“So you know the location?” Atlas says with an eyebrow arched.
“Roughly, as I said.” Saturnus nods.
“Roughly?” I ask sceptically.
“The Goddess doesn’t always make these things obvious. After all, what fun would that be?” Saturnus smiles at me as though I am a child. Young, so very young.
“So why aren’t you using the Knights?” Starlet demands again, reiterating her question as though none of us heard her the first time she spoke it.
“I require discretion, as I said. Besides, the five of us combined should be sufficient to retrieve one scythe.” He reasons.
“We’re going for the scythe?” Orion looks intrigued.
“Indeed. After discussing with Callie, I believe it is better to be safe than sorry regardless of the prophecy. We need to protect the scythe, despite its potential use in the prophecy; it is still an heirloom to our people, and a powerful weapon if wielded correctly. According to legend anyway.” he speaks fluently, as though he is saying little more than a teacher asking his students to complete a homework assignment. His golden scales glisten in the light seductively. I imagine the number of sailors longing to remove them and sell to the highest bidder, retiring comfortably in a remote island near the equator.
“You think this scythe could be ‘the vessel’?” Orion questions. Oh Orion, I think to myself. So acute, so worldly, would even eternity be enough? Is it not the better thing to cut this intensity short in just a few weeks? The deepness of the connection rivals even the sea and I wonder how I have managed to fall to this depth in such a small space of time.
“Quite possibly.” Saturnus gives the answer, clipped, cool, and looks sideways at me.
“Starlet, you will of course keep us updated as to what is going on with the psirens on our journey. Orion you will act as defence, and Callie, Atlas, and I will search for the scythe. Are we clear?” He asks with a stern glare as though he does not want to be questioned.
“But Callie surely doesn’t need to tag along for this Saturnus? She is still settling in here.” Orion asks nervously, I feel his pulse quicken but his breathing remains calm and controlled.
“Callie needs to see how we operate as a culture and society, Orion. If she is ever to understand how important our, and now her, role here is. I think it would be good for her to get out and see the darkness we fight.” As he rounds off his sentence, and I’m thinking: Holy shit, darkness? I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Then I scowl inwardly, you’re ready to die but you aren’t ready to stare into the evil you are saving Orion and everyone else from? I breathe deeply vowing to face what I need to. Atlas looks at me and I feel uncomfortable under his eternal gaze.
“Don’t be nervous, Callie, I can’t imagine my son will let you even succumb to a jelly fish sting on our travels.” He laughs deeply from his abdomen. I am at a loss. Orion turns to me and quickly whispers in my ear.
“We don’t succumb to jellyfish stings, they kind of tickle actually.” He reassures me and I smile awkwardly back at Atlas. A small sickly sweet cough passes through the air and I breathe inward, irritated, as Starlet raises her hand.
“May I just bring to the attention of this group that this girl STOLE my visions from me?” She points at me accusatorily, like a child on a playground placing blame.
“Yes, she tapped into my gift as well.” Saturnus acknowledges.
“What?!” Atlas and his daughter say this in synchronisation, one in outrage and the other in disbelief.
“Yes, Callie can absorb, or tap into other mer powers.” Orion explains it proudly and I look down at the sandstone floor, trying to be anywhere but the centre of attention.
“We don’t fully understand her powers yet. But I have no doubt she has been sent them for a reason.” Saturnus nods at me smiling, his aura truly is amazing, covered in the tattoos of a Goddess’ hand and embedded with the precious jewels of the sea.
“Just stay the hell away from me, freak.” Starlet whispers shooting daggers at me across the room. For God’s sake, somebody grab me a fishing rod, this bitch needs to get reeled in. Atlas looks at a loss giving me an apologetic stare; however, I think the time limit for him to discipline the living daylights out of his daughter has long since expired.
“When do we leave?” Orion enquires, his icy blue eyes overly intense when staring at Saturnus, trying to break the awkwardness that is present within the circle.
“We swim at dusk.”
