War of the Seasons, book one: The Human

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Fuath

“This is pretty neat. Thought projection.” Then another thought occurred to her, and she looked at Adair, worry crossing her features. “Wait, you can’t hear EVERYTHING I’m thinking can you?”

Adair opened her mouth in a silent laugh. “No silly! Weren’t you listening? I can only hear what you want me to hear. Nothing more.”

“Oh good.” Story relaxed. “Hey, how come you don’t have to have this nasty slime on your face to breath? And what is this stuff?” She poked at the mask on her face; it felt rubbery under her fingers.

Adair turned to her side and brushed the braids by her ear out of the way. Story looked closely and could see three, one inch vertical slits parallel to each other nestled behind her ear. They were gills! “Ah, of course!”

“As for the ad’har mask… Maybe it’s best if you didn’t know.” Adair grimaced. “Suffice to say that only water folk can get it for the earth folk, and it only lasts until it dries out, which all depends on the salt content of the water.”

“Why drag me under the water and nearly drown me though?”

“Well, you can’t take ad’har out of the water or it instantly dries out and becomes useless.”

“Yes, but you still could have at least warned me what you were going to do. You scared me to death!”

Adair hung her head. “I’m sorry… I just didn’t think…”

Any anger Story had toward her instantly evaporated, just like it did whenever the twins behaved so chagrined. She extended her hand and patted Adair on her shoulder. “It’s ok… just try to remember that not everyone is as daring as you.” Story smiled at the younger girl fondly and realized with a start how quickly she’d slipped into the same mothering/big sister role with her that she’d had with the twins.

“You’re right. I need to think more about what I do before I do it. My da is always telling me that.” She smiled sheepishly at Story and then grabbed her hand and yanked her down deeper into the river’s depths. “Come on! I want to show you something!”

As Story felt her arm nearly get pulled out of her socket, she made a mental note to talk with Adair later about thinking before she acted and not being so impulsive. Then she grinned; it was just like being around the twins again… and she realized that she loved it!

* * * * *

“So those right there are white sea lilies that only bloom in the moonlight.” Adair pointed at some softly waving, leafy green stalks on the river’s floor. They’d been exploring the depths for at least half an hour, and Story was in heaven. It felt so natural and freeing to be weightless under the water, though it was a bit humbling to swim with Adair. While Story had been the fastest on her school’s swim team, she couldn’t hold candle to Adair, who darted from place to place like a fish. Which, Story realized, she kind of was.

“I wish you could see them, Story. They’re so pretty! I’ve only seen them bloom once when my Ma took me swimming when I was little. Da won’t let me swim at night. Too many dangerous things come out then, he says. I think he just uses it as an excuse to make sure I practice my faolán though.” Adair shrugged her shoulders jovially and then turned around, guiding them back toward the shoreline by their camp.

Story peered into some of the craggy holes and caves in the rocks below as she followed Adair past the lilies. The murky caves were creepy and made her feel like she was being watched again, and this time there was no staring Eirnin to blame. She thought of all the monsters that lived in her own world’s oceans and shuddered. Sharks alone were enough to make her think twice before she went for a swim on the beach. “He’s probably right. Who knows what lurks in the dark down here.”