[story] Silver on the Water

[Kiddo [le pwnsome]]

Prologue


The full moon rose over the glistening forest, the wispy clouds failing to shield the pines from its silver gaze, which took in everything. The silent trees covered much of the land, blocking light from those on the ground. They grew so close that nothing could be seen of any roads or paths snaking between the rough trunks.
The only breaks in the endless rows of trees were where they broke off abruptly as they met the sea many miles away and a large lake just below the moon. The usually still surface of the glassy water was disturbed as if by a gentle breeze. But the night was still, and quiet, but not silent. Small noises came from the lake, seeming to match the small waves passing over the stones, a whispering that was not of water.
Suddenly, a face appeared in the shifting water, a man’s face, but not a human face. The ears slimmed to points next to his deeply brown hair, hair that was not plastered to his head from the water around him, but dry as if he had been sitting by the shore.
He swam to a large boulder that stood a small distance from the land and pulled himself up. He sat, but kept his feet in the water. His face was kind and strong, regal as if he were a king, but lined with worry. Dark green eyes were lifted to the sky, watching the orb of the moon as it shifted through the weak clouds. The silver light stained his body so he looked like a marble statue hewn from the stone.
After a few minutes another face emerged from the rippling lake, a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and eyes identical to the man swam to the boulder as well and sat beside him, also keeping her feet in the water.
The man only glanced to the side as she appeared. As he returned his gaze to the sky he spoke in a deep gurgling language, “Anthar godum ithu?”
The woman laughed and replied, but instead of the strange language, she spoke in the Standard Speech, “Is this a solemn occasion that you must speak in the Old Tongue? Remember brother, that I am not as talented as you are in languages.”
Her brother grimaced and repeated his question, this time in the Standard Speech, “Sorry Jlana, but I am so used to using it that I forgot that you cannot speak Canchal. So, how is she?”
The woman’s face fell, she fingered a small thread that had come loose from her green tunic as she answered, and “Mera is in the pain stage now, she keeps crying out for you. Will you not go to her?”
The man closed his eyes and was silent for a moment, he did not move for several moments and did not speak until Jlana had put a tentative hand on his knee and asked, “Isn’t the birth of a child what you wanted? Before Mera entered the pain stage she would not stop babbling about how happy she was to be a mother. Of course, that was in the ecstatic stage, so she might have been a little more enthusiastic than usual but you get my point.”
Jlana’s voice was losing its formality as she continued describing Mera’s words. After a few minutes she stopped suddenly and turned to him again, “I just felt Mera enter the last part of the pain stage, she will need you now. You must go to her Thanor!”
He simply shook his head in response, “No Jlana, you know as well as I do that she would not know that I am there and that I could not stop the pain. There is nothing I can do to help and I don’t want to see her in pain or hear her screams.”
“I see, but what will happen when she learns that you weren’t there?”
“Why would she find out?”
Jlana threw her hands up in exasperation, “I don’t know how she would find out, but she usually does. She finds out everything, you know that.”
Thanor nodded, “Yes, but I cannot bear to hear her screaming.”
As he finished, Jlana suddenly straightened, she appeared confused and shook her head. She strained as if to hear something and shook her head again, know she looked afraid.
“What? What is it?”
Jlana turned to look at him, her eyes full of fear, “I can’t feel anything from her, she must have removed the shells.”
“Jlana, tell me, is that bad or really bad.”
“I don’t know, it hasn’t happened before, not until the baby is born at least. It could mean anything.”
Thanor slid off the boulder into the water, Jlana followed. As the two nymphs slid under the surface, the silver light of the moon left, revealing that their skin was a pale, like the underside of a frog. As they swam down to the bottom of the lake, small shafts of light reflected off thin webbing between their fingers.
A large city appeared out of the murky water and they started walking quickly as if they were on dry land. They passed few people as they hurried through the streets until they reached a small building with weed growing out front in Jlana’s garden. As she pushed open the door they heard a squall coming from a room farther into the house.
With nervous glances to each other they dashed through the house and burst through the door. Thanor stopped abruptly as he entered the room, Jlana ran into him, pushing him forward next to the bed in the center. Mera sat in the bed eyes closed slightly, smiling serenely, holding a baby in her arms.
“But,” sputtered Jlana, “Babies are not born before dawn, it has never happened before. It is impossible!”
Mera opened her eyes a little more, “Well, it’s obviously not impossible or it wouldn’t have happened.” Her voice was soft and tired. She had not slept in eight days; there were dark purple shadows unders her blue eyes. Her hair, which floated loose around her face, was frayed and torn, small strands drifting in and out of the room on stray currents.
Thanor and Jlana walked to Mera’s bed, Jlana took the baby from her and examined it as if it were a strange animal that had been brought from far away. “It’s a girl,” she announced after a few moments, “How she was born this early I do not know, but she is stronger than most that I have seen.”
Mera held her arms out for the baby and Jlana carefully placed the baby in her pale hands. Thanor sat on the edge of the bed, and put an arm around her back. Together they gazed as their daughter. Her skin was such a pale green it seemed white, which contrasted with her jet black hair. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be asleep.
“What should we call her?” Whispered Mera after a few minutes.
The three of them sat for some time thinking, “What about a name that means something?” Suggested Jlana, “Something that describes her.”
“Lothr? That means, beauty, in Canchal.”
“No, that doesn’t sound right. What is grace in Canchal?”
Thanor thought for a moment as he remembered the correct words, “Dasay.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t sound quite right, Dasay, hmm. What about love?”
They discussed names for a while, they had almost agreed to name her Bamin, or flower, when the baby stirred and opened her eyes. Mera looked down as she felt the baby move and gasped.
“What is it Mera, Thanor?” Jlana felt dread swooping through her at the expression on their faces.
Thanor swallowed a few times and weakly answered, “Her eyes, they’re…they’re silver.”
And indeed they were, her small eyes were bright silver with small flecks of grey and white, gazing calmly into their shocked faces.
“No one has silver eyes,” Jlana’s voice was amazed.
“Farrell has silver eyes,” objected Thanor.
Jlana shook her head, “No, his eyes are grey, hers are silver, look, they glitter.”
“Well I think she’s beautiful,” cried Mera, “She has the eyes of the moon on the water. And that is what we will name her, silver eyes. How do you say that Thanor?”
“There is not a single word for that, it’s three words, but there is a word that is close, silver gaze. The nymphs by the sea use it to describe the moon.”
“What word?”
“Quara.”
“Then that will be her name, she will be Quara, Lady of Water.”
