AZURE
The light is a pinprick from high above as I look up from the depths of the Chasm that holds the Cryptopolis. Greater in number than any of the mer realise, this is where the psirens seethe, bottom dwellers, too afraid of the light and the wrath of the Goddess to journey to higher ground. I am not afraid; I know what it is to be blinded by the light. My true sight never came from my eyes though, even if now they are bottomless and cruel. I can sense what is about to happen before it does, as the rock faces that tower around me seem to close in. These rock faces skilfully hide the caves that house the body of people that makes up the psirens, and their colossal blackness never fails to intimidate. I have often thought that our ability to recruit anyone makes us strongest, we don’t have to stick to pedigree, we accept anyone, make them feel at home. We may not be naturally gifted by some Goddess, but we learn fast, train hard, and earn our power. Not that I can talk, my visions aren’t exactly a learned ability. As if the very thought has stirred the magic like a metal spoon in a simmering pot, the vision washes over me, fog rolling in like an unusual and comforting friend.
“We swim at dusk.” The voice echoes around the inside of my skull, reverberating and bouncing from all its walls like that of the caves I spend my days encased in. As the fog falls back leaving me alone once more, I move from my contemplation at the base of the deep slash, a crack in the ocean floor. Titus will want to know. It’s time to collect.
CALLIE
The light covering the bottle studded glitter of the Occulta Mirum fades into the deepest, bloodiest orange. I wonder if I will bleed when I’m sacrificed and the grim thought makes my heart palpitate wildly. The sky looks too bright from the window of our apartment, high above the ocean’s sandy bed, as the sun gets lower toward the line of the surface that separates my old world from new.
“You okay?” Orion’s concerned tones reach me and my heart slows, calming immediately at the rawness in his voice. I turn around, away from the blinding and painful light, wondering if it’s my new mer features that make looking into the sunlight painful, or if it is just too bright for my melancholy mood. I recalled the dryness that hit when I leapt from the surface and the relief that swallowed me as I hit the water once again. Like air, I needed the ocean now. Orion hovers, a sash dividing his ripped abdominals diagonally. I see that it holds a spear. I swim slowly as he watches me over his shoulder, without a word, to view the weapon in full. This is no caveman-like crude attempt at weaponry. This is a thin, smooth metallic rod; carved from one piece of solid metal. The aerodynamics of such a piece are mind-boggling. The end of the hilt came apart into a four-sided diamond that sharpens to an elongated point: deadly, lethal, and beautiful.
“Will you need this?” I ask, gulping in air as my fingers reach up and trace the end of the blade.
“Hopefully not … but it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially where you are concerned.” He smiles at me but it does not reach his eyes. This kind of weapon is not intended for even a great white shark, that which humans fear most absolutely, but something much more deadly. The spear moves from my touch as Orion swivels round in the water effortlessly to face me.
“Don’t worry. Nothing I can’t handle, besides I’ve made it this far remember.” He grips my chin and pulls my mouth up to meet his, covering my lips with his, gently lavishing me. I pull away slowly, mind numb and look up into the blue of his eyes. It’s hard not to trust in his certain tone and gaze.
“Yes, but you have something you would risk yourself for now.” I gulp again.
“Always.” he closes his eyes and brings my palm up to his mouth, planting another kiss in the centre. “There is no sea I would not cross, no beast I would not slaughter in the name of keeping you safe, Callie Pierce. No more worries okay?” He vows himself to me, a staccato interrupted by his insistent kisses.
“Okay …” I promise breathlessly, my tail moving involuntarily to keep me at his eye level.
“Come on, the sun is about to set. Time to go.” he whispers, placing a final kiss on my forehead and leading me from the room.
