From Sea to Sky

Marta's head breaks the surface of the Kalpine Sea. The first gulp of air is always so painful. Alakai told her once that the burn was akin to being birthed on land, cutting the cord that fed sweet life, and filling one's virgin lungs with dry air.

The symbol in Marta's chest glows blue. It scatters light across the waves as Marta floats to the shore. Her tail breaks in half down the centre. She winces. Her fins morph into feet; the smooth flesh of her tail solidifies into bone and flesh. She steps onto the wet sand sparkling with the light of the wave symbol, still aglow.

Marta scans the shore as she draws back her sopping brown hair. The city of Tarreth lies asleep in the early dawn. She has one day on land before she must return to the Sea. When darkness falls, her legs will merge back into a tail, giving herself away to the humans. Breaking every code given by her leaders. Such a reveal would earn her the punishment of death. Not every mer from Kahale has the chance to visit the land-dwellers, they say, or walk upon the sand like you do. You cannot waste your privilege.

But Alakai's mission will not take all day. And Tarreth is easy to traverse. Perhaps she'll even be back by noon.

Marta peers under the dock for her bag of clothing. The long tunic is slimy with kelp and seawater. The leather shoes strangle her bare, sandy feet.

Once her brown ringlets are kept back with a tie, she proceeds into the city. She frowns. Something is different this time. Up close, the houses look damaged. Pieces of rock and splinters of wood litter the streets. Walls are charred black, ceilings caved in. And beyond the gray outer edge of the city, in the streets, people stir. Mothers weeping for their children or husbands. Grown men on their knees in the rubble, their head in their hands.

Marta stops at the sight of the wagons piled high with bodies, like trash collected from the sewer brooks. Someone or something attacked this place. She knew of the ongoing war when she left last time, but she never expected Tarreth to be hit, and never this hard. Tarreth is the largest city in Ardellon, with sturdy walls and a heavy garrison. Whatever attacked them was strong enough to breach it all.

Marta tries to focus on her goal, which seems grossly insignificant in the wake of the tragedy around her. Alakai needs intel from the dockworkers. A man who suspects the existence of merfolk is to be eliminated. There was an incident last week when one of Kahale's infamous lunatics decided to swim up to a fishing boat and sing. Of course, the men were all entranced, stuck in place while their minds soared off to their happiest thoughts. One of them fell off with the rocking of the boat. Another had been looking into the water at the time. According to the rumours in Kahale, this man spread stories to his friends and family when he returned, claiming he'd seen something "otherworldly" in the water.

When Alakai approached Marta with this task, she wondered if eliminating the culprit would be the wisest idea. After all, wouldn't his family be more suspicious after his death? But it isn't her place to question Alakai. She must simply do her duty.

Marta spots the shipyard where the man must work. That's the best place to start asking about his living quarters. A man is tethering a boat to the dock. Could that be him?

A sound to her left stops her. It shouldn't have. She's heard human children cry before. But the sound is so morose. So scared. She's an arm's reach from the man. He's even glanced up at her approach. But she turns left.

A small girl crouches in the gutter, weeping against her knees. Marta's heart clenches. The sight of her takes Marta back to a cold night back home in Kahale, when she was about this girl's age. The night she cried something like this. But in Kahale, deep under the Sea, there are no tears. Only grief and wailing.

She was as young as this girl when Alakai's superior ordered her mother's execution. Mother was also one of the Chosen who could traverse land for a day on merfolk business. But she had done the unthinkable--she'd stayed past sundown.

Marta did not even have the chance to say goodbye before they dragged her in front of the rulers. She was gagged and restrained as they ordered her death. Hers was not to be an honourable death, but one meant for traitors. Mother was sentenced to the Vortex, the sharp whirpool off the coast of Imbrium. The currents there were strong enough to rip someone apart. Marta was held in place to watch.

She sees this girl now, shivering and distressed in the gutter, and sees herself on that day. Alone. Hopeless. All at once, the drive to complete this mission is lost to her. She knows that Mother's fate could be her own if she delays this mission, but she cannot stop herself.

"Excuse me," Marta says quietly. It always feels strange to speak a verbal language above the water.

The girl glances up at her. Tears and ash streak her small face.

Marta searches for something helpful to say, but all she can think of is: "What's your name?"

"Alesia," the girl says.

Marta nods. "Alesia. My name is Marta. Is... there something I can help you with?"

Alesia crumples again, covering her face. "My mama is gone."

Marta's heart constricts. "Can I help you find her?"

Alesia looks up again, her dark eyes round with hope. "Yes."

