Unbreakable

by Naakaree Griffits

  “Hush child, he is not dead.” He replied, shrugging my hand from its place on his arm. He rushed to the pebbly shore, placing Bear upon it.

  “What is wrong with him?” I pleaded for an answer.

  “He is just sick. We’re not sure why. All you can do now is pray that he heals quickly.” he assured me as he wiped Beard hair from his forehead. It was both bloody and muddy.

  I kneeled by my friend's side as people fussed over him, day and night. I never left my spot beside him, moving his lifeless body, wherever they chose to move it. Finally it was settled that he would be placed in a yurt by the oceans shore to let the fresh air aid him back to health. I dabbed at his paled face, beads of sweat dripping down his cheeks. He was wrapped in animal skins, keeping him warm. I knew from my reading, that in order to keep down a fever, a combination of keeping warm and applying a cold cloth would do the trick. I looked out at the shining moon, aware of how late it must be. My eyes grew heavy and I gave into their will to shut, resting my head on the ground next to Bears.

  “Sage?” A small voice said in the dark only moments later. My heart fluttered at the sound of my name on his voice. I had always loved him as a brother, but lately, I had begun to feel something more.

  “Bear?” I blurted urgently, rushing to his side from my place on the floor.

  He groaned, clutching at this arm. “Yes.” I heard a shuffle, “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?” I smoothed his brunette hair from his eyes. I had always been jealous of how perfectly his hair sat, where my own unruly blonde locks, had a mind of their own.

  He sat up, moaning in pain. I was quick to support his back, placing soft cushioning behind him. “I think, I remember something...”

  I took some flint and used it to light the candle that was placed besides his bed. He began to unravel the cloth that protected his wound, gagging at the sight of it.

  “My guess is that a blood sucking erchant bit you, when those good for nothing vikings of ours were having another party.... and from my readings, that is what the infection looks like. If it continues to spread...” I looked away, holding in my words as long as I could, trying not to share my emotion. “well, it won’t be good.”

  “What are you saying?” He moaned again, re-wrapping his arm.

  “Let me do that,” I said, taking over the task. “Do you have any memories from that night?” I peered up at him, intentionally fluttering my eyelashes and tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

  He gazed at me, as if beginning to realise I existed in more than a sister way, “You look...”

  “Yes?” I prompted.

  “Different...” He shook his head, as if trying to shake off any new thoughts and come back to the original topic, “I do have some distant memories...” he recalled, “I was standing at the bow of the ship one moment... the clan was having a party... and the next thing I knew...” He shuddered. “All of a sudden, there was a splash in the water, and when I went to inspect what the sound was, something grabbed a hold of me. I couldn’t pull away. And the pain...”

  “It’s okay. You don’t need to talk about it now. Rest some more.” I flustered over him, making sure he was comfortable. “Here, have some Lagar to take the edge off.” I said, handing him a jug.

  As the morning sun made its way into our resting place, I stirred, attempting to wipe the sun's rays out of my eyes. When that didn’t work, I rolled onto my side.

  “Agh, is it morning already?” sighed Bear, pushing his hair from his eyes. I sighed, looking at his beautiful appearance. If only he knew how I pined for him.

  “I’m afraid so,” I smiled at him, sitting up.

  “I want to tell you what else happened...” He said, turning to me and yawning, his dimples making an appearance. My insides did flips at the way they looked, creased into the cheeks of his heart-shaped face.

  “First, breakfast.” I announced, standing to my feet and pushing open the door covering of yurts entrance, “You are looking a lot better today, let's keep it that way.” I smiled his way as I made the journey to the meal preparation hutt. The first person I saw when I entered, was Bidol. I glared at her, picking up a piece of bread and not breaking eye contact. She backed away from the table as a grin played on my lips. Next was Frida, who had a similar reaction, though decided she would brave talking to me, “Hows Bear?” Her voice trembled, though it was obvious she was trying to keep it together.

  “What’s it to you?” I snapped - offended she dare ask about my Bear. She smoothed her garments and turned to leave. Guilt built up slowly inside me, but I couldn’t take back what I had said, so I did the same.

  When I returned with a selection of meats and bread, I placed the cloth that held it all together, on Bear's lap. He looked down as he picked small crumbs from the bread, rolling them between his index finger and thumb. “Now can I please tell you the rest of the story?”

  I crossed my legs in my comfortable place on the floor.

  “Of Course, go ahead.” I stared at the food that was going untouched on his lap, the urge to say something eating away at me.

  He fumbled with the matter in his lap some more, before finally speaking,

  I watched him quizzically as his face twisted and turned, “I don’t know if I should tell you. I fear you may judge me.” he mustered.

  “After all your attempts at telling me, now you're going to shy away? What are you bothered by? When have I ever judged you, my friend?” I urged, slightly annoyed by his insinuations.

  “When you are telling me I am wrong or stupid.” he replied sarcastically with

  what will, he could manage to speak.

