Then We Fly

by Rebecca Salas

  I nodded, trying to remember how these things felt, how I’d seen them done in the past. I hummed simply. Only for her good. I thought. I promise. And there it was, that vaguely familiar constriction and humming in my skin. Clytie’s eyes were closed, here serene smile returned.

  “Very well.” She reached down among the rocks of the lake floor and drew up an obsidian blade. She saw the surprise on my face. “A naiad, here alone, against a syphon, needs more than bubbles and lilies on occasion.” She lifted the blade up and, gathering a lock of pink hair in her fingers, cut it and held it out to me. I neared her, taking the hair from her outstretched hand. She reached her blade wielding hand over and, releasing the blade to drift to the ground again, placed her hand atop my own.

  “Help her, and I will owe you a second kindness, child of Proteus.” She nodded her head and released me. I nodded back and turned to Dylan, without another word we swam out of the nest of lilies and swam back to the other side of the lake.

  “How do you think it works?” Dylan asked as we hiked back through the sunlight branches of the pine forest.

  I tried to come back to the present. Neither of us had spoken since leaving camp, walking past the almost picked clean bones of what was surely the syphon. Our high spirits after our success with Clytie faded at the sight. It was clear who the bones had been, her brown hair had not been eaten by whatever had cleaned the rest of her. Dorian said naiads liked to keep their water clean. I was filled with a new sense of horror wondering what else might inhabit the lake that could have made such quick work of the body.

  I had gagged and neither of us spoke. The reality of what I had done, and what ultimately happened to Gloria before, was unavoidable with the evidence there in front of me. I couldn’t pretend that there was some happier outcome anymore.

  I ran the back of my hand across my forehead, removing a bead of sweat that had accumulated in the humid air.

  “What exactly?” I asked, afraid that he would want to dwell on what I had done.

  “No, but I am curious about that too. I meant, that business with growing a tail.” This I could handle.

  “It wasn’t exactly a tail. Just a couple of flippers. It must be some weird mer thing.” I guessed.

  “But I thought that ondine weren’t mer. Is that something that Zo can do?”

  “No, I don’t think so. At least I’ve never seen her do it before, but maybe she can. Maybe it’s a special ondine thing.”

  Dylan shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think that’s why Nerine sent me. She seemed to think that no one else should see you do that. Like it wasn’t safe for others to know.”

  “You mean I should keep it a secret? From who?”

  “I’m not sure. Everyone, maybe. We should ask her, maybe she could make more sense of it. But she made it seem like that wasn’t something we should tell anyone about. I wasn’t even sure if what I saw was literal, when she showed me. I just felt her urgency to keep it a secret.”

  “Ok, we’ll keep a secret, until we know why and from whom at least.”

  “Can’t you ask her now? Is that something that you can do now?” Dylan asked.

  “Oh, I guess I could.” It wasn’t a thought that had occurred to me. “But I have to close my eyes, and I’d probably trip. We could sit for a bit and try?”

  “No, let’s wait until we’re back on the boat. It would be natural for you to close your eyes there, and that way we won’t waste time here. You saw that girl, fairy, sprite or whatever. Who knows what else is in here?”

  “Right.”

  {MISSING SYMBOL}

  In my mind I stood on the seal rocks facing out to the ocean, the castle to my back.

  “Nerine?” I called out. I waited a moment and began to turn, facing the castle. “Nerine?” I asked again. In my previous encounters with her she was usually there before I even thought to ask for her. All it had taken was me closing my eyes. I couldn’t expect her to always be waiting for me. I sat on the rock, not because I was tired, there was no tiring here, but simply for something to do while I waited. I held a hand out to the ocean water bidding it closer. An incoming wave rose above the edge of the rock and climbed higher still, forming a river through the air and terminating in my palm. With a thought I shaped the water. Twisting it to my memory. It took the shape of a comb and with a second thought in this dream, it was no longer water, but a tortoiseshell comb. It felt real in my fingers. I looked around. “Nerine?” I said once more. Still, she wasn’t there. I was disappointed, I wanted to show her my creation.

