FLOOD

City of the Sea God

            As we approached the doors of the castle, they slowly creaked open, and Cassa pulled me inside. The shipwreck castle was lit by the same pearl lanterns as the streets were, and it was brighter inside, reflecting silver light off the walls, which I realized a minute later, were covered in silver and gold. There were tapestries painted in gold, and decorative silver plates, and jewelry strung from lantern to lantern that glittered and shone under the light.

            Every inch of the castle was decorated in treasure, no doubt discovered on the shipwrecks that now housed the entire town of mermaids.

            Now that I was inside the castle I tried to bring myself to a stop, tugging my arm out of the mermaid’s grip. My friend?

            “He is coming.”

            Narrowing my eyes, I studied the woman’s face, pale and pointed, her hair, impossibly red under the lamps, floated out around her head. Mermaids were liars. They were tricksters. Maybe Eli wasn’t here, maybe they’d ripped him apart back on the surface of the water. Maybe I’d been tricked into coming here.

            Cassa’s black eyes glittered, and she bared her pointed teeth. “I forgot how jumpy you people are. Very well, we will watch for him.”

            Before I could move she snaked out a hand and grabbed my wrist again, this time towing me back towards the door. I stumbled over the doorstep, half floating, half walking, and then we stood just outside the shipwreck castle, and Cassa pointed up into the water.

            “There, do you see?”

           High above us, faint shapes moved in the water, not yet revealed by the glow of the lanterns. Shadows flashed just out of sight.

            I don’t see anything.

            “Wait.”

            Another few seconds and the shapes became clearer. A pair of  mermaids, making their way down and down. They were both reaching back as they swam, both grasping the hand of the still form behind them.

            Eli.

            What’s the matter with him? The thought came out sharp, and Cassa glanced over at me, brows furrowed. Why doesn’t he move? Eli?

            I started to push off from the ground, meaning to swim up to him to see if he was okay, but the mermaid tightened her grip on my wrist.

            “They will bring him down. He is all right. He has been instructed not to move too much, it makes it easier on them….on humans.”

            The pressure?

            Cassa nodded, hair fanning out behind her. “The pressure on their ears is bad especially, but he will adjust…slowly. Why do you have this one with you?”

            I blinked at her, the motion slower than usual underwater. If I was honest with myself, I didn’t really have a good answer. I needed him to help drive the boat. He helped me get away.

            She bared her teeth in a smile, a grotesque expression that was startling on her beautiful face. “You do not need him anymore?”

            I narrowed my eyes at her. He is my friend. If you touch him…I let the thought trail off. Cassa had water in her body too, at least…in the human part of her body. I could feel it. I could also feel the water all around me, responding to me, washing around my limbs and brushing past my face. If I wanted to, I could command it. I could make it invade Cassa’s lungs, the way I thought it would invade mine.