by M. Leighton
“Betrothed? You’re engaged?”
Of all the questions I might have expected Kellina to ask, that one was quite possibly the lowest on the list.
“Not yet,” I said, glancing quickly at Aidan. “But I will be on the eighth day of the eighth month of my eighteenth year.”
“To whom? Have you met him yet?”
I glanced once more at Aidan. He had panic in his eyes. It was for that reason that I didn’t answer Kellina entirely truthfully.
“My betrothed has yet to be determined,” I said casually. “That’s the least of our worries, though. The problem is that, recently, as you can see by the color of the pearl, there has been a breach in the containment system and several Lore have escaped. In the event of such an occurrence, Atlas is shutdown and no travel or communication is permitted between Atlas and the outside world.”
“How did that happen?” she asked.
Both her question and her demeanor were casual, surprisingly so considering the subject matter. It seemed that Kellina was having no difficulty believing what I was telling her.
“We believe that a member of royalty has betrayed us. They’ve kidnapped my sister and may be using her as leverage to control my parents.”
Kellina frowned.
I took a shaky breath.
“Needless to say, it is of utmost importance that we recapture the Lore and find a way to free Atlas.”
“And how do you do that?”
“Well, that’s the tricky part. Locating the Lore can be a bit of a problem, as they are spirits and the only record of the identities of their descendants is locked away in Atlas.”
“Descendants?”
“Yes, the human descendants of the bodies originally capable of housing the Lore. When a Lore escapes, it will make its way to the descendant of its body and awaken that human to its heritage, to its power and memory.”
“Memory?”
“Yes. The Lore were created to destroy certain blood lines in order that Lucifer might have greater dominion over the earth. Basically, they were sent to destroy some really important people, if you will.”
“What about those people, the important people? Don’t they remember what happened? Isn’t there, like, a record or something somewhere? Like a family history or something?”
“Well, with the Lore in captivity, for hundreds of years, Atlas has provided a shield that encompasses Slumber. It confines the residents to a life free from their gruesome histories, one they have no memory of. What little of the history has survived the annals of time, which is not much, has been watered down and is now what most humans recognize as fairy tales and folk lore, urban legends. Just like you didn’t believe in werewolves, most humans fail to discern the importance of those stories. And, until now, that has never presented a problem.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Well, we’ve found one of the families, the family that will be the initial target of the first escaped Lore.”
I paused, watching Kellina carefully. I had her complete attention and her eyes were clear and receptive.
“And? Who is it?”
“Kellina, it’s you. You are the descendant of a girl we know as the Straus Maiden.”
CHAPTER SIX
“As in the Straus Maiden that you told me about last night?”
I nodded.
Kellina watched me for several long, tense seconds before she burst into laughter.
“You guys are sick! Do you play pranks like this on each other? Or is it just me? Is this like an initiation or something?”
“You don’t believe me.”
She snorted.
“Of course I don’t believe you. It’s ridiculous.”
“What if I could prove it to you?”
“Prove what? That you’re a fish or that I’m part of a famous family that’s being hunted by a werewolf?”
“Let’s start with the fish part,” I said, swallowing several rebuttals to her flippant “fish” remark.
Kellina looked a bit doubtful for an instant before she smiled widely again. I could see her resisting the knowledge, clinging to the idea that this was all a joke of some sort.
“Alright,” she agreed. “This should be interesting.”
“We’ll meet here after school and go down to the beach,” I said. “I’ll prove to you that this is very real and very serious.”
Shortly after that, lunch came to an end and we parted ways. For the rest of the day, I chastised myself. It didn’t take long for doubt to return, doubt about the wisdom of being 100% honest with Kellina, especially without running it by Jackson first. What time I wasn’t chewing my nails over Kellina (figuratively speaking, of course), I was aggravated over the fact that I even cared about what Jackson thought or what he believed was best.
I rationalized that he was a Sentinel—well, more like the Sentinel—and that he and I were essentially in this together. I had to give his opinion some credence. Somehow that rationale didn’t help my stinging pride, though.
I sighed. It seemed that Jackson was destined to keep my emotions in a near constant state of upheaval. I suppose I should’ve been grateful for the reprieve from pining away over him. I felt like that silly young girl with a crush again.
By the time school let out, I was ready to get to the beach and get show-and-tell over with. The four of us met and made our way across campus and Slumber to the long stretch of sugary white-sand beach that was privately owned by the town of Slumber. The beach was deserted, just as I’d assumed that it would be. Perfect for my plan.
As soon as I kicked off my shoes and socks and buried my toes in the sand, my pensive mood lifted. Just being this close to the ocean, I could feel the calm of the waters of my home easing its way into my overwrought mind and tense muscles.
“So, David Copperfield, exactly what kind of show do you plan to put on?” Jersey asked, chomping her gum sassily.
I grinned, the kind of mischief-laden gesture that drove her insane with curiosity.
“You’ll just have to wait and see like everybody else.”
She made a pouty face.
