The Dragon Curse

Prophecy

I was lying on the smooth sand and watched the happy fishes above me playing with each other. I was thinking about Mark. I couldn't forget him... I was holding onto the crystal he gave me and his face was in front of me. His beautiful deep brown eyes and raven hair. The thought of him made me smile, but all of a sudden the crystal hurt my hand and it was shining in red. I didn't understand what happened, but I couldn't pick it up from the sand, because it hurt my hand again. I grabbed the leather strap and started swimming with the crystal. I had to find out what this meant... but somewhere deep inside I feared that it meant nothing but bad.

I swam as fast as I could until I reached an underwater cave and without hesitation, I swam inside.

"Catria!" I shouted when I reached the inside of the cave where an old mermaid was putting away bottles but looked at me when she heard her name.

Her blue skin had dark brown spots on her shoulders and arms just like on her face. Her shining black tail ended in black fins, but they had holes in them. Her curly black hair was floating behind her and her pure white eyes looked directly at me. Her big lips curled into a smile when she saw me and she opened her thin arms widely for a hug.

"Princess. What took you here?" she smiled and I swam closer to her to slightly hug her.

"You have to help me," I said in hurry and showed her the crystal that was still red. "This crystal was white just a while ago, but it turned into red and it hurts when I touch it. What does this mean?"

She took the crystal from my hand and tried to touch it too, but she immediately pulled her hand back as the crystal burnt her index finger. She frowned at first, but then she looked at me with a little smile on her face.

"Where did you get this from, darling?" she asked and I gulped.

"From a friend," I said, but she swam closer to me and smiled wickedly.

"Isn't your friend a bit more precious for you than just as a friend?" she asked and she didn't even wait for the answer because she already knew it. "And this friend is not even from our species, right?"

She swam up to a shelf where various bottles were and she grabbed one. She swam back to a big cauldron in the middle of the room and put the content of the bottle into it. Black smoke came out from the cauldron and she held the crystal above it which cleared the crystal so she gave it back to me. I took it and it was back to normal, but she swam beside me and turned my head up to the smoke.

"Is this your friend?" she asked and my eyes widened.

It was Mark in the smoke. He was chained to a wall facing forward to it and another human was hitting him with something. Then the scene changed and it showed Mark kneeling somewhere and another human placing Mark's head on a stone. Then the man held up a sword about to cut Mark's head off. I couldn't take it and as soon as the sword reached Mark I turned away with fear. My heart broke and I couldn't hold my tears back. I sank to the bottom and cried into my hands, but then I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders.

"Don't worry, little princess," said Catria behind me and I looked up at her. "He is still alive. The cauldron showed the future to us. This will only happen if nobody is there to save him."

"He is still alive?" I asked and she nodded. "I can still save him."

"You?" she asked surprised.

"You are the sea witch," I said and grabbed onto her hands to look into her eyes. "You can turn me into a human and I can save Mark."

"Princess, it's really dangerous and..." she started, but I didn't want to hear the excuses.

"Please, I need to save him," I said and she took a deep breath. "You can see inside my heart. You can see how important he is for me. Please..."

"But your father..." she said, but she could see how important this was so she didn't continue her sentence. "Alright."

I hugged her and she quickly went back to her cauldron to make the right potion for me. I couldn't believe that Mark was in danger. I had to save him though because I didn't want him to end up like in Catria's prophecy. I watched her as she added different ingredients to the potion then she needed a hair string from me, so the potion would only have an effect on me. She poured some into a little bottle and handed it to me.

"Here, but be really careful," she said and she put her hands on my shoulders. "Listen closely, Amy. The human world is really dangerous. When you are close to the shore drink the potion then go to the surface immediately, understand?"

I nodded in response, but she hadn't finished her speech just yet.

"Once you are on land it will be really difficult to walk, but be patient, alright?" she said and once again I nodded. "You will remain under the potion's effect as long as you don't interact with water. If you touch it you will turn back to a mermaid and you'll have to get back to the sea immediately or you will dry out."

"I became a bit scared," I told her honestly, but she smiled at me.

"I know you will be alright," she said. "I just want to make sure that you will return in one piece."

I hugged her once more and thanked her before I released her and started swimming out of the cave. Once I was out I started swimming in the right direction to the Emerald Isle. I had to be quick because I didn't know what was happening with Mark right now, but I had to change that prophecy at all costs. I soon reached the shore where I let Mark go and the thought of him made me confident. I will save him.