At the Far Waters of Forever

by Stephanie Schaffer

  Xoc quirked an eyebrow, sans hair, at her attempt to comb her hair. A funny look crossed his face. He didn’t say anything. He placed some bundles of fish, seaweed and eggs near her hip.

  “To answer your earlier questions, no, we are not at the apex of the food chain. Animals with lesser intelligence do not have reason to fear us and so will hunt us. We are, as a race, slower and weaker than many predators, intelligent or not, like the orca and the sharks. We have to watch for and avoid large carnivorous creatures like sperm whales and others of that kind. Weapons that use electricity and combustion, such as I have heard of land dwellers using, are uncommon or inapplicable in our watery environment and our resources limit our means of technology. Our magics are small and rare as well.”

  He handed Marley an egg, which to her surprise was hard-boiled. Xoc smiled at her surprise.

  “We do have the luxury of some cooked foods by using the geothermal vents below. It is one benefit of living near sites of volcanic activity.”

  He chuckled as Marley froze, staring at the water as if she expected it to boil her alive.

  “Do not worry. We are safe. We have our ways to prepare.”

  Marley chewed the boiled egg as she resumed combing her hair. There was much she obviously did not understand. After swallowing her food, she protested, “But I’ve never heard of orca attacking humans and even considering shark habits, sharks rarely attack humans.”

  Xoc explained between bites of food. “I will admit, while uncommon compared to other dangers, those attacks are less rare in our own communities. We also have the usual problems associated with unprepared folks who wander where they shouldn’t or display overconfidence when it is not warranted. Believe it or not, we have problems with drowning as folks frequently over estimate their ability to hold their breath. We also have no protection from the sun, resulting in problems with shock and burns on our bodies. The list is endless and no race is perfect. Under the water, merfolk can appear just as another type of fish for others to prey upon.”

  “You said last night I eavesdropped,” Marley said suddenly. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  “Yes, I know. Tonight before resting, I will work with you in teaching of control. Now, I want to hear how you came to know about us.”

  So Marley shared with him about Eddike and her brother, Jack, much to Xoc’s intrigue.

  Marley, after two days of calm routine, became restless. She watched as Yuri, who noticed her mood, watched her sitting upon on a rock, slapping the water with her tail in irritation before he swam over.

  He grinned widely at her and commented with a nod to her behavior, “That is a very merfolk habit. After only two days, you are moving and acting like we do.”

  “I know there’s more to life than sitting here braiding my hair while I laze in the sunshine,” Marley growled, “and I know that I have a job to do.”

  “Certainly, I agree.” Yuri hauled his broad, stocky length up to lay on his side with one elbow propping him up so he could look at her. Next to Marley’s golden tan, Yuri’s skin was darkly tanned like an aged, varnished piece of oaken wood. “What would you like to do today, pretty Marley?”

  “What is there to do?” she countered. “Your Leviathan had a job for me and I haven’t figured out how to broach it or accomplish it. Most of the merfolk smile at me and treat me like an honored guest or an oddity.”

  “I don’t talk to the Sea Father,” Yuri replied, shrugging his shoulder and then rolling to his back like a cat sunning its tummy.

  Marley’s interested gaze wandered to his muscle rippled abdomen. Noticing the direction of her gaze, he idly stroked his belly, causing her to flush for a moment.

  “People treat you like that because what they see is a guest Xoc brought amongst our midst. We honor and revere Xoc as an incarnation of Leviathan. He speaks to the Sea Father for us all.”

  “Where is Xoc anyway?” she asked, averting her gaze from Yuri’s form.

  “I don’t know. He left word that he would return in eight sunsets.” Yuri sat up. “You could accompany us on a hunt. I could watch out for you, if you like.”

  “I would like that.” Marley replied. “I want to do something. I feel like I should be doing something.”

