Damarian (A Merman's Kiss Novel)

by Dee J. Stone

  She asks me if I am all right and if I require assistance. She is behaving in a very kind manner, but I am still not certain I can trust her. I rest my hands on the side of the large chair and attempt to pull myself up and balance on the legs. Once I release my hold, I sway for a moment or two before collapsing on the chair.

  She hurries toward me and once again asks if I am all right.

  “Not quite as simple as I imagined.”

  Another peculiar aspect of these legs—I am able to curl the fingers. And I can separate them as far as the flesh allows, just like the fingers on my hand.

  “Um…Damarian?”

  My name on her tongue causes me to break my concentration and look at her. She once again wears that bewildered expression.

  “How peculiar, the way they part.” I slide the fingers from one hand through the fingers of the other. I cannot stop marveling at the lack of flesh. But the human still watches me as though I am a creature she has never seen before, and I do not wish for her to discover that I indeed am. I place my hands on the chair to once again attempt to lift myself. I am more careful now, raising one leg at a time. To my utter disbelief, I find myself standing. Standing on human legs!

  And I am walking. Damarian of the Sapphire clan walks on human legs!

  The human Cassie Price reaches to assist me when I grow unstable, but I am able to hold my own. She still carries that confused expression, but her face is soft and friendly.

  Once I have walked a good distance, I turn to her. “Magnificent.”

  Her gaze falls to the object that is bound around my waist, the object that conceals my reproductive portion. Is she worried it will fall off?

  My thoughts are interrupted when extreme pain assaults every fiber in my being, particularly at the location of my neck, where my gills are. My body falls forward as I cannot breathe. My chest expands and contracts wildly as my human organ attempts to seek the oxygen from the air, but the air will not enter me. My gills are not present at the sides of my neck, for I am no longer a child of the sea.

  “Damari—”

  A strangled cry escapes my lips as I fall to the floor, bending my body close together. The sides of my neck are so irritated that I am forced to scratch them. The pain engulfing my body grows more severe that a howl is released from my mouth.

  I cannot bear this pain. I cannot. I have never experienced this before in all my moons.

  “What’s wrong?” Cassie Price yells. Though I am in pain, I force my eyes open. Her hands are clutched to her ears as she stares at me with a terrified expression on her face. “Why are you doing that?”

  I require the sea. I require water. If I do not receive it soon, I am certain I will perish. “Please, kind human, Cassie Price,” I murmur. “I require water. Water. Water. Water.”

  She moves her head closer to mine.

  “Water. Water. Water. Please. Water.”

  “Water?” she asks.

  “I…need…water.

  Strange sounds leave my mouth. My howls along with the lack of oxygen. I fear the irritation at my neck is my gills ceasing to exist. I will perish soon. I did not say goodbye to Zarya, Syd, and Syndin. Father, Mother, Doria, and Kiander. I will never lay eyes upon them again. Princess Flora will not have a mate. The clans will not be united. All due to the fact that I am human and am dying.

  I do not have the energy to hold my eyes open. I hear Cassie Price hurry out of the room. She returns a little bit later and lowers herself next to me. “Here.” She presents me with a clear object in her hand. It appears to be a vessel that contains water.

  I shake my head. “Me…in water.”

  “What?”

  I once again do not have the strength to hold my eyes open, but I force myself to say, “My body…in water.”

  “You need to be in water?”

  I do not have the strength to utter another word, only a nod.

  “I have a pool. Can you stand?”

  A pool. I do not understand what that is. I am certain I cannot stand, but I must press myself. It takes all my strength to nod again.

  She heaves my arm over her shoulder and lifts me until my legs stand on the floor. I feel my weight nearly crush her, but she does not surrender. She drags me out of the room. I do not know where we are going, for all I see, feel, and smell is the pain that has grown even more intense.

  Blackness touches the edge of my mind, a moment before she says, “We’re almost there.” Her assurance causes me to push the blackness away and not yield. I will not perish. I will see my family again. I will play squid wars with the little ones and I will live to take the crown and be the king of the children of the sea. I had my reservations, but now I am certain it is my duty to take the throne.

  My eyes slowly open when a comforting feeling passes over my skin. Water. There is water before me. I free myself from the kind female and dive into the human sea.

  The pain does not lessen. I still cannot breathe. It only takes a moment for me to realize that this is not sea water but plain water. I cannot survive in this.

  “Salt!” I say to Cassie Price.

  “What?”

  “Salt. I need salt!”

  With an alarmed expression on her face, she nods and hurries out of the room. A few seconds later, she reappears with an object in her hand. An object that must contain salt.

  I motion for her to pour the salt into the human sea—the pool. I do not have the strength to keep my body afloat. I do not know how much time remains.

  Once the salt enters the water, I surge there and spin around, hoping the salt will touch my body and provide me with the energy I need. But this small amount cannot sustain my entire body. I force myself to the surface and ask Cassie Price for more.

  Her face is confused and sad. She does not have any more salt.

  “Seawater!”

  She appears perplexed.

  My body plummets to the bottom of the pool. I once again force myself to the surface. I nearly do not have the strength to say, “Seawater, please!”

