War of the Ocean

Chapter 6

At a glance, the palace was made of darkness. The walls were black and gloomy, exactly what one would expect of a sea witch's home, particularly one living near the Dark Waters. The creatures lead her inside, glancing back once in a while to check that she was still following them. The interior of the palace was much like the exterior, only the walls were covered in tiny lights that reminded her of stars.

After a few twists and turns, the creatures lead Arelena into a large room with a high ceiling. In the centre of the room was a giant clam shell. Slowly, the shell rotated around and cracked open slightly. She waited as it opened wider and wider to reveal a mermaid who had been kneeling inside of it. She was strangely beautiful with indigo hair and watchful golden eyes. The mermaid's features were sharp and her skin was as pale as the moon. She rose and stretched her shiny black tail out as the strange creatures darted to her side. The sea witch smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

'Hello there,' she said, gliding away from the shell. 'Princess Arelena, I never thought you'd ever come here, especially since your brother keeps you on such a tight leash. What are you, his little pet fish? Pathetic.'

The princess remained perfectly still despite her instincts screaming for her to swim as fast as she could. This mermaid chilled her to the core, scaring her almost as much as her brother did.

'What is it that you want me to do, dear? To make your evil brother go away? Or to give you power?'

She shook her head; she had been given a mission and she had to complete it. 'Neither,' she tried to be brave as she spoke, but she couldn't hide the tremor in her voice. 'I need legs.'

The sea witch laughed. It was one of those fake laughs where the one who was laughing didn't even bother to make it sound otherwise. 'You wish to escape your brother by going on land?'

'No,' she shook her head. Arelena was unsure whether she should reveal the mission at first but eventually decided she would. The witch may want to hear the true reason before she granted her legs. 'Not to escape, to negotiate with the humans for help.'

The witch raised her eyebrows in surprise. It was unexpected, a daughter of the ocean going to humans for help with matters of the sea. 'Why would you want to do that, dear?'

'My people need my help,' the princess replied. 'I need to do this, to stand up to my brother and end him once and for all.'

After a moment of consideration, the witch spoke again. 'Very well,' she told her. 'I will grant you your legs. But it will come with a price.'

'Name it and it shall be yours,' there was no hesitation before she agreed to the terms.

'I haven't yet decided what it is that I want but when I do, I will take it,' the indigo-haired mermaid said. 'Are you still willing to strike a deal?'

It would be foolish for anyone to make any deal without knowing the price. But Arelena was desperate and running out of time. She needed to stop her brother and save the Mer as quickly as possible. Not only that but she needed to save Soren before Tristien could execute him and so the sooner she got onto land, the sooner she could get the help required.

'Yes,' she told the sea witch after a moment of hesitation. 'You can take anything as long as you give me legs.'

'Okay,' the witch replied. 'But I must warn you, the legs will only be yours for eleven days before the magic powering them runs out. Now, are you ready?'

Arelena nodded her head once in response. She was ready to go on land. She was ready to seek the aid of the humans. She was ready to save her kingdom. Nothing could stop her, not even whatever price this sea witch would choose. The witch stretched out her pale hands and began to chant in the ancient language of the ocean. The princess did not understand a word of it as she had never been taught it. She waited as golden light left the witch's fingertips and weaved its way towards her. The light hit her where her tail began, just under her hips. It enveloped her tail, making it glow and blinding her. She had to squeeze her eyes shut for most of the transformation until the light began to dull. Reopening her eyes, she could see that the light was beginning to fade away, moving downwards to reveal smooth skin where her tail had once been. At last the light was only around the fins at the end of her tail and when it vanished there were a pair of human feet in its place. Her transformation was complete; the princess of the Mer was now human.

She could feel herself beginning to sink. Flailing her arms about, she tried to stop herself but it was useless. Her new feet hit the sandy floor of the sea witch's palace and she looked up at the witch for help, wondering how she was supposed to get to the land now.

'Don't worry dear, my pets will carry you to the human world,' she reassured her. 'And don't worry about breathing, you've always been able to breathe underwater and on land, remember? It's still the same now.'

The princess nodded although she hadn't been concerned about that in the slightest. She eyed the strange creatures nervously as they approached her. They were obviously the witch's pets but they seemed so... alien. The creatures slipped under her arms and began to drag her upwards and out of the sea witch's palace. There was only one thought as they did, how were they supposed to get to land without crossing through her brother's land. If they did, they'd surely be captured. Tristien must have the entire ocean searching for her now.

Thankfully, the creatures did not head towards his kingdom. Instead, they began to swim towards the place where the water grew darker. The Dark Waters she realised, eyes widening in horror as she did. They were headed straight for the dreaded place no one dared to go. She swallowed back her fear, she had to trust that the sea witch's pets would get her to land and not leave her to die. As they grew closer she could see that there was a giant hole in the ocean floor. It was impossible to see where it ended for the hole was so dark. How had Soren survived down there?

The creatures descended steadily and Arelena could just make out where they were going. There were several small caves dotted around the rim of the hole. As they grew closer, she could see that they weren't caves but tunnels. Perhaps one went directly under her brother's kingdom and to the human world. The creatures swam into one of the tunnels and suddenly the three of them were immersed in darkness.

It was impossible to tell just how long they were in that tunnel for but finally, they exited it. The creatures brought her up to the shore—the exact one where she had left the human she rescued—and left her there. She lay half in the water and half out on the damp sand, watching as the creatures disappeared. Glancing up at the sky, she could see that the sun was only just beginning to rise. Despite being cold and alone, she couldn't help but smile a little as she shivered. She had made it. Now all she needed to do was find the human prince and negotiate with him. How hard could that be? She knew she should stay awake until someone found her but she was just so tired; she hadn't slept at all. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep on the beach.

Yay, she's finally going to go to the humans!