by Laura Wylde
“Triton’s house. I guess he didn’t make himself very popular.”
“I guess not.”
“Did you find anything out about the pilgrims of Eurynome?”
“That’s how I got lost. I was told to talk to so many people, I lost track of where I was. Finally, I was sent to this small temple on the outskirts of Oceania. I met a priest. They have some kind of mumble-jumble going about finding a prophet.”
Noticing the sun inching into the sky, I was ready for a few hours’ sleep, but David kept pressing Kazan for more information. “What kind of prophet?”
“A compassionate one, I guess. The Eurynome followers keep water gardens and breed starfish for show. One of their best breeders was lost in the storm and sent back to them. They think the prophet rescued their starfish.”
“Did they send a thank you gift?”
Kazan looked surprised. He wasn’t the only one. I listened intently because it seemed like an odd question. “Yes, they did,” Kazan said. “They think the prophet has it.”
“Macy has it,” David growled. “Let’s get some sleep while we can. I have a feeling; things are going to get complicated.”
We were to sleep while we could! It was easier said than done. There was complete anarchy in the water world, and a lunatic fringe religious group got it in their brilliant heads that a prophet would lead them to salvation based on the rescue of a pet starfish. Of course, it would have to be our busy little biologist instead of one more person we needed to simply steer tactfully away from a mythical sighting. On top of that, the Ceti were taking their quarrel to the human world.
The smart thing would be to get her out now although the Director was right. It would not detour her curiosity. She would hear about the sea monsters from the village rumors. She would return to the cove where the wreckage of an Oceana village had washed to shore. She would take samples, make tests. I wouldn’t doubt if she would see a mermaid or two, slithering in to find pieces of their homes. It was madness all the way around. At least by keeping tabs on her, we could control most of what she saw.
I fell into an uneasy sleep, my dreams disturbed by the sounds of war, the fury of gods whose thirst for vengeance lasted for eternity. As one dark image slid into another, the sounds twirled and drowned in a deeper, darker sleep.
I was awakened by Macy’s cheery, light voice. She was shaking Reuben awake. “Hey, sleepy head. It’s almost high noon and I’m starving! Where did you hide the food stash?”
He mumbled and scratched at his scruffy beard as he struggled into a sitting position. “Dad blame! A woman in the house and I still have to make the coffee. That’s the problem with women these days and their new-fangled ideas.”
“Just tell me where it is and I’ll cook breakfast,” she wheedled, but he was already getting out of bed. He plodded across the room in his boxer shorts, his hairy, muscular thighs bulging beneath, his feet slapping against the wood plank flooring. He opened a canvas flap and entered the shelter where we kept all our diving equipment, bundles of nets, and strapped down crates. We heard him rummage, curse and bang a few things together.
Macy sat on the bunk, her hands in her lap. She had put on a pair of cut-off jeans and a top with little ties at the shoulders. None of it covered her enough to erase the vision of seeing her nearly naked. She seemed accustomed and unconcerned with male fascination of her body, and more interested in her ability to be useful. “I think I should go in there and help him,” she said.
Both David and Kazan held her back immediately. David sputtered and blocked the entrance to the shelter. Kazan rolled across his bunk and dropped to the floor. “No, you don’t want to do that,” He tentatively put a hand on her knee. She didn’t draw back but listened intently. “Reuben’s funny. He runs the boat, everything in it. He’s a walking, talking inventory and knows if so much as an inch of rope needs replacing. He doesn’t want anyone messing with it. He says it upsets the boat.”
Macy grinned, gripped the side of the bunk, and leaned forward. Kazan removed his hand quickly. She stared down at him from her perch. “It upsets the boat?”
Kazan wilted. He stared at the floor. David explained. “Reuben owns the boat, or at least, he thinks he does. It belongs to all of us, but Reuben is the one who takes care of it. He knows everything about it. He thinks the boat is temperamental and won’t respond well in the wrong hands. He almost has a heart attack every time I pilot the boat so he can dive with the team. Don’t argue with him – at least not about the boat or anything on it. It will do you no good.”
