Savia's Heart [Sequel to Bastian's Song] [HIATUS]

[ 26 ]

[ Lachlan ]

He rose from the sand and shook his tail to get rid of any grains that remained on him. "I'm sorry if I look a bit disbelieving, little one, but I am very curious as to how such an event would come to be. Please, I am ready to listen to your story."

Militum joined him, likely to make more room for the mermaids as Damini's tent was now at capacity. Damini herself left, closing the tent flap behind her. Vritika settled on the sand and folded her hands over her lap.

Chhavi drew herself up to her full length, a measly twenty one hands, and lifted her hands to rest, palm out, beside her head. When she spoke, it was a more familiar lull that Lachlan had heard before; the cadence of a story was meant to build the drama of the words in much the way a true song did.

"In the summer of bright coral and plentiful fish, there came a tail of storm. The sky darkened, and thunder rolled through the waves, followed by the bright flashes of Zeus' mighty anger. The ocean swelled around us as we traveled, though I was too young to know anything other than the darkness that my parents felt in their hearts."

Lachlan could see the image as she spoke—the small hatchling nestled in her anxious father's pouch as the tribe was swallowed by the storm. When the storms were bad enough to bother the merfolk, they were truly impossible to escape.

Chhavi continued. "Ocean pulled and split, tearing apart the tribe, and my father with it. Currents that we could not see ripped me away from him, leaving him with only my seal skin in his grasping hands."

Vritika's sharp inhale was the only sign of the tears she did not shed. Lachlan felt awe. She had lost her tail long before she was meant to, and in the middle of the water. Chhavi should be dead, long drowned by the heartless waves of the storm that had taken her.

"I woke to the gentle hands of a human, a woman and her husband grieving the loss of their firstborn—a child who met the gods before they drew breath. To those parents, I was a sign sent from above, that the emptiness inside of them was only a temporary state that would not cut them down. To me, they were the warmth of survival and a shelter from the storm that had borne me to the shore."

Chhavi moved her hands down and wrapped them around her shoulders in a hug. "For seven years, they harbored me; taught me to walk upon legs that were not meant to bear my weight, taught me to speak a language that sounded strange to my ears, taught me to love. It was when I did not grow that they began to suspect I was not the same as them."

Tears glittered in her eyes, shining jewels waiting to be shed. Chhavi smiled as she spoke, her voice dropping softer. "My true parents spent years swimming both the depths and the coasts, but they did not know how far the storm had borne me. Their hope dwindled into an ember, waiting to die. And then they found her. The Finder heard their story and lit their hope into a blazing bonfire of crackling flame. She spoke of reunion and happiness and never-ending love."

Chhavi spread her arms wide, as though daring the world to challenge her. Lachlan imagined the Finder had looked much the same when her parents had gone to her.

"The ocean flew the Finder to me, and she came into my family and spoke truth. I was not the child of parents, but of merfolk. I was not meant to live on land, but under the waves that called to me. She gave me a choice, and I chose the siren call of the ocean. My human parents loved me enough to let me go, and we parted with sweet sorrow and hope for the future."

The mermaid twirled in the water, spinning slowly. "And so I found my home, carried on the wind and in the arms of the Finder. She who gave me back to my heart's home, and into my father's grasping arms." Chhavi settled back onto the sand and bowed.

"The Finder is human?" Militum asked.

"Yes." Chhavi looked back up. "And you will find her in the arms of the wind. There, a mermaid lives who shuns her homeland, and she can get you an audience if you are kind. And have coin."

"What is this mermaid's name?" Lachlan frowned at the cryptic speak. Storytellers were always trying to make themselves seem even more mysterious, but he hadn't expected such a small child to speak in so complicated a manner. The little mermaid must have practiced the story many times.

"She calls herself Phaedra." Chhavi giggled. "She's really pretty. And she can spin such amazing magic. But she's shy. You'll be kind to her won't you?"

Militum beat him to the punch. "Of course, little one." His tone was warm again, and Lachlan wondered just how much of a sucker he was when it came to children. He'd always given them plenty of sweets when they were growing, but Lachlan had thought maybe it was because they had been Bastian's friend. Now, Lachlan was starting to think it was just hatchlings in general that melted the hardened warrior.

"Where are the arms of the wind?" Lachlan lifted an eyebrow.

Vritika answered him instead. "It is a harbor where humans and merfolk mingle. The locals call it Zephyr's Cradle. If you are very lucky, the Finder will be docked there, upon her great ship. If you are not lucky, you will have to wait for her to return."

"I don't suppose she stops by regularly?"

The mermaid smiled at him. "She is very good at what she does. That means she is very busy, and your lost person is one of many. But, perhaps the goddess will show favor to you as she has done to my husband and I." Vritika held out a hand to Chhavi, and the hatchling moved to her mother's side, entwining their hands together.

They rose and left the tent before any more questions could be asked, and Lachlan considered all that he had been told. A human who could locate hatchlings that had washed ashore and lived as humans? The chances of such a thing happening in the first place were astronomically small, but to be able to find them...

Chhavi would have looked entirely human, aside from her stunted growth. Yet humans didn't go around displaying their ages around their necks. How could a stranger know? Did she wield magic? Was she, perhaps, god-blooded?

There were stories of humans that could wield the magic of the gods, and perform mighty deeds. Those who had been born of a human and a god were rare, but always amazing.

"Lachlan?" Militum's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"What do you think she meant about Phaedra shunning her homeland?"

All Lachlan could do was laugh helplessly. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

Damani stuck her head back into the tent. "How did it go? Did you find the answers you needed?"

"We did, thank you cousin. Do you happen to know where Zephyr's Cradle is?" Lachlan asked.

The tribe elder nodded, and Lachlan allowed himself to feel pleased. No matter what that stupid augur had said, he and Militum were going to find Bastian. And when they did, they were going to bring him home.