the door to see Ayanna, wearing an apologetic frown, and the general, outraged to the point of being beat red in the face.
“You BASTARD!” he roared.
“Gotta go, lovely meeting you,” Marcus said hastily to Felicity as he slid out from under her, hopped off the bed and grabbed Ayanna to race down the hall, narrowly escaping multiple swipes of the general’s hands. They sprinted through the house and out into the night, not stopping until they were far enough into the shadows.
“Well, I’m glad at least one of us had fun,” Ayanna said teasingly.
Even though he knew she was joking, he felt guilty, as if he had been unfaithful. Unfaithful to a woman somewhere out in the world who didn’t even know he existed. Again, a confusing tempest of emotions swirled within him.
“I hope you got more than a handful of flesh,” she continued.
He held up the necklace. He pried the stone from the prongs and gave the empty necklace to Ayanna. “A prize for your troubles.” Then he quickly stuffed the stone into his inner breast pocket. “We have to find a safe place to keep the stone,” he thought out loud. “I don’t know how feasible our old treasury would be. That area of the world has become so violent, it would be too much of a risk to take the stone to Egypt.”
“I agree,” Ayanna said. “There is the possibility of a bank. We could entrust the stone to a bank with a long term account.”
“But then we stand the risk of someone like me coming along and robbing them,” Marcus pointed out. “No, it has to be somewhere that only we can find, that only we can access, just like the tomb.”
“Nevermind the fact that the tomb was an accident of circumstance,” Ayanna said. “We already had the tomb in place long before we found the first stone fragment. This time, we are completely unprepared.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Marcus said. They walked the streets of Portsmouth in silence for a few moments. He certainly didn’t feel comfortable here, and it was only a matter of time before the general would come looking for him to get his daughter’s necklace back. “We have to leave here, first thing tomorrow. We are wanted now. We will head back to the Caribbean for now, and hopefully come up with something along the way.”
Ayanna nodded, and they went back to their lodgings to await the dawn and the return of his crew.
****
Marcus sat at his desk in his Captain’s Quarters, staring back and forth between a large map of the Caribbean Sea and a sketch of his soul mate that he had drawn from his dreams of her. It had been five years since he had stolen back the stone fragment, five years that he and Ayanna had been searching for an adequate hiding place for it, and five years that he had been on the run from General Copeland. Marcus’s “violation” of the general’s daughter had set him on the war path. It used to be that General Copeland would keep naval ships away from Marcus’s territories, and lead them astray in search of pirate activity. But now that Marcus had crossed him, the general himself was leading patrols into Marcus’s usual ports. Marcus had not stopped moving since the day they stole the necklace.
But that didn’t bother him. He was searching. He was hoping to find a yet uncharted island that would serve as a perfect hiding place for the stone, preferably somewhere with underwater caves that required longer submerged swims than the average human could withstand; because of his control over water, he could stay under for long stretches of time without the need to surface for air. He had had no such luck yet.
He’d had no such luck in his other, more personal endeavor either—finding her. He was beginning to think he wouldn’t meet her in this life. Ayanna had told him that there had been plenty of lives in which she met her without him, so that means that there were lives that they would spend without each other. That might have been alr
ight before when he believed she was just a sweet dream, but knowing that he had a great love out there and that he may not live to be with her was soul crushing.
Suddenly, the first mate Christian burst through the door. “Captain, we have company!”
Knowing what that must mean, Marcus followed Christian onto the deck. Ayanna handed him a scope and pointed directly behind them. Marcus looked into the scope and, in the fading light of the coming dusk, saw two naval vessels approaching in the distance. General Copeland.
“Arm the cannons!” Marcus ordered. “Christian, head into the Eastern waters. We can lose them in the rocks.”
“But Captian, that’s—” Christian was about to say.
“I know, and that might scare them off,” Marcus interjected.
Christian nodded with superstitious caution, then skipped up the stairs to take the wheel.
It had already been Marcus’s plan to delve into the region of waters known as the Bermuda Triangle. There was so much fear of the area that it had never been fully explored, fully charted, and there may be an island there that would serve as the perfect hiding place for the stone. The timing was ideal for an attack from the general. Though Marcus was certain the general would not be dissuaded by superstition, his men might; at the very least, it would slow them down. As far as fear of facing a shipwreck himself, Marcus was confident that his power over water would lead them through any obstacle, should there be any, supernatural or otherwise.
The naval ships were gaining on them quickly. Marcus could see the craggy rocks jutting up from the sea’s surface in the distance ahead. He didn’t want to reach them just yet. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the sea beneath them, felt its currents as if they were an extension of his own body, and willed them to slow down his ship while pulling the naval ships closer. He would lead them into the rocks, then once they were surrounded, he would cast a wave to hurl them against the rocks. Having his crew arm the cannons was just a security measure.
He and Ayanna stood stalwart as his the men of his crew ran about the deck doing their duties, some shouting commands from the masts’ rafters, some pulling and fastening ropes, and some preparing guns and swords for battle.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Ayanna asked, nervously glancing at the upcoming rocks.
“At least half the time,” he joked.
Within minutes, the naval ships were upon them, and all three ships were just entering the rocky waters. The naval ships flanked him, one on each side, both getting their cannons ready to fire. Before they could get too close, Marcus summoned a massive wave, and like an arm rising out of the sea, it smashed the left ship against a rather tall rock. The crashing of the sea drowned out the sounds of panicked screams and snapping wood.
Then he turned his attention to the ship on his right. He could see the general’s face, eyes narrowed in a bloodthirsty scowl that exaggerated the wrinkles of his face. He was staring at Marcus with such determined vengeance that he wasn’t even phased that his partner ship had just been destroyed.
