Swim Away (Mermaid)

Chapter Forty-Three

"Good job, guardian," a woman spoke behind Selena.

Selena stepped aside, sword still ready for any movements or attacks I chose to throw their way.

The woman approached me, and I saw her face clearly. She was beautiful and flawless, her hair looked more alive than I was. Her blue eyes were one of the brightest I had ever seen, the ocean flashed in her eyes.

"So, you're our little troublemaker." It didn't take long for me to realize that she was one of the mermaid leaders. Her energy was not as strong as when she tried to approach us, but it was still there, weakening my powers.

I ignored her and glanced over at Selena, who still had the journal in her hand.

"You were working for them after all." I thought that maybe the guardian mermaids had their own agenda, but that didn't seem like the case.

"We were, but we came to an agreement. Mutual goals and all that," Selena replied, gripping the sword tighter.

"Eyes over here," the mermaid leader said, using her magic to make me face her and stay that way. "Normally, we don't come out of the water, but look at what you've become. Something like you can't run amok. It's only natural we end this little problem, right?"

I didn't realize how heavily I began to breathe and how afraid I actually was until I figured out what she meant. Like Asher had said, mermaids like me didn't get to live. I was a failure to the mermaid society, and they were here to erase me.

I couldn't answer. I didn't want to say anything anyway. All I knew was that I had to escape. With my powers weakening, and being unable to merge the two journals together left me in quite a predicament.

My only way to fight back was to fuel the flame within my heart. But even if I did that, there wasn't much I could do with it. Usually, it created heat, enough to fry eggs on my skin.

It was the only thing I had, so I chose to use it. I focused on the flame in my heart, and it burned stronger. But not as strong, since the mermaid leader was powering it down without even blinking. Her presence was nullifying it. How was I going to activate it?

There was a part of the flame I never thought to use. It was far beyond what I was capable of doing. I didn't even know what would happen. I didn't tell anyone of this feeling. I may be able to release the flame, but I never let it fully take me over.

The thought of losing control terrified me. Would I be able to shrink it again?

Maybe it was time to take the risk. I was going to lose my life anyway.

I took in a deep breath and let it out. I could feel the energy around me free itself. The feeling wasn't as unsettling as I thought it would be. The fight between the flame and I felt worse than this.

I spoke too soon, because I started to feel it burn my heart. The flame was merging with my heart, and the push it took to enter it was the worst thing I felt. I looked down at my chest with wide eyes.

"Lara, don't do this," Selena said, bringing the sword closer to me.

"Shut up! I know you want to stab me, so get it over with!" I screamed at her. She never cared about me, and now that she was a real enemy, she could actually harm me the way that she had always wanted.

Selena brought the sword to my chest, poking its way through my flesh. A small snowflake formed on my chest, causing the flame to cease. I felt the flame separate from my heart and chills ran all around my body.

With the little amount of magic I felt, I focused on the two journals in my head.

"Oh, no, you don't," the mermaid leader said.