Part One








Chapter One

Quara sat on the lake bottom, weaving reeds into a small basket. She watched as the sunlight started to filter down through the murky water. Few nymphs passed her on their business, and when they did, they hurried quickly by, not looking at her. No one spoke to her, no one slowed or stopped. She knew their aversion to her, knew the fear hidden behind their eyes. She smiled to herself, plucking another reed out of the bag at her side and slowly wove it into the half finished basket.
Quara had always been strange. Her eyes had always set her apart, but there were more reasons that they were frightened, she knew.
When she was still very young, she had started recognizing the feelings of others around her. She couldn’t understand what they were thinking, but she knew if they were feeling angry or excited or unhappy. The other nymph children avoided her, afraid that she did know what their thoughts were. Most Nymph children, Quara had had only one friend for many years. Thixil didn’t seem to care that much about Quara’s oddities. Thixil’s family however, was very busy, so they could only play together at school, where they learned about their history, and how to control water.
After school, Quara was usually left by herself. She had become so bored playing by herself that she started to play with the water around her, swishing it with her hands, whispering to it. By the time she turned eight, she had discovered that she could move the water by only speaking, instead of gesturing or shaping it with her hands. She had amused herself for months by speaking a simple word and shooting high into the air on a jet of water, laughing as she landed again with a splash.
She also was more talented at moving the water than the other nymph children, moving the water into different shapes, making it grow, shrink, and hover in the air. She had laughed many times when she had formed the water into shapes of people she knew. Soon, her parents began to notice that she left every day and only returned when dinner was ready.
She had been ordering the water to create a sculpture of Gerton, the ill-tempered kelp merchant when she felt emotions roiling behind her. She had spun around and stared into her father’s shocked face. She lost control of the water form and it splashed down on their heads, Quara winced as she remembered.
She had been placed in her room while her parents talked. She was so desperate to hear that she created a small tunnel of air that led to the room where they were talking; she had listened to their conversation, Quara frown as she tried to remember.
“No Mera, she isn’t normal, nymphs don’t have that much control over water until they’re forty!”
“Thanor, that just means she’s extremely talented, she’s usually alone, she has lots of time.”
Thanor’s voice was strained and frightened, “No, it’s more than that, she knows other peoples emotions, and she may have other “talents” besides those.”
“Thanor, my grandfather was able to sense people’s emotions too. She is not all that strange, why are you so convinced she is? Is it because of her eyes?” She sounded angry and accusing.
“No, it’s not her eyes, it’s… I don’t know…I. Mera, you know that she’s not normal, she was not born right.”
“It’s not my fault she was born at night!”
“I know, but”
At that moment, Quara had closed the tunnel of air and huddled in her bed. As far as she knew, it was impossible to be born before dawn. But ever since that day, she had known that other nymphs could move water like she did. She continued practicing, but she did not make it obvious to everyone that she could do things that others twice her age could not.
Nevertheless, somehow it leaked out. The other nymphs now avoided her as much as possible, going out of their way to not come close to her. Even Thixil had started avoiding her.
Quara turned her head slightly as she felt someone approaching, whoever they were, they were flustered and exasperated. As they turned the corner she recognized Thixil and her fiancé Drutor. Drutor stopped dead when he saw her, but Thixil walked right up to her, “Quara, there’s a problem.”
Quara flinched when Thixil talked to her, no one had spoken to her besides her parents in so long that it startled her. Also, as Thixil had been speaking, she had felt an undercurrent of emotion that she had not sensed before, barely suppressed fear.
“Yes? What’s the problem?”
Thixil looked puzzled, “What, don’t you know? You can read people’s minds; I would think you would already know what the problem is.”
Quara sighed, “Thixil, I’ve already told you, I can not read minds, just emotions. Now, what’s the problem?”
“The humans, they’re building a bridge only a couple hundred feet from here!”
“And?”
Quara felt annoyance rush through Thixil when she didn’t understand the obvious danger. “Well, well, if they’re not that far from the city, it’ll be easier for them to find us. You know what humans think of our kind!”
Quara snorted, “They don’t believe in us at all. To them we are just tales to tell when they want to scare their children. The beautiful women who live in the water, drowning men and capturing women. Turning the captured women into nymphs as well to increase our numbers.” She snorted again, “It is no threat to us.”
