I feel like we've reached chapter 20 so fast!! There's many more on the way ;D
- Sian
"I guess I should wait for the human by the rocks," Kaerius said, not able to wait for Jaiker's return. He had to lie steady and not move around with the current too much; otherwise, he would be sick.
"Yes. You don't look well," Laiken replied, pointing a sympathetic smile at his nephew. "We'll figure this out, okay?"
Kaerius nodded, and with a big gulp of water, he leisurely made his way through the kelp bed and along the sandy floor. He waved his tail slowly because every time his abdomen tensed, he wanted to stop and curl into a ball of despair.
Kaerius's heart was not only hurting because he was far from Rowan, but his group had also left him. Kaerius had grown up around most of the Thalassic Mortals who had travelled west. They must have heard him talking about his soulmate and decided among themselves to leave the crazy twenty-year-old behind. Kaerius couldn't pretend not to be heartbroken.
When he reached the rocks, Kaerius was so caught up in the hot aching in his chest that when his head bobbed above the surface, he hadn't seen a human crouched by the edge of the rocks, scanning the water.
The human was not Rowan, and Kaerius wouldn't usually care that much because they could never see him, but this human looked right at him and even reacted at his appearance.
She gasped and reached for something arched around her back. Kaerius recognised her. She was the woman who was sitting outside Rowan's house last night.
"No, hurt!" Kaerius said and lifted webbed hands out of the water. "I-" Kaerius's small selection of words were cut short when the woman, in less than five seconds, had a spear in a device that was too complicated for Kaerius, but he knew it meant pain.
The sharp part of the spear pointed directly at his forehead, and if he didn't dive back under the water, it would have impaled Kaerius's skull. Instead, the metal part, the sharp part, sliced through the water and into the back of Kaerius's shoulder.
The Thalassic Mortal screeched from the agony of something smashing through the bone and tearing the skin apart. The sharp end protruded from the other side of him, and blood oozed instantly, dying the water around Kaerius into a deep shade of purple.
* * * * *
Rowan sat at his desk, furiously pulling at the drawstrings on his board shorts.
"Well," Michael said over the phone, making a sound like he had just sat down for the first time in days. "This is something I hoped to talk to you about one day. I never thought you'd find out like this."
"What's going on, dad?" Rowan asked. His palms felt clammy as he started to build anticipation. His father had a secret that wasn't meant to be shared, at least, the timing felt wrong.
"I have a lot to say. Are you alone? Your mother can't hear, can she?"
"No. She's-" Rowan's hand lunged to his shoulder. An ache that was severe enough to destroy his train of thought burnt right down his arms, and to the tips of his fingers. It felt as though the bone was grinding. Rowan broke his ankle a few years ago, and the hot throbbing felt similar. Rowan's hand rubbed across his chest. He felt worried and panicked, but it wasn't his own emotions. It felt disconnected like it had been injected into his lungs. "Mum's out hunting," he whispered. He didn't have to give it much thought to know that Kaerius was in trouble. All Rowan could see was Kaerius's beautiful purple eyes drowning with tears. All he could hear was Kaerius's broken English as he tried to plead for his life.
Rowan rushed from his bedroom, leaving his phone and his father calling out his name.
Rowan scarcely made it down the stairs without tripping. His bare feet slipped on the wooden floor as he rushed down the corridor. Without putting shoes on, Rowan, in one leap, passed the three porch steps and landed with a thud on the grass. He crossed the dirt road without looking and threw himself down the sand dune. Rowan fought his way across the sand. He felt like he was in a nightmare where no matter how fast he ran, he barely moved a metre. Rowan's legs hurt as though he was sprinting through knee-deep toffee.
The rocks felt like they were miles away. The pain in Rowan's shoulder was getting hotter, and it wasn't because the sun was beating down on him. The rocks were rough on the souls of his feet. The sting didn't slow him down as he scrambled around the side to reveal his favourite spot. Like Rowan feared, his mother stood on the edge, pointing a spear at the water.
"Mum!" Rowan cried. "What are you doing!"
"I saw a Thalassic Freak. He must have been waiting for you. Don't worry. I got him; he'll resurface soon."
Rowan slammed the spear device out of her grip and Mandy dropped it. It bounced from the rock and into the water. It sank faster than a boat full of holes. They watched until it vanished.
"What the hell, Rowan!" Mandy hissed. "Do you know how expensive-"
"What have you done," Rowan breathed. Purple blood stained the ocean's surface.
"I did what I should have done on the night- ROWAN!" Mandy screeched in horror as her son dived through the blood and buried himself under the waves.
His mother's irritable whines were silenced when Rowan's ears filled with icy water. The cold hugged his skin like an old friend. His soul tugged him down. Rowan was a good swimmer, and the sun shone brightly through the water. He could see well enough to follow the trail of purple blood.
Rowan kicked his legs and arms, moving deeper into water that felt as though it dropped by ten degrees. He ignored the burning in his chest when something turquoise glistened against the sun. Kaerius's tail. The Thalassic Mortal wasn't moving. Kaerius floated freely against the soft current as blood leaked around him like a burst fountain pen.
