by Ben Alderson
“It is your lucky night. You both get to experience my rare soup,” Hadrian said.
“I’m honored,” I joked back. “And what makes it so rare?”
Hadrian snapped a carrot in his hands and chucked it into the pot. “Well, because I have never attempted to make it before.”
Hadrian kept looking to Emaline, waiting for a reaction but was given nothing to play off of.
“Would you like some Emaline?” he asked.
She just shook her head and picked at her bread.
I shrugged at Hadrian, and he carried on preparing his pot in silence.
“Have you ever been this north before?” I asked Emaline. “You seem to know the way pretty well.”
“Once before. I visited Lilioira for the Queen’s wedding when I was a young girl,” she replied softly. “Everyone in Eldnol went.”
I remember hearing about the ceremony back in Horith. The entire village was transfixed by the idea of such an event, for it was a rare occasion for royal weddings.
“What was it like?” I asked, generally intrigued by the idea of an Alorian ceremony.
Emaline’s bright eyes lit up as she spoke of the day. “It was beautiful. One of the most elaborate and inclusive weddings in all of our history. The streets in Lilioira were full, and so was the lake that encapsulates the city. Music seeped from every building and food was everywhere you turned.”
As she spoke, my mind conjured images as she described it. “The Queens felt it was only just that the celebration lasted for an entire week, although much of it is still hard to remember.”
“Tell me about it,” Hadrian said. “It was a fascinating week.”
Emaline cracked a simple smile. “Yes, and it’s thanks to your people why I cannot remember much of the final days.”
Hadrian pulled a face, which Emaline found laughable. “I believe you named it Stinking Pig? I drank more than my body weight in that stuff. Niraen elves may not drink at a young age, but Alorian's do. Something about our blood diluting the effects of alcohol. It does not affect our bodies in the ways it does with... your kind. Unless you drink the amount I had. You’d feel it then."
I almost choked as I drank my water. Hadrian also found it entertaining, as he threw his head back and laughed. Just the mention of the ale made me feel warm inside.
“So, we have something in common," Hadrian said. "It was not long ago I introduced Zacriah to the drink. I will have some sent to you when I make it home."
Emaline busied herself with the crust of her bread, but I could see the offer touched her. "I don't need gifts." As quickly as a wave, her smile melted, and she closed off from us.
“I insist.” Hadrian clapped and investigated the pot. “Now I hope you both are hungry because this is going to be a treat.”
*
WE EACH LAY in silence after we devoured Hadrian’s concoction. To my surprise, it was delicious and warmed me just enough. Emaline also had some after Hadrian went on and on about it. I could even see the pleasured shock on her face as she drained the wooden bowl.
The campfire was erected next to the riverbed. It was Emaline who chose the place to set up camp. She said if anyone was stupid enough to come for us, at least they would only have one direction they could attack us from.
With a full stomach and a foggy mind from the days travel, we each said our goodnights. Emaline turned her back on us. Hadrian took the chance and scooted over to me.
“This is the first time we are going to sleep together,” he whispered in my ear. His warm arms were wrapped around me, and his Heartfire had dwindled to a slight hue, nothing more. But he was warm, which only made me melt into his embrace more.
“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” I replied, staring up at the bright sky. We were so far from home, yet the same stars smiled guarded the night above me. A view I couldn’t complain about.
“You should know now never to expect anything.” Hadrian’s hot breath sent tingles from my back.
“I never do.”
“To be frank, I could not think of a better place to share our first night. Where the stars can look down on us and the gentle hush of water is our songstress. It is perfect,” Hadrian whispered. “Sleep well, Petal.”
“Goodnight,” I hushed, my eyes giving into the weight of sleep.
Hadrian, with his finger, pulled my collar down and kissed the base of my neck. “May you dream light.”
I thought the scream was part of a mocking dream.
I ignored it at first until the one that followed sent a spark of panic to wake me.
