ELEMENTS: Acquiesce

by Kathryn Andrews

“And you have blue blood in your veins, sangre azul. You inhibit all of the merfolk powers.”

  “I doubt it,” said Cordelia. “From what I hear, any pure bloodline I may have had has been well and truly watered down.”

  Marilla took Cordelia’s arm and held it by the candle light. A river network of blue blood flowed beneath her snowy white skin. “As blue as the sea,” said Marilla. “Whatever made the ocean made the blood in your veins. You have the power to do anything you set your mind to.”

  “Anything?”

  “You just have to believe in yourself. Everything else will follow.”

  Cordelia hugged Marilla and dashed out of the snow dome.

  Feeling that she had no time to lose, Cordelia hurried along the tunnels and bumped straight into Lana and the twins.

  “Cordelia!” exclaimed Lana. “How are you? We’ve been wanting to come and see you but Mazu said no visitors.”

  “I’m fine,” said Cordelia, breathlessly. “Have you seen Rafe?”

  “Rafe?” said Masika. “What d’you want with him?”

  Cordelia studied Masika’s inquisitive expression. She knew no matter what she said, Masika would read her thoughts sooner or later. “Help me find him and then I’ll explain.”

  “We saw him going out to the horses a few minutes ago,” said Nerissa.

  The four mermaids walked briskly along the tunnels towards the lighthouse.

  “We’re not supposed to go outside without permission,” said Masika.

  “Then stay inside,” said Cordelia.

  “I’ll keep my father distracted,” said Lana when they reached the door of the lighthouse and she sprinted up the stairs to the lookout.

  “I’ll keep watch from here,” said Nerissa, holding the door ajar.

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on?” said Masika.

  “I’m sure you’ll work it out,” said Cordelia and she slipped into the afternoon sunlight.

  Cordelia skipped across the grass to the stables where Rafe was tending the horses. He turned and smiled at Cordelia.

  “This is unexpected,” he said with a glint in his eye. “D’you have permission to be out here?”

  “I granted myself permission,” she said, smiling.

  Cordelia stepped closer to Rafe, looking deep into his eyes.

  “What’s she doing?” whispered Nerissa, peering through the crack in the door.

  “Making him forget,” said Masika.

  “Forget what?” enquired Nerissa.

  “Who she is.”

  Rafe’s expression changed from intrigue to puzzlement. His attention was diverted by a loud whistle. It was Max returning on one of the horses. Cordelia stepped back.

  “What are you two up to?” asked Max.

  “I came to thank Rafe for his bravery the other night,” said Cordelia.

  “He’s a hero, that’s for sure. He could have his pick of any girl in there,” said Max, pointing to the lighthouse.

  “Where’ve you been?” asked Cordelia.

  “Here and there,” replied Max.

  “We’re supposed to be lying low,” said Cordelia.

  “Rules don’t apply to me,” said Max, jumping down from the horse.

  If looks could kill, Max would have dropped dead right there in front of her.

  Max turned to Rafe. “Are you done?”

  “Aye,” said Rafe, and the young men sauntered back to the lighthouse.

  Nerissa and Masika climbed several steps until they were out of sight. When the coast was clear, they ran outside to Cordelia and signalled to the lookout window for Lana to join them. Then they mounted the horses.

  “Follow me!” said Cordelia.

  The four mermaids galloped bareback on white horses, their hooves flying off the ground, across the cliff tops.

  Irvin Seymour saw the girls from the lookout. “Where in the blazes are you going?” he said through gritted teeth.

  The girls rode past the peat bog where there was no sign of Breck and galloped across the beach, the horses kicking up sand with their hooves. Irvin followed them through his binoculars, all the way to George’s Head.

  Masika jumped down from her horse and knelt before Cordelia. “Whatever you need, I am here for you. I am your loyal servant. Your protector.”

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on?” said Lana, breathlessly.

  Cordelia looked down at Masika. “You are my friend. Please get up.”

  Masika rose to her feet, “Thank you,” she said and curtsied.

  “Seriously, what’s going on?” asked Lana.

  “She’s a direct descendent of Meren,” said Masika.

