Mermaids are Menacing (Book 2) Complete

1.) The Deep Below

It was cold and dark in the cavern. I pushed away the wooden shovels and packs in the boat. Keeping a good hold on my damaged white pack. The air tasted like mildew. I bobbed along the current on the little wooden boat. My shoulder still stung from the wound, and I felt my heart beat in the skin that had been sliced. I held pressure to quiet the throbbing feeling.

I couldn't see my hand infront of my face. The river that ran through the cave at home lead outside, it made since that this river would also take me outside. I just had to not fall out of the boat. Drowning in the cold dark sounds like a bad way to go. Of course theres also the possibility of water monsters. Creatures that live in the dark depths might pull me under the water and eat me. But that was probably just a story that brother Hawthorn made up to mess with me.

I shivered. With shakey hands I dumped out the contents of my bag onto the floor of the boat. The white cloak I used to bundle everything up was now wrapped around myself. I pushed my supplies around haphazardly in the pitch black, creating a space to lay down. Laying in the wooden boat, I listened to the sound of the moving water and my own breathing. Processing what I experienced and what I was still experiencing.

No more husband.

No more baby.

Injured.

Homeless.

Cold.

I killed people.

My stomach gurgled, and im hungry. Despite my actions, I didn't regret anything I had done. The first to strike wins the fight. My brothers grappling matches came to mind. Everyone in the Villiage had naturally been strong, but now my strength was more than it ever had been.

Protecting the Villiage wasn't difficult untill they came, I thought back to that trio. The weapon that woman carried was similiar to the one that had killed my sister. There might be more people in that group. Either they escaped during the fire or they weren't there that night.

They were after me and Vihar this time. Surely they intended to kill me, but did they seriously think they could kill Vihar. A human was one thing but did they think they could fight a dragon because he was a baby?
Why?

Anyone would want to live in our Villiage, of course they would have to fight the people that lived there to take over. But why attack the little Vee? Did they think that they could hide him? Hold him hostage? Even if they had been able to pull Vee out of the mountain they would be at a disadvantage. He might be a child, but he is a predator. Had I brought Vee, rather quickly, they would have found out that he is fond of hunting.

                                .......

Sleep never came. I bobbed in the dark in my little wooden canoe for an unknown amount of time. Getting comfortable was impossible in the cramped space. Laying here drifting made me remember the little leaf canoes we used to race when I was small. Each of us picking the best leaf to race and letting them float down the river. One of us was always screaming that they had won when they didn't or changing which rock marked the finish line to change the outcome of the race.

I kicked aside the long flat wooden shovels. They were in the boat for a reason I thought, I shouldn't throw them out untill I was sure that they wouldnt be needed later.

The room felt bright all the sudden. I sat up with expectation. I smelled trees, fresh air, and sunshine. The sound of water rushing was getting louder and the speed that the boat moved started to pick up. 

Wait a second. I know that sound.

I reached my hand out of the boat and began to scoop futily at the water. I wasn't going to be able to slow down. Faster I thrashed at the water with my hands but the canoe only turned sideways.

"Abyss!" I cursed.

If I wasn't carefull I would tip the boat over on it's long side. I'll end up at the bottom of the river, like so many leaf boats. Instead of fighting the current I tried to angle myself towards the caverns wall, trying to find something to hang on to. Barely touching the wall sent me bumping and spiraling away from it, back out into the center of the river.

only now the boat was going backwards. I stood up and started to panick. I looked around frantically. Shovel! Picking up the shovel I reached out towards the opposite wall that I was moving towards and tried to slow down by scraping against the wall.

Everything was lit up by sunlight now and the caverns features were well seen. The caves entrance was comming up and with it the waterfall. I didn't know how big it was but the drop on the other side could be ridiculously steep. The wood shovel was scraping against the cave wall making a light scratching noise as it dragged across the surface. I felt the grating all the way up the bones of my arm.

I wasn't slowing down fast enough.
I threw the useless shovel into the water and sat back down in the canoe. Wrapping my legs around the packs to hold them together, I braced both arms on the canoes sides. I was prepared to face whatever came next.

My eyes tightly scrunched closed and my grip on the canoe caused slight cracks to form on the boats rim.

But the worst never came, instead I bumped into a solid edge.
I opened my eyes in suprize. The boat dropped back but the water continued to pull it forward. Another bump and the boat turned sideways on the long edge. When I looked over the side of the boat I discovered there was a sturdy wall of rocks under the water. The water was only able to drain over the top of it by a few inches. It was a fast moving waterfall but not a big one. Roughly the size of an average person down the other side.

Huh. 

I grabbed onto the wall under the water and used it to propel myself toward the edge of the cave. I climbed out of the canoe and into the water. It was deeper than expected but I held onto the wall and used it to stay up while holding on to the canoe with my other hand. It was an slow pace making sure the boat and packs didnt float away while also getting up on to the dry platform. When I was out I dragged the boat onto dry land. 

I wanted to get out of these wet clothes and eat but I needed to go through the packs and start my journey. There was no gaurentee this spot was safe since it seemed to be the place those trespassers came in. There could be more people waiting in the tree line or comming to this spot to reunite with their companions.

The three packs were in good condition. No weapons. No changes of clothes. That seemed suspicious. Were they poor or did they live nearby? There was bedding in each of the packs which meant they intended to sleep away from where they lived. Dryed meat, I'll keep that. I continued rummaging through the packs spilling out all of their contents, who packs jewelry to a commit a murder? I thought lifting up a silver necklace. It had a single luminous pearl bead. I put it on over my head thinking It might be something to sell later.

They each had a canteen. They were really nice ones. Not the kind made from goat stomach. Of course the amount they held was much less than a water skein made from a goat stomach, the shiney metal craftmanship was pretty. The inlaws always brought neat trinkets like this when they were brought in but it was my first time owning something like this.

I decided to keep all of them but the contents of the third was definitely not filled with water. The strong scent burned my nose a little when I sniffed it. That was stronger than wine, I thought. After I repacked everything I wanted to keep and the items that were lose in the floor of the canoe. I was ready to go again. Vee's lock of hair was secured in its wrapping and placed safely in my pocket. The jerky I chewed on was a bit tough and unflavored but it was better than nothing.

That evening, I took my first step out of the mountain.