Serene Of The Sea

48. Ticktock

My fingers wound into my hair, tightening my ponytail as the strands fell loosely back down my spine. The steady beat of my heart played the bass against the soft wind that wove in the loose strands over my face.

Clouds overhead shifted almost unnoticeable. The light cast down from a half obscured sun was cold. A winter sun for a winters day.

The frigid water lapped over bare unfeeling feet, pulling me, testing my will. Just a few steps forward and I could run. Electricity buzzed through hot veins, filled with the life that ached to survive another day. Steamed breath rose to the sky in thick tendrils as the air grew crisp with anticipation.

The ocean was so calm it could almost be a lake. The calm before the storm. A storm was certainly coming.

I let my eyes close for a moment, breathing in the breeze. I was awakened by its bite in my lungs. How could I feel so much strength at a time like this. I don't understand myself. Calm coils around my muscles, telling me it will all work out.

Counting the minutes would do me no good. So I waited blankly, with no idea how close it was until the world came crashing down.

Instinctively I reached for my trident, freeing it from its bindings. Durable fingers wrapped around the hilt as it found its way to my side. My lifeline, my guardian. The only thing standing between me and an early time out.

My vision held itself on the horizon. They were out there, right now, under the rippling reflection of a brewing sky.
My skin felt like static electricity clung to each hair, raising them to salute.

Pure instinct kicked in without warning as my vision prickled, zooming in on the minute change of the waters. No physical weather from the world above would cause the ripples to shift in such a way.

They had arrived.

I stand strong on the shoreline, ready to face the uncertain moments to come.

A single wave crashed violently on the shore, reaching my waist. Though I remained like a statue, unchanged by the rush.

Then there was silence. Even the wind disappeared, afraid of the monsters that lurked just beneath that portal.

I wasn't afraid. I was a monster myself. Without a little guidance I would have been a part of the incoming demons.
I found myself grateful to be standing on this side of the waters. I'd rather be destroyed standing for a cause, than to be dragged as a puppet, acting on the orders of someone who held everything I love at the end of a fishing pole.

A smile spread across these Siren features, fulfilment of a cause emanating in my stance.

I sensed them as my powers swam in the bay. Hundreds of them watched the lone girl standing on the shoreline with a fearful curiosity. Most had not seen a human before, therefore did not know they were looking at one of their own. Others had fire in their veins, hungry to tear apart the figure before them. Revenge poisoned their hearts. Others felt pushed into being here, lost in war they had no part entering.

But it was one energy that my powers zeroed in on. I hadn't even asked about Aella. She must have escaped in the madness of the attack that day with the whales. How had I forgotten about her?!
The energy next to her was blackened and bruised, a woman on the brink.

The flaming red hair breached the surface, copper eyes filled with an inferno worthy of the force that remained hidden. A sickeningly sweet smile crept across the vicious brooding face of the Queen herself. Her surfacing revealed the armour worthy of the crown, the arms of the trident graced the centre of the artisanal chestplate. Her slender legs paced forward, lurking closer like a cat taunting a mouse. But I wasn't a mouse anymore.