  “You mean…” began Nerissa.

  “She’s royalty?” asked Lana.

  “According to The Book of Tails,” said Masika.

  Lana and Nerissa jumped down from their horses and knelt before Cordelia who subsequently dismounted her horse.

  “Stand up, both of you. I’m no different. I’m the same as I’ve always been. Or at least the same as you’ve known me to be.”

  “No,” said Lana. “This is huge.”

  “I really don’t want any fuss,” said Cordelia.

  “Fuss or no fuss, you are different,” said Masika.

  “What if I don’t want to be?” asked Cordelia.

  “I don’t think you have a choice,” said Nerissa.

  “If you’re of royal blood, you inhibit all merfolk powers,” said Masika.

  “Do you have any idea how powerful you are?” asked Lana.

  “Powerful enough to rescue Flynn?”

  “And the rest,” said Lana. “You just need to know how to use it.”

  “This is so exciting!” squealed Nerissa.

  “You won’t need to worry about Zamira,” said Lana, “you can obliterate the lot of them. Probably.”

  Cordelia gazed languorously across the mouth of the bay towards the islands.

  “What is it Cordelia?” asked Lana, “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just all a bit of a shock, that’s all.”

  Masika sensed there was more to it than that.

  “Whatever happens, I hope we will always be friends,” said Cordelia.

  “As long as the tides are turning,” said Lana, smiling.

  Cordelia held out her arms and the four mermaids hugged. Given her newfound status, Masika tried to respect Cordelia’s privacy but with their heads almost touching it was an impossible task. No matter how hard she tried to block out Cordelia’s thoughts they were coming thicker and faster than ever before. Masika felt uneasy and pulled away from the group, watching Cordelia with intensity.

  “What is it?” asked Nerissa.

  “It’s nothing,” lied Masika. “I’m just feeling a little giddy.”

  While the horses grazed and ocean spray ejected into the atmosphere, the mermaids sat and talked well into the evening, hatching a plan to rescue Flynn who at this very moment was experiencing something life changing of his own.

  Struck with fever and chills, Flynn had become delirious, falling in and out of consciousness. Slumped in the dirty, sodden pit, blue waves of energy intermittently moved around his body in the lilac grey of evening dusk. His fingers began to twitch.

  FOURTEEN

  SMALL MERCIES

  Flynn’s eyes slowly opened, he inhaled the earthy scent of the pit and lifted his head, peeling his cheek from the cold, hard rock. He steadied himself, blinking several times to focus his bleary eyes. For a fleeting moment he’d forgotten where he was but his wet clothes and the sound of the pounding waves on the rocks below soon brought him crashing back to reality. Flynn held his trembling hands out in front of him and he watched the blue aura dancing between his finger tips. He blinked again and pulled at his fingers, trying to discard this mystery phenomenon. He pulled and pulled at each fingertip but it only made it worse. Flynn rose to his feet and kicked the wall of his cell. With his hands on his head, Flynn began to breathe rapidly. He closed his eyes and tilted his he
ad back, opening them again to see the iron bars securely in place above him. Enraged, Flynn reached up to grip the bars above his head. When his hands made contact with the iron, a surge of energy rushed through Flynn’s body and a bright blue light radiated from the hole, illuminating the sky like the bright, dancing lights of the aurora. With his newfound strength, Flynn ripped the bars free. The light display attracted attention from all directions.

  The ravens’ fell silent, their heads turning sharply towards the hole. Zamira flapped her wings and took flight, landing solidly at the edge of the island.

  “Oh my, what have we here?” asked Zamira calmly, her dark beady eyes peering into the hole.

  Flynn stared up at her, brandishing an iron bar, his eyes burning into her soul. He lunged towards her, grappling with the mud and rock as he tried to pull himself out. Zamira stepped forward and dug her sharp talons into Flynn’s hand, just as she had done before. Blood rushed to the surface and Flynn felt an overwhelming strength building within him which intensified as Zamira’s army surrounded the hole. Flynn swung the iron pole hard against the ground where the Sirens were standing. An enormous surge of blue energy exploded before them, causing the rock to crumble and sending Flynn spiraling through the air into open water. The Sirens scrambled to take flight as they fell with fragments of rock hitting their wings, and croaky cackles filled the air.

