Beyond the Sea (46 page)

She took a deep breath; the cool, salty water soothed her dry lungs. It was chaos under the water. Kappas gnawed at a dead merrow. Two Oceanids struggled to dismember a rusalka. Sharks fought swordfish and blood clouded the water.

Energy pulsated through Melia’s body. She madly looked around, unsure of what to do first. She darted forward and aided the Oceanids. She picked up a sharp piece of coral. With a snarl, she raised her arm. The water whooshed around her as she drove the coral into the rusalka’s back. The creature screamed, her gray, wrinkly skin drawing back from her yellow fangs.
 
She reeled in pain, yanking forward out of the Oceanid’s hold so she could whip around and attack Melia.

Her white, pupiless eyes latched onto Melia, a hungry growl escaping her pulled back lips. She lunged forward, her hands closing around Melia’s throat. The rusalka’s razor sharp claws dug into Melia’s delicate skin, threatening to puncture through.

A muscular Oceanid pulled her off. Melia picked up the coral and sunk it into the rusalka’s neck. Blood stained the salty water.

“Melia!” Colwym shouted. “We’ve got him!” Seeing that the Oceanids had control of the rusalka, Melia followed Colwym’s voice several yards out. Beaten and bloody, Vaianu’s limp body was being held by two merrows. “You’ve earned it,” she said, pressing a small, metal spear into Melia’s hands. “If anyone gets to do it, it’s you.”

Melia closed her fingers around the weapon. “Never again,” she threatened, raising her hand. “Let this be a lesson to any who rebel,” she clamored. The spear sliced through Vaianu’s heart. Before they had time to relish the fact that their enemy was dead, more Rusalki lurched upon them. Razor sharp teeth sunk into Melia’s flesh.
 
With a swish of her tail, she spun on her opponent, driving the spear into its chest. She swam to Aeron’s side, tearing another Rusalka away. The darkling’s leathery hands gripped Melia’s face, pressing its claws into her skin. Remembering a self defense move taught in Tae Bo, Melia stuck her hand in between the Rusalki’s arms and used her palm to break the thing’s nose. It shrieked in pain and let Melia go. Briggetta grabbed its head and twisted, breaking its neck.

A kappa grabbed Melia by the base of her tail, yanking her away from the battle. Unable to move her tail, Melia was unable to swim away. Her hands dragged along the ocean floor, trying to grasp onto anything to pull herself out of the kappa’s hold. She felt Cordelia’s presence before she saw her. A finned hoof cracked the kappa’s shell.
 
Small, strong hands let go of Melia. She swam away, somersaulting in the water just in time to see her beloved kelpie’s fangs pierce the kappa’s skin.

The sight of a dead merrow sent tremors through her heart. Shaking her head, Melia knew she had to push on. Before she could rush to anyone’s side, a swordfish shot through the water at her. Melia flipped her tail madly, knowing she couldn’t get out of the way in time. She closed her eyes, dreading the pain she would feel when the hard bone popped through her skin.

When the needle never made contact, she opened her eyes to see a great white shark. She let out a breath of relief, knowing the swordfish was no match for the shark. Thankful, she swam over to a merrow who was fighting off a darkling with a piece of driftwood. An adaro snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around Melia. She squirmed, the prom dress getting very much in the way. She ducked just in time for the merrow to swing the drift wood, hitting the adaro square in the face.

The rebels were retreating. Merrows and Oceanids went after them, killing what they could catch. Panting, Melia sunk to the ocean floor.

“We did it,” Briggetta told her. “Thanks to you, we have won.”

*

Rèalta was blissfully munching on Mako’s body. He—along with the remnants of the body—needed to be brought back to the safety of the ocean. Wanting to get away from the victorious merrows, Melia offered to call the kelpie back into the water.

“Rèalta!” she called, only sticking her head out of the water. The kelpie looked up with a mouthful of flesh, but didn’t move. “Rèalta!” she called again.

“Melia!” a voice shouted from high above. “Melia!” it said again.

“Peter!” she yelled back, desperately swimming to the shore. The soaking wet prom dress was heavy, and it took effort to go to his side.

“Melia!” He threw his arms around her. “You’re alive.”

“Of course I’m alive,” she said with a smile. Being with a human felt very odd to her after all that had just happened. She wanted to run back into the ocean, dive deep under the beautiful water and be with her fellow merrows and Oceanids.

“I-I thought you were dead.” Peter pulled her tighter in his embrace. Melia wanted to push him away and swim. Then he kissed her.

Fireworks.

She saw fireworks.

*

“And that was your plan all along?” Jamie asked. She, Peter, and Melia were in the safety of Melia’s room in The Ridge.

“Yea.”

“It’s pretty genius.”

“I can’t take all the credit,” Melia told her friend. “Briggetta had been scheming an attack for a while. They just needed someone to be the double agent, as you humans would say.”

“You are brave,” Jamie admired.

Melia shrugged. “I had to do it.”

Peter hugged her. “But it’s not over, not really, is it?”

“Not completely. The darklings are…” she shook her head. “Everywhere. There are still a few rebels left. And there is no one to rule the ocean except…”

“Except who?” Peter asked.

“Me.”

No one spoke. Jamie’s blood ran cold and Peter pulled Melia closer, as if that would keep her from leaving.

“Why you?” Jamie asked, hoping it didn’t seem like an insult.

“I don’t know,” Melia admitted. “They asked if I would stay. Maybe it’s because I represent merrows and Oceanids.”

“Do you want to do it?” Jamie was afraid of the answer.

“Not really,” Melia said. “I want everything to be right again. I don’t want that much responsibility, and I don’t want to leave land completely. An Ocean Ruler wouldn’t be able to come onto land. I’d miss you guys too much. I want Briggetta to do it. She’s smart, driven, and can delegate better than me.” Melia yawned. Her body ached and her mind was exhausted. “It will take time,” she assured her friends. “But for a while, the ocean won’t be the same.”