  That day, Marley left with a hunting party lead by Yuri, which included roughly around thirty other merfolk. She swam in the rear of the pod, as she liked to think of the formation. She noticed subtle differences in variations of pattern and colors of tails. There were about twice as many males as females, something easy to tell because of the lack of clothing and because the males had the shorter fronds on thicker flukes. Some of the women had shorter fronds than others, but most had long trailing fins. Each person, including Marley, carried two bladders of air. They swam far below the surface of the water though they couldn’t go as deep as whales diving since the water pressure would contract and pop the bladders if they went too far down in the depths. It was harder to swim with the bladders as the sacs wanted to float and the buoyancy pulled one up to the surface, tending to make a diver kick twice as hard or as many times to stay down.

  Several of the bulkier muscled merfolk carried ropes of some kind and others carried light piercing instruments coated with a substance that gleamed in the water. Yuri had explained to her that they intended to drug their prey and then tow it toward the Conclave prior to butchering. They did not want to attract other predators by the scent of the spilled blood during the hunt. Once back at the Conclave, a guard would be set to watch for predators while others would separate parts of the animal for use. For now though, the group scouted for prey.

  Marley noticed hand signals occurring in quick, frequent intervals and felt a hum of some unknown energy as well inside her head. The hunting party swam for hours, at least it seemed to her. A shadow fell on them from huge shapes swimming above. She looked up once, expecting to see a ship or a boat and felt her jaw drop as a huge whale of some kind swam over her. She felt her eyes go round with shock and awe. She started to swim, hands outstretched, when she was restrained gently by several members of Yuri’s hunting group. In disappointment, she watched the whales swim away.

  From a distance, she realized some fish seemed to hover in the water by using their fins. Huge schools of fish milled about. Marley stayed well back from the group, watching the pod work as members darted in and out of the schools causing the fish to scatter left and right. Soon, strings of fish were held by some of the merfolk with string carefully threaded through the fish gills so as to lessen bleeding.

  Marley then noticed some porpoises nearby. She swam closer to the small whales, grabbing and succeeding at seizing a stunned fish on her way over. She held the fish in front of her like an offering. One of the smaller porpoises swam bravely near her and opened its mouth. She placed the fish inside its maw, then watched as the animal swam back to its original position, consuming the meal along the way. Hands tugged her and she reluctantly turned from the animals.

  Yuri’s hunt group was entangling several large still fish within their ropes and then was proceeding to tow fish half the size of Marley away. She wondered how any merfolk could intuit direction this far under the water and recalled Eddike had once told her merfolk could use the stars, which weren’t visible from their current position in the water, to navigate. She followed along, despite her musings.

  Going back to the Conclave took thrice as long as the initial journey out had and without the ability to communicate under the water, she quickly grew bored. She did notice dark shapes following the group, but no one else seemed to worry. Despite this, Marley did feel uneasy with fear. The hunting group stopped twice to rest near large kelp beds where, like other sea creatures, the merfolk used the long strands of seaweed to anchor their bodies so they could rest without drifting away. They took turns acting as sentry, in which at last Marley could help, to scare away curious fish and dust the captured fish off so that crabs and scavengers did not steal the catch. She watched the merfolk, noting how with practiced
gestures they rested while using the air in the bladders to breath, in order to avoid going to the surface for air.

  The pod didn’t rest for very long before swimming onward. Marley again noted the dark shapes following the group.

  Once back, many folk darted into the tunnels to the Conclave, taking the smaller strings of fish with them. They neatly scaled and cleaned the three large fish the party had towed back, doing so outside the Conclave with the blood carried away in the currents of the water. Marley saw an alarm raised only once by some sentries, but it was a false alarm as the intruder turned out to be only a curious manta ray.

  The efficiency of the merfolk reminded her of the stories of the Native Americans of North America and the buffalo in that the merfolk did not waste anything of the fish carcass that could be recovered and used. Even offal and bones had a use. She, over the course of the next few days, learned how the Conclave stored things in the caves and watched as they set about drying their fish for preservation, something she found fascinating as they lived in a wet environment, though many ate the fish raw as well.

