ARYSARNIA

SONGS OF MER

There in the forest she lay on her back; legs swept to one side, reluctantly she opened her eyes but quickly shut them when the sun poured through her eyelids. Slowly she ventured again but her eyes only assumed a squint, and her memories rushed at her- the attack from that night. The head of a wolf appeared above her baring its teeth. Crysarnia tried to stir her limbs but they had no regard for her. She looked up at the blurry figure hovering above her wondering if it had come to finish her off.

She could feel the warm breath of the wolf on her neck, when it probed her she waited to feel pain that delayed. Rather she felt a blanket covering her, then she opened her eyes to realise Exul attended to her and was now retreating into the woods.

"Exul...come back" it took a while for the dragon to heed her call before running to her side. Her eyes turned to the carcass of Thunder now swarming with ants and flies, she heaped dry sticks onto the carcass and burned it up. She then glanced down the slope to see the river behind the trees, which she had not noticed before... "Zelkia" she recognised it from the map, it flowed into the forest marked for her by Spike. The river rushed cautiously through the trees and flowed around the obstacles of rocks smoothed by the water over the years; she sat by the river and watched her disheveled reflection. Her hair was full of dirt and pieces of dry leaves and there were striped blood marks on her neck and chin, she turned over her arms and saw similar marks on her legs so she undressed and stepped into the water. The recesses of the tears that had gone cold in her eyes trickled down her face.

When she washed herself, she saw that all her wounds had healed.

A current surged around her in the water. She glanced around when it happened the second time and realised that there were no fishes in the water.

It felt like the river had just touched her. "Ridiculous," she said and brushed it off. There was a spirited laughter coming from the water after that, it was feminine. Then there was singing...

Droplets found each other

A pool humming melodies

It became a river

With one shared journey

...chanting pool of frightful waves

Where our voices sounded mighty

Droplets now so glorious...Droplets quite so curious...

The winds danced to the song and animated the river moving in a fashion that defied nature and depicted the words of the song, she noticed a figure swimming among the waves and it occurred to Crysarnia that was the source of the singing. As if to respond to her thoughts, the figure showed itself clearly in the river.

...She was all that and more than what Crysarnia heard that they would be; it was a mermaid...

This one had skin that appeared like one who was extremely cold, her dark brown hair; like a waterfall, latched to her neck and shoulders. She had an elfin face with wide eyes that were constantly smiling, an aquiline nose and moderate lips that had the colour of sun- set. Her beauty was simple but striking. She swam to Crysarnia and that was when she saw the fishtail covered with emerald scales and fins.

"Sadness to the soul...is as ice cripples the flow of water ," she said, her voice was music and she was gentle and composed. She moved with a certain grace around Crysarnia that a she- elf would find competitive.

"How are you known?" she asked Crysarnia with a faint smile.

"I'm ...Arysarnia...what about you?" Crysarnia asked; the appearance of this creature from the emerald sea had begun to warm her heart.