Mer-Made Life

A Night, a Knight, a Fight and a Flight

Cerith would be gone for the week, getting his equipment and crew in place for this last job. It left Dosina home alone to oversee the family, and she always felt like something big was missing when he was away.

"Okay, everyone. Help clean up the table and then get your homework done. Tulip, Olive. I got the assignment list from your teachers, so there will be no making excuses. I know everything you need to do from now on. Get to it, and I want to see it myself before you run off and hide somewhere, making trouble!"

"Awe, okay, Mom. Can we do it together? It always goes faster when we help each other!" Olive spoke up.

She was the bolder of the two with her mother, while Tulip was the crime instigator. They were like a tag team crew, but she loved them dearly. She kept them in line, mostly. It was easier with their father present. They listened to him better.

"Mom, can I go for a run later? I need to unwind after that crazy first day. It was amazing to me. It was strange, too. I need to unwind and breathe."

"Sure, after you finish your homework. If I let you run amok, I can't make the twins do anything, so please do that first. Then you can run all night long. Or until eight-thirty, whichever comes first."

She chuckled at her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. She knew things were getting complicated for Pearl. A new life was only beginning for her here. Dosina couldn't tell Pearl anything that was on her heart. She could only smile and love her and hope for the best.

Soon Pearl was running down the shoreline again. The air was clean and fresh, with a pleasant moist breeze off the water. The sun was down, but the starlight seemed more than adequate for Pearl to see by. She got in her rhythm and made a great distance down the beach. It was entirely the night before she turned to return home.

Walking a few minutes before returning to her stride, she wandered into the calm water's edge. A splashing sound came from behind her, and she turned. It was like her dream, but this was real now. No one was behind her, but she heard another splash farther out in the water. She saw a figure, and it seemed to be writhing. Then it called out.

"Help me. Please. I need help! Somebody - help me!" The voice was different than in her dreams, and she wasn't sure about this situation. She couldn't 'not help,' though. That wasn't in her makeup.

"I'm here. Let me help," Pearl called as she approached the form. She reached for it and felt a sharp, painful slash on her ankle. As she screeched a little from the attack, she pulled her ankle away. The form splashed and swam away. She saw a human head at one end and a large complex fin at the other. Was that a merman? She ran out of the water, and her ankle was bleeding from a short but deep puncture wound.

"Hey! What the heck!" she called out over the water. "That's a pretty sick practical joke!" she called out, but no voice returned from the water. She was alone again, confused, injured, and feeling funny now.

"What the heck!" she repeated as she walked home along the beach, further up on the sand and away from the water's edge. One attack was enough, so she avoided getting too close to the water again. She was halfway home when she got too dizzy and finally passed out.

Pearl woke to a conversation going on around her. One voice was her mother. The other was - was Whelk?

"Warm water for now on that wound will help disperse the toxin. It's not completely dangerous. It's not the kind of wound meant to kill. It's something else." Whelk was explaining. "Oh, there you are. Welcome back. How do you feel? What happened out there, anyway?"