A shadowy figure sailed over me and cast a silhouette through the moon’s rays. It had the shape of a large fish, but with arms. Another figure appeared immediately after the first, bearing some sort of light. It streaked out from the forest of long stems, and darted in front of me like a bolt of lightning splicing through the water. I tried to make out what it was, but as quickly as it came it was gone, having left only a trail of fading bubbles that led down and away from me.
The surging pull of the water had eased and it was cold, dark and ominiously quiet. The water no longer pelted against me, rather it rocked me gently from side to side. I pinched my lips tightly together, desperately trying to hold onto my last breath of air, but as I did, a taste of water leeched into my mouth and pushed a small bubble out through my lips. I watched it float up through the long stems of lilies, as though happily escaping my fate for a better one at the surface.
A burst of bubbles suddenly exploded into the water far above me. It was Justin. His body gracefully sliced through the water as he searched for me, but I couldn’t move. Drained of all energy, I could no longer will my arms or legs to move and Justin couldn’t see me. My lungs cramped, begging for air and my eyes winced in pain, but even my tears were lost in the dark sea. Then something strange began to happen. A glowing light rose up from below, brightening the water around me. Someone was swimming towards me. Was I hallucinating?
Justin? I wondered, confused. ‘Can he see me? Save me!’ my plea for survival echoed silently within my voiceless body. The figure swam towards me. It was a boy, but it wasn’t Justin. Some sort of lucent charm hung from a silver chain around his neck and lit his face as he approached. Slowing as he neared me, he pulled the glowing charm over his head, and gently slipped it over me, letting it settle around my neck.
Instantly, the water around me grew warm and bright and the cramping pain in my lungs subsided. The dire need to breathe no longer consumed me, as though the constraints of my body had been altered and I had somehow been freed from the requirement for air. The strength returned to my arms and legs though I remained breathless.
‘What is this charm that would have such magical powers?’ I asked myself. My hands instinctively reached up to touch it. It was cylindrical in shape, made from some sort of heavy silvery metal that glowed, lighting up the water around it. Its surface was intricately detailed with swirling lines that burned brightly.
I looked up at the boy, wanting to understand it all and wishing I had a voice to ask. His fair hair swirled in the water like golden seaweed swaying in a rolling tide, and his ocean green eyes glowed playfully back at me with a friendly expression that quickly eased my fears.
‘Who are you?’ I wondered.
I stared at him and a curious smile curved up in one corner of his lips. He was mysteriously enchanting and I was so captivated by him that he would have taken my breath away if I had any breath left to take. His crooked smile was contagious and I found myself smiling back. Strangely, his face seemed familiar and I couldn’t quite place it, but it was an odd comfort, as though we had met before. I blinked and breaking my gaze, my eyes fell over his lower body which was covered in shimmering silver scales. The scales continued downward to where his legs should have been, but instead of legs, he had a large, finned tail. In a fluid motion, his tail propelled him towards me I gently fell into the spiraling eddy he had created.
‘Where is he taking me?’ I wondered as my body involuntarily followed his. ‘Had this same merboy bumped into me earlier? Maybe he was the bright figure who chased the first one away. But where were Justin and Emily? Were they okay?’ I glanced up towards the lilies far above, but my questions remained unanswered, as I was guided down and away from the surface.
Down the merboy swam, and my body inadvertently followed his. The charm around my neck radiated out from us like a glowing aura in the dark waters, lighting everything as we approached the bottom of the canyon floor where I had been, just hours before in the open air. The coral looked so different now teeming with living creatures and lush vegetation. Its colours shone radiantly with the sway of blue water that now rocked the plants in a silent dance. Several fish schooled around me curiously, tickling against my legs as we glided past them.
It was a wondrous place, far different than the dark sea I had been consumed by only moments ago. My fears had been washed away by this nameless merboy that swam near me, escorting me on a deep-sea journey. I watched one fish wriggle its way into a small crevice as we soared near and I looked at the boy to see if he’d seen it, but I realized that he was watching me. He looked away and surged forward with his tail, again pulling my body in his wake.
It was like an exciting dream to be free of breath and experience the depth of the sea where I had never been before. We sailed up over a wall of coral and back down through the plants and fish, as though we were in flight, soaring through an extraordinary secret world.
Suddenly and without warning his tail flicked down, stopping him directly in front of me as a stream of striped yellow fish darted out of our way. Floundering to stop without the help of a tail, I tumbled into him, slamming against his back. He swirled around and I found myself intimately close, face-to-face with this strange and beautiful creature.
A rush of heat tingled over my body, and my face felt feverishly hot. Our closeness felt foreign and strangely wonderful. ‘Am I blushing?’ I thought. Embarrassed, I quickly looked down to where his large, webbed hands sculled the water gently at our sides.
It was silly that I could be so intimidated by him. Knowing that his face was not far from my own, I was hesitant to look up, but I forced myself to do just that, and was pleasantly greeted by his translucent emerald eyes looking right into me. He appeared confident and mysterious and somehow my inhibitions became exhilarating as his gaze seemed to enter my soul.