  “And that is when you are wrong and stupid,” I nodded my blonde locks as a smirk made its way up my cheek. I rolled my eyes to hide it.

  Bear hesitated before speaking “Fine, I will tell you what I saw.” He looked into my eyes with his warm coco gaze, a colour concoction that looked as if it were mixed with honey. “Last night while everyone was feasting, I was watching over the ship” He paused, looking for a reaction...

  I screwed up my face. “You already told me this part, you are such a bad storyteller! What magical thing could have happened by the water, that you believe I will find so outrageous?” I shook my head and began to stand, with the intention of walking off to gather more food, as his would have gone bad by now, and I was building quite the appetite.

  “Wait! I was bitten by a Mermaid.” The words flew out of his mouth with great enthusiasm and landed on a sore spot in my brain. Fury exploded before I could even process the danger he would have been in and how those useless good for nothing men celebrated while he was being attacked.

  I whipped around, my hair landing sporadically around my shoulders “You were bitten?! Why did you not warn the coven? Are you insane? We are under attack! What kind of future leader are you making of yourself if you can’t even warn your clan of a Mer attack?!” Outraged, I began to pace the quarters... “I must tell the others... you must!” the words came out more harsh than I intended. He winced, looking ashamed.

  “There is more... just listen to me and you will understand!” He rose, overtaking the volume of my voice.

  “What is there to understand Bear? You were bitten and did not warn the others. You failed your duty as the king's son! We could have used the appropriate measures to heal you, had you told us.”

  “There was a mermaid,” he proceeded despite my rageful rambling.

  “You already said that Bear, This is no new information.” my voice was getting raspy, I wanted to trust his words, but he was making it hard.

  “No, there was a different kind. She was beautiful.”

  “Beautiful? Are you delusional? I think we need to hit you over the head right now and call it a day! You have obviously lost your mind... They are all the same Bear. There are no different kinds. Mermaids are Mermaids. They attack, we attack.” I paused for effect, “They killed your mother! What more do you need in order to see them for what they
are?”

  “I know they killed my...” he choked on the words, “mother...” Ashamed at the realisation, that he had been mistaken into thinking that this one was different, he hung his head.

  I looked at him, finally taking pity, “My friend... my brother, I am sorry to be harsh, but you have to know the way it is. You cannot stray from your people. You must know who the real enemy is.” I took the cloth from last night and dipped it in the water a few metres from us, ringing the remaining droplets from it and pressing it on his forehead once again. “I will leave you now to rest.” If I was to be kind to him in his state, I needed to process this new information and iron out my anger.

  Chapter Three

  Bear

  As I continued to lay in my yurt by the water, alone this time, I reflected on Sage’s behaviour. I trusted her to be on my side, and of all people, she usually was. I wished she could have seen it how I had - the true beauty of the one that saved me. Sighing in defeat, I rested my head back on my pillow, and looked up at the ceiling. The Faery kingdom had killed many of our men and always attacked at night when the blood moon would rise in combination with the black moon, which would come around once every hundred years. The dark Faery’s were situated in the skies of our homeland, which was all over Islanda, -also known as the Isle of Fairies- yet they would stalk their prey anywhere over the world and would follow us on our raids, attacking at the weakest of our men.

  I tried to research them and would ask as many questions to my father as he would answer, though he was always resistant to give me anything. I did find out, however, thanks to Sage’s research, that the Dark fairies kingdom spanned much larger than that of my home town, and reached all the way over Sugarland - a place that was always forbidden. We tried to find out why, but could never get an answer.

  As for the sea monsters, this consisted of giant squids, mermaids, both dark and pure, and occasional sightings of more unidentifiable creatures that appeared to be relatives of the dark mermaids and would appear from the deepest depths of the sea. Though they had different species, Sage always said that they were one in the same. We had only known sea creatures to be bad, as that was what we were always told, and therefore, everyone was an enemy to us. One particular breed of mermaid, as well as most of the deep-sea inhabitants, stalked their prey at night. They lured men in their drunken state, calling out a siren song to draw Vikings and explorers over their boats. When this tactic worked to plan, as it usually did, they would drown their ships, killing a mass amount of people in one go. The human feast would be shared amongst the sea giants that got there first. It was a sad, harsh history that my father and the other elders would never talk about. It was forbidden.

  I envisioned the mermaid in my mind, replaying the memories over and over. Her face, her iridescent tail, her shimmering hair and skin... though, the more I thought of her, the more Sage came into my mind, “You shouldn’t be thinking about her Bear... what would your mother think?” agh, I shook my head to rid myself of her judgement.

  I should rest. I closed my eyes. But again, Sage came into my mind. This time however, it wasn’t judgment. It was beauty, the way that she cared for me- dabbing my fever ridden face with a damp cloth... the way she fussed over me, watching my fumbling hands when I played with my food, not letting any enter my mouth. I know she didn’t notice me watching her, as she couldn’t keep her eyes off the food in my hand. There was something different about her. I couldn’t pin what it was before, but now I had realised. She had come into herself, ripening with age. Her once childish features had matured, sitting perfectly on her face. Her eyes sparkled, framed with long dark eyelashes, and her hair fell perfectly around her shoulders, tumbling down her back like a waterfall. Her skin was clean and fresh, unlike how it was when we were children, always playing in the dirt and refusing to wash after.

