Wingbeat

Araxie: Chapter Three

I was young then. Back when my eyes grew soft at some one showing me sympathy. That quickly disappeared though, when I sank below the waves.

The leader of our pod, Natonia, swam close to me. Never once slowing down.

"How is your language study going?" She asked in our native language.

"Alright, I suppose. French is giving me a bit of trouble, I can't seem to get the accent right," I replied.

Natonia, although beautiful, was getting old and gasped as she said, "That's fine, you have plenty of time till your eighteenth. After all your only fifteen."

The silver skin of the merman shown faintly in the water. A merman's who's skin no longer shown thanks to numerous amounts of wrinkles swam up to us. "Natonia, my love," he said in his ancient voice.

"Valencio, I believe my technique is getting quite slow. I guess I'm getting older than I thought," she spoke unsure of herself.

He grabbed her flawless skin with his webbed fingers and lifted her head so she would look at him, "darling your still as beautiful as the day I laid eyes on you."

I couldn't help but sigh. Their love was undying and almost unreal, like living in a fairy tale. The smell of blood woke me up from my fantasy.
Valencio looked down at his hands, "I guess I should go, and ... uh finish the job."

I frowned at the statement, we didn't enjoy what needed to be done, but nobody really does.

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My head peered from outside of our cave and I took in the big blue world out side. My raven hair swirled around me as my eyes narrowed on a black blob swimming at a distance. I tightened my grip on the iron spear, my claws wouldn't be enough for this job. I stared back at my world, hidden in the darkness. And swam towards the creature.

I was eighteen today and fear engulfed me. My spine tingled as the details of the creature came into view. Its thin legs moved fast as it swam in the water, it's strong jaws snapped at tiny fishes struggling to escape him. I snarled my teeth in a low growl. I shot toward the ocean ground and caked my tail in mud, masking the shiny scales from the suns glare. The creatures tiny, black eyes looked towards my direction.

Shoot

My body stopped moving as looked at the monster without blinking. It moved on. I moved across the ocean floor until my body was against a large rock that stretched to the surface. My tale flapped as I made my way upward till I was even with the creature. One......

Two....

Three.....

I shot toward the creature, my spear aimed toward the cracks in his scales. It sunk in deep through the soft skin, the creature roared in agony. I sunk my claws into his skin as he thrusted his body around searching for the threat. Its large body bolted out of the water and made an acrobatic leap out. It fell to its side with a slap on the waters surface.

The body stopped moving and rose to the surface. With my face breaking the surface, I took a breath of the cool air. I laid on the animal enjoying the warmth of the sun, my hair beginning to dry.

Dark blotches hid the sun overhead. I curled my fin under into a sitting position. My body slithered across the creature as I fumbled toward the water. The blotches were so close now I could see the feathers on their wings and color of the boots they were wearing. I dove into the water welcoming it like an old friend.
The first Harpy's hands grabbed and jolted me up with a single flap of her wings. I screamed as I was lifted up higher and higher, until one of my claws gashed her thigh. She let me go, screaming herself. Just before I hit the water the other one scooped me up. A needle bit into my neck and everything went black.

I dreamt of the waves, and the smell of salt water. The wind pointed at my face as I looked out over the ocean. A hand was laid on my shoulder, and I gently looked at the person. It was Natonia, relaxed and with a gentle smile on her face. She placed her hand on my face, asking me to look at her.

"Wake up."

The darkness startled me.