MY EYES SHOT open to see Emaline screaming as she was dragged through the air. The morning sky was overwhelmingly light as I looked up. It made the horror before me clear: we were under attack.
Emaline thrashed as the unknown being pulled her towards the lake. I stumbled up, fumbling blindly for a weapon, anything to use, but I couldn’t see what it was that had a hold on her. The fire had died out, and dawn had brought a strange mist that seeped from the river and coated our camp.
Jerk’s screech cut into my ears, deafening me. I clapped my hands to protect them from the cry. My ears rang, and the world sounded as if I was under water.
Whatever had a hold of Emaline was putting up resistance as she shouted for help. Driven by panic, I ran for Emaline empty-handed. I leapt over the makeshift campfire, which was nothing more than charred wood, and reached her before the river devoured her. Her eyes were awash with alarm.
She fumbled with the puckered tentacle wrapped around her waist. Grabbing hold of her upper arms, I tried to pull against it, but it was stronger and won. I slipped and almost tumbled to the ground, my legs still half asleep.
“Cut it!” Emaline screamed, slapping her palms on its slimy surface. “Quick!”
She forced water at the ground and created resistance. It gave me a moment to act before the creature pulled her into the river.
I had nothing to use. Looking around, there was no weapon, the griffins that held them circled in the air, out of reach. I spied Emaline’s trident across our camp. But another absence distracted me.
“Hadrian…” I couldn’t see him.
I didn’t have a chance to look more. Emaline’s scream reached new volumes as the tentacle pulled again. “Zacriah, QUICK!”
Her words pulled forth my shift, but the change was kept within my arm. I didn’t have to look to know that my fingers had lengthened, and claws protruded from their tips. With a giant thrust, I raked them across the tentacle five times before they cut through the thick mound of muscle and fat. A strange sounded bubbled from the river, and the tentacle released her and retreated into the depths. As it disappeared, the mist intensified.
Emaline dropped to her knees, breathless and rubbing her stomach. A patch of green mucus clung to her clothing.
“What is that thing?” I asked, stumbling back from the riverside.
“Mer,” Emaline answered.
On cue, the water exploded skyward from the river, and a towering figure burst forth. Its skin was grey and hung of its frame in massive clumps. Hairless, the creature's mouth opened and dripped with saliva. Exposed rows of sharp teeth and a snake-like tongue flicked towards us.
Its chest was open, revealing bones. They stood out like the legs of an insect, six on either side. Innumerable tentacles thrashed around its body, slamming into the riverbed and causing tidal waves of water to cascade over us.
I froze in disbelief. These were not how Mer were portrayed in stories and tales. Not horrifying beasts like what was before me.
Emaline moved first, snapping me back to reality. She ran, full force, towards it and stopped just shy of the drop into the river. Throwing out her hands, the water around the beast began to rise until it toward over it. I was sure the ground shuddered when she brought her hands down, and the water followed. It crashed on top of the Mer and thrust it back beneath the river.
It didn’t stay down for long. Its many limbs burst towards us first, and the bo
dy soon followed. I threw myself to the side, narrowly missing one. My ribs screamed as I landed on the stump of a tree. In the rush, I didn’t notice the smaller tentacle that wrapped around my ankle. My head snapped back and hit the ground as I was suddenly pulled forward. Dazed, I looked up and called on my air. I pushed as much of it towards the tentacle in hopes to loosen its grip. Water sprayed, and dirt shot in the direction of the river, disturbed by magick.
The grip slackened, and I pulled free. Relief flooded my body, and I had a moment to gain my bearings.
Emaline was occupied, throwing her own tentacles of water to combat the Mer’s that came to attack her. And Hadrian was still missing. The Mer was focused on Emaline and only her.
I balled my hands, conjuring a force of wind, and sent it barreling towards the Mer, trying to catch its attention. I failed. The Mer didn’t stop battling Emaline.
Water called to water; the beast wanted her.
I had to help.
