A Mermaid's Cry

Chapter 8-A Mirage of Freedom

The cold salty brine wraps me in its embrace, while I plunge into the dark deep. My legs knit together, scales erupting across flesh as my tail forms. My eyes take in the water around me, the craggy form of the cliff behind, and the towering rocks beyond. Their great masses keeping large predators at bay, and keeping me from going further.

Glancing around, I find small cracks in the cliff face. Holes big enough for a skinny Mer like me, to squeeze through. Into, as far as I can tell, is the gentle waters of the island lagoon. Glancing up, I see the lithe form of Ares still on the cliff face. I guess I better show him I'm alive and well.

Diving down, my tail moving up and down in the water. Quickly gaining speed with every flip of my coppery fins. At the last second before I near the rocky bottom, I twist upwards and begin my ascent. Streamlining my body with hands above my head, I break through the water's surface.

Sunlight greets me as I flip through the air, twisting myself around so my back faces the dark water. Salt sprays as I dive back below, my fins moving me forward through schools of little fish. Dark bands of corral, crowd the craggy bottom. Luminous blue algae, glowing faintly under the sun's piercing rays.

Sea slugs, trail along the cliff face. The slime they leave, covering water loving lichen and muscles. Rainbow colored tubes and polyps, send bubbles through the water. Tickling my skin as I swim bye. Coming to a stop, I revel in the seemingly weightlessness of my body. My hair billowing out around my head, as I slowly stroke my arms, effortlessly turning and twisting through the gray blue gloom.

I swim back up, and cautiously pop my head above the waterline. Peering up at the cliff, I find Ares gone and let loose a full toothy grin. Stretching out, I float on my back, relaxing in the golden warmth of the sun above. Glancing around, I watch seagulls fly overhead. Pelicans perched on the great rocks, moss hanging off the jagged stones. Content in the sound of their shrieks and flapping wings, I continue to float and relax.

Then, as I watch a pair of gulls fighting over a fish, I spy my ragged old apron and a pair of mud stained pants. The sight startles me, hurriedly I rush over to the wall of rock and moss. Pressing my back against the unforgiving stone, I pant in heavy breaths as my eyes skitter to and fro.

Searching. Scanning for danger. The danger that embodies one word, one name. Ares. Ares the prodigal son. Ares the Hunter, the Shark Killer. The great tracker of Isla de las Madres. My unwanted savior, my enemy, my predatious foe.

These swirling dark thoughts shatter, when frighteningly warm hands wrap around my hips. I let out a scream as I'm dragged under, my fists pounding against unrelenting muscle in vain. Oh how I thrash against his unforgiving arms, my tail soon wrapped by his, till I can barely move it in his hold.

I keep my eyes shield shut, for I don't want to see his triumphant smiling face. When I do open my eyes, I want last night and today to all be another horrible dream. I feel us break the surface as I continue my weak assault. With my chest pressed to his, I push and shove against him with my hands.

Soon, my shrieks of rage turn to blubbering sobs. My salty tears running down my face, as I then try to extract his hands away from my waist and hips.

"Let go, let me go," I cry, the words barely above a whisper as my strength starts to fade. "Please, I want to be alone."

I sniffle into my hands, trying to ignore the warmth of our bodies entwined together. Why now, why now must my life be intruded upon? By a male of all things.

His hold slackens, and his palm comes up to cup my damp face. Exhaustion keeps me from biting into his skin, fear more than anything seems to have left me. I'm nothing now but my instincts, carnal raging wants and desires. The want to bask in this gorgeous male's warmth, and the desire to watch his corpse float to the bottom of the sea.

"Little treasure," he croons, tangling a finger in my snarled hair. "I would do just that, for a trade. A simple trade. A single favor. A meaningless kiss, from one Mer to another."