The water toyed with his hair and his full lips drew up into a playful, crooked smile again and I imagined kissing him.
‘I can’t believe I just thought that!’ I scolded myself.
His brow cocked and his grin widened as though he knew I was flustered and enjoyed watching me squirm. I knew I had to stop these thoughts that swirled heavily in my head.
He glanced upwards and I followed his gaze to where the red rays of the morning sun pierced through the water’s surface. My heart quivered when he leaned in and his large hands took hold of my waist. I closed my eyes, knowing he was right there, inches from me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to kiss me, but instead I felt myself being pulled upward. Opening my eyes, I could see that he was pulling me up through the water towards the red surface, and before I could process it all someone grabbed me from above and pulled me up onto one of the lily pads.
My airway opened and the sting of water within my lungs shocked me into coughing convulsions. It was unbearably painful, the process of my body learning to breathe again. The muscles around my lungs tightened and my stomach turned inside out as if trying to wring itself out. Water spewed through my lips and nose, as I vomited over and over again, until finally there was no water left inside. I lay on the lily pad, exhausted and sore, but breathing and very much alive.
“Oh my gosh!” said Emily. “We thought you had drowned!”
“Are you okay?” asked Justin.
“Yeah,” I panted, exhausted and embarrassed. I turned back, expecting to see the merboy. But he was gone, and the hazy pink water was still all around me.
Chapter Eleven
Greater of Fears
The warmth of the red sun broke through the water’s misty edge and disbanded the morning fog into rivers that flowed upward like white fingers reaching for the sky. As the coolness lifted and the fog dissipated I found myself resting beside Justin and Emily on a sea of lily pads that were scattered over the water. Lily Palus had gone from a muddy bog to a beautiful sea overnight. The surface of the water was calm and smooth around me, except for a few ripple
s that were stirred up from the warm morning air moving in.
“Where did he go?” I muttered.
“Where’d who go?” asked Justin.
“The boy who saved me.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Emily. “Justin saved you!”
I felt weak and groggy, and I couldn’t understand what had happened.
“I had such a hard time finding you,” said Justin. “I searched everywhere, and then suddenly there you were, floating on the surface.”
“He grabbed you right away,” said Emily.
“We thought you were, you know, dead!” stammered Justin.
“You scared the heck out of us.” Emily squeezed her arms around me in a big hug.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, uncomfortable with this new intimacy which only frustrated me further as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Had I completely lost my sanity or could something so magical actually have happened? I thought hard to summon back my last memory of the stormy dark water where the colourful fish and the boy had been. Even now his green eyes haunted me.
“Where’d you get that?”
“What?”
“That!” Emily pointed to my chest.
Looking down, I saw that the necklace the boy had given me was still hanging around my neck. It wasn’t glowing like it had been in the water, and I could see now in the sun that the silver was somewhat tarnished, but I was relieved to have proof that it was all true.
“And what’s the big grin for?” asked Justin.
“Huh?” I hadn’t realized I was smiling.
“What is going on out dere?” Yeri popped his head out from inside my knapsack that sat on the lily pad beside Justin.
“Ah, Tali! Good to see you learn to swim after all,” said Yeri.
“You found my knapsack?”
“Yeah I found it at about twenty feet below the surface when I dove down searching for you. I grabbed it, hoping that you’d still need it.”
“Okay already! Tell us where you got the necklace,” said Emily, obviously anxious to know.
They all looked at me.
“Well,” I said, not sure how I should begin. “I got it from a merman,” I said straightly.
They stood there, staring at me blankly.
“Well, more like a merboy,” I corrected. “But kind and bright, like an angel, but not the kind that were carved in the ice castle. He took me swimming, which was more like flying over the entire sea! You wouldn’t believe all the fish down there. It’s like an aquarium, but bigger. And he gave me the necklace and it was glowing, though it doesn’t seem to be anymore. Do you think the water has something to do with it?” I asked. “Not that it matters, because it’s nice all the same, and I can’t believe he SAVED ME!” I concluded, realizing I had been talking faster than my tongue could twist out the words with a voice that was much too squeaky and excited.
They all stared at me with a bewildered gaze.
“Yeah, and so, that’s about it,” I finished quickly, trying to sound impassive, but still tickling inside with a giddy energy.
“One would tink you found heart’s promise,” sniffed Yeri.
“Heart’s what?”
“Your soul’s mate, de other half, your how do you say... your groom.”
“HA!” Justin burst out laughing. “She found her husband - a merman!”
“Ahh, you tink it funny, but I see many, many time before. Heart, she start hiccuppink – make face get all pink and rosy. Den dey start talkink mile a minute – blah, blah, blah! Sometime tongue get tangle so big in knot dey stop talkink and start hummink.
“Humming?” asked Justin.
“La la la, you know... sing.”
“Whatever,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. But my thoughts lingered on the boy’s playful green eyes; I imagined the corner of his full lips curving up into his adorable crooked smile. I would have kissed them, but he didn’t kiss me. Why didn’t he kiss me? I wondered, and felt my cheeks flush thinking of how silly I must have looked, expecting that kiss. Of course he wouldn’t kiss me, we had just met. Thinking back on it, I was mortified.