The ripple of my shift came on fast, and with a large push, I was airborne.
I flew above the creature and hovered in the air. That got its attention. The long, pink tongue sailed for me. Up close, I could see the faint suckers that covered it entirely. They oozed a mucus that dripped from it as it swung for me. I slashed my air towards it, knocking it off course. The Mer’s head was knocked to the side under the force, and the noise it cried was so loud, I was sure Thessolina could hear it.
A blur of white flew beside me, and I saw Emaline's swan-like wings flapping fiercely. Opal scales ringed her neck like a necklace, more than I remembered seeing when I first met her on King Dalior's ship.
“We need to buy some time for Hadrian to come back, confuse it,” Emaline commanded, already dipping towards the Mer. With a giant rush, she pulled her hand and the water beneath it listened. A wave pushed against the Mer. It cried out again, stumbling awkwardly backwards.
“Tell me what to do,” I screamed back.
We were just out of its reach, which only spurred on its hungered frustration.
“Fight it!” Emaline shouted back.
Emaline dropped like a stone. She pulled her wings tight to her body, and for a moment, I thought she was going to dive into the river. But the split second before she reached its icy touch, her wings opened, and she shot towards the Mer, a battle cry bursting past her lips.
I followed suit, flying towards it. We spun around the Mer, dodging its reaching limbs and flicking tongue. The rumbling noise it made intensified and with it, so did its movements. I twisted and turned, dancing within the air to keep a distance.
I picked up my speed just in time as one tentacle brushed so close to my face.
The Mer’s breath was rancid. I tried to stay clear of its gaping jaw as the smell stung my eyes.
I could see Emaline's experience in her Dragori form. Her fast movements and trust in her beastly form showed in the way she flew. She slashed her clawed hands, and the water around the Mer began to spin, turning the creature in its cyclone hold.
I opened my awareness and willed my air to enter the Mer’s sickly frame. I hoped to winnow the air from its lungs as I pulled on it. The Mer feigned to the side. I dropped my hold on its breath as a tentacle shot up beneath me.
“Keep it up!” Emaline shouted.
I focused on increasing my speed and sending volleys of air at its frame as Emaline locked it in her vortex that was building like walls around the creature.
There were shouts from the riverside. I risked a glance and saw Hadrian. He wasn’t alone. Before I could work out who was with him, something collided with my neck. My wings ceased their beating, and my body froze solid.
I dropped into the river, unable to move. My mind was the only part of me with the ability to do anything; everything else was stuck. Broken.
I slammed into the water and was sucked beneath. The weight of my Dragori form only pulled me down further into the dark abyss of the icy river. I was paralyzed.
My lungs burned from the lack of air, and my head banged with pain as each moment passed. All I could do was watch the Mer thrash beneath the water as it carried its battle on above the surface.
As the water devoured me, scenes of a familiar fate flashed through my mind. Water, arrows, Browlin.
Bright blue flashed somewhere above me followed by a scream that sounded more like a song beneath the water.
My eyes closed as the burning in my body reached a new peak.
Then my face met air. I broke the surface, coughing and spluttering. Someone held me, but my body still didn’t respond to my commands. I couldn’t turn to see who it was.
Hadrian was shouting. Whoever held me breathed heavily into my ear as they swam us to the river edge. As we grew closer, I saw Hadrian leaning over the bank, arms outstretched for me.
“He is paralyzed,” a deep voice panted in the water from behind me.
“Can you hear me?” Hadrian hoisted me from the water, carrying me in his glowing arms.
I tried to respond, but my tongue was swollen in my mouth, and my throat still ached from coughing.
Hadrian turned his attention back to the boy who saved me from the river. “Is there any more?”
“The Mer are solitary creatures, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’ve caught the attention of another.”
Emaline shouted, “Then get out of the river!” She ambled over to us, and Hadrian passed me into her arms. She was unphased by my weight and paid me no attention as she held me in her grasp.
