Chapter 16

Sixteen

M errow swam underwater along with her family toward the portal, hoping this plan would end her father’s wrath and also save Sebastian and all the others’ lives in Mura. Sebastian’s last kiss had seemed so final. It was hard to believe that she’d never see him, kiss him, or make love with him again. She’d truly lost her heart to him and knew it now since she felt it breaking. Although she didn’t want to leave him at a time like this, it was what he’d told her to do. He was right, she supposed. It was their only chance to end this. Once they were through the portal, mayhap her father would leave those on Mura alone, and go home with them, closing the portal behind them forever.

She was about to swim through when she distinctively heard Sebastian’s voice in her mind. Odd, since he was on shore and she was so deep underwater in the sea. I love you , Merrow , she heard loud and clear. It was enough to make her stop and turn around.

Sebastian? She saw what she thought was a figure off in the distance.

Goodbye, Merrow, she heard his words in her mind again and knew it was Sebastian this far under the water.

She gasped. He wouldn’t survive. Not being this deep. It would only be a matter of minutes before he drowned.

“Merrow, hurry,” called out her brother. “The portal is closing and Father has the Calling Conch so I won’t be able to open it again for you if it closes.”

“Go without me,” she told her brother, taking off at a fast swim, heading for the man trapped underwater. Sure enough, she approached and realized that it was Sebastian. His eyes were closed and she was sure he was slipping from consciousness. She needed to act quickly.

Pressing her mouth up against his she blew the breath of life into him, making his eyes open once again.

Merrow? Am I dead? he asked, using nonverbal communication.

Nay, but we must get you to the surface. Merrow put her arm around his waist, using her strong tail to propel them upward through the deep water. She stopped several times to give him more air. It worked! Before long, they broke the surface. Sebastian coughed and choked and fought to breathe on his own. She had thought they were safe and that the fighting was over. That is, until she heard her father’s voice and looked up to see him furious, back in his sea god form.

“Merrow, why did you save him?” bellowed her father. “I thought I killed him. Now, I’ll have to do so again.”

“Nay, don’t touch him!” She put her body in front of Sebastian’s, blocking him from her father.

“Move, daughter, before you are hurt.”

“I will not move aside just so you can kill the man I love.”

“Stop saying such ridiculous things. That man is an evil human.” Her father raised his trident in the air.

“Take a deep breath,” Merrow told Sebastian, diving down into the water and pulling him along with her. Thankfully, they’d moved fast enough. The blast of water passed by them but did not touch them. She brought Sebastian to the surface once again.

“Stop, Merrow. I can’t keep this up much longer.” Sebastian treaded water, struggling to breathe and stay afloat.

“If I stop, my father will kill you,” said Merrow.

“I refuse to fight him any longer.”

“Wise choice,” came Nereus’ booming voice. “Now, prepare to die, human.”

“I would gladly die for you, Merrow, so don’t feel bad when I’m gone.” Sebastian put his arm around her and gave her one last kiss. “Remember me always, my sweet, beautiful sea nymph. We will be married, even if it is only in our dreams.”

“Stop talking to my daughter that way. You are a human and cannot be trusted. I would never let you marry her. Swim aside, Merrow, and watch your lover die.”

“Nay, Father. Please. We want to be married.” She spoke the words aloud, but her father didn’t want to hear them. Because of what happened to her mother, her father would never trust a human man again. It seemed all he wanted was for all human men to die.

He raised his body up out of the water, only his winding serpent-like tail holding him in this position and still being under the water. Sparks flew from his trident as his eyes turned red. Merrow had never seen her father so angry. This truly frightened her. She had no idea how to help save Sebastian now.

Just as her father was about to strike down Sebastian and kill him, another voice split the air.

“You are not a god of Mura, now leave our people and the land and never return.”

“Sebastian? Who is that?” Merrow looked back and forth.

“I’m not sure,” he answered. “But it almost sounded like Zoroct.”

“Who is Zoroct?”

“The main god of Mura,” Sebastian explained. “And look at that!” He pointed up into the sky.

Merrow looked upward to see Elric sitting atop a flying beast that looked to be a wildcat with black stripes and a shaggy mane. The creature had sharp talons and black wings on its back enabling it to fly like a bird.

“It’s Elric! What is he riding?” she asked.

“It’s called a Stricat. Very dangerous,” Sebastian answered. “It appears to help Murians with magic during a battle. I have no idea why it is here to help me.”