  {MISSING SYMBOL}

  Cold water splashed on my face, waking me up. Real water. I coughed and choked, my lungs unprepared for the transition. I blinked in confusion, trying to wake up properly and make sense of my surroundings. The sea churned with angry waves, the sky that had been bright and sunny when I’d closed my eyes was a dark gray with rolling clouds out of a nightmare. Habit and self-preservation had me holding my breath and struggling to keep my head above the water as I was pounded again and again by the waves. I would get above one only to have another, larger wave, roll me right under.

  Exhausted, I held my breath and swam down into the dark water for a moment, regaining my strength to resurface again. In the semi-calm under the water, I realized that resurfacing wasn’t entirely necessary. I looked above me and around, I could make out no sign of Dylan, the boat, or its crew. I wasn’t sure how long I had battled the waves; time isn’t reckoned correctly in stressful situations. It could have been five minutes, though it had felt like it had been an hour. I relaxed and allowed my lungs a chance to adjust to breathing the salty sea water. I instantly missed the freshwater pond. Dylan was right, the salt water was abrasive.

  Dylan. I turned in a circle, looking again. Still, I saw no sign of him, or anyone. Looking up to the surface of the water I saw the waves continuing to roll violently on the surface. I needed this storm to stop. Oran could stop it. That thought was enough and I was closing my eyes, allowing myself to drift in the stormy water.

  {MISSING SYMBOL}

  We stood in a vast desert. I could make out no end in sight, only endless waves of hot dry sand, a burning sun beating down. Oran stood a few steps ahead, his back to me. This was his dream, not mine. He walked, slowly, his steps pained.

  “Oran,” I said. A cloud formed blocking a bit of the sun, a cooling shade from the blazing heat. Oran stopped walking but did not turn. “Oran.” I said, again. A drop of water fell from the cloud and landed on Oran’s head. Slowly, he turned to face me. His skin was burnt and blistering, his lips dry and cracked. What a strange nightmare for a merman. His eyes settled on me, momentarily confused. As his eyes began to focus, recognition came and the cloud above us opened, rainwater pouring out in a torrent. He took a tentative step toward me, and then another.

  “Cora?” He reached out a hand for me. I smiled, wanting to comfort him in his state.

  “I’m here.” I answered. He neared me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He looked intently in my eyes.

  “Are you? Really? This isn’t a nice place to be.”

  I looked up at the rain as it fell on my face. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem so bad.”

  Oran chuckled a hoarse laugh. “Not now.” I looked at his burnt skin and lips. Could I fix that for him? This was his dream, but still it was a dream. I lifted my hand and opened the jar of salve that I now held there, conjured up by my desire for its existence. Dipping my fingers in I cautiously ran the salve across his forehead. His eyes closed, but his jaw did not tighten. He showed no sign of increased pain. I smoothed it into his skin, along his cheekbones, gently over his eyelids, along the line of his nose. With every touch the burn and blisters were gone, as if they had never been there. Where I had touched there was also no sign of the slave, only his perfect tanned skin. His eyes remained closed as I tentatively ran my fingers over his lips, an intimate gesture that did not go unnoticed. He stopped me before I had finished this, taking my hand and kissing the palm of it
. Oran opened his eyes and looked at me, intently again.

  “Are you real?”

  I smiled patiently. “Yes.” I took the sun blistered hand that held mine and rubbed the salve in, and then took the other to repeat the process. I could feel Oran’s eyes on me like a physical touch.

  “Why? Why have you come?”

  “I need your help.” I released his hand, but he took mine back up, a needy kind of grip.

  “I think it’s the other way ‘round.” He gestured with his free hand to the desert that surrounded us, but now I noticed bushes flowers and even a palm tree in the distance.

  “You just needed to be reminded that the desert was a dream, or rather a nightmare. Now you can make of it what you want.”