“What are you gonna do?” Jamie asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

“I don’t know,” Melia answered honestly. “I don’t want to be involved in anything. Is that horrible?” she asked, guilt settling on her pretty face.

“No,” Peter responded right away. “No one would want to be involved in something like that. Like you said, it’s a huge responsibility.”

“I just want it to be better. Now,” she added wistfully. And it would be. In time.
 
Melia didn’t want to think about it anymore. “Can we go to bed?”

“Of course,” Peter obliged, standing with her in his arms.

“Jamie,” Melia said sternly. “Go to Rosemary’s house. It’s not too late to have fun.”

Jamie opened her mouth to protest.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Melia said. “If I learned anything today, it’s that life is easy to take away. We shouldn’t waste what little time we have.”

“Melia, no way. After what happened, I think we should…um…we should…”

“Sit around and think about it?” Melia finished for her. “Why? It’s over, or as much as being over as it can be.” She smiled. “I promise, for real this time, we are safe.”

“Ok,” Jamie said. Watching movies and eating popcorn seemed silly after hearing the tale of how Melia convinced refugee merrows to band together and to fight a war against the rebels. Melia walked her outside, grabbing the keys to the Range Rover for Jamie to drive. “You really are the best friend anyone could have,” Jamie told her. She hugged Melia. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jamie.” Melia watched the Range Rover disappear from view. She eagerly followed Peter upstairs. Though she was beyond tired, electricity buzzed through her body. She closed her bedroom door and smiled coyly.

“It’s a shame,” Peter whispered, sitting on the bed.

“What is?” Melia asked as she sat on his lap.

“That no one on land will know how truly brave and amazing you are.”

“You know. That’s enough for me.”

They settled comfortably under the covers. Melia rested her head on Peter’s bare chest, soothed by his slow, human heartbeat. She traced her fingers over it, distantly wondering why humans drew hearts in a shape that didn’t resemble what they really looked like.

“Melia,” Peter breathed. “Can I ask you a serious question?”

“Yes,” she replied, looking into his blue eyes.

“How come you never joined the swim team?”

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Chapter 1 My Life as (I thought) it Should Be

I was almost able to fully ignore the dead guy standing under the old oak tree as I cantered around the arena on Mystery, my white Arabian. Mystery spooked at the sudden appearance of the ghost, but passed him without a second glance once he remembered that standing is all the apparition ever does. I’ve named him Bob, and he randomly shows up under the shady protection of the trees. He’s just your average residual haunting; stuck in a repetitive pattern of appearing for a brief while before disappearing again, never noticing anything around him.

I’ve waved and smiled and said ‘hello’, but nothing has ever gained his attention. I’ve thought about throwing something at him (or through him, technically) just to see if he would blink a dead eye, but I’ve resisted the urge afraid it could somehow hurt his undead feelings. His nondescript jeans and tee shirt made it hard for me to gauge his time of death, but his dark, shaggy hair lead me to believe he died in the 1970’s. There was always a sadness in his eyes, as if he was desperately waiting for something that would never come. Ever.

“Have fun on your hot date tonight!” Leslie, my riding instructor, said to me as I walked into the barn in a joking manner as she traded her tall, leather riding boots for flip-flops.

“I wouldn’t really call it that,” I said as I shut Mystery’s stall door. I moved to the stall next to him which contained a pretty buckskin Quarter Horse mare named Neptune. Technically she belonged to my twin brother Harrison, but he lost interest a week after he got her so she was mine now. “See you tomorrow!”

“Bye, Anora!” Leslie waved and headed out the door to her truck. I was alone in the barn now, and the silence was peaceful. I ran a stiff bristled brush across Neptune’s short summer fur and sighed happily, a smile settling subconsciously on my face.

The laconism was broken by a low rumble of a car engine and the crunching of gravel. I gave Neptune a goodbye hug and quickly put my brushes away. I had just opened Mystery’s stall to say bye to him when Mike came into the barn.

“You ready yet?” he asked impatiently.

“Almost, and it’s nice to see you too,” I called over my shoulder.

Mike’s face twitched slightly. “Of course it’s nice to see you, Anora.” He stayed in the doorway. Horses and dirt weren’t really Mike’s thing. Dressed in a white polo shirt and khakis, he looked out of place in the stable. I slid the heavy, wooden stall door closed and joined Mike.

“Ok, I’m ready,” I said cheerfully.

“You’re not gonna change?” He eyed me up and down.

“No, what’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I looked down myself. My tan breeches were new and had miraculously stayed spotless, my tight black tank top showed off my slim figure and matched my tall, black boots and my long, dark hair, which had been in a French braid all day, now fell in loose waves around my face.

“People are gonna wonder.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Let them,” I said with a smile and walked past him towards the dark blue Mustang.

“At least you look good in them.” Mike slapped my butt and followed me outside. I opened the passenger door and got in; Mike did the same on the driver’s side and turned up his horrible rap music right away. A fan of classic rock and alternative myself, I couldn’t stand his choice in music.

Our conversation was sparse to say the least, and after Mike parallel parked on the street downtown, he got out and headed towards Greta’s Frozen Goodies, my favorite ice cream parlor, without waiting for me to get out of the car.

“Can’t you wait?” I asked, jogging to catch up.

“You take too long,” Mike said. He paused for a brief moment and extended his hand toward me. I took it, and we walked the rest of the way together. I ordered my usual cookie dough ice cream and took a seat outside on the sidewalk.

“What are you doing tonight?” Mike asked.

“Hanging out with Laney and Marie, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Mike looked behind me, not wanting to meet my eyes.

“So you’re not coming over then?”