The Selkie of San Francisco

by Todd Calgi Gallicano

  “We must tell those soldiers to hold their fire!” the Guardian shouted. But there wasn’t any time. The Leviathan entered the cave after Sam, and the soldiers immediately fired on the opening. There was an earth-shattering rumble. Iaira and Tashi were tossed backward by the impact waves as the cave began to collapse on itself.

  “I’m going in!” Iaira announced, triggering the seahorse’s jets and racing ahead.

  When the princess was halfway to the cave, the rock around the opening buckled and collapsed completely. A horrible sound reverberated throughout the canyon, and a huge plume of sand whirled upward, blinding Tashi and sending Iaira reeling back.

  “No!” she screamed.

  The dust settled, and the screech of the Leviathan waned as the beast became permanently trapped beneath thousands of tons of rock. Tashi felt her heart sink. There was no sign of Sam…and no way he would have survived the cave-in. She felt an immediate and powerful emotion that was entirely alien to her: the one Sam called sadness. Guardians dealt with death in a celebratory way. Given their immortality, death had always been a choice. But this was not Sam’s choice—it was a devastating tragedy.

  Dr. Vance Vantana arrived with General Searus and Queen Muiria, taking in the collapse and the look on Tashi’s face.

  “Where is he?” the doctor asked, as though he had already deduced the answer. Iaira limply gestured to the cave-in.

  “Sam London sacrificed himself to save our people,” she said.

  “Tashi?” Vance eyed the Guardian, hoping for another answer. But the Guardian couldn’t oblige. Not this time. She was just about to nod, when she spotted a glimmer in the distance amid the cave-in rocks. Something—or, rather, someone—was emerging from the rubble.

  “Who’s that?” Iaira asked.

  Tashi could discern the seahorse Rosi approaching. Sam was lying across its back, and there was another creature leading it. It appeared to be a sea creature, but not a mermaid or selkie or even finfolk. The hands had webbed fingers, the feet were flippers, the ears pointy and finlike. It was a sea nymph, or Nereid, Tashi concluded. As the creature drew closer, Tashi slowly realized that this wasn’t a random sea nymph that had rescued Sam. Much to the Guardian’s surprise, Tashi knew this sea nymph…and so did Sam London.

  When Sam finally passed through the cave’s entrance with the Leviathan nipping at his heels, he still had no plan for escape. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was shocked he had gotten this far with the creature remaining on his tail. Leading the Leviathan into the cave at the end of Atargatis canyon and trapping it with a massive cave-in wasn’t even his idea. It was Princess Iaira who’d insisted on executing this insane plan, despite all objections, and Sam was supposed to just retrieve Rosi from the stables. But by the time he returned with the seahorse, the Leviathan had entered the city limits and debris was raining down from the monster’s destruction. Ta Cathair became an instant war zone, and Sam’s ears rang with the screams of the wounded and calls for help. As the princess barked orders to her soldiers and rushed to aid the injured, Sam realized that her people couldn’t lose her again. Not when their whole world was crumbling around them. He informed Rosi of the change in plans, the seahorse snorted her approval, and then they took off toward the Leviathan.

  It seemed like such an easy decision at the time, except now he was faced with the prospect of being buried alive with the beast for all eternity. He knew Iaira had intended to rocket her way out of the cave by using the seahorse’s jets, and he did have some fuel left in the tanks, but he still needed to lure the monster deep enough inside the cave to ensure it would be trapped. Luckily, Sam spotted a narrow cavity toward the back of the cave and directed Rosi to swim for it. The cavity was beyond a web of stalactites and stalagmites, and Sam was betting on the Leviathan getting itself lodged between the cavern wall and the icicle-like rock formations.

  Everything was going according to his hastily devised plan. The Leviathan pushed through the cavity and became stuck, but only its upper body was trapped. Sam heard the soldiers begin to open fire and knew he had only seconds to spare. He hit the thrusters, and the seahorse shot forward, hurtling toward the exit, just as the roof of the opening began to crumble.

