Ocean Warrior

Ocean Warrior

Chapter 1

This was it! He was finally here. Zulemar looked out over the large expansion of crystal blue water. His green eyes were lit with excitement as he watched wave after wave rush to the shore. The weather was perfect with the sun high in the sky and the wind helping the waves grow big enough to catch the young surfer’s attention. If there was a better day than today, he had never known or even imagined it.

“We made it,” Kyle ran up and slapped him on the back. “Can you believe it?” He had shaggy blond hair and blue eyes.

“If your mom finds out where we are at,” Alan joined his friends on the beach, “she’s going to kill us.” Always the voice of reason, even he could not resist the pull of the waves. He had short brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Look out,” Kyle laughed. “It’s the forbidden Lagoona Beach. What do your parents have against this place anyway?”

“Beats me,” Zulemar brushed his wavy, dark hair out of his face. “Maybe she’s worried about Payara,” he said, only half joking.

“The kraken?” Alan looked visibly worried. ‘That’s just a myth, right?”

Kyle put an arm around his bony shoulders, “Relax,” he told his friend. “Payara only goes after the best surfers, and you’re still a novice.”

“Do you think he’ll go after Zully?” Alan asked. “He’s the best surfer around.”

“He might!” Kyle sounded a bit too serious to Alan.

“Knock it off,” Zulemar told him. “You’ll scare Al before we even hit the waves. Everyone knows that Payara is just a myth.”

“Yeah, you’re more likely to get pulled under by a beautiful mermaid,” Kyle joked.

In the distance, Zulemar thought he saw a strange figure pop its head out of the water. It almost appeared to be human with long dark hair and a face whose features he could not make out. A wave rose up right where the figure had been. As the water rolled to shore, Zulemar blinked, wondering if the heat was already getting to him

“Let’s grab our boards,” he told his friends. “I’m ready to catch some waves.” He turned and followed his friends up the beach to their nearby cabana.

Chapter 2

Kyle, Alan, and Zulemar spent the next few hours riding wave after wave. Alan was the least skilled suffer and tended to stick closer to shore, riding the smaller waves and going in to rest long before his two friends did.

Kyle seemed to have no fear. Though he was nowhere near as good a surfer as Zulemar was, he still loved the challenge of trying to take on the bigger waves. For Kyle, even crashing was part of the fun.

Zulemar had learned to swim almost as soon as he learned to walk. The water had always seemed to call to him, and even at a very young age, his parents had trouble keeping him away from it. At three, he had gone swimming in their neighbor’s pool in the middle of the night. By age six, he had wanted to try water skiing. His parents had said no, but it didn’t last long. Now at eighteen, Zulemar seemed to be a pro at every single water sport. Lessons had never even really been necessary, as he seemed to be a natural at everything when it came to being in or near the water. His friends called him the Fish, and the name seemed to perfectly suit him.

Zulemar’s parents had always supported his love of the water and seemed to understand his need to be constantly in or near it. They’re only rule was that he never went to Lagoona Beach. They never told him why. Although he was a good kid, Zulemar dreamed of going to the one place he was forbidden to.

Now here he was, surfing the best waves he had ever seen and loving every minute of it. No matter what his parents’ reaction was when they found out where he had gone, Zulemar knew that coming here was worth it. He had saved it as his one act of rebellion the summer before he went off to college.

“Hey, Fish,” Alan called out when he spotted his friend on the shore. “You ready for a break? I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” Kyle said, coming up beside Alan.

“Just one more ride,” Zulemar pointed to a huge wave in the far distant horizon. It was coming at them fast.

“No way,” even Kyle was impressed by the size of the wave.

Alan called out to stop his friend. It was the biggest wave he had ever seen. His voice never reached Zulemar. It was too late. The experienced surfer was paddling out to sea.

Both Kyle and Alan were impressed when he caught the massive wave and rode it. They lost sight of Zulemar as the wave curled, and he rode the middle of it. A few minutes later, the wave seemed to disappear as it came nearer to shore. There was no sign of Zulemar anywhere.

Chapter 3

The cold spray of the ocean, the slick feeling of his surfboard beneath his bare feet, the sun shining down on him, and the rush of catching the biggest wave he had ever seen all sang through Zulemar’s body as adrenaline filled his every pore. Time seemed to slow down for a moment. It was just him and the ocean. He was doing what he loved. Nothing else seemed to matter. It was like floating and flying all at once.

The world seemed to speed up. Then come rushing back at him. The water roared in his ears. The sun’s glare almost blinded him. It felt like something wrapped around his right ankle and was pulling him under. He tried to kick free, but whatever had a hold of him was stronger than he was. It pulled him ever further downward. A last breath of air escaped from his lungs as his body went limp.