“What if they see us?” Drutor called, still on the other end of the street, “Then they will know that we’re real, they‘ll remember the stories that they have heard and want to wipe us out!”
“If one human sees us the others will not believe him, the only way to convince all of them is to show them a nymph. The only way to catch a nymph is in a net, or when they leave the water. No nymph will walk straight into a net, and no nymph leaves the water, and I am sure that no one will be stupid enough to walk right up to a large group of humans and start a conversation.” Argued Quara, punching a fist into her hand with every point she made.
Thixil looked thoughtful, “You’re right, I didn’t think of that. Hey, do you want to go see the construction?”
Quara smiled, Thixil had been her one and only friend for a long time. They had drifted apart lately, but not so much that Quara would refuse.
She stood, “Sure, how far are they with the foundations?”
Thixil rolled her eyes as they started towards the humans, “They chose to build the bridge at one of the thickest parts of the lake, they’ve got about ten boats on the surface and they’re lowering the foundations down with ropes and chains.”
“How are they keeping them down?”
She laughed, “Every column has a human attached to it with a pot on their head,” Quara giggled at the image, “It gives them enough air to get to the bottom, which is only about fifteen feet down, then they can hold their breath for much longer so they can make sure the column is in the right place, then they come back up. None of them can hold their breath long enough to untie the ropes, so they send someone down later to untie them.”
Suddenly the columns came into view. Quara thought they looked like a group of stone reeds; they stuck up out of the water for a few feet. She and Thixil watched as the humans slid another column off a boat and into the water, holding it straight with three sets of ropes and chains each coming from a different boat. Then their eyes were drawn to the middle of the column where, sure enough, there were five men grasping the bottom of the stone rod with their legs and holding their heads inside earthenware pots. The two nymphs looked at each other for a moment and then burst our laughing.
“They, look ridiculous!”
Thixil was laughing so hard that her words were hard to hear as she pointed to one of the younger men, “He looks like someone replaced his head with the wrong end of a worm!”
Their laughter subsided however, as the men, who had lined the column up with a large stone on the bottom, yanked one of the ropes holding it as a signal to let it fall. Quara saw several men on the surface jump on the top of the column as the people holding the ropes let go. With horror she saw that one of the chains was let go of too late, the column swung and struck the young man that Thixil had laughed at.
Instantly, blood billowed around him and the other men swarmed towards him. They pulled him up and disappeared with him onto the nearest boat. Thixil gave Quara a worried glance; they both rose at the same moment and surfaced next to the boat, keeping low. They listened to the conversation above.
“-too hurt to save, he would die in less than an hour,” said a deep voice.
“Nonsense, he just got whacked on the head!” cried another voice.
“By a two ton block of solid granite!”
“Well…”
“No Galfor, he won’t survive. No one cares about him, he’s old Bodrik’s slave and you know he hates the boy. In fact, Bodrik himself told me to give him the most dangerous job and that with luck he might get killed.” Quara felt a deep rush of disgust run through one of the men; she could tell it was him that spoke next because she heard the emotion in his voice.
“But that doesn’t mean we have to throw him overboard!”
“Oh yes it does!” Another voice had come to the deep voice’s aid, “Greedy-guts Reld made that new law that you need to pay to put someone in the cemetery, Bodrik won’t pay for that. He’d rather we dumped him in the lake, and no one else cares enough about him to pay the fee themselves.”
There was a murmur of assent from around the deck. Quara looked at Thixil, she felt the horror in her mind and nodded, “It’s disgusting isn’t it, and the man’s not even dead.” She whispered. Suddenly there was a splash next to them, the humans had just dumped the dying man in the water, Quara had to cover Thixil’s mouth to stop her from crying out.
They sunk under the water again and Quara burst out, “I don’t care what they say, I won’t let him die just because some idiot didn’t let go of their chain. Thixil, can you please go tell my parents where I’ve gone, but not what I’m doing?”
“But where are you going?” Her voice was shaky, as if she might throw up.
“That boulder where we found the shoe when we were ten.” As she spoke, Quara created a bubble of air around the man, hardening the edges so he didn’t fall out.
“Alright, oh and Quara,”
“Yes?”
“Sorry for not being a friend to you for so long, my mother told me to stay away from you; she didn’t want me to be near you. I’m sorry.”
Quara felt genuine sorrow from her and smiled, “It’s all right, I’m just glad you came back.”



