"Good. Come on." Marta lowers a hand to her.

Alesia takes it and stands. Marta does not let go.

"Where is your father?" Marta wonders.

Alesia shakes her head. "I don't got no one but Mama."

"Oh. Well, what happened that took you away from your mama?"

Alesia's eyes fill with tears again. "The dragons."

"The dragons? What did they do?"

"Came down and"--Alesia sweeps a small arm across the sky--"whoosh, breathed fire everywhere."

Marta nods. That explains why such a large city could be hit so hard. It was hit from the sky. "And was your home destroyed?"

Alesia bobs her head vigorously. "Really bad. There was hot, hot fire. Mama told me to stay by her side."

Marta waits for Alesia to continue, but the girl just looks around, as if trying to spot her mother.

"And then?" Marta prompts.

"The bad man came."

"What bad man?"

Alesia scratches her face. "I didn't like him."

Marta sighs. It'll be difficult to get a thorough explanation from her of the actual events. She lowers onto her haunches and looks into Alesia's face directly.

"Where did you last see your mama?" she asks softly.

Alesia hesitates for just a moment before raising a chubby finger past Marta's head. Marta follows it, turning, and faces the Sea.

"The water?" Marta asks. She peers at the girl again. "Are... you sure?"

Alesia nods again.

Marta furrows her brows. "What did the bad man look like?"

Alesia tilts her head, staring at something below Marta's chin. She presses a finger to the wave symbol on Marta's chest, peeking out from beneath her dress. "He had that. Except it was blue."

Marta's mouth is dry. On land, her mouth often feels dry, but this is more. Shock pulses through her body and into her numb fingers. She walks off the dock and onto the sand, with Alesia's hand still clutched loosely in hers.

She drops again to meet Alesia's eyes. "Listen to me, if your mama went in there, I can try to get her back. But you have to promise never to tell anyone I did. And if I bring her out, you must leave with her as quickly as you can. Do you understand?"

Alesia blinks rapidly. "Yes."

"You go back to that spot where I found you and wait. I will do my best to return, all right?"

"All right."

"Don't say anything, all right?"

"All right."

Marta's heart pounds as she watches Alesia scamper back up the dock and out of sight. She removes the clothes she just donned. Part of her screams to stop. To leave this girl alone and complete her mission. It's ridiculous to risk revealing their secret on a whim like this. But she thinks of her mother, being shredded like tendrils of kelp in that whirlpool. And if she could have, she would have betrayed her people to save Mother's life. No matter her crimes, she was the only person Marta had. And what good is a kingdom if she must be alone in it?

Her symbol begins to glow. The water laps around her feet as the tingles begin.

This is lunacy, she thinks. I cannot be doing this.

And yet, a small voice inside prompts her forward. The water hugs her hips, her waist, her shoulders. She swims until she feels like she's floating. Her feet merge together, the bones and muscles retreating and reforming. She turns back to the shore. The girl is still gone. Despite already being insubordinate, she's glad Alesia does not officially know anything.

Marta dives below, leaving the dawn light above her. Her eyes adjust to the darkness quickly as she points herself straight down. Speed is important right now. If the girl was telling the truth--and there is strong evidence she was--her mother won't have much time. But why would a Chosen mer try to drown a human? Surely, that risk of exposure will dwarf Marta's by comparison.

At long last, Marta arrives at the gates of Kahale. The guard there frowns at her.

You're back early, he says. To others, his voice might sound like a dolphin squeal, but it's far easier to understand than verbal speech, in Marta's opinion.

It's an emergency, Marta replies. Do you know if anyone else was dispatched?

Like who?

A man. Erm, Taika, perhaps?

No. It's been a quiet morning. Only you.

Marta's shoulders slump. All this way, all this effort, and all she did was waste time. Serves me right for trusting a child.

What's that?

Marta forgot that the guard could understand her. Nothing, she says.

Some kind of ruckus starts up behind the gates. Marta floats to look above the guard's head. What's going on?

Oh, probably just some rowdy puffer addicts. You have your orders, don't you? You wouldn't want Alakai to be angry.

Marta levels her eyes with the guard. What? Let me through. I want to see what's going on.

The guard swims in her way, brandishing his trident. No.

Marta shoves him aside and shoots through the gate. Taika, a fellow Chosen, is gripping a woman by the arms in the city square. But she isn't human. She's mer.

Please, the woman cries, don't hurt me. I just want to stay on the surface. I'll never reveal this world. Please.

She weeps like a human, her mouth open, her eyes squeezed shut. Like Alesia did.

Alakai glances over as Marta slows before them. What's going on? she asks.