  Oran looked at me thoughtfully. The rain stopped, and as the sun reemerged a canopied bed appeared a few feet away. I looked at the bed and then at him. I raised one eyebrow.

  “Really? You could create anything and that’s what you pick?”

  “You really are here. It’s the real you.” His sea green eyes were intense.

  “Yes. I thought we already established that.”

  Oran scoffed. “This isn’t the first time you’ve appeared in my dreams, but you do seem more, you, than before.” His eyes turned thoughtful once more, a tousle of blonde hair falling in his face. “What’s wrong Cora?” He took both of my hands, concern wrinkling his eyes. “You’ve never come to me this way before.”

  “I’m not sure what happened. I was on the boat, and I laid down and closed my eyes for a minute. Everything seemed fine. And then I woke up in the ocean, in the middle of a storm.” As I spoke, I opened a little window in the sky, I replayed my memory of being tossed by the waves for him to see there. I hadn’t known I could do that, but in that moment, I had wanted him to see what was happening and then the way was there.

  He looked on, concern etching lines in his elegant features. “And now? Are you safe now?”

  “I’m still here, floating around in this storm.”

  “Go back.” His words were surprisingly forceful. “Wake up now, Cora.”

  “I need you to stop the storm.”

  He looked on me with patient pity. “I don’t know where you are Cora, and neither do you. There could be rocks, there could be sharks, there could be worse. You need to be awake. I’ll see if I can find a storm in the area where you left, but you need to go back now. Find a safe place, then come and find me again. And I will find you.”

  Abruptly, Oran did something I hadn’t expected, or even thought possible. He pushed me. Not my shoulders or arms, but my existence, he willed me away and I couldn’t stay.

  The sea around me was darkening and continued to roll all around me. I had no way of knowing where I had started or how far I had drifted, but as I looked around, I made out the distinct movement of dark shapes waving in the ocean. I wasn’t alone.

  CREATED BY JUTOH - PLEASE REGISTER TO REMOVE THIS LINE

  Chapter Twelve

  I swam beneath the roiling surface of the water, trying to stay low enough to avoid being knocked about. I stared intently on the movement of the dark shapes in the distance, unsure if I should swim toward them or away from them. I could still make out no sign of the boat. The night was coming on quickly and the storm had yet to pass. As I turned around again it was harder to see than before, the expanse was nearly black. I looked beneath me, anxious to spot some lights, hopefully from a friendly mer. The water was so black now that my own feet were becoming difficult to see. I looked again toward the dark shapes and could see nothing; the darkness was nearly complete.

  I made my decision and swam toward where the shapes had been, preferring to seek it out over being found or tossed into it, or something else. I swam slowly, part out of caution, part fear, part difficulty in the turbulent water. I reached an arm forward to feel something slick brush past. I yanked my hand back to my side when another sensation of something brushing against me came at my ankle, slick and subtle. I opened my arms trying to push myself back under the water. As I reached out, I took in great armfuls of slimy seaweed. I calmed, but still pushed back. Kelp. Immense, broad and long. At least it wasn’t a predator. I swam up to the surface, again fighting the waves, but hopeful for some sight above the water.

  The storm continued but had calmed enough that I could keep my head above water. I could vaguely make out the floating tops of the kelp. In the dark it was hard to see much else, still I stayed above the water, hopeful to see something. I laid back, trying to float and rest, every muscle was exhausted and burning. How long had I been swimming for? I let out a sigh, trying to relax in the turbulent water. A chirp sounded somewhere above my head and I immediately pulled myself upright.

  I spun, looking for the source of the sound. Had I even heard anything? The rain pelting the waves was still so loud and the occasional thunder had me on edge. What would lighting do to me in here? Again, a small noise. In the darkness I made out the indistinct form of something small moving my way. My mind raced, friend or foe?

  I began to hum like I had in the dark woods. Trying my best to sound like help and kindliness. Could I make whatever it was want to help me instead of eat me? When It was only a foot away from me, I could better make out the dark shape. Small and furry with dark beady eyes. A sea otter. It looked up at me expectantly. With another sound it had turned and began to swim away. Instinctively I followed it. It was hard to fear any danger coming from that creature.