The Sricat flew with Elric on its back, over Nereus’ head. Elric kept materializing rocks, throwing them one after another at her father.

“You heard the god of Mura, now go. Scat. Leave at once,” commanded the elf in his nasally little voice. His rocks bounced off Nereus, doing nothing to hurt him. It only made Nereus even more irritated.

“Oh, no!” gasped Merrow. “Elric shouldn’t do that. He’s going to get himself killed.”

“Don’t worry. He’s too ornery to die,” answered Sebastian, actually able to grin now.

“I am Nereus, God of the Sea,” shouted her father. “I will not leave until The King of Macada is dead for what he did to my wife, and for also stealing my daughter and holding her as a prisoner.”

“That’s not what happened, Father. You don’t understand,” shouted Merrow. “Sebastian is kind. He hasn’t hurt anyone.”

“Please, explain,” came a female voice. When Merrow looked up to the sky again, she saw three apparitions now. They were airy and see-through and looked to be wearing long white gowns. One was a man and the other two were women.

“More gods?” she whispered to Sebastian.

“Yes,” he answered “Zoroct is Mura’s god of power and might. Hapsren is the goddess of home and hearth, and Cnoir is goddess of love and wealth.”

“Sebastian, my father is powerful, but he can’t fight off three gods.”

“Nay, I don’t suppose he can,” answered Sebastian. “Hopefully, it will at least cause him to go back through the portal and to leave us all alone.”

“Father!” shouted Merrow. “You must leave the people of Mura alone and go back through the portal now. You have mother back, as well as Melite and Galene.”

“Someone will pay for the wrong that’s been done. I won’t leave until that happens.”

“We fell through the portal by accident,” explained Merrow. “It never would have happened if I hadn’t taken Melite and Galene to the Mystic Reef. I’m sorry. So, you see, I am the one to blame and no one else.”

“My uncle wronged your wife, and I am sorry for that,” said Sebastian. “But I assure you, I would never harm Merrow. I love her.”

“You are a human,” Nereus growled. “Merrow is a sea nymph. She lives in the sea.”

“Not for long,” said Merrow. “Father, I am going to marry Sebastian because I love him as well. He is a good man and he makes me happy.”

“Merrow, I want to marry you but I don’t want you to have to give up being a sea nymph,” Sebastian told her. “Your father is right. You do belong in the water.”

“Nay, he’s wrong,” said Merrow. “I belong at your side. I am more than willing to give up my tail to be your wife.”

“You’d be landbound if you did that,” her father reminded her. “Besides, you are in a foreign land. You should come home with me. Let’s go through the portal, daughter. I will blow the Calling Conch and it will open the portal. Your mother, siblings, and your homeland await you. You don’t belong in this place called Mura. You belong in the Aegean Sea.”

“It’s your choice, sweetheart,” Sebastian whispered, still treading water. “I will understand if you don’t want to stay. If you want to go home to your siblings and your parents, it’s all right, even though I will miss you every day of the rest of my life.”

“Father? Can that Calling Conch open the portal to Mura from the other side, any time you want?” she asked him.

“Yes,” he answered. “Why?”

“Then I will stay and marry Sebastian. I will give up my tail but gain a soul.”

“What about your family?” Sebastian asked her.

“We will start a new family here. Me and you together,” she said, holding her arm around his waist, using her tail to keep them afloat. “When I want to see my parents or my siblings, I will reach them with my mind and call to them. Father can open the portal from the other side, and Melite and Galene and the others can come visit us in Mura. Whenever they want.”

“Nay, they can’t,” shouted Elric from the sky. “Our gods won’t allow it.”

“Elric, hush,” scolded the god Zoroct.

“Nereus,” said Cnoir. “We will allow you and your family to visit but only if you promise not to cause trouble.”

“And to leave when asked,” added Hapsren.

“This is not your realm,” Zoroct reminded him. “We would expect no different treatment if we were to visit you on your side of the portal.”

“So, Nereus, what will it be?” asked Cnoir.

“Don’t let any of them stay. They’re all trouble.” Elric zipped past still sitting atop the Stricat. He manifested another stone and was about to throw it at Nereus when Zoroct stopped him.

“Elric, go home to your little house atop the pinnacle mountain. You are bothering me.” Zoroct waved his hand and Elric and the stricat disappeared.

“What happened to him?” Merrow asked Sebastian. “Did he kill him?”