“Can I see it?” asked Emily, fixated on the necklace. “It looks a bit tarnished, but I’m sure you’ll be able to polish it up.”
I lifted it over my head and held it out to her and she eagerly took the necklace into her own hands.
“It looks like there are some letters here on this round part,” she said, tipping the charm on its side.
Looking over her shoulder, I could see there were scripted letters filling the circular top with some sort of embossed hallmark.
“HT&M,” she read. “Wonder what it stands for?”
“Probably his name,” I guessed.
“Howard Turner?” she snickered.
“Or Harvey Thomas?” I suggested.
“But then what’s the M for?” she asked.
I felt my heart sink, thinking it likely stood for some girl. Maybe the name of a mermaid.
“It’s probably not even his,” scoffed Justin. “Probably just found the thing at the bottom, somewhere in the muck. But what I’d like to know is how did you hold your breath for so long?”
“Ya, how did you?” asked Emily dangling the charm against her own chest.
“That’s what’s strange,” I said. “It was as if I didn’t need to breathe. I can’t explain it, but I just swam without air or voice, which I really missed cause I had so many questions to ask him.”
“Questions, questions. Too many I tink if you hope to get to Lockhart in my lifetime,” said Yeri. “Do you have taste bud left?” he asked me.
“Yes, although they might be wet,” I replied while holding out my hand for Emily to give me back the necklace.
“We eat, den go.”
I slipped the chain back over my head and tucked the charm under my shirt and out of view. Then reaching into my damp pocket, I pulled out six buds.
“I sure hope these buds have less calories than real french fries,” said Emily, as I dropped a bud into her hand. “I’d hate to gain weight over such a small thing.”
“I think we’re gonna need some calories to burn,” said Justin, looking out at the landscape that lay before us. Surrounding us was an enormous obstacle course of lily pads over water.
—
The deep red sun of morning had brightened into a cheerful yellow noon as we set out across the lily pads with ease. We hopped from one to another and soon found a speedy rhythm like frogs in a pond, back on our journey south towards the border of Saltus.
The gurgling sounds of the pads slapping against the water with each jump was all I heard for a long time and it became the rhythmic beat to our journey. Splash, splash, hop. Splash splash hop, our jumps thumped out. Each hop released rings that rippled out in circles along the waters smooth surface.
“I tink I see other side,” said Yeri.
We stopped and he raised himself up on my shoulder. “Dere she be!” he pointed. “De forest of Saltus.”
We stood watching the ripples we had made roll out and disappear on the horizon where a faint line of trees stood up from the water’s edge about a half mile away.
“So what happened Yeri?” I asked. “To your family I mean. You said they went in to Saltus and never returned.”
“Eck, you do not know what kind of magic dwell in forest of redwood, I tell dem. It best to stay put. Wait for storm to end in Tesqua, but no, dey no listen.”
“Magic? As in wizards and stuff?” asked Justin.
“No no, it much worse den dat. Forest is home to many faery. Nasty dey are with wing like bug.”
“I thought faeries were supposed to be good,” said Emily.
“Dat is what dey want you to tink.”
“I don’t know, nasty or not, it’d still be cool to see one,” sa
id Justin.
“No! Dis you do not want,” said Yeri. “Deir magic is very, very unpredictable. Dey force good creature of forest to do all deir work.”
“They force them?” asked Emily. “How do they do that?”
“Dey put spell on dem is how. Climb on bird to fly and squirrel like little horse.”
“I thought faeries had wings of their own?” said Emily.
“Female yes, male no. Most animal from Tesqua move to forest after storm lookink for work. My family left with hope of greater tings.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“Blech, I knew better dan to mess with deir kind,” said Yeri. “It is ploy. Dey promise food and protection for labour. I told family we not be defeated! We stay and weather storm, but how could I know storm last a lifetime?”
“Have you not seen any of them since they left?” asked Emily.
“No,” said Yeri. “No one return.”
“So you think the faeries have kept them against their will?”
“Why else would dey not come home?”
“Gee, I can’t imagine why they’d not come back to such a dry, sandy, barren, wasteland.” coughed Justin sarcastically.
“Dey would take me too if dey got chance! No, dis we not want. We must travel quick and quiet around forest undetected.”
“I’m kinda siding with Yeri on this one,” I said, remembering Prospexi, and my mind drifted away from the conversation and back to the night I met Prospexi. She was such a sour faery and it didn’t take much to imagine her interrogating Yeri the way she did me, if she had the chance. I wonder what other spells she could cast with that little pouch of dust. They’re nothing at all like the stories I had read, and certainly not at all like the merboy. My gaze drifted down to the reflective water.
I wonder what he’s doing? Maybe he’s already found his heart’s promise and he’s swimming somewhere down there with her. She’s probably beautiful, a mermaid with a tail like his and long flowing hair. I peered down into the water, imagining him looking back up at me, with his ocean green eyes and lovely smile.
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