Princess. Siren. Prisoner.
For years, the ocean has been ruled by Arelena's cruel brother, King Tristien, who forces her to use her voice as a weapon. When she takes pity upon a drowning man and saves him, she decides it's time for her brother's rei...
It was such a simple question. But she knew better than that. She could sense that the spoken task was nowhere near as simple as the question. Still, the princess did not hesitate to reply. 'Anything,' she vowed. The smarter thing to do would have been to ask what the task was, but she was so certain that she would do it anyway. She needed to aid her falling kingdom, before her brother destroyed it beyond repair.
Soren rose from where lay and swam as close as he could to the bars of his cell. He knelt opposite to her and leant in close. 'I'm giving you the opportunity to back out of this now, for it is incredibly dangerous. If your brother ever found out about my plan, he would kill the both of us on the spot,' he warned her. But the princess shook her head; Soren's return had given her the strength to be bold and stand up for her people. She was determined that nothing could stop her from doing this, whatever it was. The merman nodded once and proceeded to explain his plan to her.
'First you must go to the edge of the kingdom...' He whispered.
As he explained the rest of his plan, she grew more and more anxious. Would she be able to pull this off? Perhaps she should have waited to know what he needed her to do before accepting, but then he never would have told her in case she declined and went to her brother. It didn't matter now, she would do this. And nothing, nothing, could lessen her determination.
'Go now,' Soren told her at last. 'You know what to do and I trust you to carry this out, my princess.'
Arelena bowed her head. It had been so long since she had received such respect and trust from anyone. She almost wished that she could live in this moment forever. But she couldn't, not when she had a kingdom to free. Rising from where she knelt on the floor, the princess whispered her farewell and turned away. As she was about to swim around the corner, he called out to her one last time.
'Don't forget to...'
Whatever the white-haired merman had to say landed on deaf ears for she was too far away.
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The waters of the ocean were dark that night for there was no moon. From above it appeared black as if a squid had been scared by one of Tristien's sharks and released its ink into the waves. The darkness meant that it would be easier for the Mer princess to make her escape, the first step of the mission to free the kingdom of the ocean.
Like a small fish, she darted from shadow to shadow to ensure she remained unseen. She had to be very careful though, her silver tail would light up and give her away if any light were to touch it. That was why Arelena was so grateful that the night was so dark, it gave her the cover that no other night could give. At last, she had reached the closest palace exit to her rooms. All she had to do now was evade any guards and then she would be free of the palace and her brother.
Stopping at the doorway, she quickly glanced around the corner to check where the guards were stationed. But there were none. Puzzled, she slipped out into the open waters and scanned the area. Nothing moved. Her brow creased; there was always some sort of guard here whether they were Mer or a shark, so where were they now?
Pushing the thought away, she left the palace behind, all the while keeping an eye out for anyone who could give her away. She arrived at one of the many stone arches acting as both exits and entrances to the city without seeing a single soul. At the arch however, there was a Mer guard. He was the same one who had shown pity when the sharks had taken her to the palace. Fortunately for her, he had his back to her; he probably didn't expect for anyone to be leaving the city.
Arelena remained in the shadow of the arch, waiting for the opportunity to slip around it. She knew that she may have to wait for hours before that moment came but she was running out of time. It could only be night for so long and she had to reach the sea witch by dawn. Perhaps she would be able to slip past if she caused a distraction...
Reaching down, she curled her fingers around a smooth pebble resting on the sand. Ensuring that she was well hidden, she looked around for something to throw the stone at. There was a tall rock rising from the seabed on the other side of the arch. She closed her eyes and silently prayed to the ocean that she would be able to escape. Once her eyes reopened, she drew back her arm and threw the pebble.
Thud.
It hit its mark, catching the attention of the guard. Frowning, he swam towards the rock cautiously. She knew that she must not waste her opportunity and slipped around the arch. Glancing back at the merman, she saw that he was still searching for the cause of the sound. But it wouldn't be long before he saw the pebble lying at the base of the rock and connected the dots. So she darted away, her strong tail propelling her through the water and leaving a trail of bubbles behind her. It did not matter now; the guard wouldn't be able to leave his post to follow her and by the time he alerted anyone in the city, her trail would have already vanished.
Once she was far enough away, she stopped to rest. Making her way down to the sandy ocean floor, Arelena took in her surroundings. All she could see was sand and the dark blue water. There was not a single creature in sight.
In the distance she could see two rock pillars. Although they seemed tiny from where she was, she knew that they were giants up close. The pillars marked the end of Tristien's kingdom and the beginning of the wasteland between the kingdom and the Dark Waters to which Soren had once been banished to.
Somewhere in that wasteland was a sea witch's home. Knowing that she must reach her, Arelena began the long swim towards the pillars.
Hours later, she had reached the stone giants. At their base she stopped, staring out into the wasteland. She had dreamed of leaving her brother's domain for years but now that the dream was coming true, even if for an hour, she found herself reluctant to move. Reminding herself of her people, she forced herself forward and left the Mer kingdom behind.
Travelling through the desolate stretch of sand, an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She was in a wasteland and it wasn't supposed to be warm or welcoming but it just seemed so eerie. Perhaps Soren had been wrong, perhaps no one lived here. She should just turn back and go back to the palace, no matter how desperately she wished to be free of her brother. But when she saw something move out the corner of her eye, she stopped.
Two long, darkly coloured creatures were slithering through the water towards her. Although the creatures did not make her tremble as Tristien did, they did frighten her. There was something that seemed wrong about them. Perhaps it was the tiny, needle-like teeth in their long snouts or their round, freakishly pale eyes. Or perhaps it was they way that they had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Yes, that was what it was.
Come with us.
The hiss came from within her head and she knew who the voice belonged to. If these creatures hadn't unnerved her enough already, they certainly had now. She could only imagine how much more her brother would frighten her if he discovered how to speak in minds, too. Hopefully, he never discovered how.
Come, the creatures hissed again.
Arelena let them lead her away, towards the place in which they had appeared. She noticed that there was something strange about that particular spot. The water seemed different, appearing almost as though it were shimmering but she dismissed it; her eyes were merely playing tricks on her. The closer they got, the more obvious the shimmering became until she realised that it wasn't just some trick of the eye.
Then the creatures vanished again, leaving her alone mere centimetres from the shimmering wall of water. She moved closer until at last she passed through the wall. Suddenly she could see the creatures again but there was something else. It was something that hadn't been there before, something that had been cloaked by the shimmering which she now realised was a magical wall designed to hide whatever was on the other side.
In front of her was a palace. It was no where near as big or elegant as her brother's but it was a palace all the same. It was the sea witch's home.
