A Merman's Tale

Margaret: Chapter Ten

     Hssss.

     Grrrr.

     Hssss.

     I had to remember that the creatures in front of me were mermen and not snakes. Or green, red-eyed monsters with sharp teeth. My skin visibly prickled from fear and nervousness. Whoever wanted the Key must have decided not to waste time because surely, five versus one would never be fair enough. They all looked like experienced swordsmen as they poised for attack. I didn’t want to think about it but I had a feeling that this would be the day I took my last breath. I shivered and Seirra moved to stand closer in front of me. His skin color had changed and his eyes had gone ruby red yet I felt that even if I didn’t know him beforehand, I would label him the good guy. The others give off a dangerous aura, what with their hissing and growling.

     “What do you want?” Seirra asked in a murderous tone. His voice had gone gruff and each word was muttered with a low growl.

     Their leader, who stood directly in front of us and had the only different sword among them, answered the question with a snarl. “The Key, Celari. We won’t hurt you if you’d just hand it over to us.”

     Well, I sincerely doubted that they wouldn’t hurt us given the fact that they already did the first time they attacked me. I felt Seirra’s body stiffen even more and I decided then and there that I’d die before I give the Key to anyone aside from Seirra.

     “You won’t have it,” Seirra said with finality.

     “Then you give us no choice.”

     He hadn’t even finished saying the last word before one of his henchmen dashed to attack us from our right. Seirra dodged it with his sword but another one immediately followed and unless Seirra had another sword, we would both be sliced in half by the other monster.

     And then I remembered that I can wish for material things that can last temporarily. I immediately thought of a sword and within a second, something identical to the Ardus appeared in my hand. Seirra saw it immediately, grabbed it and used it to deflect the second attack.

     “At the count of three, jump back and run,” Seirra whispered between gritted teeth.

     I simply nodded and hoped that none of those green freaks would catch me before I’m safe.

     “One, two, three!”

     Seirra swung his arms in an attempt to get out of the defensive as I ran away as fast as my feet could. I heard someone quickly following me and when I looked back, Seirra had already caught up with him and had disarmed him. The sounds of grunts, growls and metal clashing against metal penetrated through my ears as I ran to save myself and the Key. A few more steps and I could make a turn towards safety. Those mermen wouldn’t dare fight in a place with so many onlookers.
     Five meters away from the street corner, my pace began to dawdle. I needed to stop and get more air into my lungs so I leaned on the nearest lamp post. My hand clutched my chest in hopes that it would help the drumming of my heart to slow down.

     And then the situation crashed down on me.

     I just left Seirra in the lion’s den.    

     It shouldn’t have bothered me because I simply followed his instructions but somehow, I felt like I should have helped him fight at the very least. He was fighting against five swordsmen after all. Besides, I could simply wish on the Key to give me some sort of weapon to use. Maybe, a gun would help. It wouldn’t be too much of an effort to use it, would it?