This is none of your business, Marta, says Alakai. He switches his trident to the hand closest to Marta.

What are you doing to her? Marta demands to know.

Marta, Taika says dangerously.

Marta swims toward him. What? What's going on? A little girl at the surface saw you bring her down here.

Shockingly, Alakai looks unperturbed at this. We've been hunting her for years. Finally, there was a chance to capture her.

Years? Marta backs away. She's been living on the surface, has made a family, for years?

Alakai glances around at the gathering crowd. She performed dark magic to do so.

Dark magic... Marta's confidence in her leader wavers. The feeling is akin to having her foundations swept away by a riptide.

You lied to me, Marta says, swimming backward. The guards are behind, the vast city of liars before. You said our tails would return at sundown. But she lived like a human for years.

Faces turn to her. Alakai lifts a reprimanding hand to his guards. Seize the traitor! he commands.

Marta raises her palms. Why? Because I know the truth? You killed my mother because she threatened your authority. And you'll kill me for the same reason?

Alakai's hand clenches into a fist. His white hair streams about his head like pale tentacles. I maintain order in Kahale. Without order, there is only chaos.

The guards surround Marta, their tridents glimmering in the glow of the bioluminescent torches. Too many.

The woman Taika holds struggles against him. I wanted things to be different, too, she yells at Marta. These fools can only see one existence.

There is a tiny opening for escape, but Marta must move without thought. She swims upward, avoiding the closing circle of guards. Something pierces her fin, tearing it. Marta winces as she arcs around the guards toward the gates.

The woman's cry forces her to glance back. Taika is struggling to hold her as she fights him. Marta speeds up and swims right sharply, avoiding the two guards approaching from the gates. She circles back toward the woman, Alakai, and the knot of guards.

She narrowly avoids one guard. He stabs his trident toward her. During his momentary overextension, she snatches his trident under the spears and yanks it from his hand. She spins it around and aims it at the other two guards to her side as she makes for the woman and Taika.

Trident spears plunge through the woman's chest. Her mouth opens. Her eyes bulge. Marta screeches involuntarily.

Taika pulls his trident from her and turns to Marta. She cannot afford to hesitate. More guards are coming. Alakai is hardly out of reach. She dives under them and makes for the gates again.

The guards are fast behind her, but she just makes it through when they shout at her to stop. She pushes herself as hard as she can toward the surface. Daylight. Freedom.

A trident soars along her belly, just close enough to nick her skin. Her own blood streaks the water behind her. She can hear them ordering each other to aim. Now! Throw it!

Panic blurs her mind around the image of Alesia's mother, speared through. Her tail flicks sporadically, propelling her faster. Faster. She must be as small a target as possible to them. Almost there...

Her head finally pushes through the surface. She can see the shoreline in the morning sunshine. The girl is there, standing on the edge, waiting.

"Call for help!" Marta screams at her, voice hoarse from the saltwater and sudden air. "Call the dockworkers!"

Alesia looks startled, as if she didn't know the Sea could speak. She rushes off. Marta can hear her small voice quiver as she shouts for help. The more people that see the approaching mer guards, the better.

The Sea resists her, as if unwilling to let Marta get to shore. She fights it, hating the strong arms she once trusted so dearly. Hating the world she once knew and loved.

The guards are too close. Marta braces for the piercing of the trident through her tail. Any moment...

Marta can feel the Sea shift, throwing her suddenly forward. It spits her in a triumphant crash of waves onto the sand. Marta wipes the water from her face, gasping, choking, as she turns to face whatever else the Sea spat onto the shore.

The water collapses back on itself. No guards. Nothing.

Marta stumbles across the sand toward her bag of clothing. She's just pulled her tunic on when Alesia runs down the beach with the dockworkers.

"Is everything all right, miss?" one of them asks her.

Marta nods, her dark hair dripping in her face. "Yes. Alesia, come with me." She reaches a hand to the girl, who takes it without hesitation. Alesia is sure to ask questions later, but those questions won't put them in danger once they've escaped the region.

Hours later, in the forest outside Tarreth, Marta watches the sunset. As it dips below the horizon, she shuts her eyes and wiggles her toes. Everything she knew was wrong. She turns her eyes heavenward, to the diamonds laid across the sky. She's heard about stars before, but she's never seen them. Her eyes flood with tears.

"So beautiful," she whispers, laying a hand on Alesia's shoulder, her eyes still on the sky.

Perhaps they'll never stop running from the merfolk spies that might pursue her, but at least Marta will no longer be alone. And neither will Alesia.