Spellbound

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Fascinthia tugged at the hood of her jacket for the umpteenth time. She couldn't let everyone see her hair, though she had done nothing to cover her eyes. She could see the beach from here, the hominem playing with balls and tubes and some, simply lying down in the sun. She saw the distinct part of the beach, where no hominem wandered about. She knew instantly it was some kind of mermaid magic. It had to be. She grasped at the memory, just a few days ago, Orion told her the actual name of mermaids, but she had no idea what the name was.

She half-walked, half-jogged to the area slightly darker than the rest of the beach, constantly tugging at her hood. She walked right into the dark area and only after walking into it did she realise that there was some greenery there. A couple coconut trees and quite a few monarda bushes. She had always felt one with nature and teaching at nature club, as a side job, except, for free, was always an idea she had. She saw a boy sitting on the beach, his hood pulled down to show his silver-white hair, glittering in the light of the sun. She didn't expect it, he almost always had his hair dyed but she let go of the thought.

Fascinthia had barely taken two steps towards Orion when a boy walked out of the waters. A mermaid, she thought. Well, a merman, really but it didn't make a huge difference. She crouched and sat behind a monarda. She could see them clearly enough, just a few leaves and flowers blocking her view at some places.

The merman walked towards Orion and held his hands. Orion had strong hands. A little thin, yet strong. Strong enough to pick Fascinthia up and drop her to the ground with ease and yet, in the merman's hands, they looked fragile and frail. She saw the man hold his hands with tenderness, like Orion held Fascinthia's as if the other was to break under the slightest pressure. She observed the merman. He too was young, around 20, she assumed, with a buff, muscular build that made Orion seem like a weakling. She saw a slight green rope, tying his hands together and assumed it was seaweed. The water creatures used seaweed for practically everything. Just as she was about to cross off the merman as a danger and walk towards them, she saw two women approach them, from the waters, their seaweed clothes hinting them to be mermaids. Both were decked up in water flowers and corals and pearls and yet they were surrounded by an aura of an enforcer, of a soldier. The straight postures, the blank, distant yet stern look on their faces. No amount of pearls and fragile clothing could ever make them look like fragile little girls.

Fascinthia looked back at the two boys and saw them talk. She had absolutely no idea what they were talking about but nothing could have truly prepared her for what happened next. The blond merman reached down to Orion and locked his lips with his own. Fascinthia was taken aback. She blinked her eyes and the two of them still stood there. Orion seemed the least bit surprised and to Fascinthia's sorrow, he actually seemed to enjoy it. The merman pulled away and knelt on the beach. The hot sand burned Fascinthia feet when she crouched and she was sure that they were burning his knees too but that was only half the pain he was meant to bear.

Orion turned away, then, and began walking but one of the mermaids stopped him. Fascinthia saw her lips move but heard no words. Orion turned back to the merman, his lips pursed tightly. One of the mermaids raised a whip, although, it was more like a plant, covered with thorns whose tips glistened in the sunlight. Fascinthia didn't know what exactly she had expected, but what happened next definitely shocked her. The whip came down, whistling in the wind, and hit the merman. The thorns dug into his skin and he bled. A couple drops of his blood hit the sand and turned them red. Fascinthia walked forward, not trying in the slightest way to hide herself. She screamed for the mermaids to stop. One of them looked up at her and gave a crocked smile but the other, hit the whip again and the merman shrieked in pain. Fascinthia raised her hands in front of her, her palm pointing towards the whip, blue fire, the colour of her straight hair, burned from her palm but only filled her up with warmth and adrenaline. The mermaid tried to hit the merman once again but the whip wouldn't descend. On a slightly closer look, there was blue twine like things covering it completely, stopping it from moving. She looked at Orion and when he looked into her eyes, she knew he had read her mind. She thought he would take off, pulling the blond with him but he simply shook his head to say no.