Rowan tried to kick harder and reached out a hand, moving his left arm desperately. His fingers touched Kaerius's hip, and Rowan wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling their bodies together. As Rowan tried to swim back to the surface, Kaerius was heavier than he thought. Rowan struggled. The harder he kicked, the more it felt like he was sinking. His lungs started to run out of time.
"Kaerius," he thought, "come on, help me!"
As if the sea mortal heard him, Kaerius flicked his tail, and they glided closer to the surface. One flick was all Kaerius could manage, and he drifted back into an unconscious state. He was losing a lot of blood.
The surface still felt so far away. Rowan didn't think he'd be back in the ocean, close to drowning once again. Only this time, he was trying to save a Thalassic Mortal.
When a hand gripped the back of Rowan's t-shirt, and another hand wedged under Kaerius's armpit, Rowan expected it to be his mother. Instead, he saw the long grey hair of the sea creature who had tried to attack him a few days ago.
Rowan wanted to kick him away out of fear, but they were moving towards the surface at a speed he would never reach if he was swimming by himself. His head surfaced, and Rowan's lungs inhaled the air with a necessity that felt good.
Mandy's first response was to drag her son from the ocean; instead, she jumped away and pointed a finger. "Get off of him!" she shrieked.
Rowan ignored her and dragged Kaerius to the rocks with the other Thalassic Mortal's help. Rowan lifted himself up and turned to haul Kaerius up too.
"No!" Mandy yelled and yanked him back by the neck of his t-shirt.
Kaerius slinked back into the water. The old Thalassic Mortal held onto him, watching with wild eyes.
Rowan shoved his mother away and pointed his own finger. "Don't touch me," he growled and hurried back to the edge to lift Kaerius.
"Pull spear out," the old sea creature said, staying in the water as Rowan rested Kaerius on his back. His turquoise tail hung over the edge of the rock. "He heal better."
Rowan's fingers latched around the purple stained spear. Blood gushed from the wound. "What do I do after?"
"Your top. Rinse water, then press to wound."
Rowan held his breath and yanked the spear through Kaerius's shoulder. He expected him to scream in pain and blood to spray everywhere, but it wasn't like the movies. Kaerius was unconscious and stayed that way. The blood gushed, but it didn't spray Rowan in the face.
Rowan ripped his top off, wrung out the water, then pressed it tenderly onto the wound. "Now what?"
"Stay together. He heal with you."
"But-"
"No worry, human. He heal with you. Care for him. Kaerius be okay." The old Thalassic Mortal moved grey locks from his face and stared at Mandy. She gripped the rock, staring at her son and Kaerius like she had stumbled across a murder scene.
"Leave the monster to die," Mandy said. Her eyes couldn't move from the hand that Rowan had rested on Kaerius's chest. He was touching the creature in such a caring way. It disgusted her. "Kill him, Rowan."
Rowan wished he could grab his mother and push her into the ocean. "If you're not going to help me, then leave. I'm not killing him, and you're not killing him. He has done nothing to deserve this. You're the monster here."
Rowan tensed when his mother stepped closer. She peered at Kaerius, then to her son's hand on his chest and the hand holding the t-shirt to Kaerius's wound. She glared at the Thalassic Mortal still bobbing in the water, then her eyes turned the darkest when they connected with her son.
"We are a family of hunters. We banish the evil, not make friends with it," she said with eyes that never blinked.
"Go to hell," Rowan spat. "That's the least you deserve."
Mandy shrugged her arms to say 'fine, I don't care'. She edged away, continuing to keep her intense eye contact. "I'm leaving you with two Thalassic Mortals." The further away she got, the more her eyes filled with regret. "You're not my son, I didn't raise you to think this way."
"You're right. You didn't raise me, dad did!" Rowan yelled, shattering Mandy's approaching guilt. His words were the icing on the cake, and she turned her back on him and walked away.
Don't cry you idiot. Don't cry. Don't cry! Rowan only just held back hot tears as the old Thalassic Mortal approached the rocks. He rested a webbed hand on the edge. The extra skin between his fingers was wrinkly and coated in veins, unlike Kaerius's which were smooth and soft looking.
"I see now," he said, and Rowan glanced at him, not wanting to look away from Kaerius for too long.
"See what?"
"Why you are Kaerius's soulmate."
Rowan then stared with surprise. "Why?"
"You have nice heart, like Kaerius. Will be sad to kill bond."
Rowan sat up, resting his large green eyes on the injured creature in front of him. Kaerius hadn't shown much kindness, only when he caught himself off guard. Rowan then imagined what it would be like if he were a human. Would they be friends? "We might not be able to remove it. We haven't found a way."
The grey-haired Thalassic Mortal sighed and tugged at the bottom of his long beard that floated on the surface. "I found a way," he said, though he didn't look too pleased about it. "I know how to kill bond."