Between Land and Sea - Chapter 1

~*****~

”Neri, be careful when you visit the shore. It is a dangerous place when the tide rises.”

“Don’t worry, mama.”

The little girl closed the door behind her with a soft click. A smile appeared onto her face as she beheld the beach and ocean in front of her. It was a beautiful day, perfect to collect seashells. Neri walked out of her family’s garden and turned to the left. Not far from her house was a little paradise, a small cove surrounded by rocks and trees. It was difficult to find unless you knew what you were looking for. She stumbled upon it once when she was trying to hide from the other girls in Faraven, her hometown. Now it was her little secret place.

Neri made her way down to the beach and started looking for seashells. She found some really beautiful ones before, perfect for necklaces and bracelets. To this day she was still hoping she would one day find a shell through which you could hear the ocean. That would be a true treasure.

One of the reasons why she liked this place was that a lot of animals loved to visit this small cove. So far she had seen seals, sea turtles, penguins and several dolphins who used the rocks to rub against. She even saw a giant sea eagle once.
She hid herself in the bushes at first so the animals wouldn’t get nervous. It was wonderful to just watch them, but lately the animals seemed to trust her more and were at ease in her presence, allowing her to sit at the water’s edge near them.
They became her friends.

~****~

The most amazing thing happened two months ago though. She was sitting at one of the rocks in the water, making her seashell necklaces as usual, while talking to her animal friends when she swore she could feel someone watching her.

At first she thought someone followed her to the cove; the girls from town or maybe a Drakoda patrol. She looked around herself, but the birds told her to be at ease as it was neither of the two.

It was then that she noticed the pair of eyes sparkling under water.
They were beautiful, a bright blue-green like the ocean. She thought she could drown in them and couldn’t face away even if she wanted to. No, she didn’t want to look away, she had to get closer so she pressed herself down onto the rock to look even deeper into those eyes.

Her heart skipped a few beats.

It was a boy.

He looked as if he was around the same age she was, yet he was not like her at all. He could breathe under water.

She reached out to him, dipping her hand into the water, completely in awe by the boy’s appearance and whispered: “Who are you?” She wasn’t sure though if he would understand.

Their fingertips touched first, brushing tentatively against each other. It was a magical moment and seemed to last forever; that was how much time it took to explore each other’s hand. Everything else faded away to the background. At that moment only they mattered, on that rock and in the water.

There were webs between his fingers, like a duck or seagull had between their toes. She felt them clearly as he completely took hold of her hand.

She remembered screaming next. In fact she could still hear her own scream echoing in her head. He pulled her into the water, but she couldn’t swim and she couldn’t breathe under water. It didn’t take very long before she ran out of breathe, bringing her into a clear state of panic. She didn’t know how to get back to shore.
The next thing she knew was that she was back on shore, lying on the beach on her own and no sign of the boy anywhere.

She didn’t really blame the boy for causing her such a panic. Considering he lived under water he probably wouldn’t know anything about the people on land and he was just curious.

Maybe that was the reason she came back here so often, hoping to see that boy again.

~****~

After a couple of hours spent daydreaming and gathering seashells Neri got back onto her feet. Her father’s ship would arrive in the harbour soon after a couple of days of fishing and she wanted to go greet him.

There was a fresh wind blowing, so many ships had left the harbour to go fishing in the last couple of days. It was very busy in the harbour. A market was taking place on the main square, where many merchants sold their stock. You could hear their loud voices screaming the prices and beckoning the buyers to come to their stand. Sailors were attending their vessels to make sure they were in top condition before sailing out to open sea, while singing songs to keep themselves entertained. Sea gulls were flying around to see if they could catch a fish somewhere. In the pubs beer was flowing freely. At the shore the children were playing, building sandcastles and swimming in the water.

“Hey shell girl!"

A few girls casually walked across the dunes to the beach. They held the skirts of their dresses high so they wouldn’t trip over them in the sand.

Neri flinched when she heard the girls calling that. They had various names for her, always letting her know what they thought of her. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve that. Quickly she draped her vest around her shoulders and hid the small bag of shells she always carried around with her.

The girls gathered around her, putting their hands on their wastes while looking down at her. “Where have you been, recluse? Making ugly necklaces again?”