“Sometimes I hate you.”
I flicked her protruding bottom lip with my middle finger. She yelped.
“No you don’t. You secretly love me. Don’t try to deny it.”
Jersey sighed dramatically.
“Well, you do look kinda hot in a skirt.”
“Control yourself. I’m taken,” I teased.
When Aidan cleared his throat meaningfully, I pulled up short. I’d forgotten all about Kellina when I’d made that comment.
“Yeah, but by who?” Jersey asked, watching me carefully.
I couldn’t help the puzzlement that wrinkled my brow. Something about the way she looked at me said she wasn’t referring to Aidan. Unfortunately, with Kellina present, I couldn’t ask what she meant without exposing my real relationship with Aidan.
“That’s a good question. I’ll guess I’ll find out soon enough,” I responded casually.
I turned to Kellina.
“Mer draw supernatural power from the water, the royal Mer most of all. I’m going to show you that I’m telling you the truth and that you need to trust me if you want to survive.”
Kellina laughed uncomfortably, looking to Aidan.
“Is she always this dramatic?”
Aidan screwed up his face in wry expression of exasperation.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Good to know.”
“I’m going to try to find out a little more about Dustin Hyden while I’m out there. See you in a few.”
With that, I was off. I walked quickly down to the water, my soul leaping with excitement as I neared the beautiful turquoise waves.
The salty air tickled my nose and the ocean spray bathed my face as I approached. I stopped and closed my eyes when my toes first touched the warm shallows. Just that small contact was like going home. Immediately, my heart began to ache with fear for the safety of my f
amily and my birthplace.
I took three more steps into the water. I felt the swells breaking over the skin of my calves as the power of my natural element seeped into my body.
A surge of adrenaline shot through me, raising my pulse and quickening my breath. It burst from my core as the magic of my heritage ascended my legs. The two collided in an explosion of pure energy that stole my breath.
I gasped, opening my eyes and looking out to the endless horizon. Without further hesitation, I ran, ran as far as I could run until the waves overtook me and I dove beneath them.
Giving no thought to my clothes, I swam. And I swam. And I swam, until something inside me brought me to a stop.
I felt the familiar tickling sensation as I let my scales erupt. I equated the feel of them covering my skin to the feel of freedom, to being loose and wild in the vast oceans of the earth. I loved that feeling.
Like a bullet, I shot toward the surface. When my face broke through the water, I felt the sun warm my skin. It radiated down into my stomach, as if it focused its warmth and solar power into a tight ball of light in the center of my being.
I understood what it was. It was my fate, the purpose and strength of my life as the future Queen of Atlas, blossoming into maturity. It was the enchantment of an entire race flowing through my veins.
A laugh of sheer pleasure spilled from my lips and I spun in a tight circle, one controlled by the wide web-like tail that spread out from my toes. I felt more alive than I could ever remember feeling. It was as if, in that single moment, everything in my life came together perfectly, as if I could feel destiny and reality intertwining their fingers in agreement.
Finally, I looked toward shore. With a grin, I determined that I was going to give my three onlookers something to remember.
I stretched my arms out to my sides, laying my palms flat against the glassy surface of the water, and I closed my eyes.
I concentrated all my attention on my bracelet, feeling it warm against my skin. Then I summoned the ball of light as I thought of the sea and what I wanted her to show me. I pictured the face of the boy from the party.
The water around me started to move, circling me, spinning about me, faster and faster, tugging at my clothes. It was the silent voice of something that only I could understand. I listened with every fiber of my being, focusing all my senses on what the swirling waters had to say.
I opened my eyes as the water began to lift me. Higher and higher I rose until I could look down and see a whirlpool beneath me, a twirling cyclone of water around the funnel that held me at its tip, towering far above.
Drops of moisture peppered my face as the clouds of heaven spilled forth the answers of the ocean. In the fine sheets of rain, a face appeared. It was the face of Dustin Hyden.
I saw him as he mixed and stirred things in beakers and tubes inside a chemistry lab. The scene dripped away with the rain and a new one formed in its place. It was Dustin as he typed line after line of characters onto a computer screen, bypassing passwords and internet security.
When I saw him looking through virtual pages of expensive shoes and handbags, jewelry and perfume, I knew what the ocean was showing me. She was showing me the real Dustin, that he was a chemistry nerd and computer hacker who thought to buy his way into the heart of a girl he liked.
The images in the fine shower dripped away a second time, only this time they were not replaced. I saw nothing more than the rain as it fell lightly from the sky over my head.
I looked back toward the shore and saw three pairs of eyes trained on me. I couldn’t help but smile when I met Kellina’s wide, awe-struck gaze. I doubted I would have to say another word to convince her that what I claimed was true.
As the funnel of water that held me aloft began to melt back into the ocean, I sank lower and lower until I was once again at sea level. I looked toward shore again and, with a smile, turned to swim back.
Just as I dove beneath the surface, I felt cold fingers curl around my legs and begin to drag me away, away from shore and away from the light, down toward the bottom of the sea.
