𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗬𝗦 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 · 23x FEATURED · An Asian sci-fi retelling of The Little Mermaid that steers the tale you know in a whole new funky direction |
An ambitious teen mermaid must venture beyond her guarded underwater city and brave the...
Dea expected the agonizing force of the bullet to rip through her. It never came.
Instead, warm liquid flowed on the skin exposed through her carapace. She snapped her eyes open.
Anuk lay on the floor. There was something very wrong. Her insides plummeted as if in free fall, and her vision tunneled. Noises registered, strangely distant. The ringing in her ears was too loud. She had a vague notion of Dilip disappearing into the purple fog.
"Anuk," she whispered, crawling closer to him. "Anuk."
Faint movement greeted her calls, but there was too much blood. The trench in her soul split wider. Pain rocked her in seismic waves.
She sensed several people approaching. Hands suddenly took hold of her. She wanted to swat them away, but her own were too sluggish.
"Dea, we need to go now!"
She had no idea who it was. The hands lifted her up, and her bruised body protested. She missed the next few words that were uttered. Through swimming eyes, she caught sight of Anuk being lifted into a Cypod.
A second later, they were on the move.
Self-loathing blended with pain and pooled in the chasm within. Faces, lights and noises merged into a jumbled blur. The pressure mounted in her chest, and the world dimmed.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
An eternity passed.
The crash of waves and the biting wind restored her to full consciousness. Humans and merpeople were rushing down the road outside the facility. The bearded man she remembered from a month back was carrying her again.
A dab of orange in the sky hinted at approaching sunset. In the distance, Dea spied a ship waiting at the dock—a black-and-grey mass that popped out from the sparkling blue cove. The hull sported funky artwork in the form jagged teeth. Flying on the mast was the black flag of Endera.
"Anuk!" she shrieked, her voice shuddering with effort as she bounced in sync with the human's run. "Where is he?"
"Staunched the bleeding. Doesn't look good."
She whipped her head to the side. Her eyes landed on Muda, speeding down in her Cypod.
Dea tried desperately to catch a glimpse of Anuk in the stampede, but it was impossible. Instead, she found Sagari's still form propped up in a Cypod while a human pushed it down the slope.
Within minutes, everyone rushed to board the ship. Wheels whirred up the gangway alongside pattering feet. Chaos unfolded amidst yells and activity that soared above the drone of the motors. She finally saw four people surrounding one Cypod as they pushed it carefully towards the ship's superstructure. Anuk!
Dea sucked in shallow breaths and craned her neck, but he was beyond view.
Beard Guy whisked her into a cabin above deck just when the ship started pulling away from the cove. She had an instant to witness three enemy soldiers materializing on the dock and get blasted back by a giant water cannon. Then grey walls dominated her vision, replacing the glare of the sun. It occurred to her that it was the same cabin she was in a month ago.