Neri stopped walking as she found her surrounded. She stared down at her feet, circling her ankle and remained silent. It made her feel sad and angry that they thought her necklaces were ugly, but she never knew what to say in return.

“I bet she was dreaming about that boy she saw in the water once.” Several high pitched giggles followed that remark.

“Yeah, right, as if a boy would ever want someone like her.” Neri flinched once more and quickly rose to her feet, glaring at the girls standing in front of her. “I bet that boy was just a mirage and not even real at all.”

They weren’t impressed one bit and just continued to laugh more and more. “Is that the best you can do?”

Neri’s eyes widened and she didn’t waste another second. She pushed herself through the line of girls. As quick as her small legs could carry her she ran towards the harbour where she knew her father’s ship would be.

“Run, Neri, run! Your father’s made quite a catch today!”

~****~
An immense crowd had gathered in the harbour Neri saw as she came closer. People were shouting. Carefully the little girl pushed her way forward until she reached the front and could see what was going on. Her father and his first mate were standing in front of their ship the Arden. At their feet lay their catch of today.
But it wasn’t a bunch of fish like they usually brought back from their fishing trips. No, this time they caught something completely different.

It was a young boy, yet not a boy like the ones she usually saw running around Faraven. He had blue-green skin, dark blue hair and where his legs should be was a fishtail.

Carefully Neri crawled forward to the boy and started to get the net off of him while the adults were talking.

“By the goddess! What have you brought from the water, Norgalis?” The women were screaming and the men frowned as they watched the creature of the water.
“It’s one of the merpeople!!!” They pointed at the boy in shock and disbelief. “We’re gonna be in trouble now! You have to put it back before the merpeople’s wrath comes down upon us!”

Neri’s father was a tall muscular man with dark blond hair, a mustache and a short beard. He wore a short sword in a scabbard attached to his belt. His hands were raised to calm the people down. He knew very well what he caught, even though he had never encountered one of the merpeople that lived on the bottom of the sea. Usually the land people and the merpeople stayed out of each other’s way. There were too many differences between them. But there were stories of merpeople attacking ships and fishingboats because they took too many fish, or damaged the reef or their settlements. He took a deep breath before he raised his voice. “I cannot return this boy to the sea yet. He is injured and needs tending to. If I were to return him now he wouldn’t make it to his settlement.”

One of the other fishermen stepped forward. “And whose fault is it that the boy is injured? You caught him in your nets.”

“And I will see to it that his injuries will be tended to so he can return to the sea.” Norgalis crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Neri shoved the fishnet away once she succeeded in removing it from the boy’s body. He was breathing, but he wasn’t conscious she noted. There were a few bruises on his body, though they were hard to see and his skin was getting dry. That couldn’t be good the little girl thought to herself. If he really was one of the merpeople like everyone said then he needed to be kept wet.

The sound of tapping claws on the stone of the street came slowly closer to the harbour. Immediately the crowd started to scatter to make room. Within minutes a couple of men stood before Norgalis and his crew. All were dressed in dark green cloaks, kept together by a griffin pin. They were taller than most men in town and their armour could not conceal that they were not human, with their claws, tusks and tails. Most of them were armed with crossbows, swords and spears. In front of them stood the leader of the patrol, who wore a black helmet with a green plume and was dressed in black armour covering his entire body. The male got off of his horse and looked at the scene occurring in the harbour.

He adjusted his cloak and his armour. A frown appeared on his face when he noticed the boy on the ground. He poked the boy with his boot, but the boy didn’t move on his own accord.

The Drakoda Warriors.

Neri had seen men like these a couple of times before. They had taken her father’s catch away, and they tried to hurt her mother once too.  Usually when she saw these dark clad men she would hide somewhere safe, where they would not find her, but that was not possible now.  Instinctively she wrapped her arms around the unconscious boy and pulled him close against her body.

Norgalis positioned himself in front of his daughter and the boy, straightening his shoulders and looking straight at the Drakoda commander. He crossed his arms again in front of his chest to make sure the Drakoda would understand he wouldn’t stand aside this time, no matter how strong they were.

The Drakoda commander removed his helmet and regarded Norgalis from top to toe. He smirked. “I see you’ve made an unusual catch today, Norgalis.”