Not giving the general the chance to give the fire order, Marcus summoned the waters on his right side. But a sudden disturbance of his vessel knocked him and his concentration off balance, and the wave that rose came only high enough to douse the naval ship’s cannons, the turbulence pulling most of them out and into the sea along with a few members of the crew.
Confused by the unexplained disturbance his ship had just roughed, Marcus bellowed out, “Fire cannons!”
Instantly, booms sounded from below and balls of iron shot into the side of the naval ship. Marcus quickly glanced ahead, noting that they would soon be out of the rocks, and he needed to wreck them now. But before he could beckon another wave, members of the naval crew swung across the divide on ropes and most landed safely on his deck. Gun fire commenced and he yelled once more, “Fire cannons!”
Another sudden pulse from the sea rocked both ships, tipping his ship so much that the cannon balls smashed diagonally up through the rafters of the naval ship’s deck.
“What are you doing?” Ayanna yelled, dodging a stray bullet.
“It’s not me,” he yelled back. “There’s something in these waters, I can’t quite control it.”
A throaty roar from the right caught his attention, and he drew up his sword just in time to fend off a blow from General Copeland. The man’s face was raving mad as he swung again and again relentlessly. His strength outmatched Marcus’s own, each blow shaking Marcus and bending his arms ever so much more.
“Where is the necklace!?” the general barked, his spittle lost among the splashing from the inexplicable turbulence.
Marcus fought on, struggling to think of a solution, for he knew his strength would soon give out and he’d be at the general’s mercy. He tried to twist out of the general’s reach, but the general lunged forward, his blow knocking Marcus backward onto the deck.
There was a raucous crack, and Marcus’s world was tipped into vertigo. Splinters flew everywhere, meeting flying bullets, and screams chorused from every direction. It took Marcus a few very slow seconds to realize what was happening. The ships had crashed into each other, and with such force that each had been cracked in half. The bow of the ship was tipping toward its fissure point, and he was slipping closer to the water, as was the general.
There was no denying it, this ship was going down. He was not going to lose that stone. He refused to let it get lost in the sea, they may never find it again. He hurled himself up, grasping at uprooted boards until he reached the door of his quarters. Using all his weight, he propelled himself upward and through the door, just as a blazing white hot pain shot through his left side from behind. He peered over his shoulder just long enough to see the general pointing a gun at him. Marcus dismissed all of this and continued, with enormous physical strain, toward his sliding desk. He fumbled through the drawers and snatched the stone with a death grip, pressing it against his heart just as the waters rushed up over his head.
He floundered out of his submerged captain’s quarters and into the open sea, trying not to panic and to stay afloat as he watched the masts of ship sinking further and further into the sea. All around him and below him, he saw men plunging to their deaths. His men, navy men, it didn’t matter now. He couldn’t see the general. He couldn’t see Ayanna either. But he did see red strings tentacling out in the water all around him. He realized with a numbing acceptance that this was his own blood. The general had shot him, and he was losing blood quickly. The lack of pain frightened him more than anything else. I’m going to die.
A strange melody came echoing through the water, similar to a whale’s song but with more structure, and with multiple tones at once, a full-ensembled harmony of high and low pitched tones. From the corners of his vision, silhouettes jetted up from the abyss toward each slowly sinking body, grabbing them and dragging them down from whence they came. He watched with fascinated horror as, one by one, all were snatched by these marine shades, until his vision grew blurry and dim from the massive amounts of blood flooding from his body and he scarcely noticed that his own legs had been seized and he was being pulled downwards. In a nearly drunken state, he plummeted down, down through the black water, still clutching the stone.
His hand squeezed the stone, awakening him for one last fight. He pooled all the power he had left and sent a tremor through the water around him, severing the hold the creature had on his legs. When it reached out for him again, he used the water around it as restraints, pinning the creature in one place, helpless to move.
In the blur of his quickly fading consciousness, he thought he heard the creature call out for help. It was so dark this deep down that he could not see them, but through the water he felt more of these creatures come to surround him. He used the water as a barrier around himself, making it impossible for the creatures to come any closer, he only knew they were close enough to echo shrieks at him. Shrieks, no, more like curses. Were they words, perhaps? Yes, they were speaking to him, b
ut not as people on the surface would speak. It was sound transmitted through the water, more like a frequency, but he could understand what they were saying, although how he did not know.
He replicated this frequency to convey what he thought was “Leave me alone.”
The shrieks stopped, making the world dead quiet.
“He can talk to us,” he heard one say.
“And he can control the water,” another said.
“What are you?” one asked him directly, and the sound was soft and musical.
“I am Water,” he answered. To explain his meaning, he sent a massive pulse through the water.
All was silent for a moment, and he could feel the echo of their racing hearts through the water.
He was dying. He had limited time left, his awareness was growing more and more acute.
“Is this your territory?” he asked.
“Yes, it has been for as long as we know,” the musical voice replied.
“Then take this,” he held out the hand with the stone. “Keep it safe for me, I will be born again, and I will return for it.”
He could see nothing now, but he felt the stone leave his hand.
“We promise…” was the last thing he heard before the blackness swallowed him.
“Mermaids?” Phoenyx and Skylar asked simultaneously.
The four of them were sitting outside a baker’s booth in the market, scarfing down breakfast as Sebastian told them about his dream.
“That’s what I believe they were,” Sebastian said as he chewed on a bite of pastry. “Even though I didn’t actually see them, their silhouettes in the water were slender and anthropomorphic and—well, what I would imagine mermaids would look like. And whatever they were, the creatures were intelligent. I’ve never encountered that kind of intelligence in anything that wasn’t human.”
“They don’t sound very human to me,” Skylar said, neglecting his own pastry. “Sinking ships and dragging down sailors for food. They sound like monsters.”