  But the Leviathan wouldn’t go down so easily. As the beast struggled to break free, its massive tail sliced back and forth through the water. Sam veered right in an attempt to dodge the fin, but the tip caught him in the chest. He was knocked hard off Rosi and sent careening into the cave wall. Sam slammed into the rock and dropped to a small ledge right below. He was barely conscious and suffering from the intense pain of what was likely several broken bones, including a cracked rib or two. Rosi rushed to his side and nudged him with her muzzle, but he couldn’t move, his injuries having effectively paralyzed him. Even worse, he could see the Leviathan moving—it was nearly free. The cave was collapsing and time had run out.

  “Go!” Sam told the seahorse. Rosi whined and tried again to help him climb on, but it was no use. “It’s okay….”

  As the world grew darker for Sam London, he could have sworn he saw an angel approaching. He wasn’t sure he could trust his eyes anymore—they pulsed with pain. Everything seemed to have a halo, and maybe this angelic figure was simply a hallucination—something to help him transition to the other side. The figure got closer and reached out with webbed fingers. Sam’s eyes moved from the fingers to the face of his rescuer and he immediately concluded that he had to be hallucinating. After all, what else could explain the fact that this angelic figure appeared to be a student at Benicia Middle School? And not just any student, but the girl who had her locker next to his. The one who always missed Fish Fridays.

  “Time to get you out of here, Sam London,” Nerida Nyx said. “We have school tomorrow.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Sam awoke on the beach with a gasp and a cough. He reflexively moved backward, unsure where he was or what had happened. Tashi knelt in front of him, her hands out, and he presumed that she must have healed him.

  “Glad to see you’re okay, buddy,” Vance said. Sam spotted Dr. Vantana standing nearby, along with another figure—the angel from the cave. The one who had apparently saved him from certain death.

  “Nerida?” he said, and gaped in complete shock. Could it be? The girl he saw every day…his crush for as long as he could remember?

  “Hi, Sam,” she said with a small smile. “Sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth about what I really am, but—”

  “You’re a mermaid?” Sam asked.

  “No…I’m a Nereid, a sea nymph.”

  Sam grinned, then suddenly remembered—“What happened to the…,” he began, rubbing his aching head.

  “Leviathan? He’s trapped under a great big pile of rock, hopefully forever,” Vance informed him. “You saved everyone, and you almost got yourself killed in the process. I want you to promise you won’t do anything that stupid again, but you probably will.” Sam shrugged sheepishly and looked back to Nerida.

  “How did you know I was here?” he asked, confused.

  “I received an urgent message from Rangers Sprite and Naughton.”

  “And they sent you here to help me?” Sam asked. That didn’t make much sense, he thought. How would they have known he needed help? Weren’t they on some secret mission? Why send Nerida?

  “No, Sam,” she replied. “That was just good timing. They sent me here to deliver some news about your mother.”

  “My mother? Is she okay?” He sat up straighter.

  “She’s in trouble. A great deal of trouble,” Nerida said gravely. Then she became more contemplative. “We should have been more vigilant with regard to our mission. I’m so sorry.”

  “What mission? What trouble?” Sam was becoming increasingly concerned with Nerida’s tone.

  “My mom and I were assigned to keep an eye on Odette in Benicia—”r />
  “Assigned by whom?” Sam pleaded.

  “Phylassos,” answered Nerida. Sam immediately looked to Vance, who shrugged.

  “First I’m hearing of it, kid,” he said.

  “The day the selkie made an appearance in San Francisco, we were called to our ancestral home to determine the impact of his actions on the mythical communities beneath the sea. Because of this, we weren’t there when it happened.”

  “When what happened?”

  “When your mom found her feathers,” she replied.

  “Excuse me?” Sam said.

  “Feathers?” Vance interjected with sudden interest. “You mean…” Nerida eyed the ranger and nodded. Vance’s face fell.

  “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Sam exclaimed.

  “There is something you don’t know about your mother,” Nerida began. “Something you were never supposed to know, but now it appears you must. She is not human, Sam. She is a swan maiden.”

