Tides Ablaze

No wind, no rain, no movement for as far as the eye could see. The captain paced on the deck behind the helm. Ten days they have been stuck in the same place. Bobbing along with the ripples of the current but not progressing anywhere. The captain has traveled these waters for years and has never seen this before. If he didn’t figure something out now, he would probably end up with mutiny on his hands. The captain slammed his fist on the table before he picked up his spyglass, to see just sea and rocks. As he was looking out into the vast abyss he heard shouting coming from below the deck.

The struggle could be heard from either end of the large ship. The shouting grew clearer as the large group of men approached the deck. The captain pulled the spyglass from his look on the horizon to see what was going on when the hatch was thrown open. The doors flew back against the wood of the ship with a loud thud. The words the men were shouting were clearer now. 

“Treacherous wench!” “Sea Slut!” “Reason we’re stuck here” “Throw her overboard!” “Slit her throat and drain her blood into the sea!” “Sacrifice to the Sea God!”

The shouts were all coming at once, but those were the things the captain could hear clearly. The men were dragging a woman, her chin length fire-red hair untied and whipping around in her struggle. Her shirt was half ripped off exposing her chest that was tightly wrapped up in white cloth concealing her breasts. The woman was struggling against the stronghold of the group as they pulled her to the helm where the captain was standing. She was shouting strings of slurs back at them as they yelled at her. The captain looked at her face. He remembered her coming on the ship, and though he had suspicions, he let her board anyway thinking she was just a boy not yet a man. There were bruises starting to form on her cheeks as well as a cut on her eyebrow that left blood running down her face. 

The captain made his way from behind the helm down the stairs to the deck. The group stopped yelling at her and stepped aside as the captain walked closer to the woman. A few of the men holding her looked almost worse than the woman. This meant she put up a hell of a fight before they were able to recruit more back up. They held her arms for the captain as he walked up to her with his arms behind his back. 

“Well, looks like we have a woman in our ranks. How could this have happened?” The captain glanced at the men around him, his only answer were eyes staring back at him.

Then someone spoke up, “It ain’t good luck to have a woman on board. She’s the reason we’re stuck here! She should pay!” The captain’s eyes lit up with the suggestion, he couldn’t tell where in the group it came from, but it was an idea. 

“While you’re not wrong, for all we know the gods could be angry with us for someone not touching the horseshoe, or any other reason.” The subsequent uproar to that comment told him everything that he needed to know. The men wanted a martyr, and they didn't care if they killed someone in the process.  

The captain looked back to the woman, what was once anger and perseverance had turned into fear as she realized that she wouldn't be leaving the ship by way of gang-plank to land. It would be directly into the water. 

"What's your name" 

She spat at the captain's face; her saliva mixed with blood hitting him right below the right eye. Her lips curled into a snarl as she spat her name out to him, "Geillis" her voice was rough from not speaking the past 30 days, but it rang like a bell in the men's ears, angering them once more. The men that moved for the captain started closing around her again pushing the captain aside.  

The captain let them as he wiped the spit off his cheek, flinging it on to the deck. He grabbed the arm of one of the men as he made his way to Geillis. "Tie her hands and feet up, weigh her down and throw her over" the man nodded then ran off for rope. The captain shot a snarl in the direction of Geillis then made his way to his quarters, ignoring each agonizing cry as her body was hit. 

The captain paused at the door of his quarters listening to the silence that came before the splash as her body broke the stillness of the water. There was silence for a little while longer. The men then each went their separate ways, mumbling to themselves or one another as they did. The captain prayed to the gods that her death would benefit the rest of their journey. 

Geillis had her eyes closed when she entered the water. Once she was under, she opened them as she watched the light get further and further from her, the weight tied to her ankles slowly dragging her down. She wiggled her shoulders trying to shimmy out of her hand restraints. She could feel her lungs screaming more and more to release the air she was holding on to. When her hands were released from the rope, she started on her ankle ties. A task hindered by the weight pulling her down.  

That was when she caught a glimpse of a figure coming towards her, and quickly. She tried to hurry but she was running out of time. Her vision was getting blurry, she knew she was on the verge of passing out. She heard a scream as she was nearly freed. She looked up to see the figure. It looked like a woman under the water with her. The woman reached out to her just as her vision went black. Geillis' last thoughts were of the lush green land that she had left behind. 

With a gasp Geillis opened her eyes and took in some deep breaths. She let her eyes adjust to what she was looking at. All around her were topless women, but they weren’t fully women. Instead of ears it looked like they had fins. Instead of legs they had tails like a fish.  

One of the women approached her, flicking her tail to propel her over to the rock where Geillis was laying. That was when she realized that they were under water. Geillis started to panic thinking she was going to drown again. As she reached up and started to clutch at her throat, willing herself to hold her breath, she saw her hands. They matched the other women surrounding her. They looked like her normal hands, only now there was webbing between her fingers. She looked to the woman who was approaching her again to see her holding a mirror. 

Her hair that had been cut short to pass for a man to board the boat was now waist length and flowed around her recklessly in the water like a fire dancing in the wind against a night sky. Her eyes made their way to her neck where there were now gills that moved with every breath she took. On her forearm she had a fin that matched the ones that were now housed where her ears had been. As her eyes made their way down her body she saw that she now sported a tail as well. 

“You have been blessed by the gods to live again.” the beautiful voice came from the woman holding the mirror. Geillis tried to speak, she had questions she wanted answered. “Don’t speak, you’re still going through the change. You have options. You can choose to wander the ocean with your gift. Or join us and hunt sailors, taking revenge for what they did to all of us.” 

Anger boiled in Geillis at the mention of the sailors. She looked at the surrounding group who was eagerly awaiting her answer. She looked back at the woman in front of her, giving her a nod. Cynical smiles spread across both women’s faces, showing the sharp teeth that reside in their mouths. 

“She has chosen to stay with us.” Geillis turned and looked up at the surface where she saw floating, the ship from which she had been tossed. Her facial expression changed to anger, and she flicked her tail to start her way up to the surface. “And she knows where she wants to start.” 

When Geillis popped her head above the water line she grinned as she watched the boat as she waited for her new friends. She liked her new view of the horizon.