Water

by Hardy, Natasha

  “Merrick, I think it’s time,” I told him, watching fear flash through his eyes before he quickly hid it from me.

  He shook his head but I continued anyway.

  “These Oceanids are well again.” I took his hand and gazed into his worried eyes. “But there are so many others who continue to suffer and die. Apart from that I can’t deny the responsibility I have to the humans too. If we don’t help them, thousands of them will follow the same fate as your people. You said it yourself,” I squeezed his hand gently, “we’re out of time, and the longer we wait, the more people, yours and mine, will die.”

  His eyebrows bunched together as he glanced in the direction of a river of song that had erupted from the central meeting place, his shoulders hunched.

  “I know you’re afraid for me, afraid of what the violent group will do to me to convince me to join them, but I promise you I won’t, and besides,” I stretched onto my toes to kiss his downturned lips, “I have you to protect me.”

  Chapter 35

  Council

  They swirled around us in a cacophony of joyful sound and over them, floating and intertwining in a soft misty substance, a myriad of blues ranging from a deep peacock blue to the silvery blue of dew.

  Merrick kept me slightly behind him, his hand locked around mine in a vice-like grip as he led me to the centre of the cave beneath the fever tree.

  Talita joined me there, beaming from ear to ear as she greeted dozens of Oceanids who had been sick.

  The rest of the Oceanids were milling among the now healthy ones in confusion, expressions of delight contrasted with wary questions as they tried to get the full story of why their previously sick comrades were now completely whole.

  Eventually Taltia managed to get the throng to settle in a broad circle around the tree, before turning to me.

  I smoothed the iridescent shimmering silver sheath Sabrina had hurriedly dressed me in, clearing my throat self-consciously, trying to find order in the tangle of my thoughts as I began.

  “When you brought me here, I had no idea any other sentient life existed on this planet,” I began, rousing polite laughter from some, and irritated hissing from others.

  “Over the last few days,” I continued, ignoring the potent swirls of dark purple anger I could see twirling out from some of them towards me, “I’ve learnt a lot.” I smiled. “I’ve learnt about your plight, your bravery, your tenacity, and I’ve come to deeply respect your species.”

  “She speaks as though she is foreigner,” one of the Oceanids sitting behind me commented.

  I turned, scanning the crowd, focusing on future plans until I found the person who’d spoken against me. He was sitting there with an evil smile playing on his lips; his future plans involving only death and destruction swirled around him in a dark spiral.

  Most of those around him were muttering for him to keep quiet, although a few were nodding in agreement.

  “In the time I’ve been here, I’ve learnt a lot about what I can do, but more importantly what we can do together,” I continued, and outlined briefly what the four of us had done in helping the sick Oceanids.

  Dozens of questions were thrown at me, and Merrick helped me to field them as graciously as possible.

  “In spite of all I’ve seen and done,” I continued, ignoring the swirl of malice emanating from a few of the Oceanids scattered around the crowd as it crept towards me, “I cannot, and will not ignore the human element of this story.”

  Angry hissing rattled through the crowd, the previously happy atmosphere instantly lost in a pall of hatred.

  Talita stepped forward. “Let us at least hear the plan Alexandra has,” she suggested, having already heard a hurried version of it from me as I’d been dressing in Sabrina’s aven earlier.

  I stepped forward and outlined the plan, explaining the dual approach, explaining why I thought it would work from a human perspective. Merrick stepped forward and provided them with more details about the oceanic clean-up project, explaining which talents we would need to use for both the pollution and the influencing of the humans.

  A woman stood up, trembling with anger. “Humans play no role in our future except to destroy it.” She spat the words at me, her powerfully muscled arms pulled back as she glared at me.

  I shook my head, adamant that I was not going to be cowed by their anger. “We all share the same planet,” I began only to be interrupted by an angry hissing as several Oceanids voiced their anger at my defence of the humans.

  The woman who’d challenged me took courage from the anger that was now swirling in dark eddies around the Oceanids, stepping towards me as she spoke.

  “Humans have nothing but evil in them,” she told me as several Oceanids expressed their agreement. “They don’t know how to share which is why we’re in this mess in the first place.”

  “Most of them don’t know about the mess,” I countered, raising my voice at the disbelieving murmur that rushed through the crowd, “and those that know but do nothing have no idea how closely linked their own destruction is to yours.”

  Several Oceanids let out a bark of laughter at my statement, shaking their heads and muttering in their own language.

  Merrick stepped forward, manoeuvring me slightly behind him, very, very angry.

  “Alexandra is more powerful than all of you put together.” His voice bounced around the cave.

  “She is a weakling,” the woman who had challenged me interrupted him, “look at her, can any of you even see her spiritus?”

  Merrick hissed, “She has more strength than you will ever have, Saphira.”

  She laughed. “Look at how easily corrupted he has become.” She spoke to the crowd. “One night alone with her, unsupervised, and he is willing to abandon his whole species.”

  Several of the Oceanids muttered among themselves, their scowls discouraging.

