The Destined

Chapter 22: Anna

    Anna    

I can't believe my eyes. The lake is right in front of me. It gleamed against my eyes, lighting up the world around us. I have never been so happy to see a body of water before. Eagerly, I reach over to Avani's pack, trying to take out the water bottle, but she grabs my hand and stops me.

"We have to wait for Melissa," Avani says.

"Well, do you see her?" I ask.

"I don't-" Avani begins, but then she stops herself. "What is it?" I ask, and she points upwards towards the sky. I make out a shape, a black shadow against all of the light. It swoops down, closer to the ground, its talons swiping across the surface of the water. It looks like a lage crow, its eyes glowing orange. On the back, a girl rides with her hands in the air, smiling. It is Melissa.

"Melissa!" Avani yells out. Melissa responds, but I can't hear her. The big bird flies rights towards us, cawing loudly. I jump out of the way, dropping the makeshift cane as I fall down on my hurt knee. I wince as the pain shoots up my leg.

I look over to where the crow has landed. Melissa gets off its back, walking over to its beak and patting its head. "Thank you,: I can hear her say. Then she kisses the beak, and the crow flies off, disappearing into a path of dark smoke.

"Thank goodness you are all right," Avani says, running up to her and hugging her. Melissa takes this by surprise, but she returns the hug. She walks over to me, helping me up.

"What happened?" she asks as Avani hands me the cane. Avani and I exchange a look and smile.

"Accident," I say. "It's ok. But where were you?"

"The crow," Melissa says. "It flew me over the maze, to this cave, and it gave me food and let me sleep the rest of the night and in the morning, it flew back to here. I was waiting for you guys!" She seems so happy, her face beaming. "We made it," she says more quietly.

There's a pause. We all just stand there, smiling at each other. Avani takes out the water bottle and walks over to the lake. We follow her, squatting down along the shore. The water is warm as my fingers trace the surface. Avani fills up the bottle. She looks at me and I nod, letting her take the first drink. She does, frowning a little. Then she fills it up again and hands it to me. I take a drink, and I almost gag at the taste. It tastes like vinegar, but worse. Finally, Melissa drinks as well. She takes it better than us, not really showing any form of disgust on her face. We wait.

"What now?" she asks. I shrug.

"The clue ends with 'drink and you'll be saved,'" Avani says. I get up, my leg feeling wobbly. The water seems still, maybe even too still. I look up at the full moon. It is white and very bright. There's not a cloud in sight, just the stars, shining brightly. A cool breeze blows through, almost too gentle to be felt.

"What's that in the water," Melissa says. I look down back to the lake. There's something moving in there, the upper body looking human, but the lower body looking like the tail of a fish. It stops before reaching the shore. The head comes out, red hair flowing in the still water. It's a mermaid. Her skin is dappled grey, her eyes pure black. She hisses, exposing her sharp fangs at us. We slowly back up from the shore.

"Don't move," I whisper. I watch in horror as more and more mermaids begin surrounding the one in the middle. They don't get too close to the shore, but they are close enough to be able to jump out. I drop my cane, grabbing C's bow from Avani's hands, and I string it tightly, aiming at the chest of one of the mermaids.