The pouting face of Starlet sets the tone of the group, as the five of us set out into the darkening waters of sunset. I can see above that the red light is interrupted by blackness which can only be an encroaching dark cloud. Saturnus, with his glistening scales, looks as though he is on fire, a golden, flaming, glistening edifice, capturing the light with the crystals that are embedded in his flesh, the rest of him so white he could be porcelain. Atlas watches me intently, out of the corner of his eye with a faint smile upon his lips and Orion holds my hand tightly. Starlet lags at the back, seeming so much like a spoiled child that I can’t deny that the urge to slap her has gripped me several times. I am scared, I won’t lie. We are directly intervening in a ritual that is important to the psirens. This was not going to go down well if they found out. Saturnus and Atlas carry spears just like Orion and I can’t help but wonder where the weapons were for me and Starlet.
“Do I get a weapon?” I ask timidly, peeking under my eyelashes as we pass a shoal of bright blue ring angel fish. I smile, remembering looking at pictures in library books when I was a child, the ocean fascinating me. I wonder now if that’s because I knew deep down that’s where my father was from, where I belonged.
“Do you know how to use one?” Orion asks, cocking his head as he pushes through the water hard.
“No.”
“Then what would be the point?” He concludes pointedly and I can’t fault his answer. He’s probably right.
“Can you teach me?” I reply curiously, watching his face.
“Sure. Just not right now. When we get back if you’d like?” His answer surprises me, but I nod, wondering if the ease of getting him to agree is because of Atlas’ proximity. The light above is becoming dim, darkened by the oncoming clouds that seem to roll in from all sides.
“Where are we going, Saturnus?” Atlas asks, this is a question that I’m sure we are all thinking.
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
“So you have no idea?” I mutter in surprise, looking startled.
“Now, Callie, do you really think I’d bring us out here if that were true? I have things I’d rather be doing, you know.” Saturnus raises a scarlet eyebrow and his emerald eyes glisten. I can’t work out if he’s irritated or not.
“I don’t know.” I say honestly.
“Your faith in me is astounding.” The sarcasm drips from his tone and I smile nervously at him. Is it possible I have earned this God-like man’s respect? I can’t help but wonder if the only reason I seem to have it, is because I have agreed to die for his cause. I have to wonder as I smile back politely, my face heating as blood rushes to my cheeks.
We swim for a few hours, the sky above us darkening as each moment passes. Starlet stays silent and as each instant is erased into the past, I become more and more impatient. I feel like a small child in the back of the car screaming ‘are we there yet’ internally. The swim is tiring, I’ve never been this far away from the Occulta Mirum before and my tail is aching as though it were one, heavy muscle, weighing down my abdominals and draining my energy.
“So, Callie, what do you know about the psirens?” Saturnus asks, looking at me from over his shoulder. I think he can sense my unease; maybe he will answer some of my questions.
“Only what I’ve read and a little that Orion told me.” I admit, biting down on my bottom lip as my tail muscles pinch. I didn’t expect to tire like this, maybe it’s because I’ve used my powers twice today.
“Ah, I see. So you know how they came to be then, yes?” He questions me intensely, eyebrows rising on his pristine face.
“Yes, they were created by Poseidon?” I ask feeling self-conscious, as though I’m talking to someone about an imaginary friend.
“That is true. In his anger toward Atargatis he created Solustus, he chose Solustus because he had a tortured soul. He had nothing to lose. He was the perfect warrior. What he failed to realise, and what Atargatis knew, was that if you have nothing to lose you also have nothing to fight for. So he was consumed by the darkness, uncontrollable and dangerous, consumed by a lust for revenge. He wanted to make everyone suffer, just as he has.” His eyes are stormy and his face grave. Like he’s telling a horror story, but this one is real.
“Ummm …” I ponder this as a million and one questions float into my mind, meshing together in a giant ball of silent stupidity.
“I can tell you more about them as a species, if you like?” Atlas asks. I think he can see right through me, see how overwhelmed I am. He watches me, his wise eyes smiling as he leisurely moves his tail up and down, lying as though the ocean is a soft mattress on his back. Fish stir around us, it seems that there are more and more as we get further away from the Occulta Mirum. Or maybe that is just because the night is covering us from above.
