River Horse

Chapter Two

First, I was aware of a horrible aching pain that permeated my side. I winced. The skin over the wound wouldn't close properly, I realized I was being carried. I opened my eyes a crack and saw one of the boys from earlier. He was huge and dark, and he carried me with ease. He glanced down and his eyes were filled with relief.

"She's awake!" He looked down at me again and said, "I'm Ivan. You have an infected cut. We're taking you to someone who can help."

"No!" I gasped. "Put me down! I don't need help!" He frowned and stopped.

"Why don't you want help?" Hans asked.

"I'll be fine on my own. I have my own meds at home. I can't go to a doctor!" I pushed myself out of Ivan's arms, bracing myself for the pain of standing. As soon as my feet touched the ground, my side flared in protest, but I managed to stay upright.

"This isn't anything normal, okay? You need help." Hans said impatiently.

I suddenly realized that any normal person would have asked a few questions by now. If I handled this all too well, they would become suspicious. I threw up my hands and snapped, "Wait a minute, who even are you guys? Trespassing on private property with swords and crossbows and-"

"We're hunters," Gareth interrupted, his tone irritated. "We basically police the magical world and protect mortals like you."

Inside, I smirked. They were obviously unexperienced, if they had thought the weak poison that had coated the sword would actually kill a kelpie. And they had just made another mistake; telling me who they were, and what they did. True, it would have been pointless to lie, but no hunter would just give up that kind of information.

"Magical world?" I said, making my voice as skeptical as possible. "Are you guys in some kind of weird fan club or whatever? I've never heard of hunters before."

Ivan grinned ruefully and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know it sounds weird, but it's true," he said. "But after what just happened, it's a little hard to deny that there's SOMETHING out there."

"Anyway, do you remember what happened?" Hans asked, changing the subject. I sighed, as though deciding to humor them, and nodded. "Did you see what grabbed you?"

Inside, I was gloating. They hadn't realized! I had told the fish to swim upward in a shoal in order to create the allusion of something large and scaly rising to the surface, then brought out my tail and pulled myself into the water. I hadn't thought he would throw a poisoned sword, though. My body was working to pump the poison out of me, but I couldn't completely purify myself while in human form. Damn! I pretended to think about his question, then gave a shudder.

"All I saw was the tail. It was impossible for me to get out..." I wrapped my arms around myself and shuddered for effect.

Hans' eyes softened slightly. "Well, the thing that grabbed you is called a kelpie, or an aquatic horse. Have you ever seen one before?"

I shook my head, stiffening my face into a mask of fear. "My house is closer to the swamp than the river. I've never seen a-" I paused, as though trying to remember the word, "kelpie, but I've seen women with eel tails in the ponds before."

Hans' eyes seemed to darken a bit. "So you've seen magical creatures before," he said, his face impassive.

I mentally swore. If I had denied seeing any kinds of creatures when I lived next to a siren colony and a kelpie river, it would look like I was hiding something. An easy excuse came to mind.

I lifted my chin and said defiantly, "And apparently, I'm the only one who ever has seen something. So I'm not exactly ready to believe it."

He passed a hand over his face and said in a grim voice, "No, they're real all right. They're called swamp sirens."