I glanced below me and saw that three Seers had surrounded me. They looked like ink spreading through the water, their diaphanous black forms nothing more than shifting gossamer threads waving in the current.
I could see the filamentous fingers of one as he held my ankles just above my tail. The long arms of the other two were held away from their strange bodies, forming a gauzy cocoon around me. They had no need to lend their strength to the one tugging me lower. His touch had somehow paralyzed me from the waist down. I could not bend or move at all.
I thought to question the one to my left, but as I looked into the dark and hollow places where his eyes should have been, my tongue froze, becoming as useless as my lower half. I had to look away for fear that I would become forever lost in the cold, empty depths.
My mind began to whirl and race as my predicament really set in. I was helpless against the Seers and there was no one around to lend a hand. Though they were chained to the Mer race, to my knowledge they only responded to the commands of the ruler of Atlas. And I was not yet the ruler of Atlas.
Cool fingers of a different kind assaulted me next. They were the clammy digits of fear and they’d begun to work their way around my heart.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the allegiance of the Seers had changed since Atlas was under siege. It had never happened before, so there would be no way for anyone to know how the Seers would react to such a situation.
Frightening thoughts began to flit through my mind, panicky thoughts about how they might’ve gone rogue and started working for the traitors, about how they might’ve been dispatched to kill me since I had the only bracelet outside Atlas.
Before true terror set in, however, something warm and familiar began to penetrate the cold, dark prison of the Seers. My soul hummed in recognition and something like a blossom of awareness bloomed in my stomach.
I looked through the filmy shroud of the Seers and saw a small shape rocketing toward us. I didn’t need to see him more clearly or feel him more closely to know that it was Jackson. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that’s who it was. And he was headed right for us.
When I thought of what the Seers might do to him if he interfered, an iron fist squeezed tight around my lungs and a lump rose to clog my throat, preventing any words from escaping. I wanted to shout for him to stay away, but I couldn’t utter a single sound.
As I looked into his eyes, growing ever-closer by the second, I tried to discourage him with my expression, with a look I hoped he found meaningful and clear. But he continued toward us, the look of all hell on his handsome face.
His strong body cut through the water like a torpedo. He’d shed his clothes and I could see his bare, broad shoulders and the flick of his dark blue tail as he swam toward me.
Jackson didn’t even slow down as he reached us. He simply burst through the hazy black barrier of the Seers’ arms and grabbed me around the waist.
Immediately, he came to a stop, his face contorting in pain. His mouth opened wide, but no sound emerged. I wanted desperately to do something—anything—to help him, but I was still paralyzed. I could do nothing more than watch the scene unfold.
One of the Seers moved forward slightly, his long, wispy, branch-like fingers winding around Jackson’s throat. My heart ceased to beat for one agonizing second, its rhythm interrupted by an overwhelming fear that the Seer would hurt Jackson. But then something amazing happened.
The instant the Seer’s all-knowing hand made contact with Jackson’s bare skin, he released him straight away, as if he’d been burned. He backed away quickly, the others immediately following suit.
As the chilly hold on my ankles disappeared, I felt life return to my body. As the five of us floated there in the sea, I felt as if there was a wealth of information being communicated, though no one said a word. Jackson hovered at my left, the Seers hanging like stains in the water in front of him. They faced off
for the space of a few more seconds before the Seers’ large, diffuse forms shrank into small points of darkness and sank to the depths of the ocean below us like tiny lumps of coal.
I looked to Jackson, who was watching them as they disappeared. His face was a tight mask of authoritative fury, his scowl dark and frightening. The only indication of his emotion was the heaving of his wide chest.
When it seemed apparent that the Seers were not returning, Jackson turned to me, his expression softening somewhat.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his deep voice vibrating the water around my ears and tickling the skin of my face.
Though I knew that I was capable of speech, I was awestruck by what had just happened. One thought kept running through my mind, stealing words from my lips.
He risked his life for me. Again. He saved me.
Coming slowly forward, Jackson slipped one arm around my waist and silently guided us both up toward the surface.
With the comforting weight of Jackson’s strong hand at my side, we ascended. On the way up, I let my mind wander, pondering what he’d risked to save me.
All Mer knew that you didn’t challenge Seers. Ever. It just wasn’t done. It was a well-known fact that Seers were spirits gifted with extraordinary psychic abilities. It was also a well-known fact that they were spirits gifted with terrifying powers, the full extent of which remained a carefully guarded secret.
As long as I’d been alive to witness Mer history, there had been only one instance when a Seer had been used against a Mer. I knew few of the details, other than that a Seer had been forced to take action against a young Sentinel. The Seer had somehow disintegrated the Sentinel’s physical body and then turned his spirit over to my father for imprisonment with the Lore in the center of Atlas. In light of the heartiness of Mer, spiritual imprisonment with the Lore was considered to be a fate worse than death.
And Jackson had risked that. For me.