Tangled Ripples

by Erin Thedwall

  She flipped through the pages. It wasn’t like the rest of the diaries. The handwriting changed frequently and it became clear to her that several generations of writers had contributed. As she turned the pages, her heart beat faster. Phrases jumped out at her from the pages.

  “Prevent the end of magic…”

  “Prophecies…”

  “Spells for protection…”

  Halfway through the book Clarissa stopped, where she saw the handwriting changed to that of Rebecca Payne :

  “Despite all the efforts for prevention, events have been set in motion. The Morrigan Prophecies will come to pass and nothing we can do will stop that now. All I can do is pray that I have bestowed my children with enough grace and wisdom to prevent magic from dying forever.”

  ˜

  { Chapter 48 }

  Arista and Gavin struggled to follow the eagle through the dense woods. They were forced to go off the marked path and forge their own way through the brush. Gavin held some low-hanging branches to the side so Arista could climb under. She paused for a moment until she could see Beshkno’s white and brown feathers through the treetops.

  “How much farther do you think it is?” she asked, wiping beaded sweat from her forehead.

  “We’ve been moving pretty steadily uphill, so I don’t think it’s too much farther,” he said.

  They continued trudging through the brush, swatting away the tiny flies that circled in front of their faces.

  “Do you think someone in your family created the arrow?”

  “Well, I figure even if it’s not, it’s pointing the way to something. Nikan said a lot of people used this as a safe haven for magic, so maybe whatever is could still help us.”

  “That’s a good point,” she said.

  The pair continued to push stray branches out of their way until they were finally clear of the trees. Gavin walked to the edge of the cliff in front of them and Beshkno landed on the ground by Arista. She reached over and stroked the velvety feathers along his back.

  “Thank you, friend.”

  Gavin peered over the edge until he spotted his earlier location and some of the leaves protruding from the holes.

  “This is the right spot,” he said, looking around. Large rocks were scattered between the few trees, but Gavin didn’t see anything that immediately struck him as unusual. Arista joined him near the edge and together they scoured the ground and nearby trees for any sign or clue.

  “Gavin, over here,” Arista yelled, her voice filled with excitement.

  He rushed over to where she stood pointing at a medium-sized boulder. He stared at it in confusion. “It looks like a dirty rock.”

  “Look closer,” she urged. “See how rough it is on the top? And like you said, there’s a lot of dirt worn in along these crevices.” She pointed to the rock sitting a few feet away from it. “What about that one?”

  “That one is much smoother,” he said.

  “These rocks have likely been here the same amount of time, so why is this one much more rough?” She crouched and pointed to where the rock rested in the ground. “Look, as it gets closer to the ground, see how it starts smoothing out? It wouldn’t do that if this rock had never been moved.”

  Gavin stared at the rock as he realized what Arista was saying. “Someone flipped the rock over?”

  She nodded with excitement. “And why would you bother to flip this large rock over, unless you had to move it out of the way.”

  “To hide something under it,” he finished. He looked into her deep blue eyes with wonder. “How on earth did you figure that out?”

  “Mermaids do this under the water, to mark paths to our home and other places. It’s our way of letting other mermaids know we are nearby. If one rock is flipped over, it could be from an animal knocking it loose. Mermaids will flip them in lines and patterns that stand out from the other rocks nearby.”

  “Well, let’s find out what’s under here.”

  The pair leaned against it, but the boulder refused to budge. Gavin hunted around the plateau until he found a sturdy branch on the ground. He inched the boulder off the ground and Arista wedged the branch underneath the edge. They switched places and Gavin pressed down on the branch as hard as he could. Arista went to its base to wedge it further under the rock every time he pushed. After repeating this several times, they levered the rock halfway out of its resting place.

  They were excited to discover loose dirt in the spot vacated by the boulder. They dug through the soil with their hands until Gavin curled his fingers around the edge of a buried object. He tugged on it until he pried out a small metal box. He shook it and heard something rattle inside, but neither could open the box. The edges were sealed shut and they found no way to release it.

  “It could be closed with magic,” Arista said and Gavin nodded.

  “We’ll have to see if Valerie can do anything about it.”

  “Oh, while we’re here, Valerie wanted us to see if we could get anything on your phone.”

  Arista fiddled more with the box while Gavin stepped onto the boulder, holding his phone up towards the sky.

  “Nope, still nothing. Val will have to look into that, too.”

  Gavin helped Arista off the ground and together they made their way down into the ravine where they had left the path. But when they reconnected with the trail, Gavin turned towards the river instead of their camp where Valerie was waiting.

  “Where are we going?” Arista asked.

  “Come on,” he said. “I thought I’d show you something before we go back.”

  Arista followed him, confused as to why they were going to the same place as earlier. Gavin led her to the river and motioned for her to sit with him on a rock facing west.

  “I thought this would be a good place to watch the sunset,” he said.

  Arista smiled back at him. “I think it would be.”