  “Do you know what I think?” Saphira asked them. “I think we are Oceanids, and we don’t need the help of a stranger, let alone a half-cast with no heritage or place among our people. They,” she swept her hand towards Merrick and Talita, “they would have us believe that she is the fortieth generation Gurrer, the one who is going to restore us to our rightful place. But what if they’re wrong?” she asked those around her, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cavern. “Are you willing to place the fate of our entire species in her hands?” She ran her eyes over me in disgust, shaking the thick locks of her hair in defiance at the thought.

  Many of the Oceanids were nodding in agreement with Saphira, others were looking worriedly between her and me.

  I was surprised when a familiar wavery voice cut through the arguments that had broken out across the throng as Livius, looking much younger but still with the wisdom of many years of living in his eyes, challenged her.

  “Saphira is full of talk, but I haven’t heard any other plan from her. It is very easy to criticise a plan but not as easy to come up with one on your own, is it, my dear?” He bobbed, although the movement came across as mocking rather than respectful.

  Neith stepped to Saphira’s side, his powerful muscles tense as he spoke.

  “The only way to ensure that our species survives is to rid ourselves of the scourge of humanity.” He spoke with great charisma, and many Oceanids who hadn’t responded to Saphira’s angry comments nodded in agreement

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Neith.” Llyr had stood. “But all attempts at eliminating the humans in our history has failed and resulted in terrible losses for us.”

  Neith smiled at Llyr, briefly bobbing in a sycophantic gesture before opening his arms wide to include all of the Oceanids in the room. “Llyr is well versed in our history.” He began moving through the crowd, each step bringing him closer to where Talita, Merrick and I stood. “Oceanids have been fighting for dominion of the planet for as long as we can remember. We have always failed. But now we have a secret weapon, we have her.” He pointed at me smiling as the crowd murmured amongst themselves.


  He began circling us as he spoke. “She is, just as her lover Merrick has said, very powerful.”

  The muttered voices in the crowd increased in volume as I watched them discussing the scandal Neith had so neatly introduced. Merrick and I knew how innocent our time alone had been, but they didn’t and it seemed to shake their perception of me.

  “If she were to choose to use her unifying power to annihilate the humans, the war would be over in weeks, and we would reign supreme over land and sea.”

  Plumes of colour raced around the room as the Oceanids’ desires blossomed at Neith’s inflammatory words. Greed and hatred mixed readily with the notion of absolute peace and freedom until they muddied and confused each other so that I couldn’t work out who was motivated by what any more.

  Neith fuelled their imaginations by darting in and out of the crowd, repeating wisps of conversation he heard as he went.

  Talita spoke quietly but authoritatively into the mêlée.

  “Neith speaks as if he controls this power.” Her words immediately changed the tide of emotion, settling much of the excitement.

  He hissed at her angrily, obviously sensing he’d lost the advantage with the crowd.

  “Alexandra and Alexandra alone holds the power to unify and strengthen you to enable you to achieve balance.”

  “Her plan is going to take months, if not years,” Neith interrupted angrily. “War will be done in weeks.”

  “If she does not choose war, it will take years and almost all of you will die,” Talita replied, squashing his argument as she did so. “It seems to me that only Alexandra can make the choice between a peaceful resolution and the killing you all so desperately seek.”

  “So what is it you choose?” Neith turned on me. I leant away from him as the full force of his anger was thrown at me, woven through with sickening images of what he wanted to do and what he was prepared to do to me if I didn’t co-operate with him.

  Talita interrupted him. “Alexandra will take her place as the leader of the pod tomorrow at a special banquet,” she announced. “At the banquet she will announce which strategy she has chosen to follow.”

  Chapter 36

  Whispers

  The pod seemed to accept Talita’s idea as the proper way of doing things, dissipating into clumps of muttered opinion as they discussed the evening’s events.

  I gaped at her. “Close your mouth, my dear,” she muttered as she took my elbow and led me away.

  I obeyed, whispering to her, “Talita, I know what my strategy is. Peace, it always has and always will be peace.”

  Talita smiled, bobbing at a group of Oceanids as we passed them before leading me into her aven.

  It was only slightly bigger than Merrick’s and Sabrina’s but it included a couple of chairs, one of which Talita sank into as soon as we were in the room.

  “That was close,” she whispered to Merrick who was standing near the doorway.

  He nodded once, his posture angrily defensive.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Talita hushed me and invited me to sit.

  “The war-oriented Oceanids came very close to claiming you as a resource,” she whispered, all of the authority she’d been wearing slipping away into worry. “I’ve managed to buy you a day but most importantly a night so that the pod can calm down a bit and Undine can show them the horror of war in their dreams tonight. Tomorrow night, you will have to do a better job of convincing them that peace is the best option. You cannot show any hesitance in your belief that your plan will work,” she instructed me.

  Merrick cleared his throat and Talita laughed before standing quickly and loudly pronouncing her pleasure at the work I’d done with the sick Oceanids.

  “I will help you tomorrow,” she whispered as she ushered me out of her cave.

  Merrick hurried me as politely as he could to his aven, insisting I go straight to bed while he stood at the entrance, greeting the various Oceanids that passed him on their way to their avens.