After a few minutes, the smell of coffee floated into the bunk room. “Now, we can go out,” said David.
I watched them escort Macy to the shelter before getting out of bed. I was still a little light-headed from the night before. No matter what the species, you’ve got to be careful around women. Water species were the worst, but human women could also be treacherous. They said they would love you no matter what, if you are honest with them. The truth is, you can’t be honest with them if you are a shape-shifting dragon.
Maybe it would be different if we were classic, fire breathing dragons or cave-dwelling dragons, flying on enormous wings. We look more like over-sized chameleons than we do fierce fighting beasts. We have wings, but they aren’t very impressive, a double row of translucent wings, one set over the other, the veins lightly colored in yellow and blue. We aren’t the dragons women want to see. They always leave when they learn the truth. Their love is based off matters after all. Macy wasn’t any different.
A little voice inside my head told me she was different but didn’t bother to tell me why. It wanted me to figure it out for myself. I thought about the day before. She was like a child in some ways, staring with delight and wonder at the world around her. She was also smart. She wasn’t some kid picking through the sand. She knew exactly what she was doing. She didn’t miss the tiny things in awe of the large and beautiful. Sometimes, it’s the tiny things that are the most dangerous. It was this quick and rational observation that was going to make it hard to keep things from her.
At least David seemed in better control today. He must have come to a resolution during the night. He was more relaxed, self-assertive. David worked best when knowing the facts of a situation, no matter how dire. He didn’t like guessing games. He didn’t like working in the dark. Now that he knew the facts, he could form a plan. Squids. David liked the idea of giant squids. They made very good culprits.
When I ducked through the flap to the open shelter, they were using upside-down pails as seats, allowing Macy the whole bench for her breakfast. I wasn’t going to be so generous. There was plenty of room. I sat on the other end of the bench. Macy didn’t even act like she noticed.
She was in a cheerful mood and chatted with the others as happily as a child. “I should sleep on boats more often,” she was telling them enthusiastically. “It felt like I was being rocked to sleep. I think I dreamed of garden swings wrapped with roses. I should have been sleeping in a boat when I was studying for exams. Every minute of the day, every time I closed my eyes, all I could see in front of me was diagrams of cellular structures and Latin root words. I dreamed equations. One night on a boat would have been… poof! Instant cure.”
“Well, now,” said Reuben, puffing out his chest so the curly hairs quivered. “Happens to be, this here is a special boat. Not all boats lull you to sleep like the Dragon Queen. No sir. She’s got a heart and soul.”
She cocked her head with an expression that made it difficult to tell if she was amused or if she agreed with what he said. “Does the Dragon Queen normally make everybody on board sleep until noon.”
“That she does,” he said, nodding soberly. “If we let her, she would have us sleeping the whole day away.”
Reuben is a true master with his tongue. He was the one who should have been sent to talk with the sea dragons. Not only could he have pried out information, he could have returned with a fortune in pearls. But no. David and Reuben were the ol
d guys and they both agreed their trainees needed to round out their experiences. That’s what they called it. It meant we had to learn how to socialize with the sentiments of the water world as well as the sentients on land.
It’s a tough one. Humans are confusing enough as it is. Elves, sprites, and imps are chaotic, nymphs and sirens a hazard to all men, fairies work for good or evil. Monsters are the same above and below. The most dependable sentiments are shapeshifters. We carry the spirit of our animal with us, even in human form. The gods designed shapeshifters to have noble attributes. We are protectors of humankind and the guardians of the earth. We patrol the gateways between the worlds.
The underwater sentients aren’t humankind. They belong to Poseidon. They go by his rules, which don’t seem well-defined at all beyond, “just don’t piss me off.” They get along just to keep from pissing him off, but now Poseidon is gone. It’s complete anarchy, perfect I suppose for rounding out my experiences. David is a shit. He’s not that much older than I am. Only Reuben is grizzled but David got his baptism by fire through Reuben and trains his recruits the same way.