Chapter Two

The makeshift stretcher shot through the water, disturbing the surface of the lake behind it. Quara saw the man convulse as more blood spilled out of the wound on his head. She sped up; they were almost there, only a few seconds.
They reached the boulder and the bubble lifted out of the air, depositing the man on the top before dissipating. As it broke apart, the pool of blood spread out around the man and down into the lake water. The man cried out in pain and Quara bit her lip. Creating the bubble and bringing it here had taken most of her energy. She spoke a single word and a band of water slid up her arm as she climbed up to sit next to him. She had long since learned how to leave the water without becoming human, all she had to do was keep water on her.
She leaned over the man and placed a hand over his head wound. He moaned with pain and she whispered in his ear, “Cithdana uthor.” She had learned that spell many years ago from her father. She supposed that the words were from Canchal. The spell was supposed to heal anything, but Quara was so tired that she only had the strength to wake him up and heal most of his head wound. It would keep him alive for only a day, but by that time she would be strong enough to heal him completely.
He moaned and opened his eyes; she smiled at him, glad that he was not in pain. She flinched however, when instead of gratitude she felt fear and shock.
“Get back, stay away!” He wheezed as he hauled himself up on his elbows and stared at her fearfully. She stared back at him, confused. Suddenly, he grasped something in his belt and pulled. Instantly, Quara leapt off the boulder and into the lake, staring at the knife he had just pulled from his belt.
“Stay back, water demon,” he coughed, his voice was cracked. “Stay back or I swear I’ll kill you.”
“Water demon!” she cried, “Water demon, how dare you! I save your worthless life and you try and stab me. If I hadn’t healed you, your corpse would be floating in the lake being eaten by fish!”
He looked surprised, and his knife dropped a little, “You saved me? That can’t be true, your kind are evil. You, you drown men and capture women and turn them into water demons too. I know, because my father was killed by one of your kind!”
Quara rolled her eyes, “Do you think the stories are all true? No, they’re not, I’ll explain,” She rose from the water to sit on the surface, flicking her dark hair behind her and glaring at him, “First, I am not a water demon, I am a water nymph. Second, we do not drown anyone unless they deserve it. Third, we do not increase by capturing women. There,”
“That’s a lie,” He interrupted, “How old are you?”
“Twenty-three,”
“And how long have you been that age?”
“My birthday was two months ago.”
He growled and continued, “That can’t be true, there aren’t any male water demons.”
“Yes, there are,” she snapped, “I have a father, his name is Thanor, I also have a mother, her name is Mera. There is a way to become a nymph, but only the nymphs in the sea know it. We have babies, we do not lay eggs, we do not transform humans, we don’t appear out of water,” She rolled her eyes again and flicked some water at him, “As for you father, I doubt he was drowned by a nymph, we down kill unless they wound us severely, or kill a friend of ours. For instance, I would have wonderful justification for drowning you right now, seeing as you want to kill me. But I just saved your life and used most of my strength to do so. I’m not letting all that go to waste.”
He snorted, “Oh really, if I left this boulder and tried to swim away, you would kill me and eat me before I went five feet.”
Quara almost tore out some of her hair in frustration, “So now I’m going to eat you? You humans are so deluded. Fine, I’m going to try to explain one more time, do not interrupt. After I’m done, you can leave, but first I’ll have to completely heal you, I didn’t have the energy to completely save you, if you left now, you would die in a couple days.”
He glared at her, “If I try to leave I’ll die in a few seconds. You would kill me immediately.”
Quara sighed and tried to calm down, “When you leave, you can hold one hand over my mouth so I can’t work magic and your knife against my throat if you want. Would that be enough to convince you that I’m not evil?”
He did not answer, but nodded and gestured for her to begin. So she did “First, we are not water demons, we are water nymphs. We, as in you and me, are not that different. We live in houses, have families, there are merchants, farmers, and other jobs. The differences are that, we obviously live underwater. We look different too, and we live almost twice as long. We can’t leave the water or we become human.
“When the world was new, there were no humans, just water nymphs. Some nymphs left the water and became human; they tried to return to the sea but could not. They lived on land for many years, always trying to become nymphs again. After hundreds of years, humans had spread all over the world and had almost forgotten the nymphs. When the humans discovered the way to become nymphs, some of them returned to the water.
“There were a few nymphs who wanted to explore the world but did not know how to bring water with them left the water entirely. They explored for many years and then returned, asking the others for the formula. The nymphs felt that since they had left willingly, knowing what would happen, that they should remain as they were. The former nymphs were angry and tried to destroy the others. After killing many, a group of nymphs attacked back, drowning the men. A solitary nymph was blasted out of the water and lay dying on the shore, now human. The nymphs took her back and gave her the formula. When she was healed she was so glad that she danced through the water, sometimes surfacing, sometimes sinking to the depths of the ocean.
