If what Aida says is true, a single touch upon a dragon’s hides is all that is needed for our salvation?
And the screech…it means—I can barely form the thought for fear of disappointment—there could be one of these dragons nearby.
4
The Hunt Begins
I wakethe next morning shortly after sunrise, aching from the vigorous trip the day before. My tribe isn’t expecting me to return for several days, and I entertain falling back to sleep.
But I told the mermaids I’d meet them and Aida’s tale of dragons, men, and transformations niggle at me.
I cup my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun as my gaze lingers on the sky. The red comet has barely moved further. While studying it, the smell of cooking fills my nose and makes my belly grumble. After cleaning and airing out my cot, I don my clothes, weapons, and shells. Afterward, I head for the central fire.
Aida and Delina’s mother, Shyn, is roasting fish as I approach. We share a smile and she offers me a spit. She exudes pride; the crinkled laugh marks around her mouth and eyes are telling. She wears her dark hair short and cinched around her head.
I can’t help but envy her and the life she’s led.
“Will you tell Aida and Leith that I left?” I ask. “I don’t want to wake them.”
Her face falls. “So soon?”
“With the red comet high and the world stirring—” I know she heard the screech last night. We all did. “I think it’s best I’m with my tribe. Leith is well protected here.” Trying to smile, it falls short. I tear into my fish instead.
Shyn glances at the sky. “Mmm. I understand.”
“Leith looked pleased last night,” I quickly say, doing my best to keep her mood high. She deserves it.
“Oh, yes! Thank the waters. Delina has been near impossible these last weeks with worry.”
Nodding, I can only hope Shyn’s aware of Aida’s unhappiness as well. But my friend is good at masking her emotions. Silence falls between us.
When I finish my breakfast, I turn to leave.
“Issa!” Shyn stops me. “If you or Shell Rock need anything, please just let us know. We have always been allies to you, and we owe you a great debt.”
My smile is genuine this time. “We owed you one first.”
A short time later, I’m loosening the rope pulleys on the lift with the help of one of the scouts below. When I make it to my raft, I pull out my supplies and check them over. After I’m done, I scan the coastline and crystalline waters.
Where are the mermaids?
I begin humming and singing their names when they fail to emerge, but my voice stinks like rotting fish.You’re going to scare them off, Issa!
But I continue anyway.I’m in for a day of teasing,I pout.
Minutes go by—they don’t show.
Frowning, and pulling out a spear in the raft, I walk down the beach, singing louder.If they’re playing with me… they’ll just have to suffer my voice.
The sun steadily rises, and nothing. No glittering tail, no giggles.I’m wasting time.Hoping they’ll show when I return to the raft, turning back, but when I place my spear within it a few minutes later, nothing moves in the ocean waves.
Odd.
But I push the raft out into the ocean and jump in anyway, lifting the oars and turning southward, thinking they’ll make their appearance at any minute. As time goes by, and Sand’s Hunters becomes a distant dot behind me, they still don’t show.
They’ll join me later,I hope.
I’ve made this journey alone before. It’s okay.Unlike the day before, I stay close to the coast, just in case. But as the hours slip by, more oddities come to my attention.