“Nay,” answered Sebastian with a chuckle. “You see, Elric is messenger of the gods. But even the gods can’t stomach the irritating little man for long. Zoroct just sent him home to the other side of the mountain. The side where the fae and the elves and other magical beings live.”

“Oh, I’d like to visit there sometime.”

“We can go there whenever you like.” Sebastian looked back up at Nereus. “That is, if your father gives us his permission and his blessing to be married.”

“I don’t need his permission or his blessing,” spat Merrow, still very upset with her father.

“Well, I do,” said Sebastian, taking her hand in his. “Merrow, I don’t want to get married unless your father accepts the idea. I want us all to be happy. I don’t need to be always looking over my shoulder, wondering if your father is coming back to kill me.”

“Father? Do you agree to our marriage?” asked Merrow.

“I don’t like the idea of you being married to a human.”

“But you’re married to a human now. Mother can never again be a sea nymph,” Merrow pointed out.

“That’s right,” agreed Sebastian. “Please, Old God of the Sea, accept us.”

“It’s Old Man of the Sea,” Merrow whispered.

“What is your answer, Nereus?” asked Zoroct. The gods of Mura still hovered above in the clouds.

“Well…since I cannot fight off three gods, and it seems to be what my daughter really wants, I guess I have to agree to it. But remember, Merrow, this decision cannot be reversed. Ever.”

“I know, Father.” Merrow wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “I will miss my siblings as well as you and Mother. But I love Sebastian and really want to be his wife.”

“Then so be it.” Nereus reached down and patted Merrow on the head. “Goodbye, daughter. Call me if you need me. Or if you long to visit.”

“Will my ability to speak to my family in my mind go away once I am human?” Merrow asked her father.

“Nay,” he answered. “You will always be a sea nymph deep inside, so that power will stay with you as long as you are not sad, depressed or forlorn.”

“Is that why we couldn’t hear Mother calling us?” asked Merrow.

“It is,” answered Nereus.

“Don’t worry, I am sure I will always be happy here,” she told the sea god. “I have met so many nice people, and some of them have magic. I cannot wait to find out more.”

“It’s time to go through the portal,” Zoroct reminded him.

“I’m going.” Nereus raised the Calling Conch to his mouth and blew. A resounding note filled the air stirring up the water until it started to swirl. This time, the portal was above the water instead of below it. Everyone could see it well. When it opened, Merrow spotted her Mother, her brother and all of her forty-nine sisters peeking through.

“Goodbye, Melite. Goodbye, Galene,” Merrow cried out, waving her hand above her head. “Tell Father when you want to come and visit me.”

“Merrow, you’re not coming home?” Melite looked so sad.

“This is my home now,” she replied. “I belong on Mura. With Sebastian.” She looked at her husband-to-be and smiled.

“You will make a lovely wife,” called out Galene. “Good luck to you both.”

“You will be fine, Merrow,” called out her mother. “As long as you are with the one you love.”

Nereus entered the portal, putting his arm around his wife and looking back. Then, he nodded, and the portal snapped closed. Merrow’s family disappeared from sight. When she looked up to the sky, the gods of Mura had left as well.

“We did it, Merrow. I’m still alive and now we can be married.” Sebastian let out a happy whooping noise. “Let’s get back to shore. I need to thank the Blackseeds for helping us. And I want to invite everyone in Mura to our wedding.”

Merrow took her last swim as a sea nymph, heading back to shore. She flopped onto land, running her hand over her tail, her heart breaking to know she would never be able to swim to the coral reef or look for shells with her sisters anymore. Still, she was excited to be able to marry Sebastian and be his wife. She’d be able to visit with her family any time she wanted. Her legs appeared and she stood up. Sebastian took off his tunic and pulled it over her head to hide her naked body.

“Merrow? Are you all right?” he asked. “You seem so sad.”

“I’m not sad. Not really. I just guess that I wish there was a way to marry you and stay a sea nymph at the same time.”

The Blackseeds were waiting for them on the beach. Sebastian wrapped his arm around Merrow and they headed over to greet their new friends. Once more, Merrow glanced over her shoulder, thinking she was going to see Melite or Galene popping up out of the water, but they weren’t there. She was with Sebastian now and would create a new life, living as his wife. As a human. She’d made a good decision, she told herself. It was the right thing to do.

Her eyes scanned the calm sea and she let out a deep sigh. So, if she did the right thing, then why didn’t she feel as happy as she thought she would right now? And where was she going to find fifty new friends to replace her siblings?