  She sat close enough to him to feel the heat radiating off his body. The temperatures were falling as night grew closer. It wasn’t long before the sky erupted in a triumphant display of colors. Arista watched, still in awe of the sunset. She was envious of missing these her whole life.

  As she let out a small sigh, Gavin put his arm around her shoulders. “I have something for you,” he said.

  With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the soft velvet pouch. He handed it to Arista, who loosened the drawstrings and pulled out the amethyst ring. Wide-eyed, she lightly traced the white lightning bolt stripe with one finger.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice hushed.

  “Nikan gave it to me. He said it will help clear your mind and give you strength.”

  He gently took the ring from her and slipped it over her finger. As she looked down at it, a slow wave of concern crossed her face.

  “I don’t know if this little ring will be enough.”

  “Even without this ring, I know you’ll be fine,” Gavin said, looking into her eyes. “Look at everything you’ve done so far.”

  “But it still feels like we’ve gotten nowhere. We’re not closer to stopping any of this.”

  “We have this,” Gavin said, gesturing to the box. “And Clarissa and Kellen may have found something, too. Either way, we’ll find a way to get through this. Together. You don’t have to do it alone.”

  Arista interlocked her fingers with his. “But look at you, you’re still covered in injuries. I can’t keep watching you get hurt because of me.”

  “You should know by now that I’m going to keep helping you. I’ll do whatever I can to be there beside you.” He took a deep breath and stroked the side of her face. “Arista, I love you.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “But I do. I know I love you. And I know we are meant to be together. I can feel that with every inch of my being.”

  “We can’t be together,” she said. “I have to return to the water eventually. We can’t… I can’t…”

  “We’ll find a way,” he answ
ered. “We’ll always find a way. As long we’re both willing to try, we will find a way.”

  “But I don’t see how,” she said, wiping away a tear.

  “We don’t need all those answers now. I love you. That’s all that matters.”

  Arista curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulders. Her mind was swimming and she was torn on how to react. She knew what her heart wanted, but also how hard it would be to follow. She pressed her face close to his neck as another tear slid down her cheek.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  Gavin kissed her as he held her close under the final rays of the setting sun.

  ˜

  { Chapter 49 }

  Clarissa shivered uncontrollably as she looked out the window. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she read in the book. After reading the words from Rebecca Payne, she flipped back to the beginning and read the whole book from start to finish.

  Much of what she read was hard to understand as it kept referring to the Morrigan Prophecies. Clarissa had inferred they predicted how magic would be removed from the world. But without actually reading that text, this book was hard to follow. Generations of witches had written about it, keeping watch for any signs of the prophecies on the horizon.

  It was Rebecca who finally wrote that the time was at hand. And she thought that it would fall to Valerie and Gavin to stop those prophecies from coming true.

  Kellen interrupted her thoughts as he entered the kitchen. He shook some of the water droplets out of his recently washed hair as he stood next to her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  “I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about her words.” She bit her lip as she struggled to vocalize her thoughts. “Gavin and I were supposed to be on the boat the day their parents were killed. If we had gone on the water instead, then Rebecca would still be here and maybe none of this would be happening.”

  “You can’t know that for sure,” he said, placing his hand on the small of her back. “There’s no guarantee this would have been prevented, or that she would be able to stop it. Maybe this is what needed to happen. She did imply that Valerie and Gavin could help stop this.”

  “Or I’ll be responsible for magic being ripped out of this world,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  Kellen reached up and wiped it away from the side of her face. “Then we just have to keep fighting, together.”

  …

  Arista and Gavin lost sight of Beshkno flying through the leaves above them. Although streaks of moonlight broke through the branches, they struggled to keep their footing on the uneven terrain. It took longer than they had anticipated to return to camp, where Valerie waited for them.

  She was pacing back and forth between the tents when she saw Gavin and Arista at the head of the path.

  “Seriously, you guys,” she said. “I was worried. What took you so long?”

  “We found something,” Gavin said, as he sat on the log in front of the fire. He held out the locked box for her to see. Valerie scooped it out of his hands to examine it in the light from the flames.

  “We found it by the river, but we don’t know it’s from Mom, or anyone in our family for that matter,” he continued.

  “Mmm hmm,” Valerie mumbled as she traced her fingers along the etchings across the side of the dark box.

  “Do you know how to open it?” Arista asked.

  Valerie tentatively shook her head as she stared at the surface of the box. “I can sense magical properties, including the locking mechanism. I’ll need to figure out how to trigger it. Not impossible, but it’s not easy either. With some time, I should be able to decipher it, but the magic is definitely old and powerful. If Mom did hide it here, she certainly didn’t create it.”

  She looked over at Arista and Gavin. “Did you get Clarissa on your phone?”

  “No,” Gavin answered. “We found the box on a cliff overlooking Sugar Creek and I tried from there, but it still wasn’t enough for a signal.”

  “Ok, I’ll try to work on the phones tonight then, so we’ll know if they found anything.”

  “What about you?” he asked. “Did you learn anything about the barrier?”