Kazan is the youngest. He wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with the water dragons. He doesn’t have all his juices yet and doesn’t know how to mix cocktails. All he can do is heal, kill. or stun. Those ladies would not have been impressed. Despite his punk/rap music and his loud hair, though, he’s a good kid. He really has a way with Macy – like they’ve always been best friends. He goes along with her yet keeps her from seeing what she really shouldn’t see. I wondered how long we could keep it this way.
She dawdled over breakfast and waited the proper amount of time for everything to digest, then got itchy about diving again. She had picked up some algae from the ocean bed the day before to make microscopic slides and wanted to add some more samples. She could pick algae all day long for all I cared. Just as long as she didn’t see any shrimp-riding nymphs or horny mermen.
David wanted to keep someone on deck with Reuben to help keep watch for Ceti. He appointed Kazan, to the kid’s disappointment, and gestured for me to suit up. I really hate those stupid diving suits. I can move around more quickly and stay under water indefinitely in my own skin, but you’ve got to put on these pretenses with humans. They really freak out around dragons.
Down we plunged into the psychedelic world beneath the sea. I couldn’t really blame the mer people for their irritation at getting kicked off their own wilderness reserve, even if it was just for a few hours. It was an incredible place, filled with fronds and ferns, brilliantly colored coral, and fish of every shape and color combination imaginable. The known depths were enough to please her. She spent two hours photographing and cataloging on this machine she carried on her wrist, picked up some samples and indicated she was ready to ascend.
I was relieved. I had seen a few mer people peek through the forest of aquatic plants to venture a look at the human and was doing all that I could to keep her mind on pretty fish and bottom dwelling marine life. Waving our rubber fins gently, we swam toward the surface. Twelve feet before breaking through, I became nervous. My neck hairs prickled. Something was following us. I glanced over to see if David was picking up the same message. He was. He was circling Macy, his eyes darting right and left, before climbing higher.
The shadow became more closely defined – a large cunning face on long-reaching arms, a slithering body, half animal, half fish. Too late, I waved a warning. The Ceti barrowed in like a lightening flash, grabbed Macy in its embrace and zoomed toward the depths of the sea. Man clothing be damned. It was time to reveal our true nature. We kicked out of the diving suits like eels and flapped out our wings. They were sails on the ocean, powerful fins below its depths. Our necks grew long, our heads narrow and pointed. Cetis are rapid, but with their big heads and squat bodies, they are nothing compared to a water dragon.
The Ceti did not know we were pursuing it until we were nearly upon it. Only then did it look back to see the two amphibious dragons on its tail. It gave a terrified roar and redoubled its efforts to reach a three-hundred-year-old shipwreck on the ocean floor. At least, now we knew where the Cetis were hiding their victims.
The creature was so frightened, it turned from bright red to deep purple. It doesn’t matter how large, how strong, or how powerful you are. The mighty fall from the sting of our venom. It veered blindly away from the shipwreck, desperately trying to throw us off track and scrambled for the canopy of rock cropping and sea plants. I slid around in one direction, and David in another, catching the crouching Ceti in a pincer grip. It shifted Macy to the lesser of his four arms to fight for its life. David made the first strike but the Ceti was ready for it. It grabbed David’s neck in its two upper arms, throttling him. That left him only one free arm. The arm groped about, trying to find me. Slithering like an eel, I coiled, reared back my head, then struck in a venomous bite.
He howled with pain, but the venom wasn’t enough to kill him. He thrashed uncontrollably, jiggling Macy around like a rag doll, then tossing her aside, but did not let go of David. I slid around and struck again. My poison was running low, but it was enough to make the Ceti weak. It loosened its grip around David’s neck just enough to for him to wriggle free. In a final act of vengeance, David turned and bit the Ceti one more time. The last bite was a death sentence.