  Marley also helped forage for food and scouted, accompanied by Moss, for usable and useful items in the ocean. Time passed quickly when she had things to do.

  Some nights, the Conclave sat together on the rocks and sang to the stars. One such night, there was a lull in the singing when a single voice rippled over the gathering in pure sweet sound that scaled the heights and depths of pitch and tone. There was a great geyser of water which when it dispersed there was Xoc having appeared in an almost mystical fashion. The gathering was still and bound to silence. It seemed to her that the song Xoc sang rushed through her body and she was swimming by the singer whose story told of danger and discovery. There were glad cries from all to welcome the merman back. From her spot, she could see fresh raking welts glowing red against his skin and on his back. Xoc had been injured.

  There was a moment of silent communion when the song ended where Marley practically felt the telepathic speech passing around her to Xoc, though she couldn’t hear or understand it.

  “I will begin the recognition ceremony,” Xoc sang out, his very voice in its richness and deepness reminding her of when she’d spoken with Leviathan. Xoc proceeded to sing out individual praises for merfolk who had been generous and helpful toward others or who had supported the Conclave.

  Marley watched the inhabitants of the Conclave glow with communal pride and goodwill and wondered to herself again what place and role to Leviathan’s people she could possibly fill.

  The night wore on and folk slipped off to rest. Marley had rolled onto her stomach to study the water as she listened. There was a rough touch to the lower part of her back and then a face peered from the water into her own.

  “Yuri.” Marley greeted the merman. “Hello.”

  “So pensive,” Yuri teased.

  “I have information for you, Marley,” Xoc said, lifting the touch from Marley’s back. The two mermen edged closer on her rock. Xoc continued speaking in a normal tone of voice, “Eddike said to send you her greetings and assures me she wants you near for the birth of your niece. Jack Tanner threatened me harm if I did not see to your welfare. He also promised to look after your finances. He gave me some paperwork, which he sealed in a shiny, watertight packet with an ink pen for you to use in signing. He called it a power of attorney. I am to bring it back to him or Eddike will pick it up.”

  “How did you find Jack?” Marley asked, reaching for the Ziploc baggy sealed shut and currently in Xoc’s grasp. Inside the plastic bag was a sheaf of papers and a ballpoint pen.

  Xoc looked slightly discomfited as he admitted, “I saw it in your thoughts, your memories. I thought it would bring you ease to make sure your land life was taken care of for you and if your brother did not think you dead when the boat showed up in port without you. So I swam to find this Raccoon Bay and Currituck Sound that you thought of often.”

  “That’s possible?” Marley asked, fascinated by the possibilities.

  “For some.” Xoc leaned against the rock, relaxing as her tone indicated something other than displeasure or anger. “Eddike is interesting. Very sure of herself and not at all uneasy in her relationship with your brother. Your brother, however, seems ill at ease with sharing Eddike with the sea.”

  “You could tell that from one meeting? Wow, am I impressed!” Marley exclaimed.

  “What could I do to impress you, pretty Marley?” Yuri said in a teasing voice. His gold eyes sparkled with a good-natured light. He patted her arm lightly to further draw her attention to him.

  Xoc gave a slight smile. “She’d probably enjoy seeing the luminescent star anemones.”

  “Would you like to go see that?” Yuri asked with a warm look into her eyes.

  Marley, who’d listened to the mermen speak while she filled out the paperwork, carefully sealed the legal documents and pen back into the plastic baggy, before looking up. “That sounds interesting. Xoc, will you keep these safe for me?” She held up the waterproof packet to him. Nodding his head, he accepted the packet before diving beneath the waves.

  “Doesn’t anyone tend to Xoc’s wounds?” Marley asked, watching him swim away.

  “Xoc?” Yuri seemed surprised at the thought of Xoc needing anyone or any care. “He takes care of everyone else.” Yuri shrugged. “It’s not the other way around. What strange thoughts you have.”