  “You’re joking,” Sam said, half-laughing at the ridiculous claim. He knew his mom better than anyone else, and she was no swan maiden. Ettie was just a mom, an occasionally goofy, embarrassingly overly affectionate mom.

  “I’m afraid it’s true,” Nerida told him with a seriousness he had never heard before from his longtime friend. “I know it’s hard to believe. Without her feathers, she looks and acts human and believes herself to be human. But when she found them—”

  “She was called home,” Vance concluded, and Nerida confirmed with a solemn nod. “Aw, nuts.”

  “What do you mean, ‘Aw, nuts’?” Sam quickly asked. “Where is she?”

  “Lake Baikal?” Vance asked Nerida.

  “Yes. And she is to face judgment in front of the Maiden Council.”

  “Judgment?” Sam repeated nervously.

  “She will be punished for her crimes,” Nerida told him, her voice cracking. “I’m breaking laws by telling you this, but you’re my dearest friend. And you must try to save her before it’s too late.”

  * * *

  —

  When Lynnae of Lake Baikal heard whispers that the council was once again meeting with strangers, her unquenchable curiosity led her to risk further punishment by heading to the shore to see firsthand what was happening. Ever since the green man visited the maiden sanctuary, Lynnae couldn’t stop wondering why the council appeared so concerned by the news he brought. She was caught by Caer that night and simply given a stern talking-to. She found the lack of significant punishment surprising, coming from the ultra-strict disciplinarian. In fact, following the green man’s visit, Lynnae had noticed a change in all of the members of the council. They seemed pensive and anxious, as well as kinder to her and her fellow maidens, who were now given more privileges that translated to less work maintaining the beauty of the sanctuary and extra time to frolic and swim. She was convinced it all had something to do with what the green man had said about a human boy named Sam London, but she didn’t understand why. What was it about him that seemed to so greatly disturb them?

  When she arrived at the council’s gathering place and tucked herself behind another set of honeysuckle bushes, she spied two visitors. One was a wood sprite, and the other was a human female. They stood at the shoreline as the Maiden Council approached. Melusine was the first to speak.

  “You are not Phylassos,” she said plainly. The sprite half-smiled.

  “I am Ranger Woodruff Sprite, and this is Ranger Penelope Naughton of the U.S. Department of Mythical Wildlife. We are emissaries of Phylassos.”

  “Where is he?” Faye asked impatiently.

  “He is on his way,” answered Sprite. “Where is Ettie London?”

  “We do not recognize that name here,” Melior, the teacher maiden, said in her studious tone.

  “My apologies,” said Sprite. “May we see the maiden Odette?”

  Palatina nodded, and a maiden Lynnae had never seen before stepped out from beyond the trees. She wore a white dress and had two magnificent white wings that fanned out behind her. Lynnae had heard rumors of a maiden who had escaped the lake, but they were never actually believed to be true. The council had made it clear that such actions were impossible, given the Baba Yaga’s guard. But could this be the rumored maiden herself?

  “May we speak to Odette?” the human female named Penelope asked.

  “No,” replied Manto, the maiden who assigned tasks and managed the maidens’ lives.

  “We permitted you entrance into our sanctuary because you assured us the gryphon would come, but we do not see him,” Palatina said.

  “The judgment will be made without his presence,” Sibyl announced.

  “Please,” Penelope implored. “Can we discuss this all before you render your decision?”

  “The time for discussion is over,” answered Caer. “She has her feathers. She is no longer of your world. You have no jurisdiction in this place. It is time for you to leave our—”

  The wind suddenly kicked up, the sand whirled, and the waters surged. But it was not weather causing this disturbance. Lynnae gazed upward to see a magnificent sight: a gryphon. The legendary Phylassos had arrived. Lynnae thought back to what Caer had just said about jurisdiction. Lynnae knew of the curse and Phylassos’s law, but swan maidens were unique in their relation to the gryphon’s edict. Though they lived on or near water, they were not sea creatures. They also had their own authority in the Maiden Council and had arranged for autonomy from the gryphon’s law and curse. Their ability to shape-shift was another reason why they did not fall under the curse’s magic. She was shocked to see him here in the sanctuary. So shocked, she audibly gasped and instantly revealed herself.