Wordlessly, we gathered up the unconscious victim and brought her back to the surface. Kazan and Reuben knew something was up as soon as they saw David breakthrough in his dragon form. They were leaning over the rails, watching tensely when I broke through behind him, carrying Macy. David was fatigued from the stranglehold the Ceti had placed on him and needed the fresh air more than I did, yet still swam over to help me lift Macy out of the water once we were both in sight of the boat again.
We were somber as we brought her on board and removed her diving gear. Reuben squatted beside her and felt her head. He rolled back her eyelids and examined her eyes. His hands passed quickly over her body, stopping once to gently touch her ribs and another time as he examined her legs. “She’ll survive,” he said. “No serious head trauma, merely shock. She will wake up in a lot of pain, however. She has two broken ribs and a broken ankle.”
Kazan scowled, sat near Macy’s head, and wrapped his hands around his knees. With his bright green topping, he looked like a gnome. “I don’t want her to be in pain. I don’t want her to suffer.”
“None of us want her to suffer,” agreed David softly. He had that lovesick look on his face again.
Her face was so white and still, the freckles stood out in little golden drops. Her lashes curled against her high-ridged cheeks. I wished I could help. “I’ve depleted my juices two days in a row. I don’t think I have enough for a healing touch right now.”
“Mine are gone too,” said David sadly. “I put everything I had into that bite.”
Killing was avoided when possible. It was a point of pride in our profession. Reuben reproached him without knowing the details of the story. “That was vicious.”
David shrugged and grumbled, “it was personal. It’s up to you, mate.”
Reuben grunted and sat back with that wise old man look he gets at times. “I think Kazan should do the honors.”
Kazan sputtered and turned several shades of red. “I’ve never licked a human before.”
“I guess it’s time you learned, isn’t it?” Reuben asked.
4
Kazan
I’m not emotional, but I nearly cried when they carried her on board. She was so deathly still. I helped Reuben rip away the oxygen tanks and the wetsuit, my heart pounding. She was alive! She was pale but not chalk white. Her lips were still a healthy pink and her breathing was even. I sat back and watched as Reuben demonstrated his medical skills, checking her pulse, her eyes, her bones. First aid is a required course for becoming a full-fledged guardian dragon but not all dragons have equal aptitude. Reuben says I have potential.
Still, I wasn’t prepared when his said I should give Macy a
healing lick. I had only practiced on small animals, and once, on a beaver. The beaver squealed and ran into the lake as fast as it could go without thanking me in the least.
They all watched as I bashfully elongated my head and stuck out my tongue, flicking it lightly over Macy’s face. I pulled my head back in when I saw her stir and gazed at her with the same innocent expression the others used. She touched her head first - then examined the rest of her body, lifting and turning each arm and leg and wincing a little. She was healed but she would still be sore for a few days.
Satisfied she had all her body parts, she held her head again, her auburn hair dripping over her hands. “What happened?” She squinted as she tried to access recent memories. “What was that? Something grabbed me. I recall it now.”
“It was a giant squid,” said David quickly.
She looked up, her eyes boring into him, wide and dark. “It wasn’t! It was a monster like I’ve never seen before. What are you hiding down there?”
“Mutations,” I told her. I had read up on biology and evolution. It was an answer she would accept.
She would have except one thing. Her memories were too good. She continued to stare at David accusingly. “Two creatures chased it. I saw them. They were creatures I had never seen before, either.” She was surprisingly calm for someone who had narrowly escaped death. “It was you, wasn’t it?” She pressed. “You and Kauris. I saw you change. I saw you come after me. What are you?”
David scrambled for a dodgy answer. Reuben shook his head and spat out a piece of chewed tobacco. “Tell her, David. You can’t hide it anymore.”
David stood up and paced to the guard rail with the orange sun slowly sinking over a distant island. He turned and leaned his back against it. “We’re shape-shifters. We’re dragons that can shift into humans. We help maintain the peace between the water world and the land world. There are many of us. Most were fashioned by Poseidon, but we were fashioned by Ghia. We have the same mother as humans.”