  I found my fear again as it swam into the kelp and I following, I felt it slide slick across my legs and arms. The sensation would have been unpleasant even if I could see what was touching me. The otter stopped and began tying itself up in the kelp. It finished and looked back to me, waiting. I stared for a moment, watching how the waves jostled the otter, but that it stayed relatively still attached to the kelp.

  Understanding, I followed its example. The seaweed was still unpleasant, but I knew I needed the security of at least not floating away if I were to try to reach out to Oran again. I grabbed at the broad leaves of the kelp tentatively tying it about myself. When I felt reasonably secure, I laid back and tried floating again. The kelp held me in place as the waves rose and fell, my body rising and falling with them. Nearby, I could make out the shape of the otter resting, seemingly without worry.

  {MISSING SYMBOL}

  My exhaustion at swimming against the waves won out over my fear of the black water and unfamiliar surroundings and I succumbed to my need to sleep. I needed to contact Oran, and there was one way for me to do that.

  As I drifted, I found myself on the shore of the Seal Islands, alone. Oran was nowhere to be found. I wandered aimlessly for a moment, wondering how long it might be before he fell asleep. Maybe he was asleep and I was in the wrong place. I tried to focus on him, willing myself to be wherever it was that he was. A subtle shift, like a blink, and an echo of Oran’s voice floated indistinct on the wind.

  “Oran!” I called out. There was no response. I focused again wanting desperately to find wherever he was so that he could stop the storm that tossed my sleeping body. Another flicker, more voices on the wind. “Oran!” I called again. The world around me went black, and empty. I stood on nothing, touched nothing, saw nothing.

  “Cora?” Oran’s voice came clear in that dark place, the only light to hold on to.

  “Oran. I’m in a safe place. I need you to stop this storm.”

  “I’m working on it.” He answered.

  I willed light and color into the darkness. I was on the beach again. Still, I was alone.

  “Oran?” I asked a hint of panic rising in my voice. What was happening?

  “What’s wrong?” His voice answered back, matching my tone of anxiety.

  “I can’t see you. I thought you’d gone.”

  “I’m still here. My eyes are still closed. I can see you.” There was a smile in his voice.

  “Your eyes are closed? You mean, you aren’t asleep?”

  “No, I was talking to
some advisors, trying to figure out where you might be. I woke up as soon as you left the dream.”

  This was new. Nerine had done something like this to me, and maybe Fynn had also. It wasn’t something I had ever considered trying before, and yet here I had done it without knowing that this was what I was doing.

  “Have you had any success?”

  “There are a few storms between where you left and here. The trouble is that we don’t know what route they took you or when you fell overboard. We haven’t been able to contact the crew. Do you have any idea of what happened? Was there perhaps, some accident? Did you see any sign of the storm incoming? Was anything out of the ordinary before you laid down?”

  I shook my head, thinking. “I don’t know. I don’t remember. The weather seemed clear. The crew seemed, as usual. Dylan had gone inside for food while I lay down. I should try to find him.” I pulled away, halfway gone and eager to find where Dylan was and what was happening to him.

  “Cora, wait.”

  I waited. “Yes?” I asked.

  “We need to stop that storm. I’ve been trying to calm everything, but it’s hard to cover such an area and at such a distance. I’m coming to find you.”

  I was struck with surprise. “You’re coming here? You don’t even know where here is.”

  “I’m not going to leave you floating aimlessly in the ocean. I will find you. Hold tight, and if it seems like the storm gets easier, or worse, contact me as quickly as you can. I can use that as a way to find you. Just… be strong.” Without seeing his face, I could still hear a hint of pain in his tone. He didn’t like not being able to fix this.

  “I’ll be alright.” I answered, and knowing that he could see me, I put on my brightest smile, wanting to ease his worry. I drifted away from his mind and sought out Dylan. Awake or asleep, I was going to find him.