The fisherman didn’t move a muscle and didn’t respond to the commander’s words. He remained exactly where and how he was, with a stoic expression on his face and a determined look in his eyes.

That didn’t please the commander too much. His eyes burned and he showed his teeth. Norgalis always had been a lot of trouble for him, ever since he first laid eyes on the fisherman. The man was tall and broad shouldered, muscular and scarred from his hard life as a fisherman. He wasn’t intimidated easily either or afraid of them as normal people were when they met with the Drakoda forces. The only time he had seen Norgalis furious was when his men had laid a hand on his wife. The fisherman had managed to take on the entire patrol and beat them into a pulp. Of course they took Norgalis prisoner and he had to spend some time in the dungeons of their lord’s castle. That didn’t change the man’s attitude though.

And thus dealing with him was always difficult. The commander cleared his throat. “Our lord will be very interested in your catch, Norgalis. I think we’ll take it and then we can forget about all the trouble you’ve caused us.” He signalled the rest of the Drakoda warriors to come in closer and take the boy from the sea into their custody.

~*****~

Norgalis kept his eyes straight onto the Drakoda Warriors standing in front of him. He wouldn’t let them take this catch of him away. Who knew what they would do to the boy and he was in too weak of a condition now to be taken to the castle of the landlord.  His hand crept towards the short sword in his scabbard. If it was necessary he’d fight the Drakoda Warriors off to protect this little boy.  Out of the corner of his right eye he saw his first mate preparing for a fight as well. His first mate was still a young man with a young wife and a newborn child. He couldn’t drag him into this; he had to tell him to stay out of it.

“Back off, Jozan. This is not your fight,” the captain spoke while throwing a glance across his shoulder to his first mate.

The short haired young man lowered his fists. “But sir, you can’t take them all on by yourself. They are way too strong!” He looked around himself to the people who were watching the scene. It didn’t look like they would receive any help from their side, as usual. They were a bunch of cowards.

“I don’t plan to,” Norgalis answered. “I’ll only do that if I have no other choice left.” He signalled towards his young daughter and the merboy in her arms. “You need to take care of Neri and the boy. He won’t survive long on dry land. He needs to be kept wet.”

Jozan nodded, although he was reluctant to leave his boss behind.  He took the merboy in his arms and carried him towards Norgalis’s carriage. Neri gathered a few buckets with sea water and struggled to keep up with the young man. The Drakoda took their spears and prepared to go after them, but Norgalis was blocking their path.

As Neri was lifted into the carriage she looked at her father and yelled. “Daddy!”

“Go Neri!” Her father answered. “Tell your mother I’ll be a bit late today.”

Some of the Drakoda got ready to go into hot pursuit of the carriage, but the captain of the patrol waved his hand at them. His eyes were still pinned on Norgalis’s rebellious eyes. “No,” he spoke calmly. “Let them go.”

“But sir....We can’t let them get away.”

A wicked smile appeared on the captain’s face. “We’ll get our hands on the boy, one way or another. Don’t worry.”

~*****~

Jozan urged the horse to walk away, causing Neri to fall back into the carriage. She watched as the Drakoda Warriors surrounded her father. With a single hand she reached out to him, but as the carriage removed itself from the harbour that was all she could do. Neither she nor Jozan spoke during the trip home.

Neri concerned herself with the boy again. She took one of the shells she had on her necklace and used it to cut the fishnet the boy was wrapped into. It didn’t leave him unharmed. His wrists were bleeding and there were bruises on his body. He must have struggled hard, not knowing that struggling only made the situation worse. Carefully she tore a few pieces of cloth from her dress and used them to bandage the boy’s wrists.

As she took a closer look she couldn’t stop herself from gasping. The boy’s skin was getting dry and the fishtail he still had in the harbour was almost gone. Where it once had been was now a pair of legs.

“Jozan,” she cried in shock. “Jozan, look!”

The young man stopped the carriage when he made sure they weren’t followed and got onto the back. He blinked a couple of times when he saw how the boy had changed since they caught him in their nets. “Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself. “The merpeople don’t have legs on land.”

He pressed against the throat of the young boy. From what he could tell the boy was breathing faintly. That was something he had never heard people say in the tales of the merpeople he heard as a boy. Merpeople had gills like fish and couldn’t breathe on land. When they were stranded they could only survive for an hour maybe and if they weren’t rescued in that time they were doomed to die a horrible death.