There were a splash and a huff of breath.
“Where in Volcras have you been?” Emaline bellowed. The way she held me meant my gaze was stuck to her face. And she was red with anger. I was glad she held me, so her arms were preoccupied, because I could feel her want to hit Hadrian.
“Scouting,” Hadrian replied.
“What in this world for?!”
“Food, what else?”
Emaline growled.
“If I knew there was a such a creature, I would never have left. Cut me some slack.” Hadrian's voice cracked as he finished he plea.
“I don’t mean to be a pain, but if your friend doesn’t get treatment, the Mer’s poison will have permanent effects,” the third voice interjected.
Although I couldn’t move, his words caused enough panic for me to try and gargle my worry.
“And who are you?” Emaline asked.
I didn’t care who he was; I just wanted whatever treatment he suggested.
“A friend. I can help,” the third voice answered sternly.
He walked past us, and I caught a glimpse of curly brown hair, and a sharp face with a shadow of stubble.
“Come quick,” he called as he ran off.
*
FOR ME, THE walk went on for too long. The entire time Emaline carried me, her gaze shifted to mine and away again. From my vantage point, I could also see Jerk and the other two griffins gliding above us in the skies, following us.
We passed beneath a wooden frame, and I was dropped. There was movement in my peripheral, and a boy leaned over me. He couldn’t have been younger than me, for his face was covered in a sooty beard. He studied me with his hazel eyes, then I felt my mouth being tugged open. I didn’t catch what was in his hand, but whatever it was, he shoved it into the side of my cheek.
“He should start getting his feeling back in a few moments…” the boy said, holding my mouth closed with one hand and massaging my cheek with his other. A strong taste flooded my mouth and, against my will, began to drip down my throat. It wasn’t such a bad taste, but it was not pleasurable either. “We got here just in time.” He laughed. “Any longer and that would have been it.”
I was glad he found it funny. Once he realized no one was laughing, he stopped and raised his brows. “Tough crowd.”
“Or a bad joke,” Emaline replied from somewhere within the room.
The boy looked over his shoulder at her. “Sorry, it's not every day we get a group passing by and battling the Mer.”
> “Trust us, it was not part of the plan.” Hadrian strode forward and took the boy’s places. “I can’t leave you for a moment, can I?”
All I could do was open my eyes wider to respond.
Hadrian face had paled with worry, the corners of his mouth twitching as he ran a smooth hand across my cheek. “I do not mean to be brash, but how long will it be until he will be back to full strength?”
“Depends, could be minutes or days.”
Hadrian gave Emaline a look. His lips pinched thin with worry.
“We don’t have days,” Emaline said.
“I get the impression you are in a rush,” the boy said.
“Something like that.” Emaline huffed.
The boy smiled, looking between them. “Well, how about I set up some food, and you can tell me what a dragon girl and boy, and a boy with glowing skin are doing in Eldnol? Because I get the impression that this is a story I can’t miss out on.”
THE HUT TURNED out to be nothing more than a large room with a small side compartment. It was draped in plants and vials of mysterious liquids and had a strange smell. I caught onto it as my senses came back to me. Thick, dried mud mixed with an intrusive scent of warm straw. I recognized it from home when Fa would take me to the farms as the sun was at its strongest. It was an odd smell, but one that made me feel closer to comfort than I had in days.
The leaf had dissolved in my mouth and worked its magick. The boy, Jasrov, had me walk laps around the cluttered room to make sure all feeling came back to them. My legs moved as if they were stuck in frozen water, but with each footfall, I became steady and less like a new born fawn. His face lit up, pleased, as I managed another two rounds without his assistance.
Jasrov, although he asked, still knew nothing about why we were here. It was Emaline who took Hadrian beyond the hut to speak about whether we tell him or not. It wasn’t that he gave off an untrustworthy aura, so I didn’t see the problem in telling him. If only Nyah were here, she’d know the answer to their concerns.