The Invasion

41 | The Ocean of Death

I try to concentrate on the advancing creature, hoping that it can hear me. Hello there.

The voice comes again, mellow and intrigued. It is a pleasure to meet you. This is my first time meeting a half-human.

I can say the same about a talking whale like you. Are you unaffected by the water?

Not quite, it answers me with a brief pause. But for now, I'm still myself.

Unlike the rest that attacked me earlier, this creature doesn't give off any malicious intent. It circles around me calmly and bumps me with its head, but not too rough. It's trying to maneuver me through the water, going in a specific direction.

Were you the one who saved me?

No. You did.

Me?

Yes. Look around you. You're the one who decimated them all with your powers.

Powers? Baffled, I stare down at my hands, which look pretty normal to me except for a couple of scratches. My brain is a little fuzzy, but I do recall something had happened before I passed out—a blue light. I have powers?

You do. You're a lightning wielder. I witnessed it myself earlier. If I'd gotten within your range, I would have gotten myself killed as well.

As it moves fluidly past me, one of its eyes—not red but an ash gray color—stares at me, unblinking. This time, I get a better look and am taken by surprise at what it is.

It's a humpback whale.

And it's massive.

From its size, it can easily weigh over 50,000 pounds. It dips into the water and goes below me, before positioning me above its massive head and begins lifting me upwards to the water's surface. To where the sun awaits. I cling onto the whale with my hands, eyes running over the bruises covering its skin.

Where are you taking me?

Back to the Fourth Son. You're looking for him, aren't you?

Now, I'm confused. Fourth Son?

The Fourth Son of the High Seas. The mark on the back of your neck tells me you're his mate.

Zarius! This whale is talking about him. I reach up to touch the back of my neck, trying to feel the skin and imagine that there's an identical soulmate mark sitting there.

Sounds to me like he's an important figure in the underwater world.

The whale lets out a low rumble of bubbles, as if it's chuckling in understanding at my lack of knowledge. Because he is. He belongs to the family that rules the oceans. It is crucial you save him and bring him back to us.

So, my hunch is right—Zarius is from the royal family. But knowing that fact won't change my perception of him.

What if I cannot save him?

Then the humans will get their way and destroy what's left of us.

We burst free from the saltwater, and the setting sun greets us like a mother's embrace. The light sprinkles gold onto the waves. I sit on top of the whale's head like a surfboard, relishing every second of the resting time that I can get while I'm being carried across the ocean like this. This is a phenomenal experience, and even though I had a near-death experience a short while ago, I can't stop a smile from finding its way to my lips.

Clearing my throat, I ask out loud. "You're certain you know where Zarius is being taken to? We're in the middle of nowhere."

I do. I saw them earlier and I promise to take you there safely. As if sensing my worry, the whale provides me encouragement that I need more than I admit. You survived from the horde attack earlier and awakened your powers. You will survive again.

Thank you, big guy. There's a brief pause as I hesitate. Things are at my disadvantage if I'm going up against the military alone. I hope you're right.

An hour later, we arrived at an island in the middle of nowhere. Once I get off my ride, the whale blasts a quick gout of water into the air from its blowhole.

I cannot accompany you any further, it says apologetically. Farewell, merlady. I wish you the best of luck and safety.

"Thank you for your help!" I shout, watching as it wiggles a flipper at me in a goodbye wave before it disappears into the water and ventures off to the horizon. While the interaction has been pretty endearing, a tinge of sadness settles into my heart, knowing that this might be the last time I'll ever see the big, friendly whale again.

Right, I shouldn't be wasting time here. I turn around and walk up towards the shore as waves lap at my ankles. I can feel my merfolk features slowly morphing back to the human me. My aching feet digs into the sand that's filled with garbage and debris. The island doesn't seem to have any infrastructure, just plenty of trees and cliffs.

Zarius is in this place somewhere?

I don't think the whale was wrong with its direction. Just as I debate which way I should go, my sharpened senses tell me I'm not alone.

My head snaps up to look between the palm trees, realizing that there are guns pointing at me. They belong to soldiers who look like they are currently on guard shift.

They look absolutely baffled that I've walked out of the water. Alive.

"Hold it right there, young lady." They instruct me in an authoritative voice, while tightening their hold on their rifles. "Who are you?"