Neri looked at Jozan with widened eyes. “Is he going to die? Is he drying up? Is that why his fishtail is gone?”

Jozan scratched his brown haired head and smiled a few moments later to his boss’s daughter. “I don’t think so, Neri. He looks fine to me. I think we’re dealing with one special little merboy here.”

He got back to the front of the carriage and put it in motion again. “We better hurry and get to your house.”

Neri nodded and pulled the boy into her small lap. This bumpy ride couldn’t be good for him. It was pure instinct really. Usually she wouldn’t have done that with anyone. Most people she knew were too big and heavy for her anyway. She kept rubbing a moist torn piece of her dress onto his body to keep him as wet as she could.

~*****~

After what seemed like ages they finally reached her home. It was quite a big wooden house, surrounded by a large garden and it was situated on top of one the dunes. If you stood in the front of the house you had an amazing view on the ocean. Norgalis built the house himself with the work of some his friends. The garden was mainly used by Neri’s mother Neanna, who grew vegetables and fruit there.

As soon as the red blond woman saw the carriage approaching she knew something was wrong. She knew it, because it was not her husband but his first mate riding it home. Her legs carried her out of the garden through the small gate towards it.

“Jozan! What has happened? Where is Norgalis?”

Jozan stopped the carriage as soon as he reached Neanna. He got off the carriage and walked to the back where Neri was sitting. “I’ve no time to explain, Neanna. Can you prepare a bath? We need to keep this boy wet.”

Neanna threw a glance at what was inside the carriage and covered her mouth with her hand. Her little girl was sitting there with a boy in her lap, stopping his wounds from bleeding and trying to keep him wet.  There seemed to be nothing else going on there, but she didn’t understand why the boy needed to be kept wet. He looked absolutely normal.  She looked from the boy and Neri to Jozan and back.

“Why does he need a bath? He looks fine to me except for the wounds.”

Jozan took the boy from Neri’s hands and ran into the house, followed closely by Neri and her mother. He placed the boy on the table and checked him out. Neri and her mother carried the bathtub downstairs and filled it with water from the well in the garden. Neri made sure a chair was set close to the tub with a pillow on it, so they could rest the boy’s head on it.

Her mother changed the torn pieces of Neri’s dress to actual bandages and applied some ointment on the wounds, while Jozan told her what happened. “We caught this boy in our nets at sea today. You won’t believe it when you see it now, but wait till this boy is in the tub. He has a fishtail when he’s in water. He’s one of the merpeople.”

The first mate gently placed the boy in the tub. It took a few minutes, but Neanna soon noticed that Jozan had spoken the truth. Little by little the boy’s legs changed into a fishtail again.  She gasped afresh at seeing this and shook her head in disbelief. “How did this happen? And what is the meaning of all this?”

Jozan shook his head. “I can’t believe it either. The merpeople live deep under the ocean for as far as I know. We’ve never caught one before. Your husband thought he was curious and then got trapped. He struggled quite a lot too, but he was out cold already when we discovered him and got him out of the water. We couldn’t just throw him back. He’s just a little a boy and he was injured, so we took him with us into the harbour. The people of course made a fuss and that’s when the Drakoda Warriors showed up. Norgalis made sure we could get away. The last I saw of him was him standing up to the Drakoda patrol.”

Neanna lowered herself in a chair, covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t speak for what seemed like ages. Thoughts were rushing incoherently through her mind. They were going through her head so fast she could barely process them to voice them. Eventually she managed to speak, though her voice was hoarse with emotion. “They won’t let him go that easily this time. He’s always been rebellious towards them, never giving them what they wanted. I’m afraid he won’t come home.”

Neither Neri nor Jozan knew what to say to that. Neri crawled to the bathtub and made herself comfortable next to it. She didn’t know what to say to her mother. There was nothing they could do now. So she decided to take up the duty her father had given to her, to take care of this boy, while her eyes were fixated on the door, waiting for her father to come home.

~*****~

Author's Notes: The art for this picture was made by Saimain. You can find the complete picture here on her site.

[Edit] I changed the beginning of the story. Hopefully this one is better than the previous version.