The Quest

Chapter XI

Chapter XI

The three of them sped up to the surface, where the waves that had remained unseen throughout their entire journey were now rolling around them, their bodies rising and falling as the waves surged, carrying them along like the little white crests on the tops of the waves. Nalin struggled with Ellaime and Anamaia, heaving them through the water as the waves pulled at them, their feet painfully useless. Eventually he reached Nereida, sitting alone on the top of one of the rocks, lashed by the spray of the waves she too looked wild and untamed, her hair blowing in the breeze. Anamaia and Ellaime sat on the flat top of the rock which was nearest to where she sat with Nalin. The rocks were wide and round, as if the spires underwater had just been broken off – instead of a pointed tip which one might expect, they were perfectly possible to sit on, the waves licking their calves as they reached their knees.

As they looked around, watching Nereida and Nalin for any clue as to what they were doing up here, they followed their gaze and saw a large ship, creaking as it danced through the water like an ancient ballet dancer whose joints protest again and again as they dance. The white sails were drawn taut by the wind, its skeleton teeming with young men as they leaped up the ropes and over the deck, each fulfilling a job no less important than any other. The hull was stroked by the waves the spray arcing through the air to form hundreds of tiny rainbows as it leapt between the waves.

They could hear the orders being yelled over the thunder of the waves, the crew singing a sea shanty as they worked, they heard the captain tell the others to be careful of the rocks, and then they heard him say one last thing, more as a joke than a serious warning, although they could tell that underneath his bravado, he still believed that there was the slightest possibility it might be true, and he didn’t want to lose any of his crew. “Watch out lads, there might be mermaids around. Keep your wits about you, they’ll only cause trouble.”

Right on cue they heard the strains of a beautiful song drifting over the sound of the waves, a haunting melody which wound around their ears and tugged on their hearts. Looking around for the source of the song, they saw that it appeared to be Nereida singing, her voice swelling as it reached the ship where all the men were working. “I can’t believe it! She seemed so nice, not someone who would try to tempt men to their dooms!” whispered Anamaia, stunned at the unknowing betrayal which she was witnessing.

On the ship a couple of men heard the song and shook their heads, trying to rid themselves of the enchantment, but as more and more members of the crew heard it, they crowded to the side, leaning dangerously far over the rail in an attempt to reach the beautiful maiden singing to them. As the ship got nearer and nearer the men became more and more desperate, shouting at each other to get out of the way. One of them leaned so far over the rail that he fell into the water, striking out violently in an attempt to reach Nereida he was dashed against a rock, a ‘crack’ that echoed around them signifying the pitiful end of his life, his limp body floating face down in the water as it was born away like some discarded debris.

A sudden commotion drew their attention away from the ship and towards where a small group of men were rowing one of the little boats out towards them, getting ever nearer to where they sat, the muscles in their arms and backs straining against the waves as they pulled the oars out of the ocean in synchrony. Nereida dived off the rock where she had been sitting and ducked through the waves until she reached the boat, her tail flicking gently as she rested her arms on the side, her chest and upper torso pressed against the hull as they floated suspended amongst the rolling waves.

“Where are you headed?” she asked, an alluring smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as they leaned in.

They all looked at each other trying to decided who would answer the beautiful mermaid when one old weather beaten and experienced sailor in the back said “Eested, t‘at’s where t’captain said we was ‘eaded.”