“A group of humans had camped on the beach and watched everything. They did not know that the men had been nymphs and thought that they had been attacked without reason. They had seen the woman brought down and now when they saw her resurface their imaginations went wild. They returned home and told tales of women that lived in the water. They described us in such a horrible way and so many people believed them that they attacked us. When nymphs surfaced to see the stars and moon they shot arrows at us. They killed so many that the nymphs had to find some way of fighting back. The humans never entered the water and they had no long range weapons.
“The scholars searched frantically and discovered our magic. If we moved the water to cover us we could leave the water, many wanted to fight the humans, and many wanted to flee to the deep oceans. A group of nymphs bound themselves to the water and left the ocean. They traveled for months until they found this lake. They explored around the lake and learned that there were no humans, they settled here, and live here still.
“Now you humans have appeared again, so close to our city. We will probably tolerate the bridge, but if you come too close, or start sailing boats on our lake, we will either attack or flee. There are many of us now, but not as many as you humans. If it becomes that drastic, many will fight and die, and many will try to return to the ocean.” Quara suddenly realized that she had said too much and fell silent, staring at his face, sensing his thoughts moving in his mind, but not knowing what they were.
He did not say anything for a few moments. She prompted him by saying, “So, do you believe me?”
He frowned, “Maybe, I can’t tell. If you really are a nymph, then everything would be true, but if you’re a water demon, then you’d be lying anyway to try and get me in the water.”
She rolled her eyes, “I’ve already told you, if I wanted to, I could jump on you right now and drown you. Now, if you’re ready to believe me, then I’ll heal you completely, and you can leave.”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded, “This knife will be at your throat the whole time, if you try anything, I’ll kill you.”
Quara spoke a word and a ripple leapt up and wrapped around her ankle. She climbed up onto the boulder and knelt next to him, flinching only slightly as she felt the knife pressing on her neck. She had to push away a fraction to speak the healing spell. Once again she whispered, “Cithdana uthor.” She grimaced as the cut on his head sealed shut and his broken bones mended, twisting under the skin into their correct position.
He sighed and said, “Thanks for that, but I suppose there’s not sport in killing a dying man.” With that, he grabbed her around the waist and jumped back into the water, keeping his knife pressed against her throat, and started swimming for shore. She allowed herself to be pulled along, occasionally kicking to stop him from sinking.
When they reached the shore, the man did not leave the water. They sat in the water, his knife still on her neck, “So,” she asked, “do you believe me now? And would you mind moving your knife?”
He smiled and pulled his knife away, “Yes, I do believe you now. It’s amazing, all my life I was taught that you were evil and now, I suddenly know that you’re not. Thank you for telling me and for saving my life…”
“Quara.”
“Thank you Quara. Thank you so much.”
She smiled at him, “You’re welcome. I wonder, what are you going to do now?”
He passed a hand over his eyes and answered, “I don’t know exactly. I don’t want to go back to my village, and I don’t know of anywhere else to go.”
“You could stay here.”
His smile disappeared, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you could build a house here, by the lake. There is fresh water, you could plant a garden, catch fish, hunt. You could start a new life here.” Quara said, gesturing to the trees and the lake as she spoke.
He thought for a few minutes and she watched him. Now that he wasn’t bloody and bruised, she could see that he was quite handsome, with a strong jaw and blue eyes under his sandy hair. He looked about twenty-five or so, but could be older or younger.
When he answered, there was a new spark in his voice, “Yes, you’re right. I’ll live here, there nothing for me at my village, and I’m not an explorer. But it’s almost night and I need a tent at least.”
“Isn’t there a camp somewhere where you slept last night?” she asked.
“Yes there is, it’s near the bridge, but it would take me a week to get there, this lake is so big.”
Quara looked around, “Actually, the bridge is only a mile or so in that direction.” She pointed east, where the stone columns could barely be seen, “And look, there’s the camp, on this side of the lake.” She pointed to a plume of smoke obviously coming from one of the fires.
He smiled, “Really? That’s wonderful; it’ll only take me an hour or so to get there and back.”
“Should I come with you?”
“No, the camp is pretty far into the forest, you should go home. But if you can meet me here tomorrow that would cheer me up after a night of being hungry and cold.”
He had stood up and left the water and had almost disappeared into the trees when Quara called to him, “Wait! I don’t even know your name!”
He stopped and turned to face her, “Of course, I forgot, my name is Golr.”
She smiled and walked backwards into the deeper water of the lake, “Goodbye Golr!” As one, they turned and disappeared, Quara into the lake, Golr into the darkening forest.













