The Little Water Elf

17- Never Coming Back

「 She thought she could distinguish her
father's castle, and upon it her aged
grandmother, with the silver crown on
her head, looking through the rushing
tide at the keel of the vessel. 」

The swim back to the Xadian side of the border was long, cold, and full of terrifying thoughts. Tinker didn't know what he was going to say. He knew where Rayla was, but how was he going to explain to the other elves that Rayla, one of the most adored and talented proteges in the younger generation, had been captured and turned into a human — most likely with dark magic.

The thoughts swirled in his head win the strength of a million whirlpools, making his head ache at the slightest pull of the current.

By the time he crossed the border, the sun had risen, filling the familiar seas with the beautiful golden glow that appeared every morning. It was as if the world was completely oblivious to the tragedy of news he was returning with.

Runaan's team was waiting in the council room, no doubt discussing the absence of their leader and head mentor to the younger elves. When Tinker entered the cavern, they all went silent. Tinker simply sat there, floating in silence as he looked down, trying to compose his thoughts.

"Well, have you received any information on their whereabouts?" the one mermaid on the team asked, her voice low and smooth through the water.

Being in their presence had always been intimidating. After all, they were the most powerful song spell casters in this area of the ocean. They had to be, with their city as close to the border as it was.

"I'm not quite certain the news I bring is what you wish to hear," was Tinker's reply.

"Well, out with it, or has the catfish caught your tongue?"

Tinker gulped, taking in a huge breath of water before replying, "Rayla has been captured by humans. I suspect that Runaan is in a similar situation."

This caused the other elves to go completely still.

"What do you mean?"

"I spotted Rayla sitting at the steps to a human castle, legs in place of her find and her voice completely stolen. I sensed that a large portion of her magic was gone, I won't be surprised if she's dead soon, considering how sickly she appeared, even for a land-walker."

The other elves urged him to continue, and so he did. He went on about how he suspected whomever did this to Rayla had found Runaan as well, and that they were purposefully stealing away every bit of magic they held.

"Have the humans gone even more insane?" one of the younger elves on the team questioned, "Don't tell me they plan to try crossing by the seas again? It's been years since any humans have even been spotted anywhere near the ocean's border!"

"If that's the case, we have no choice but to leave," the sole mermaid piped up once again, "Atlantis has several spare buildings and caverns for if a situation like this ever occurred. The other elves have no chance of winning at sea, and with one of out best sirens gone there's no telling what might happen."

"That's what I was afraid you might say," Tinker murmured, leaning back on the wall f the cavern, "I'm assuming you'll have to forge an official announcement to the city? And an announcement of us leaving for the land elves?"

"There's no other choice, we can't risk staying here, lest even more of our children get captured. We have an easy escape from the impending doom, we need to act now before there's nothing left to save!"

As much as he disagreed with the course of action, Tinker couldn't help but agree. Other than song-spells and enchantments, their kind was virtually helpless. If the dark mages had ways to steal their voices and bring two of their best onto land, there wasn't really even a choice left.

"I'm sorry, Tinker, I know how much the two of them mean to you, but—"

"We can't risk it, I know. We should collect our thoughts and make the announcement by noon, after everyone's had the chance to rise."

The air of silence left when Tinker swam away was simple, broken, and that of one with no hope left.

Tinker had lost his lover, and the one he'd seen as his own daughter.

The rest of the elves may be leaving, but he would stay. Even if he was the sole ocean elf left in the shallow oceans, he'd wait for them.

The announcement was made when the sun was at his highest. A pod of dolphins had been sent around the city, sending out a series of clicks and whistles to call out any merfolk from their homes and to the city's center.

When all was revealed, the fear in the air was enough for Tinker to realize that, even if he and the other sirens were willing to stay and fight, the majority of the merfolk were a peaceful race, only living near the surface due to some idealistic belief that they were a superior, stronger race that not even an army of human mages could defeat. To them, the war was unreal, and the slightest sign of disaster was enough to send them fleeing to the safety of the ocean's depths.

Ignorance was bliss, he supposed, but with the way things were, he was honestly surprised this panic hadn't set in sooner.

Ocean elves really were pathetic, hiding in the seas their entire lives and spending their day stressing over how their hair looked when the riptide caught it or if their voice was good enough to enchant a sea slug.

Rayla hadn't been like them, though. She'd wanted more, and decided to search for it, which had ultimately led to her downfall.

Captured by humans.

The thought almost made him want to laugh.

And so, while every other merperson for miles around began packing away their mirrors and seashell hair clips, he sat in the room he'd shared with Runaan, and began planning out the evacuation procedures the rest of the elves would follow on their way back to Atlantis.

The trip that he would never take.