  “Breck!” screamed Cordelia from the tip of George’s Head as a bright blue figure descended into the ocean.

  Irvin Seymour watched Cordelia through his binoculars. She removed her boots without hesitation and with reckless abandon dived from the headland into the sea. So preoccupied had Irvin been with the girls that he hadn’t noticed what was happening southwest of the lighthouse. He turned quickly to see the commotion at Slate Island, ravens squawking and flapping their wings in furor. He reverted back to the headland that Cordelia had foolishly dived from and was horrified to see Lana and the twins following after her.

  “Holy mother of God!” he cried before running down the stairs to find Triton.

  When Flynn hit the water, an energy field formed around him like a bubble, saving him from drowning and protecting him from the ferocious attack of the ravens. The mermaids glided through the water to the landing site at lightening speed. Approaching the scene from beneath the surface, Cordelia could see the bubble, half in the water and half out. The ravens attacked but the shield repelled them every time. Wiping hair from her face, Cordelia peered into the bubble, her eyes widening when she saw Flynn. She rubbed her eyes and peered in again. Overwhelmed with joy, Cordelia gasped for air, then smiled. He looked back at her, his eyes welling up. He looked much stronger than the last time Cordelia saw him but her happiness was short lived. Her eyes darted about looking for Breck and in a panic she dived further down to search for him. Flynn lurched forward, watching Cordelia’s tail disappear into the navy Atlantic.

  Flynn was fast learning that life in this great wilderness was more complex than he could ever have imagined but he knew little about energy carriers. Lana and the twins were circling the bubble below the surface like a pod of dolphins protecting a human from a shark attack. They kept their vigil for thirty minutes until the ravens seemed to lose interest. When the ravens retreated to their sea stack, the mermaids surfaced. Flynn was surprised to see three beautiful mermaids surrounding him, though he wasn’t shocked. Nothing could shock him now. Relieved to be finally off that dreadful sea stack and free of the ravens, Flynn began to feel less angry and as his anger faded, so did the bubble. Within seconds, Flynn found himself submerged in the freezing waters of the Atlantic. Lana and the twins grabbed him, then they saw the ravens returning in full force, turning the sky black. It was reminiscent of the time Masika gashed her leg at the rock pools. It was a scene from the Apocalypse.

  “Where’s Cordelia?!” shouted Flynn.

  The four of them looked around frantically but there was no sign of her.

  “We have to do something!” exclaimed Nerissa.

  Lana’s emerald eyes watched with intent as the ravens flew closer. The croaking cackles were unbearable.

  “What do we do?” asked Masika, panicked.

  “We fight!” said Lana. “It’s time to put everything we’ve learned to the test.”

  “We have to stop them,” said Nerissa. “At least long enough for us to get Flynn to safety.”

  Suddenly, a seething wall of water rose so high out of the ocean, it appeared to touch the sky. It was menacing. Flynn’s eyes almost fell out of his head, he opened them so wide. Like a stricken ship floundering in heavy seas, he had no control over this situation.

  The mermaids turned to see Cordelia commanding this colossal wall of water.

  “Freeze them as they fly through it!” she commanded.

  Flynn and the mermaids waited on tenterhooks, their heads bobbing above the surface in this eerie seascape.

  “What if they fly around it?” whispered Nerissa.

  The awful sound of the ravens drew nearer and without a second thought, Cordelia sent the wall of water hurtling back onto the ravens and as she did so, Lana and the twins began turning the ravens into frozen poultry. Some of them fell from the sky and hit the water like lead weights, others were frozen in mid air, suspended from the frozen wall of water, and others flew closer still, with even more determination than before. The mermaids had eyes everywhere, fighting off the ravens as fast as they could but still they kept coming.

  Zamira observed in anger from her perch on Slate Island as her army perished one by one. From the lighthouse, Triton and Mazu kept watch with Irvin Seymour in the lookout.