Chapter Three

That night, Quara did not sleep. Instead, she sat on her bed, her thoughts whirling in her head. He knows about us, and he isn’t afraid. He could be a great ally; he could help us convince the humans that we’re not evil, that we can live together. He-
Suddenly, a horrible thought struck her, he had returned to the camp hadn’t he? What if he told the other humans about them? They would come and kill us all.
Stop it, she told herself, he wouldn’t contact them, he was a slave. Besides, they wouldn’t believe him; they’d think that he’d gone insane from being hit on the head so hard. Although, she thought, the fact that he was completely healed might convince them.
Quara almost returned to Golr’s patch of woods immediately, but she forced herself to sit, and wait for dawn.

Quara surfaced, eyes roving over the still pines. She moved closer, senses straining for signs of danger. As she neared the shore, she saw Golr lying on the ground, a grubby blanket covering him. He stirred when she spoke, water twisting around her wrist. He rolled over, eyes opening. He smiled at her; she smiled back, “I thought you were going to bring your tent with you.”
He shrugged, “They would have noticed immediately that it was gone. Besides, it would’ve been too dark to set it up.”
“That’s true,” she admitted, “So you were sleeping on wet ground with only a blanket all night?”
He nodded, and Quara laughed, “So, I assume that you’re hungry.”
“Very.”
“One moment.” She dived back into the lake, stopping to float five feet under the glittering surface. She sang softly into the murky water, after a few minutes a large catfish swam through the gloom towards her. She started paddling back to Golr, continuing to sing. When the water was too shallow for her to swim any longer, she stopped, waiting for the fish. It swam up to her, rubbing against her like an actual cat, its brown scales soft in against her green skin. “Sorry.” She whispered, and punched the fish between the eyes. It crumpled and began to float away. She grabbed it by the tail and walked out of the water, keeping a band circling her ankle.
Golr, was sitting up, poking a brand new fire with a stick. He looked up, eyes wide when he saw the size of the fish, “Amazing, I’ve never seen a fish that large before!”
Quara sat next to him and handed him the dead fish, “He’s one of the smaller fish actually, would you like to see one of the larger ones?”
“Yes please!”
Quara turned toward the lake and began to sing again, a different song than before. A song that described the power and majesty of the fish she was calling. Minutes passed, while they waited, Golr gutted the fish and put it on a flat stone near the fire.
“There!” She pointed to a spot where a dark shadow had just passed under the water. She got up and walked down to the azure lake. She heard Golr follow her down to the water and until the level of he water was at their waists. The fish slid up alongside them and Golr gave a yell of shock. Quara understood his surprise.
It was as thick as a man and long as a fallen tree. Silver bands ran along its golden body, spiraling along the tail and ending in silver and gold strands trailing off the end. Glassy fins rested on the bottom of the lake, stirring up the mud. It lifted its head out of the water and nuzzled Quara like a horse, closing its eyes in pleasure as she ran her hands over its neck. The head was not a normal fishes head, it didn’t have any gills, it seemed to breathe both water and air, as the nymphs did. It had a beak, the same colors as its body, but it was not as harsh and curved as an eagle’s, but rounded on the end like a horse. The eyes of the fish changed color every few seconds, now blue, then gold, then an ashy grey, the colors swirling together. Gold whiskers hung from its grinning mouth, a silver and gold crest erupting from the back of its head, small silver spikes twisting out from it.
Quara hugged the creature and it made a soft gurgling noise like the purring of tiger, “This is Zefirino, he is a Criat, a friend of ours from the sea that followed us to this lake when we fled. There are many Criat in this lake; when a nymph becomes pregnant, their Criat becomes pregnant. They are born at the same time and are united on their first birthday. When I was given Zefirino, he was only three feet long and as thick as that branch over there. They’re not just a pet; they are our friends and allies. Many times, a nymph has been saved from depression just by watching their Criat. When I felt sad or unwanted, Zefirino would take me all over the lake, showing me the secrets of the water. When I was with him I forgot about being strange and different.”
“What do you mean?” Golr asked, stroking Zefirino crest.
“Well, I’m not a normal nymph,” She answered as they walked back to the fire and sat down, Zefirino stretching along after them. Golr handed her some of the catfish on a flat stone and started on his own. She wasn’t hungry so she fed most of it to Zefirino as she thought how to answer him. “Well, first, I was born at night. Nymphs are always born at dawn, I was born at midnight. Even my Criat was affected by that. Most Criat look just like him, except their stripes are green and gold, he was made silver because of me. My eyes are silver; most nymphs have green or brown eyes. And I have more control over water than most nymphs have in they’re entire lifetime. I can make statues out of water; I could do that since I was eight. Now I can make them move, and I don’t have to think about it to keep it stable.”
To prove her point she spoke a few words and gestured over the water. Instantly a Criat made entirely of clear water formed, twisting through the air. It was so lifelike that Zefirino gave a bugling cry and disappeared under the water. He rocketed upward, crashing through the water image, shattering the water form and splashing down again with a surprised snort. He gave Quara a questioning look and she spoke again. This time the Criat was hard around the edges and was in the water. Zefirino swept off to play with the water Criat.
“That’s amazing, why is that bad?” Golr sounded incredulous.
“It’s not just that, since I was born, I have known exactly what the emotions were of everyone around me.” She continued, telling him childhood experiences that scared the other nymphs away, she told him about Thixil and her recent distance and even more recent return. She explained her strange abilities, his eyebrows rose higher and higher as she continued until they had disappeared into his sandy hair.
When she finished, Golr frowned, “I don’t think that’s so bad, the only reason that they seem to avoid you is they think you’re a mind reader. But if they knew the truth, they wouldn’t avoid you.”
Quara sighed, “I try to tell them, but they don’t ever believe me. And it’s hard to talk to them because they run away when ever they see me. Most of the time I’m with Zefirino or I’m at home, watching people run as fast as they can past it.”
His eyes glazed over as he tried to imagine it, obviously he couldn’t because he asked, “What are your houses like?”
“There are no roofs except for changing rooms or places you don’t want to be disturbed in. We don’t need protection against the elements you see. Other than that, they are exactly the same as your houses.”
“I’d like to see that one day.” He said wistfully.
“Actually you could see it right now,” Quara said, “I would encase you in an air bubble, only around your mouth and nose if you want. You could see everything. There would be a problem though; you’re not a nymph, so you’d be swimming instead of walking. Also, the other nymphs would know you’re human immediately and I have no idea how they’d react.”
“All the same,” he said wistfully, “I wish I could see it.”
They sat in silence, watching Zefirino twist and leap with the water form, repeating his bugling cries. Quara smiled, and remembered her first memory of it. Thinking that the lake had suddenly become a river, that it would rush to the sea and leave her stranded.
They watched the sun continue to rise, it was almost noon now and they had not moved for an hour or two. Zefirino had long since become bored with playing with the water Criat.
Quara spoke, “Well, you can’t sleep under a moldy blanket for two nights in a row. We need to make you a shelter that you can use while we build your house or at least some sort of tent.”
Golr nodded and heaved himself to his feet, “I think that I can probably make a pretty decent shelter out of branches and pine needles. Once I’m finished with that, I’ll start working on the house.”
She rolled her eyes, “You’ll need an axe for that, and you still would only have that blanket. I’ll get you some clothes and food. You won’t catch something every time you want to eat, and I hate tricking fish. You can start building the shelter, I’ll be back really soon, I hope.”
Quara entered the water, her silver band dissolving as it merged with the water. Zefirino burbled excitedly as she climbed on his back, feet planted firmly behind his fins. She waved at Golr, who was busy looking for fallen branches.




