Just a little further; I’ll be faster on land than they will!
But even knowing that, it doesn’t matter. Not when my mind is telling me, I won’t make it.
Not when I can hear them behind me; even if they have not reached me yet, it feels as if their claws are sinking into me.
My entire body is aching from swimming as fast as possible to avoid the wave weavers.
The water is now like a blanket weighing me down. My heart hammers like a thousand drums as I spare a glance at the shadowy figures that swim after me. Their slithery, blue scales glint when the moonlight catches them. The wave weavers are my father’s deadliest warriors.
I look over my shoulder as I swim faster. He must have sent them to retrieve me and take me back home. I have disobeyed him and ventured far too close to the shore. We may control theoceans, but he still considers the land dangerous.
I glance back at the wave weavers, with their grey skin, ribbed torsos, eel-like tails and yellow eyes. They lack the humanity that sea sirens have. They are nothing more than killing machines, without an ounce of mercy in them. They will do anything my father asks, regardless of what that may be.
I push harder, seeing the ripple of the waves on the surface of the water. I’m almost there!
I force my tail to work faster as I swim upwards, the sinister wail as a webbed hand reaches for me chilling me to the core, and just as I break the surface of the water, pain sears through my tail as one of my pursuers rips through my scales.
I gasp in pain but don’t stop, swimming with all I have towards the rocky shore that is so close now! I can’t stop!
How did it even get to this?
Just because I defied him outright, he now thinks I’m a traitor? I had no choice but to leave the palace, and I know by gods, he is extremely angry with me.
My stomach sinks, and I push the thought away, refusing to let the panic of what will happen to me if I’m caught consume me. I need to get to shore and wait it out until Father’s anger changes to worry, and only then, will I go home.
The moment the water becomes shallow, I force myself to shift, feeling my tail disappear as it’s replaced with legs. Pain throbs through my right one as I keep running, the broken shells and rocks that cover the ground cut into the soles of my feet, and I stumble through the wet sand as fast as possible. I hear the wave weavers break the surface behind me, my heart pounding violently, but I don’t waste precious seconds looking back, knowing every single one counts.
I hear their hisses of rage.
“She must not escape!” one of them hisses; their voices sound like a chilling wail carrying across the waves on a stormy night.
I’ve made it this far; I will not let my shaking legs and my screaming heart weaken me. I will not be caught and dragged back to my father!
The moment the rocks lessen, and my feet are now on smoother ground, I spare a look over my shoulder, seeing the wave weavers slithering out of the water. Unlike me, they do not look like humans, but more like something from a garish nightmare.
Their webbed feet don’t move as fast as mine do on land, as theirs were not made for this. Centuries ago, sea sirens were forbidden to shift and walk on land, and it became a rule that endured. We are powerful in water, and in water we shall remain. But ever since I was young, that was something I defied.
I loved the land almost as much as the sea. Even if the oceans are large, it was on land that I felt free. Thanks to the rules my father had in place I felt suffocated in the palace. But in the eyes of my father and the ocean, to walk on land is punishable by death. However, I didn’t listen to those laws. I have snuck away for years now, and it was on one of these escapades that I stumbled upon an unregistered crack in the veil.
Suddenly, I’m thrown to the ground with great force. I gasp as stone scrapes my cheek, the taste of blood fills my mouth, and stinging pain jars through me.
“Get off me!” I snarl, my eyes blazing as the water ripples angrily. “I am the Princess of Elmeria! You will not defeat me!”
“Your death is written, Princess. You betrayed your father and thus betrayed your kingdom. We have been ordered to end your life here.”
My eyes widen. What? “No! My father would have wanted me brought back!” I snarl. Something isn’t right! He wouldn’t order me to be killed!
They don’t reply. Instead, all eleven of them advance towards me, raising their long spears, ready to carry out an order I cannot believe is real. I don’t have a weapon, but…
The first one raises his spear, and I call upon the power within, causing the waves to rise behind them – raising them higher and higher into the sky, ready to plunge us all into water.
The moment the first one dives at me, I duck, pushing aside his spear and turning, breaking into a run as the wave crashes down upon him and the others, buying me precious moments.
We are getting further from the ocean, and I won’t be able to use what abilities I have much longer. I run into the trees, ignoring the way the branches scratch against my hair and skin. I gasp when a spear misses my head by mere inches and push further.
I focus on the sea, creating another wave and praying it slows them down. Reaching up, I hiss as a branch cuts into my arm. I twist my wet curls up on top of my head into a tight coil, using one of my necklaces to wrap around my hair, holding it in place.
They’re still coming for me, but I know this place better than they do, and it’s helping me move faster.