  “I don’t have seawater,” she yells. “I’m sorry.” She turns away and presses her hands to her temples.

  This is the end. I will perish here, as a human. I will not have the honor of handing my body to the sea.

  Cassie Price suddenly spins around. “I have synthetic sea salt in my basement.”

  I am so weak I can barely move or open my mouth. But I push myself to say, “Yes! Sea salt.”

  “But why would you need that?”

  “Please!”

  She dashes away. My body falls to the bottom of the pool. I cannot lift it. I cannot move. Cassie Price is a kind human, but her efforts to retrieve the sea salt will be futile. I will not live a minute longer.

  Just as I am ready to surrender to the blackness, I feel something caress my body as a distant voice yells, “Damarian!”

  My body is filled with nutrients. Life. I feel as though I am being awakened from death. But just as soon as this lovely feeling emerges, it is replaced by acute pain. It is much different from the pain I have experienced just a few moments ago. It feels as though the lower part of my body is being torn in half. Though I am flailing about, I see my sapphire tail fill the pool. And it is not long before the pain is gone.

  I am once again a child of the sea.

  A child of the sea in a pool. In front of a human. A human who has been kind and who has saved my life. I am not certain whether she can be trusted, but I am forever in her debt.

  I cannot see her, for she is near the wall of this room, but I know she is here because she breaths heavily. “Thank you,” I say.

  She sighs in relief. “No problem. Are you okay?” Her head appears before me. The worry leaves her face when she lays her eyes on me. Then her gaze moves lower, to the bottom half of my body.

  A gasp leaves her mouth as her eyes grow so wide I fear they may fall out. She stumbles back and collapses on the floor.

  My heart pounds. I have put every child of the sea’s life a
t risk. I have exposed myself to a human.

  Chapter Five

  Cassie Price remains on the floor, unmoving. But I know she has not perished from shock because she breathes heavily and mutters, “It can’t be.” I worry she may have been injured when she collapsed to the floor, and just as I am ready to say her name, she moves. She intakes a deep breath and positions herself on her knees, crawling toward the edge of the pool. She stares at my face and does not venture toward my tail.

  Now that she is aware of my true identity, will she harm me? I cannot imagine she would, for she was very kind when she saved me, but I know nothing of the ways of humans. Perhaps she believes she owns me, for she saved my life.

  I leap in the air and jump into the water. There is nowhere to escape. I scale the entire length of this pool, but I cannot find an exit. I am confined here, at her mercy. I must make her see reason, make her understand that I mean her no harm. That all I wish is to return to my home.

  When I am once again at her location, I break the surface. She releases a frightened yelp and backs away.

  “I am sorry, Cassie Price,” I say, attempting to seem friendly and non-hostile. “I did not intend to startle you.”

  She merely gapes at me.

  I ask her not to be alarmed, and it seems to placate her, for she moves closer to me. Her mouth moves for a few moments before she sputters, “Who…you’re a mermaid. I mean, a merman.”

  She is shocked, yes, but she is intrigued. Perhaps too intrigued. Will she keep me prisoner here?

  “Yes,” I answer.

  “Mermaids don’t exist.”

  “Not to humans, no.”

  She will tell all the humans. They will invade the sea in search for more. They will kill the Sentinels and destroy the colonies. My siblings will not grow up in the lovely world I have grown up in.

  “I won’t tell anyone,” she says.

  My eyes flit to her face. “You will not?”

  She shakes her head. I look into her eyes. They are sincere.

  “Thank you.”

  She folds her legs underneath her body and studies me, just as I study her. “You saved me when I wiped out yesterday morning and left me on the boulder.”

  I remember the incident quite clearly. She awoke when I took her hand and looked into my eyes. But she did not see my true form.

  I nod.

  “Why?” she asks.

  The honest truth is that I do not know the answer. My king has told me that humans are malevolent creatures, but I could not have let her die, could I? “Children of the sea are not to engage the humans,” I say.

  She appears more confused, more curious.

  “You were beautiful.” The words escape my mouth before I can stop them. Her eyes find mine and her expression changes. She still appears confused, but there is something else there as well. Softness. “On the water,” I continue. “I watched the water swallow you. I was certain you would die.” The memory plays in my head, how concentrated she was in her thoughts that she did not notice the massive wave heading in her direction. How it washed over her, and the stiff feeling I felt in my stomach when she did not emerge. “I could not allow that to happen.”

  “And this morning? Why were you unconscious on the beach?”

  The events that occurred between Princess Flora and me also enter my head. And then my conversation with Father. They wish for the mating to take place tomorrow morning—no, it is now tomorrow morning. If I were not here on land, I would be mated to the princess. She and I would take the throne. I would be king.

  Cassie Price stares at me, patiently awaiting an answer. “The storm,” I say. “I should not have been swimming.”

  “And you got hurt?”

  The sea is quite violent, and I knew it was dangerous to swim too close to the surface. But I could not silence the thoughts in my head. I did not care for my safety. I needed to flee. The last I remember is the blackness. I must have been injured in the water.

  “I do not remember,” I tell her. “I was swimming away…”

  “From what?”