Chapter Four


The world turned a murky green as they plunged downward into the lake. They shot through the water for several minutes, the Criat gurgling and grinning the whole way. The mindbond they shared helped her know what he was saying. He was talking about what a great time he had with Juatha, the water form. Quara smiled, Zefirino could always cheer her up with his happiness that couldn’t be suppressed.
Mud churned below them as they swept up next to her house and she slid off. “Stay here please.” She said in his gurgling language.
He blew bubbles into her face and burbled, “I’ll wait, even though it’ll be boring.”
Quara turned and hurried into the house, rushing to a cupboard and pulling out some blankets and extra clothes. As she entered the kitchen the voice of her mother spoke behind her, causing her to jump.
“What are you doing Quara?”
Her mind raced as she tried to think of some explanation. She knew that her mother wouldn’t approve of her actions. “I saw an eagle get shot down by a hunter yesterday and I just couldn’t let it die. You know how I hate humans killing animals. I saved it and I’m nursing it back to health. I’m getting some blankets and food for it. That’s where I was yesterday.” She suddenly realized she was babbling and forced herself to be silent.
Mera didn’t seem convinced, “Then why are you taking spare clothes? And you seem to have more blankets than an eagle could possibly use. Please Quara, tell me the truth.”
Quara sighed, “First you must promise that you won’t tell father.”
Her mother’s eye widened, “Of course, is it really that bad?”
Slowly, pausing every minute or so, Quara told her. When she finished, Mera laughed and hugged her.
“Oh Quara! So your little eagle is really a man! Why is that so horrible? Not all humans are evil, far from it in fact. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your father, he wouldn’t like it one bit.”
Quara smiled and hugged her back, grateful that her mother was so understanding. “Thank you.” She whispered.
They broke apart and Mera asked, “So, where is Golr?”
Quara gestured up and to her right, “On the eastern shore.”
“Do you have everything you need?”
She gave her mother a puzzled look, “No, why do you ask?”
She laughed again, “Because Astrid doesn’t want to wait for you much longer, he’s ready to go.” When Quara still looked confused, Mera explained, “I’m coming with you. I want to meet this Golr of yours.”
Quara blinked in surprise but smiled, “Alright. I have everything he’ll need except for a bit of food and an axe.”
Mera grimaced a little, “Astrid’s getting impatient already. You’d better hurry.”
Quara grinned, “I will.” She hurried to a cupboard and pulled it open, rummaging inside it and pulling out some bread. She heard her mother exiting the house behind her as she shut the small door.
Straightening, she headed towards the back of the house. Axes were not often used by nymphs, but her father still had one, leaning against the back wall. Next to it was a saw that was even less often used. Quara paused for a moment, decided that they would both be useful, and lifted them from the thin layer of dark brown mud that joined them to the lake bottom. She rose swiftly over the house to settle softly on Zefirino’s back. He twisted his head and nuzzled her, gurgling a welcome.
Next to them was her mother, sitting astride her own Criat Astrid. Unlike Zefirino, his scales were green and gold and he was twice as long as Zefirino, curling his bottom half so he didn’t rub against the neighboring houses. The ever-changing eyes of the two Criat were excited. From what Quara could sense through her weak mindbond, Zefirino was ready to race. From the set of her mother’s shoulders she could tell that she sensed it too.
They nodded to each other and Mera spoke in the burbling language of the Criat. Quara did not know enough to understand exactly what she said, but she knew anyway. Mera paused as the two Criat tensed, one second, two. Quara hugged Zefirino around the neck and closed her eyes, the small pack of food and clothes rubbing against her stomach.
The instant her mother shouted the signal to go, the two Criat streaked off through the water, powerful tails churning the water behind them into silt filled foam. Zefirino sped through the water, straight towards the shore were Quara had left Golr. Astrid however stayed on the lake bottom, mud flying behind him like the tail of a comet. They quickly lost sight of each other as the muddy bottom grew further away.
Quara looked down, straining to see through the murky gloom. Her mother could probably see her well enough, the sunlight filtering down would immediately show their outline. Astrid’s green and gold back camouflaged perfectly with the sunlight and algae filled water.
The shore was in sight now, the thick layer of reeds parting as they thrust their way through. As they broke the surface, Quara’s eyes fixed on Golr, who was standing stock still, staring. She sat up and waved, wincing a little as spray hit her hard in the face.
In that instant, Astrid shot out of the water, ten feet to her left. He landed with an enormous splash next to them and sped on. Quara gave a yell of surprise and slipped off Zefirino’s back, saw, axe, and pack tumbling down about five feet to settle in the mud. Golr shouted something as she slipped under the surface again.
When she had made it to the shore, clutching the pack and tools, her mother was sitting securely on Astrid’s back. Golr was brandishing his knife and bellowing, eyes bulging. He looked so ridiculous that she started to laugh. He saw her immediately and stopped shouting.
It took Quara a few moments before she could control her laughing enough to speak, “This is my mother Golr. Mother, this is Golr.”
Her mother smiled at him kindly, “Hello, nice to meet you.”
“Oh, well, hello.” He answered sheepishly. He tucked his knife back in his belt and said, “I’ve finished most of the shelter, but I need to use the axe to cut some of the larger branches in half.”
Still giggling, Quara slid out of the water, a silvery necklace appearing around her neck. She handed the axe to Golr, but held the saw, “Which branches need to be cut?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother slide from Astrid’s back and gesture. A delicate tracery of flowers and stars shimmered along her arms and legs.
He indicated some long branches that he had laid aside and they went to work, hacking and sawing them into shape. When they branch was the right length, Quara’s mother would place them against a tree, circling them around until they almost completely encircled it, leaving a small space for Golr to sleep in between. They laid some of the blankets over the branches to fill in the gaps. That finished, Golr, who was the tallest, wound a rope around the tree, tying the blankets and branches to the thick trunk of the pine.
As they finished, the sun began to set, staining the clouds with splashes of bright red and gold. Long shadows stretched across the glistening lake from the opposite shore.
Quara opened the small pack that she had left on the ground and started passing out hunks of bread. They devoured the food quickly, as she passed the blanket to Golr, he asked, “Why isn’t all this soaking wet, or at least damp?”
She laughed again, “This is nymph made, did you think that we slept with wet clothes, or ate soggy food? The things we make are dry even underwater, they are never wet.”
He smiled and ran his hands over the soft fabric, “Perfect thing to wear on a rainy day I suppose.” He stooped and placed the remaining blankets inside the shelter.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She smiled and nodded, dark hair bobbing
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes.
"Well," Quara said, "I'll come back tomorrow."
"Yes, thank you for your help." Golr smiled and waved as she and her mother climbed onto the two Criat's backs.
She waved back as they slid under the murky water, the world turning green and gold with the fading flashes of sunlight.


