Heart of Oceans

Chapter 5

Fenrys

She was a whirlwind of ice and fury, meeting every one of his attacks and launching cunning ones of her own. Swinging and jabbing and blocking she met Fenrys blow-by-blow. The first two sparring attempts were child's play compared to this. Her body flowing through the movements like water, her eyes were dancing with storms and almost seemed to glow slightly with other-worldly ferocity. Her mouth was set in a silent snarl and her canines—to Fenrys' surprise and delight—had somehow elongated into deadly points, much longer than what is normal for the Fae. If Fenrys was being entirely honest with himself, it was an unnerving sight.

He had half expected the trident to shatter upon first impact, but whatever magic she possessed had imbued it with strength to make it as strong as the steel in his hand, if not more. And that pure wildness and the way that she moved, gods damn him if he didn't find it attractive. He had never seen someone with such fluid grace, and strength. His own body was burning with the effort of keeping her at bay, her wiry arms hiding their true strength. Her entire upper body was sleek and efficient and deadly.

Between assaults, Fenrys dared to glance down at her legs, the awkward stance, the slight imbalance of someone who never properly learned how to use them, the corner of his mouth curved upwards. He fainted her left and circled around to the right, forcing her to move with him. Out the corner of his eye he watched her rudimentary footwork and waited for... there. Just as she crossed her back leg behind her front he lunged with a strike. She parried, but the force of him threw her off balance backwards. He followed with a quick sweep of his foot at her ankles and swept her legs out from beneath her.

Flat on her ass she hissed at him, a dangerous, unearthly thing. He wasn't smiling anymore, only grim triumph and maybe a little bit of fear. He held out his hand but she smacked it away and got up in a huff. That gleam had disappeared from her eyes though—the one that sent a shiver down his spine—they were clear again at least.

"If what you say is true," Rowan's harsh voice sounded from across the deck, "only a Mer royal should be able to handle that weapon like that."

Seleine went stiff, every inch of her displaying discomfort. She didn't meet Rowan's accusing stare, instead, she stared off towards the southern horizon. When she spoke her voice was soft, as if her mind had travelled far, far away.

"I suppose."

Her eyes had clouded over, gone distant, like she was swimming through a tide of memories. The weapon in her hand melted into a puddle on the deck. Seleine said to no one in particular, "I need to swim," and with that, she strode to the railing, gracefully climbed over, and disappeared into the sea.

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Seleine

The memories were swarming her, the hungry sharks circling and circling. Stupid, she was utterly stupid, she shouldn't have used that trident, let her pride get the better of her. She was not worthy of the trident. She should not have used it. It's not like it helped her, she still lost didn't she? Those stupid legs. Seleine hissed. Let's see how they do fighting against her in the water. She'd rip them to shreds, she probably wouldn't even need a weapon. She was designed to be one anyway, even without those fancy daggers and tridents. Her body was equipped for death and survival at its most primal form.

Her body now plunged through the currents of the deep sea, various creatures streaming past at such speeds that she had to do a double take. No, she was the one moving fast, gods, how far had she swam in her stupor? The ocean was dark now, the faint light of the surface barely filtering through, though the sea floor was still far below her. Seleine looked up again and realized that the darkness was due to the fading twilight above. She must have swam for almost two hours.