  “Lynnae, return to your nest at once or you will be punished,” Caer said, her eyes trained on the bushes the maiden was hiding behind. “And I assure you it will prove far worse than the previous consequences.”

  Without wasting a moment, Lynnae popped up out of the bushes and ran off as fast as she could. She was so frightened at being caught, she just kept running and inadvertently wound up overshooting her nesting place. Thankfully, she stopped herself before she crossed the sanctuary’s boundary. If she had crossed the thin, glittering line of foxfire that surrounded her home, the Baba Yaga would have dragged her back to the council for judgment. They would have immediately concluded that she was trying to escape, which is an unforgivable violation of the rules that govern the maidens. Lynnae had no intention of ever breaking that particular rule. She turned back toward the nest and was just about to head over, when she heard rustling in the forest, followed by voices.

  “We can’t just barge in there,” a male voice announced.

  “Why not?” a younger male voice asked.

  “ ’Cause I told you—the Baba Yaga is not to be messed with. Trust me on this.”

  “Tashi can shoot her,” the second voice asserted. He was answered by a different voice, one that also sounded young, but of a higher pitch.

  “I do not attack a creature simply because it is carrying out its sworn duty,” the voice maintained. “She does have a right to do so, Doctor, am I correct?”

  “You are….The gryphon allows it because of the sensitive nature of the maidens’ existence.”

  “Then how will we get in?” another voice asked. “We need to find her.”

  “Hello?” Lynnae called out.

  “Did you guys hear that?” the boy asked.

  “I’m over here,” the maiden said. “But do not cross the boundary, or she will come for all of us.” Four figures emerged from the woods and stepped into a small clearing on the other side of the sanctuary’s border.

  “Are you a swan maiden?” the tall man asked.

  “Yes,” she answered. “Are you human?”

  The man nodded. “My name is Vance. This is Tashi, Nerida, and Sam—”


  “Sam? Sam London?” Lynnae asked excitedly.

  “Yes,” the boy said, surprised by her reaction. “Do you know me?”

  “I’ve heard of you.”

  “Have you seen another human, a female?” Sam asked her.

  “He means a swan maiden named Odette,” Nerida clarified.

  “She’s my mother,” the boy added hopefully.

  “Your mother?” Lynnae replied slowly. So that was why the council had spoken of Sam—the maiden who was facing judgment had a child. This was all too extraordinary for Lynnae to fathom. “Of course,” she said. “You are the maiden’s son. The maiden who escaped.”

  Sam nodded. “Can you take us to see her?” he asked.

  “I would, but if you cross the boundary, she will attack,” Lynnae reminded them.

  “We’re going to have to find another way,” Vance said. “We can’t risk it.”

  “There is no time for another way,” Sam asserted. “We have to help her now!”

  At that moment, the young female named Tashi stepped across the boundary. The entire forest went silent. Every bird or animal that had been making noise ceased instantly. The result was an eerie foreboding hush.

  “Tashi!” Sam exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

  “Breaking the rules,” she said. “Go find your mother, Sam.”

  A gust of wind roared through the forest and into the clearing. It sounded like a terrifying scream as it wound its way through the trees. Leaves were pulled from their branches and sent swirling into the air.

  “She’s coming!” Lynnae cried.

  But the Baba Yaga was already there. The creature swooped down toward the Guardian, and everyone ducked. Tashi took the full brunt of the hit and was sent hurtling through the air. Her body slammed so hard into a tree, it split the trunk. The Guardian tumbled to the ground, and the tree followed, collapsing on top of her. Sam gasped.

  “No!”

  His exclamation immediately drew the attention of the creature. Lynnae had never seen the Baba Yaga before—to do so would have meant violating the rules. But now she could see the creature was every bit as hideous as the stories claimed. The Baba Yaga was inhumanly thin, with skin that barely covered her bones. Her face had a long nose, sunken eyes, and iron teeth that chattered like rattling chains. A mass of stringy white hair sprouted from the creature’s head in all directions.