A female figure appeared out of the depths of the ocean. She had long, flowing dark hair and light brown eyes. She had a long green tail and the upper body of a human female. She pulled an arrow from a quiver on her back and shot it at the tentacle holding the man’s leg. The arrow hit its mark, causing the creature to release its hold on its prey. The large squid-like creature turned and hissed at the young woman before swimming off.

She called for two mermen to grab the unconscious human and follow her. Without hesitation, they did as she asked. As fast as they could, they brought the human past the coral reef and past the shifting tides. They finally left him at the home of the young mermaid and her wise grandmother.

“Brenna,” the older mermaid swam out of her cave home and took in the young human. “Why have you brought him to me?”

“Look at him, Mima,” she said. “I think it is him.”

“That’s impossible,” Mima replied. “He died a long time ago.”

“That’s not true,” Brenna shook her head. “I saw the humans take him when he was just a child. I always knew he would come back.”

“It’s not him,” Mima shook her head. “Bring him back to the surface before he drowns.”

“Your potion,” Brenna told her. “I know you have been working on it.”

“It’s not yet ready.” Mima’s light gray eyes looked sad as she watched the human’s breathing become slower. She needed to convince her granddaughter to get him to the surface. “He needs to return to his people, now.”

“We are his people,” Brenna insisted. “Use the potion and you will see.”

“The potion will only work if he is who you believe him to be,” Mima reminded her. “If it fails, there will not be time to return him to the surface, and he will die. Are you willing to take that chance, Brenna?”

The young mermaid swam over to where the human lay on the sandy bottom of the ocean. She took in his dark hair and chiseled facial features. “Give him the potion,” she told her grandmother.

With a final worried look at the young human, Mima entered her cave home and returned a moment later with a small bottle. Brenna took the bottle, removed the cork, and held it to the human’s lips. She forced him to drink every last drop of the dark liquid.

Chapter 4

Zulemar slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. Everything seemed blurry to him. He closed his eyes, rubbed at them a bit, and reopened them. His vision seemed clear. Wait! Did a fish swim past him? That was impossible. Fish weren’t on land. They were underwater. Was he underwater? That couldn’t be possible either. He was alive and breathing. Humans did not breathe underwater.

“You’re awake,” Brenna swam over to him. “How do you feel?”

Zulemar looked at her in shock. Was she a mermaid? The last thing he remembered was going out to catch the monster wave. Maybe he had fallen off his surfboard and hit his head. This was all a dream, and he would wake up soon.

“Who are you? What are you?” he asked the woman.

“I’m Brenna,” she told him. “We are merpeople.”

“Merpeople aren’t real,” he told her.

“Yes, we are,” she pointed downward. Zulemar looked down to see a fist tail where his legs had once been.

“What have you done to my legs?” he asked her, flipping his tail about in shock.

“I did not do anything,” Brenna folded her arms in front of herself.“You got yourself captured by Payara, and he turned you into a merman. I don’t know when you humans are going to learn. You have the land. Why can’t you leave the sea alone and just stay out of it?

“Payara? The Kraken? He’s not,” Zulemar began but she put a hand up before he could finish the thought.

“He is real. We are real.” She told him. “Now listen to me because we don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?” he asked.

“Stop asking questions and just listen, Zulemar,” she told him in frustration.

“Just one more,” he said. “How do you know my name?”

Brenna thought for a moment, shrugged, and told him, “You talk in your sleep.”

“You have just three days to defeat the Payara,” she told him before he could ask any more questions. “If you are unable to do so, you will remain a merman forever and belong to the world of the sea.”

“I can’t defeat a kraken,” Zulemar was still trying to adjust to the fact that he was a merman. He tried swimming around a bit to get used to his fish tail, but only ended up swimming in a circle. He shook his head and tried to clear it. He even tried pinching himself. Ouch. This definitely wasn’t a dream.

“You are more than you believe,” Brenna told him. She watched him swim in a circle for a minute and shook her head. “You’re right, though. You can’t defeat a kraken, but you will. It’s a good thing I prepared everything before you came. Follow me!”

“You knew I was coming?” Zulemar could not follow her. He just got dizzy from swimming in circles.

“Never mind that.” She took his hand so that he would swim straight and led him deeper into the sea.

Chapter 5

Brenna had set up an underwater obstacle course for Zulemar to complete. She had only two days to get him ready for his battle against Payara. If he were unable to defeat the Kraken by the third day, he would remain a merman forever. Zulemar loved swimming and watersports, but his life was on the surface. He wanted to return there.