  There was always an unspoken bond between us, I couldn't deny it. I thought of her clean golden locks of hair and how she tucked it behind her ears. The ears that framed her petite face and equally complemented a splattering of freckles that laced across her cheeks. Her nose was small and her green eyes large, as though she was a small child excited for the expectations of life. A face so perfect, I wondered if it were sculpted by the Gods.

  A sharp pain made its way down my arm, interrupting my secret thoughts. The Mermaids healing was only a quick fix. Her promise of returning was drawing near. I gazed out at the ocean, wondering how and when she was going to make her next appearance, and more importantly, why? What benefit would she gain? And when she returned, would she take me to the deep to keep me prisoner forever? I made my way to the water, splashing the droplets of sweat from my face.

  “I thought I told you to stay out of trouble”, A sweet voice came from the water. I jumped back, scrambling against the rocks. “Oh, come on... you're not still startled from when I got your arm the first time, are you?” she grinned at me with pearly fangs. “I thought you would have mulled over my existence by now and gotten used to the idea.” I stared at her wide-eyed, just surprised that my Mermaid had re-appeared.

  “I have always known mermaids to exist.” I managed.

  “Then why be afraid?” She cocked her head, her piercing eyes staring into my soul.

  “Why are you here?” I straightened myself, towering over her.

  “Don’t be silly, let me see that arm.” She said, yanking it toward her. My mind wanted to resist but my body didn’t agree.

  When I didn’t respond she continued, “Well, have you ever thought that maybe it’s because we are good? If your kind ever stopped to see that, we wouldn't be in battle like we have been for the past two-hundred years.” She paused, her face growing more serious by the second. “The poison has spread. There is nothing further that I can do for you without help.” She said matter of factly.

  “So... I’m going to die?” I spat, horrified.

  “Not, if we get the help that we need. Come on, let's go.” She pulled me toward the water.

  “b—ut.” I stammered.

  “No buts, come on.”

  “We need to seek help from the dark faeries,” I was on her back, the cold making its way to my bones. A shiver set out across my spine.

  “No!” I spat in disgust. “I will never seek help from a dark fairy! they have set out to ruin my clan time and time over. They have killed so many of our men... They killed my mother” I thought of my two-year-old self being plucked from the grip of my mother's arms as she was killed by a Dark mermaid, just like the one that had attacked me. An enormous female faerie with an even larger wingspan and dark flowing hair had dropped me into the ocean, leaving my mother unattended and under attack. To this day, I could not remember how I had survived. My father had told me that he himself had pulled me back in, yet I felt as though something, or someone else had saved me. Perhaps a Mermaid.

  She looked pained by my confession for just a moment before speaking, “I'm not fond of them either. I’m not going to pretend that my kind hasn’t had their fair share of brutality at the hands of Fairies, but do you really want to die? Because that is what’s going to happen if we do not seek their help.”

  “I refuse,” my arms crossed across my chest. I ignored the pain that was brazing through my forearm.“My father would never allow it.”

  “Your father does not have to know.” She paused before continuing, “Your cold, let me fix that.” Sudden heat waves radiated from her back, as her hair glowed golden, catching the light.

  “How did you do that?!” The breath caught in my throat.

  “Just another mermaid trick.” Laughter erupted from her as pearly fangs glistened. I would never get used to that.

  Chapter Four

  Violet

  He leaned over the boat and peered down into the deep, searching for me. His dark eyes almost made me take him home and put him on a shelf to stare at forever. I let myself sink lower, into the protective darkness, knowing full well the extent of the consequences that lie ahead of me when I return
ed home. It was forbidden to help a human. I didn’t know what had possessed me to do it... perhaps it was curiosity, or my lust for adventure, before I was to become queen, and take over the emerald city. Whichever the reason, I was sure to hear about it from my cousin Esmerelda. That was if my father didn’t know by now.

  I ended my return home with a pittstop to an abandoned ship wreck that lay only a kilometre from the Emerald City. It was both mine and Esmereldas place of refuge when the kingdom got to be too much.

  I let out a sigh as I leaned against a stool, picking up a shard of glass and glancing at my reflection, “Why did I do it?” I spoke my thoughts, knowing I was alone.

  “Why did you do what?” A voice echoed behind me. I fleeted sideways letting out a little scream.

  “Esmeralda!” I scolded, turning to hush her, before someone heard my discretions.

  “Well? What was it? or who?” She gasped.

  “No, no nothing like that. Just never mind, okay.” I attempted to deter her from the current conversation by showing her trinkets, picking up different items as I swam along the ship.

  “Oh, come on...” she begged, staying close to ensure she didn’t miss any word that may slip from my mouth.