  I lay in his hammock, my eyes wide as I stared at the ceiling, replaying the day’s events over and over again in my head, trying to see where I could have done things better.

  I must have fallen asleep eventually because I woke in the dark, desperately thirsty. I lay there listening to the quiet. There was no sound except for Merrick’s soft deep breathing. I tried to push the thirst away, but the more I ignored it, the more pressing it became.

  I turned over in my hammock and focused on the dark, willing it to lighten a little. The effort made me tired though and even more thirsty. I leaned over and touched a little mushroom, using its pale blue light to see if there was any water in the room.

  Merrick was settled near the doorway, his back propped against the wall, and his head resting on a roll of cloth.

  There was no water anywhere.

  The smell and sound of the waterfall running down the side of the cliff intensified and made my throat sandy with thirst.

  I sat up, the hammock swinging crazily as I slipped out of it quietly as I didn’t want to wake him. It must have taken him ages to fall asleep in that position and he looked so tired, even in sleep.

  As quietly as possible I stood and carefully picked my way to the doorway. Inching slowly past him I crept from his aven, and ran lightly past the tree, not wanting to wake anyone else.

  The cave was very quiet as I slipped into the bathroom and cupped some of the waterfall’s icy water in my hand. Thirst sated and feeling sleepy again, I edged my way around the semi-circle of rock that encapsulated the central meeting space, carefully approaching each aven’s doorway and creeping across as silently as possible.

  I’d almost made it safely back to Merrick’s aven, when my muscles froze at my name being hissed from between someone’s teeth.

  “Alexandra?”

  I froze, terrified, the voice taking on sinister shapes, creeping at once menacingly close and then drifting away in confusion.

  “No,” continued another voice, “she is too valuable to remove from the equation now, better to use her.”

  Silence echoed loudly around me as I strained to hear the rest of the conversation, horrified by the sinister implications., and trying to peer into the aven to see who it was that was talking about me. I thought I recognised the cadence in the first voice’s speech, but full recognition kept skipping just out of my reach.

  “I disagree,” said the first voice.

  “So what are you suggesting?” asked the other voice quietly.

  “Get rid of her now. She has already realised some of her power, what do you think she will do when she realises the rest? There are too many willing to follow her to risk allowing her to remain.”

  “Do you honestly think she is able to lead them? I mean did you hear how weak her conviction was tonight?” asked the second mockingly.

  “I did hear it, but unlike you I was watching how the others responded to her, and they did. I don’t know if she is able to lead them, but I don’t want to find out,” the first voice replied.

  “I suppose you have a point.”

  “So you plan to get rid of her? How are you going to get that right?” the other voice whispered. “Merrick is too close to her, he never lets her out of his sight.”

  I was frozen, unable to move forwards, pressed against the cave wall between the two avens, sure that at any moment one of them would walk out and find me there.

  “We’ll have to take him by surprise, act quickly,” came the thoughtful answer.

  “So when do we make the move?” asked the second voice.

  “Tomorrow. You are the last person I needed to speak to, with you on board we can put our plan into action,” replied the first.

  “And Talita?” the second asked again.

  A low sinister chuckle was the answer.

  Taking a deep breath and gathering my courage, I dashed across the cave entrance, throwing myself across the space as I sprinted across the last two entrances before slipping into Merri
ck’s cave. I stumbled my way through the darkness to the hammock, careful not to touch the cave wall in case I awakened the little mushrooms and lit up our cave like a beacon.

  A whisper of stirred air and a faint shadow as someone crossed our cave entrance were the only signs that I’d raised any suspicion.

  Chapter 37

  Farewell

  I lay in the hammock for what felt like an age, waiting to ensure they weren’t going to find me before shaking Merrick awake in panic.

  He was instantly alert, listening carefully as I outlined what I’d heard.

  “We need to leave now!” he whispered, as he quickly gathered a few meagre possessions. He waited at the doorway to his aven, his back to me as my unco-operative fingers struggled to wind the deep purple robe Sabrina had set aside for me around my body.

  “Talita wants to meet you for breakfast away from the other Oceanids and you’ll be safe there for now, while I come back and sort everything out here,” he whispered over his shoulder as I dressed.

  Finally finished I walked forwards and wrapping my arms around his waist and I rested my cheek on his back, hating the idea of being away from him even for only a moment.

  He twisted back into his aven, pressing me against the wall and shielding me with his body as he listened to the soft pad of footsteps as people went by just outside the doorway.

  I stayed there cocooned in the heat of his body until he was sure we were alone.

  He bent to kiss me briefly but passionately, before we slipped into the shadows at the side of his aven.

  The cave was still dark, the fires in the little pots around the perimeter of the communal area had reduced to glowing embers, their soft wood fire fragrance dissipating the menace of the whispered words.

  We hurried across the clearing to the edge of the cliff.

  “Where are we going?” I whispered as he pulled a T bar attached to a rope by a pulley towards us, clamping my hands onto the handle, before covering them with his and taking a running leap into space.