After watching Zulemar only being able to swim in a circle, Brenna decided to start with the basics. First, he had to learn to swim with a tail. Using the water skills he already had, she was able to build on that. Luckily, Zulemar was naturally a fast learner.

Swimming was only a small part of it, however. Each time Breena put Zulemar through the obstacle course, she added something else to make it harder. Swimming through hoops and coral mazes was soon mastered by Zulemar. He also had to get through jellyfish fields without being stung, battle with narwals and swordfish, race sea turtles, which he found to be surprisingly fast, and wrestle with sharks.

Humans' fear of sharks always amused Brenna. To her, they were one of the gentlest creatures in the ocean. Sharks just went after humans because, to them, humans did not belong in the ocean. Brenna definitely agreed with the sharks on that point. Thankfully, the sharks only saw Zulemar as a merman and did not go after him.

“Gotcha,” Zulemar raised his hands triumphantly after her was able to pin a hammerhead shark to the sea floor. He released the shark, who congratulated him before swimming off.

“It appears you are ready to face Payara tomorrow,” Brenna told him with a smile. “First, I want to show you something.”

She swam off with Zulemar close on her tail. She showed him all of her favorite parts of the ocean. The glow fish shined brightly in the darkest part of the ocean. They peered their heads just above the surface to watch baby turtles make their way to the ocean for the first time. She took him to explore a sunken ship to hunt for buried treasures and to race with the dolphins.

After seeing all of it, he realized that defeating Payara wasn’t just about him turning back into a human. It was about saving a world that he was only just learning about. It was a lot to take in. Zulemar just hoped that he was ready to defeat Payara.

Chapter 6

Finding Payara was not hard to do. The kraken lived in a cave in the deepest part of the ocean. Mima had given Zulemar the special ability to see in the dark. She had also gifted him with a chest plate, sword, and shield that were crafted out of the strongest coral in the ocean and touched with the magic from King Triton’s trident.

Zulemar entered the cavern alone. Brenna could not be there to help him. He called out to Payara, and a large squid-like creature appeared from out of the darkness. Payara had a huge head with black, hollow eyes and twelve long tentacles.

Payara and Zulemar circled each other, wordlessly. The Kraken whipped out his tentacles, one right after the other, in Zulemar’s direction. The merman had to duck and weave out of the way. He swam with lightning precision, but a few tentacles managed to hit their mark. Zulemar wondered if it would be a test of who would grow tired first.

There had to be a way to put an end to this. He managed to put a bit of distance between himself and Payara only long enough to scan the cave. It took him a moment, but he finally found a solution. Zulemar swam quickly back towards the entrance to the cave.

Payara swam towards him. Zulemar held his breath, waited for the right moment, and threw his sword towards the ceiling. It missed its mark and floated back down in front of him.

Zulemar remembered when he had first learned to swim and had ended up swimming in circles. It had made him feel very dizzy. Quick as he could, he swam around and around the kraken. Payara could not keep up with him and soon became dizzy.

It was enough of a distraction for Zulemar to retrieve his sword and head back to the entrance. This time, when he threw his sword, it hit its mark. As the merman swam out of the cave, an explosion of rocks rained down, trapping the kraken in his cavern.

Zulemar felt his body get limp. He was completely exhausted as he floated down to the ocean floor and passed out.

Chapter 7

Zulemar opened his eyes to find himself staring up at Triton, king of the ocean and ruler of merpeople. “My son,” the king said. “You have returned, at last.”

He looked up at Triton, confused. “Your son?”

“As a child, I had to give you up to protect you from Payara,” Triton explained. “The kraken vowed to take you from me. I had just lost your mother and was unable to protect you while ruling the ocean. I gave you to the humans to raise you, but I always knew you would come back to us one day. Mima’s potion has returned you to your true form. Now you can return to help protect the ocean.”

Zulemar shook his head. “My life is on the shore,” he insisted. “I am no ocean defender.”

“You defeated Payara,” Triton pointed out. “I will give you the choice to remain in the ocean with me or to return to the shore.”

Zulemar took a moment to think about it. “I choose both,” he finally said. Triton nodded his head knowingly.

Epilog

Zulemar returned to the surface just moments before he had gone out to catch the big wave. He turned to Alan and Kyle with a smile and told them. “I’ll save the big wave for another day. Let’s go get some lunch.”

As the three friends walked up the beach together, Zulimar turned to see Brenna and Triton peaking out of the water. He would return to the ocean and to them when he was needed. He had become Ocean Warrior, defender of the sea.