  He chuckled in a manner Marley found condescending, but she held her tongue. At first, her only reaction was to stiffen her spine until she could no be longer silent. Then Marley found she couldn’t silence her tongue after all and she commented acerbically, “I thought in a community each took care of each other.”

  He looked surprised by her outburst and her acidic tone. He bobbed into the water from his sitting position on the rock. “We do.”

  “Then someone should take care of Xoc when he’s hurt. I don’t care how powerful he may seem, infection could remove him from your community and then where would you be?”

  Yuri held up his hands as if warding off a blow from Marley, who still braced herself on the rock where she was sitting.

  She had yet to raise her hands or alter her position.

  “Calm down. Xoc would have said if he needed aid.”

  “Would he really?” Marley asked a trace of scorn in her voice.

  “Yes,” Yuri replied with conviction and then muttered, “I think.” In a louder voice, he said, “Come on, don’t you want to see the sea anemones?”

  Without giving her a chance to reply, Yuri grabbed her hand with a forceful tug, which pulled her off the rock. He towed her under the water to a destination that showed off the animals mentioned earlier.

  She found it true indeed that the star anemones were beautiful. Filled with curiosity and satisfaction as her eyes took in the creatures and surrounding plants of the sea, she delighted in this new world open to her enjoyment. Being this close to the surface of the water, there was plenty of light, which showed green growing plants beneath the water, which contrasted sharply with the oranges and reds of the anemones.

  The thought crossed her mind that she could understand her brother’s frustration in his relationship with Eddike. This view she now had shared with another merfolk contrasted sharply with the situation Jack experienced every time Eddike left to swim the depths of the ocean while Jack was stuck on land. He could not share, really, any of these wonders easily and from his perspective, he likely felt more fear and uncertainty than then anything else. Marley was sure of Eddike’s competency in the ocean, her ability to survive without fail, but Jack couldn’t know that or any of this. How much easier would it be if Jack had been gifted with the ability Leviathan had given her thought she.

  Pretty Marley, what are you thinking? Yuri’s voice expressed as telepathic thoughts, which slid intimately over her mind.

  The experience startled her and she looked over at Yuri as she heard his words continued.

  Your thoughts are far from me.


  Marley started to open her mouth, briefly, forgetting she was underwater, and found Yuri’s lips and tongue suddenly occupied her own in an unexpected kiss. She was passive with her surprise. Dismayed, her thoughts assembled slowly, in the wake of the unexpected kiss. Yes, she thought, Yuri’s attractive and nice, and I enjoyed talking to him and looking at him. She found his body a delight of muscled masculinity and he was sensual as the movements of many could be. Despite these attractions, she hadn’t had a sexual thought since Xoc had shown her how to swim. As fast as her thoughts were, Yuri’s actions were quicker.

  She felt a hard blunt intrusion into her body, the way penetration felt with a human male lover even though she hadn’t the foggiest notion how tab a and slot b in mermaids worked. She felt Yuri’s touch down the front of her body and then she was wriggling externally while convulsing internally. How she held her breath underwater and managed thought at the same time was beyond her understanding. A moment later, she was floating on the surface of the water recovering her senses. Yuri floated nearby, a lazy smile on his face. She flipped over onto her stomach and swam to a rock. Her lower body felt tender, was very sensitive and felt overly warm. The rock was cool against her skin and flesh.

  Yuri swam over, his smile turning into a satisfied grin.

  Marley, despite the aftereffects of what she strongly suspected was the equivalent of a mermaid’s orgasm, felt anger overtake her. “Don’t ever do that again!” she growled in a hard, tight voice she hadn’t even known she possessed. “Not without asking and not without my consent.”

  Yuri looked surprised and confused by her words. “I thought you welcomed my attentions!” he protested. “You responded,” he said in an aggrieved tone.

  “I don’t give an otter’s ass about what you thought or interpreted,” she said in a cold voice. “Sex was the furthest thing from my mind and in no way do I recall inviting you to screw me.”

  “What is this word, this screw?” He looked even more confused. “You mean to mate?”