“That’d be nice.” I admit and Orion looks at me with a frown.
“Orion, she needs to know.” Atlas scolds.
“I know, but right now?” He clicks his teeth and his eyes reflect cold distaste.
“There is never a good time to hear about such things.” Atlas replies, not with anger but with calm unwavering determination. We pass over a wrecked ship; I was never too far from reminders of the dangers of the waters in which I lived. I feel my skin tingle with nervousness at the thought of putting myself in danger.
“Very well.” he waves a hand carelessly as though swatting a fly on a lazy afternoon in late July. My tail cramps and I feel myself wince facially.
“What’s wrong?” Orion demands. I don’t want to complain as I feel Starlet’s silent gaze on the back of my neck, mentally castigating me.
“My tail it’s …”
“Fatigued.” he finishes and calls forward to Saturnus who swims two lengths in front of us.
“Saturnus! Callie needs a break.” he turns to me looking apologetic, “I’m sorry, I should have warned you. This is the longest trip we have been out on so far and I should have known you would get fatigued quicker than the rest of us. It’s only natural.” he smiles and Saturnus comes to my side.
“You okay?” He asks and Atlas shares his concern. They’re sort of like the two fathers I never had in a weird way, so wise, so powerful, and at the same time oddly human and God-like all at once.
“Yes, just aching.” I admit, not wanting to distract from getting the answers I long for.
“Okay. Let me just find somewhere for us to rest for a moment.” Atlas scans the area, his eagle eyes becoming little more than slits glowing orange against his grey facial scales before he nods and we follow him for about five minutes. Orion carries me, swimming and bunching my tail up as though it were legs and my scaled butt falls through the gap between his veined, tanned forearms. We swim for five minutes and then descend maybe half a mile before coming to a rock face. The rock face looks solid and under is covered in underwater algae. However, a few minutes of searching and Atlas demonstrates his keen eyesight. He moves across what appears to be a curtain of seaweed, revealing a hidden cave towards the top of the underwater cliff. Orion puts me inside and I was expecting it to be dark. However, the cave has a large hole in its ceiling and light from the rising moon blares down through the natural skylight in spurts, as clouds moves across the sky.
“Looks like a storm.” Orion notes, smiling and kissing my cheek. I am wondering why he is smiling at the prospect of crappy weather, when Starlet sighs behind us moodily. I catch her shooting daggers at her brother’s back through the same icy
blue eyes and wish she wasn’t with us. Orion sets me down on a large flat rock that is low to the sandy ground of the cave; I wonder how sand has gotten up here, so far from the ocean floor. I shouldn’t really wonder, since becoming mer if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that sand gets everywhere.
“You okay?” Atlas asks, cocking his wise head. Not a single wrinkle plagues his skin and his golden eyes are stunning.
“Yes, fine. I’d like to talk about the psirens while I rest?” I ask and Saturnus nods, his expression grave.
“Keen for information I see.” He says the words like they have secret meaning, but I am clueless. The cave throws shadows onto his face and reminds me of the time I went camping and we told ghost stories.
“There’s a lot I don’t know.” I acknowledge, trying to match the tone of the two men floating before me. Orion seats himself next to me, holding the hand that rests in my scaly lap. Starlet stands beyond the curtain of algae, separate from us, indifferent because of me.
“Well, I think we should start with numbers then, don’t you agree, Atlas?” Saturnus deliberates to Atlas and the silver haired figure nods.
“Seems sensible to me.” he agrees.
“You see, Callie, the thing that makes The Banished such a threat is the fact that we have no idea how many psirens exist.” He imparts.
“I thought that psirens were mer that had been corrupted by the darkness?” I ask him looking confused.
“We have a theory, though we don’t know how accurate this is, that The Banished and psirens have the ability to kill and turn humans to their cause. As you know, mermaids and mermen can only be created by the Goddess.” He explains slowly, with the smoothness of tone that is often reserved for therapists or those who hypnotise.
The Kiss That Killed Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 1) Page 37
