The Last Mermaid

Chapter Two

Eyes closed, Allana could feel the warmth on her skin. She rolled on her stomach and expected Rheah to call her name any minute now. But the hardness of where she'd been lying down brought her back to reality. She sat up too quickly and almost lost her balance. Her head seemed to spin.

"Don't move too quickly. Or you'll cut yourself through those rocks above you." Allana could only make out a shadow infront of her where the voice came from. Looking up, sharp edges of rocks pointed at her as if about to strike like an arrow.

"Who are you? And where is Julie."

The shadowlike form revealed itself. The dark cloak was removed and showed a very handsome man she'd ever seen. With bronze hair and dark coloring, his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness with the color of----gold?

"You may call me, Ares." his voice now Allana noticed sounded surreal, firm and strong. "The girl is dead. She wandered away and got caught by one of those monsters that attacked earlier. They are called Tewanas."

Allana could not help but shed a tear for all those ladies that died in the hands of those monsters.

"But why did you helped me?"

Ares, who now stood and went to the bonfire he made, did not respond. But just sat staring at the fire, seemed lost in thought.

"Why did you helped me," She repeated.

"I saw you in my dreams. I came to find you exactly how it happened in my dreams," Ares in somber tone and still not looking at her.

Allana didn't know what to say. Her mind is tired and can only take too much. She looked around and saw that the cave has nothing special in it. She could hear the howl of wind from outside the caves mouth. The chill seeped through her bones now, and she gathered that if not for the bonfire near her, she would have frozen to death. Gathering her cloak about her, she took a step towards the caves mouth and peeked. The moon is high above and making things about her luminous. A touch of cold hand to her arm made her jump.

"Careful. Do not be fooled by the serenity of the night," it was Ares.

Allana took a deep breath that got caught in her throat making her cough.

"You don't understand, I have a mission. Now I understood, it is not so much about marrying the Prince and winning over all the ladies in the kingdom this time. It is about saving the kingdom from ruin--- atleast I have to try." Allana can't help but think about her family that she left behind, and fell helpless to the caves floor and sobbed. After a moment, she wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up and resolved to not give up.

Ares spoke softly, "Out of this cave, what you need is the trail that leads to the east. The path will lead you towards the end of this mountain. The moon will guide you. Just be careful of monsters roaming the night."

"I have to go. There's no time to lose," She whispered--- mostly to her self.

Ares did not say anything but just handed her the meager belongings she owned, then bade her farewell. Allana made one last look inside the cave, noted that Ares already turned his back to her and now making his way to the fire.

"Thank you!" She called after Ares not expecting any response.

Allana glanced longingly at the fire before making her way out.