  “Some,” Valerie said, standing to pace around the fire. “It’s quite complex and appears to extend to the edges of the woods. It hampers all magic; my own powers are extremely restricted here. It’s designed to prevent harmful magic and works in connection with our friend here,” she paused, gesturing over her shoulder to Beshkno.

  “The barrier can detect magic filled with harmful intent. If I were to stand outside the barrier and cast a harmful spell into Shades, the barrier would block it. But, I believe, the barrier doesn’t prevent any physical being from entering. That’s where Beshkno comes in. He protects against physical harm, like the birds, whereas the barrier should keep Salazar from casting a spell directed at us.

  “As far as using any of it, I’m afraid we aren’t as lucky. It’s too complex of a spell to replicate on my own. It makes the spell we used to rescue you guys look like child’s play,” she said.

  “What about with Clarissa’s help?” Arista asked.

  Valerie shook her head. “It still wouldn’t be enough. We’re talking big magic here. We would need several experienced witches to pull it off. While we can’t replicate it, we should be safe here. I think it would be smart for Clarissa and Kellen to join us, but I’m worried about them getting here on their own. I mean, we had those birds attack us.”

  “Maybe they were focused on Arista,” Gavin said. “And they’ll leave the other two alone.”

  “But do we want to take that risk?”

  “Perhaps they could stop at Nikan’s store. That was little over halfway,” Arista said. “And you could meet them, help them get back here. I can stay here so I don’t draw any extra attention from the birds.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Gavin said.

  “I’ll play with the phone and see if I can get it to work. I think I have to go to the edge of the barrier to get enough power. Will you come with me?” she asked the eagle sitting in the branches nearby.

  In response, Beshkno flew down and landed next to her, letting out a quiet screech. Valerie checked her pocket for her phone and stood up.

  “Let’s go make this phone work.”

  “Do you want us to wait for you?” Gavin asked.

  “Nah, just go to sleep, we’ll be fine,” she said. She turned to walk out of the clearing with Beshkno flying overhead.

  Gavin turned to Arista. “What do you think? Are you ready to sleep?”

  “I am awfully tired,” she said, stifling a yawn.

  “Go ahead, I’m going to wait up for them a bit,” he said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be there soon.”

  Arista ducked through the opening of the tent, happy to go to sleep. As she curled up under the blanket, she wished Gavin would join her. She twisted the amethyst ring around her finger as she thought about him. Although she still had misgivings about their relationship, she was glad they were going to try. Nothing made her happier than thinking about him. His smile lifted her heart and it fluttered every time he looked into her eyes. She held tightly to the ring as she drifted off to sleep.

  ˜

  { Chapter 50 }

  Arista fitfully tossed and turned in her sleep. The blanket twisted around her so much it constricted her limbs from any movement. Sweat beaded across her forehead as her body struggled to break free.

  In her dreams, Arista was transported to an abstract place filled with dense gray fog. Everywhere she turned there was yet more of the gloomy mist. She stumbled through it, trying to get out. A sense of hopeless desperation overwhelmed her as the fog continued to fill the space around her. She noticed a beacon of light moving towards her. Arista felt drawn to the unusual pale green glow. As she moved closer, the fog dissipated until she reached a clear space.

  A rock sat before her, more of the mist shrouding its top. With a sin
king realization, she recognized the large rock. It was the same one where her mother, and later she, would sit to see the sunlight reflecting through the water. It was the only place where they could remain safe and wholly under the water and still see the sunlight.

  Unable to stop herself, Arista climbed the rock. The mist faded away as she reached the top. Someone sat on the other edge. She held her breath as her heart skipped a beat.

  Her mother.

  Arista immediately recognized her long dark hair spilling down her back. She sat on the rock next to her mother. Her mother reached over and held Arista’s chin in her hand, turning her face to examine her closely.

  Arista froze as she gazed into Ciara’s dark blue eyes again. It had been so many years since she last looked upon her mother’s face. Arista immediately felt like a child again. She had always been in awe of her mother’s beauty. Even with the jagged white scar marring her complexion, Arista thought Ciara was more beautiful than anyone she had ever seen. As she looked in her eyes, Arista momentarily forgot her anger. Instead, the feelings of love she once held overwhelmed her.

  “My daughter, how you’ve grown,” Ciara said, with wistfulness in her voice.

  “You’d know if you had stayed,” Arista said. She was ashamed her anger was already returning.

  “Someday you’ll understand that I had to do it,” Ciara said, looking intently at her daughter. “You should understand now. If someone killed the love of your life, could you let that go?”

  “But you aren’t only hurting the people who killed my father.”

  “I am,” Ciara said, her voice as hard as steel. “They are all the same, Arista. These people drove us under the water, stole our very lives away from us. Now is our chance to take those lives back.”

  “They aren’t all like that. Gavin’s not like that,” Arista argued, tugging her face out of her mother’s hands.

  “He will be. They all are. Eventually he will grow resentful and jealous of your abilities. He will turn on you as all humans do. Haven’t you paid attention to his sister, the way she treats the mermaids? He will be the same.”