  “Why aren’t we doing anything?” cried Irvin, waving his arms in the air. “That’s my daughter out there!”

  “You know the rules,” replied Triton. “Besides which, these girls need to know they can manage on their own. Imagine the confidence this will give them when they come out of this alive.”

  “It’s our duty to protect Meren,” said Irvin. “Cordelia is from Meren, is she not?”

  “Indeed, it is our duty and that’s why we’ve trained these girls. They’re doing a grand job. Let’s not take this victory from them,” said Triton.

  Irvin paced the floor of the lookout before stopping and biting his fist. Mazu put her arm around him.

  “As a father, it’s only natural that you feel anxious,” she said, “but think how proud you’ll be when she comes home a hero. Let her do what she’s been training for.”

  Out at sea the ravens kept coming though there were fewer now.

  “Swim!” cried Cordelia as she continued to force the ocean into the air.

  “We’re not leaving you!” said Nerissa.

  “Get Flynn out of here!” ordered Cordelia, “I’ll hold off the ravens.”

  “You two go,” said Lana, “I’ll stay.”

  Nerissa and Masika swam with Flynn towards the safety of the lighthouse while Cordelia and Lana held off the ravens. When Flynn was far enough away, Lana suggested they retreat.

  “Come on Cordelia, we need to go,” said Lana.

  Cordelia ignored the urgency in Lana’s voice. “Not yet, I’m not leaving without Breck.”

  “Breck?!” exclaimed Lana. “There’s no sign of him. We can’t stay here.”

  “I can’t leave.”

  While the girls were busy disagreeing, Zamira had left her perch and was swooping straight towards Cordelia. The mermaids disappeared below the surface as Zamira flew over their heads. In the dim light beneath the waves, frozen ravens lingered. Suspended in the water at various stages of flight, their wings spread wide, their beaks open, their beady eyes seemingly staring at Cordelia and Lana. It was a most surreal and terrifying sight. There were ravens everywhere but there was no sign of Breck.

  “We need to leave,” said Lana. “Now.”

  Cordelia glanced over her shoulder one more time, then turned to Lana and nodded. The mermaids swam swiftly along the sea bed on their journey back to the cove leaving t
he ravens behind them.

  By the time they reached the cove, night had fallen on this curious town and the stars sparkled like the rocks at Ross Bay. Cordelia and Lana stumbled out of the water and up to the lighthouse where lockdown was in progress. Every entry point was being barricaded in case of attack. No later than Cordelia and Lana walked into the lighthouse, the door was bolted shut behind them. The girls ran upstairs to the lookout where Triton and Irvin were keeping watch.

  “Father,” said Lana, hurrying towards him.

  Irvin flung his arms around Lana. “I was so worried about you,” he said.

  “Where’s Flynn?” asked Cordelia.

  “He’s being cared for by Amatheia,” said Triton. “I’ll take you.”

  Triton and Cordelia walked promptly to Amatheia’s medical chamber. When they approached the door, Cordelia stood back and inhaled deeply.

  “Are you ready?” asked Triton.

  Cordelia’s anxious eyes looked up at Triton as she exhaled through pursed lips and nodded. Triton knocked three times on the door which made a clunking sound as Mazu opened it. She stepped back, allowing room for Cordelia and Triton to enter. Flynn was laying on the bed in dry clothes with a blanket over him, his hands wrapped in bandages. He looked so weary. Filled with worry, Cordelia felt her chest tighten. Panicked thoughts raced through her mind. Was he badly injured? Was he sad? Would he still love her? Would he be the same Flynn that she had grown to know and love? Before Cordelia got too carried away with her thoughts, Flynn reached out his hand and smiled. Happy tears rolled down Cordelia’s cheeks and she moved closer. Taking his hand in hers, Cordelia leaned over the bed and squeezed Flynn tightly as she sobbed with relief.

  “Let’s give them some space,” said Mazu.

  Triton, Amatheia and Mazu quietly left the chamber.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” said Cordelia, still holding onto Flynn for fear that if she let go she might lose him again.

  “I’ve missed you too,” said Flynn, hugging Cordelia back. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you safe and well.”