  From the life I do not want. The life I have not chosen for myself. The life that would benefit every single child of the sea. Every one but myself.

  She seems to understand that this is a topic I do not wish to discuss because she asks her next question. “So…what happened before? With the rash on your neck and the wailing. You needed to be in water? Salt water.”

  “This is my first time as a human. I do not know.” Nor do I know of any child of the sea who has been on land. Except…I have heard talks quite a few moons ago, of an Emerald being banished to land. I was not certain if I believed it as true, for I could not imagine it possible for a child of the sea to grow legs and live on land. But now that I have been on land and have transformed to a human, perhaps the Emerald had indeed been banished to land.

  When my focus has returned to Cassie Price, I discover her examining my face. Then my chest. Her eyes move to my neck. She shifts closer and stretches her hand. “Can I?”

  Is it wise to trust this human? She has been kind to me and has not shown an ounce of hostility. She is most likely only curious about me. I have been observing the humans for quite some time and have always been intrigued by them. If it was her intention to harm me, she would have done so by now.

  I nod.

  Her fingers gently grab my chin, and she tilts my head to the side. A surprised noise leaves her mouth at the discovery of my gills. “They were red before.”

  Her face is quite close to mine. Her skin appears so smooth, just as smooth as the female children of the sea. And she is beautiful, so, so beautiful. Princess Flora had been this close to me before, but the feelings that pass through my body did not pass through it when she touched me. It is a feeling I cannot describe, though it is one I am enjoying very much.

  My hand lifts to her face and I run my fingers over the skin. Yes, it is quite as soft as I imagined, and warm. I am not accustomed to touching beings with such high temperatures. She places her hand over mine and lowers it from her face. She studies my hand, observing how much it differs from hers.

  My hand now moves to her hair. “You bind your hair.”

  She laughs softly. It is an exquisite sound. “It’s easier to surf that way.”

  “Surf. Is that what you were doing yesterday?”

  She nods.

  The memory of her sailing on the sea and the massive wave swallowing her once again passes through my mind. “Is it quite dangerous?” I ask.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Then why do you engage in such an activity?”

  She laughs again, and I am almost ashamed to admit how much I enjoy it. “Hey, you gotta live a little, right?”

  For reasons I cannot fathom, her words cause me to smile. “Father would not agree.” I do not remember the last time Father told me to just be and enjoy myself. It was always about the crown, how I needed to impress the royal family. Nor do I remember the last time Father had partaken in a joyous activity. The only moments I have witnessed a fraction of enjoyment from him is when he spends time with Zarya. She can put a smile on anyone’s face.

  How much I miss her and the rest of my family.

  “Are there a lot of you?” Cassie Price asks.

  I am prepared to inform her of my family, but my mouth closes. She is a kind human and she has rescued me from a perilous fate, but I must not risk the safety of the children of the sea.

  She must realize this, for she nods and apologizes.

  Her eyes lower to my tail. It has not been in the sun often, for I must keep it hidden at all times. But now the sun shines on it through clear openings on the walls, creating crystals in the water. I have never thought my tail as beautiful because it is part of me and every single Sapphire in my clan. And it is identical to my siblings for we are of the same blood. But as I observe it now, I realize how wonderful it looks. Perhaps it is intended to be out in the sun. Perhaps many moons ago, before the humans had the means to in
vade our waters, we allowed the sun to shine on our tails. Grandfather told me many tales when I was a fry, of how he was able to leap in the air without the fear of being spotted by a human. It seems the more freedom the humans receive, the more they take from us. Many times the Sentinels warn us not to leave the colony because humans are spotted too close to our home.

  Cassie Price is still staring at my tail. Her face grows red. “Sorry for staring,” she mumbles.

  “It is all right. I am fascinated by human legs.”

  “Can I…?”

  I know she wishes me no harm—she is merely curious about me, just as I am about her. I nod.

  She leaps into the pool, and I lift my tail for her. She stretches a hesitant hand to my tail and quickly pulls it away. As if she is afraid. I cannot help the disappointment entering my body.

  “May I?” I ask, referring to her legs.

  She lifts her body onto the edge of the pool and offers me her leg. My hand is also hesitant when I wrap it around the muscle that protrudes out of it. I slide my hand lower, until I reach the fingers of her legs. I look at her to ascertain she is all right with my touching, and then I softly pinch one of the fingers. Then the next, and the next. I bend one. I use both hands to part them. “Peculiar to have fingers on your legs.”

  “I guess it’s to help us walk.”

  I take her hand and part two of her fingers, touching the pace between them. “Very peculiar.”

  I am so engrossed by the wonder of her being that I nearly jump at the loud ringing. I drop her hand. “What is that noise?”

  “Noise?”

  “Ringing.”

  She appears confused. Does she not hear it? Of course, human ears are not as acute as the ears of children of the sea.

  She says, “It’s probably the phone.”

  “Phone?”

  Cassie Price informs me that this phone is used for communication. She attempts to explain it to me, but she must figure it futile, for she stops. I suppose since humans cannot hear as well as us—and I am certain they cannot sense one another as we do—they require means to communicate far distances.