When I reach the back of the shop to see what Vellamo is browsing, I find a large cubby holder made of coral filled with gems of all kinds but especially pearls. Vellamo notices my gasp and turns to glance at me before turning back to the cubbies of stones. I shake my head and swim over to her to see what stone she is looking at. I notice that her hands run over the topaz and the sapphire cubby holders. I watch her until finally her left hand stops on a sapphire stone to the left of the cubby. And her right, stops on a topaz stone right in the middle of the pile. I whisper to her,
" What's so special about those particular stones?"
"Quiet now, child, I must finish the process."
I watch as she rubs her thumbs up and down the stones. Finally, her thumbs slow and she turns to me still stroking them. She holds out the stones for me to grab them from her, so I take one in each hand and I feel very oddly satisfying as soon as they touch my fingertips, so I slowly began to stroke my thumbs along the ridges of the stones.
"What is happening right now, Vellamo?" I say as my fingers glide over the flaws of the natural stone.
"You are feeling the Tides' power that it has gifted to us through the stones."
"This is amazing! What do you use them for?"
"Sapphire and topaz are generally used in daily cleansing rituals, but the next stone, obsidian, that I am about to hand to you is used for very powerful Tide rituals." She says as she picks up a stone as black as night that is the size of a small ball. It's spherical, but you can see the sharp ridges of the stone.
She holds the stone out for me and her other hands reach for the stones in my palms. I grabbed the obsidian as Vellamo is putting the other stones into her kelp bag. The moment the obsidian comes in contact with my flesh, I am bombarded with the amount of power that emanates from this stone. The power is definitely a dark one, I can feel the tendrils of Darkness that have been caged inside this stone. I begin to rub the stone with my thumbs and I feel the tendrils start to excite as my thumbs run over the ridges of the stone. I look up at Vellamo, confusion evident of my face. She chuckles and slowly removes the stone from the gentle grip.
"I told you that obsidian is used for extremely powerful Tide rituals and is it not now evident why?"
"You're right, I can see why the stone is valuable. Can you feel the tendrils of Darkness that run beneath the surface of that magical stone?
"Yes, child, the tendrils will help us pave the way to the completion of the ritual."
I stop talking and begin to think of what kind of ritual this could be and if I am really ready to handle power of this magnitude.
"I can hear the fish swimming around in that head of yours, child, what is bothering you?"
"It's just something that Arina mentioned earlier. She told me that if I ever wanted to try out another option of learning the Tides' that I was always welcome. What did she mean by that Vellamo?"
Vellamo shakes her head while replying with, "I told that girl not to tell you about that until the time was right and you have completed your training but she just couldn't listen, could she? Well, I guess I'll have to tell you now. There are 2 different sides to the Tides', much like the Yin and Yang concept. You cannot have balance without both pieces to the puzzle. The way you are in training for is the Dark Tides' magic and the one that Arina mentioned is the Light Tides'. The Light Tides' refuse to perform rituals that have anything to do with Darkness unless it is absolutely necessary, but the Dark Tides' revel in the power that the Tides' have gifted to us, along with the aid of the tendrils that lie beneath the surface of certain stones. We perform rituals that must be completed to repay the Tides' for allowing us the use of their power and the aid of their minions. You will learn both ways of the Tides' of course, but there will come a time that you must choose between the sides. Be forewarned that the choice that you make is the final stop in this chapter of your mastering of the Tides, once you choose there is no turning back. Only two extremely powerful followers of the ways of the Tides in the past thirteen centuries have switched sides and in the process lose many of the extra powers that there were created with."
Once she finishes explaining, she looks at me with a look of uncertainty in her eyes, wondering which side I will decide to follow. Honestly though, I won't know until I know all there is to know about the Tides and how I should use their power that they have so graciously gifted to me. After a few more seconds of awkward silence and curiosity of the unknown, Vellamo turns and goes to the front shell desk where Arina is packing away her stones into a smaller kelp bag. Once Arina finishes, Vellamo nods at me to follow her out of the store, so I wave to Arina. I'm almost to the exit when Arina calls out to me,
"Eurybia, don't forget that you're always welcome here in my shop. And you should know that while your first trainer of the Tides' is chosen for you, choosing the next is a rite of passage for all of us. So, good luck with Vellamo and choose wisely.
YOU ARE READING
The Tides' Revenge
FantasíaMermaids are the women thrown off ships when pirates and sailors feared having a woman on board was bad luck. As they sink to the bottom, legs tied, they slowly transform until they can breathe and use their tied up legs, now tails, to navigate the...