Part Two


















Chapter Five

The months slid by slowly, like the leaves drifting on the surface of the lake, fading from green to gold, soon they would be brown and winter would begin.
Quara on the lakeshore, watching the sky, her silver eyes reflecting the clouds. Occasionally she saw a bird flit by, sunlight shining of its feathers. It was quiet, but not silent, small rustles and birdsong could be heard among the branches of the pines.
On her left was her mother, a small loom in her lap, weaving. A small ring of pure water sparkled on her finger, casting glittering sparks of light on the thick blanket of pine needles on the ground.
Golr was on her right, his arms stretched over his head. His face turned towards hers, his eyes on her face. She smiled and turned her head towards him, her eyes looking into his.
His arms came down to his sides, and she put her hand into his. It was warm and solid, if a bit hard from wielding the axe, which was leaning against Golr’s finished cabin. Over the last few months, Quara had become very fond of him, although it was a bit awkward when her mother was around.
There was a small cough from her left, her mother was watching them, one eyebrow raised, a small smile on her face. Quara turned her head towards her, shrugged, and looked at the sky again, her hand still enveloped by Golr’s.
There was little conversation as the sky began to darken, the sun sinking below the tops of the trees. Still they lay there, eyes watching the stars appear.
When the moon burst from behind the trees, the two nymphs reacted at once. Quara’s mother smiled and reached her hand into the sky. Quara sighed and closed her eyes, drinking in the feel of the moonlight on her skin. The moon had always had a stronger affect on her than the other nymphs. It felt like a friend, close to her heart, filling her with its pure light.
Golr’s hand tightened on hers, then was torn away, and she heard him grunt with pain and anger. Another hand fell on her, this time on her shoulder. It was strange and foreign, human, but not Golr.
Her eyes snapped open. To her left and right were masses of struggling limbs. Before her, there was a large man there, his eyes hard and cold. His hand clasped her wrists and he knelt on her feet. “Don’t move, nymph,” he growled.
Quara twisted and tried to slide her feet from under his knees. She almost broke free, but an arm wrapped around her throat from behind, blocking her air. She struggled, but a wet cloth was forced over her face, she couldn’t see, and the cloth reeked of a strange flower. She coughed, but the arm was still around her neck. She tried to pry it off, but her hands were still held by the other man. She tried to heave breath into her lungs by force, but nothing came. She coughed again, and then fell backwards into the waiting bands of darkness.



She could hear the pounding of her heart echoing through her head. Swirling fog seemed to fill the inside of her eyes. She opened them, blinking them rapidly.
She was lying in a dark room made of stone, her mother on the right, and Golr, a bloody gash on his forehead, on the left. A small lantern hung from the mildew covered ceiling, casting flickering shadows on the moldy walls. There were a few inches of water lying heavily on the floor, she could feel mud under her hands, and there seemed to be a haze in the air, as if some of the dirt had grown tired of being wet, and leapt into the air.
There was a manacle around her wrist and those of her fellows, thick and rusty, that bolted into the wall. The door in the opposite wall was covered in rust and mold. It looked thick and strong.
What happened? She wondered, rubbing her throat, which was sore.
There was a sloshing sound on her right and a whisper, “Quara, are you awake?”
“Yes,” she replied, turning her head and wincing, her neck seemed bruised. Her mother was staring at her with wide eyes, “What happened?”
“I was unconscious for a while,” She said, “But when I woke up we were in a room like this, except smaller, and made of wood, and I think we were moving.”
“What?”
“The water was moving back and forth and I could hear voices outside. Then I fell asleep and woke up here.”
Quara closed her eyes and tried to quell the panic that was rising inside her. She didn’t want to think about what had happened, she didn’t want to know who was holding them here, but most of all, she wanted out. She felt like the dark room was stifling her, choking her again, and she had to stop herself from breaking down and crying.
The door burst open, sending a spray of water over the three prisoners. Golr jerked awake with a cry of confusion. Three men came in.
Two were dressed in silver armor. It was tight to their bodies. It was plate armor, but it had been engraved with patterns of scales. The helmets had been elongated. There were small rubies that gave the impression of eyes. They were opened slightly in the front, showing the men’s’ faces through it, but they wore silver masks under their helmets, shielding their faces from view. To Quara, it looked like the men had been swallowed by silver alligators.
The third man was dressed in white furs, a silver clasp holding a cap that appeared to be of white snake skin. His boots were of the same strange material. His face was hard and cold, like marble in water. His eyes were a dark green, but they seemed to flicker with some strange inner emotion that Quara couldn’t identify. It was completely alien. His hair was dark brown, almost black.
He strode across the room, and Quara noticed that there was a strange grace to the way he moved, it reminded her of her father, and the way he walked. It was nymph like grace, yet he was obviously human. She felt a trickle of unease in her stomach.
The man looked into her eyes, one eyebrow rose slightly when he saw her silver eyes, but there was a large grin of satisfaction on his face, as if he had been waiting for her. She shuffled backwards a few inches, the water sloshing around her.
The man knelt, ignoring the dirty water. His hands shot out and caught her by the ear. She lay there, completely still, as she felt his fingers tracing the curve of her ear until its point. He smiled, and then dropped his hand to hers. She felt a shiver up her spine as he felt the thin webbing between her fingers.
He released her and smiled. The feeling of unease intensified as the man nodded to the two guards and they shut the door.
The man spoke, his voice was quiet and low, like the sound of the sea from a distance, “You are water nymphs.” It was not a question, nobody reacted.
“Not from the sea, but the lake. I have been searching for the nymphs for centuries, and never suspected they were so close.” More silence, “You do not speak, it is possible you cannot understand me. Can you understand my words? Speak.”
“Wh—what do you want?” Quara whispered.
The man laughed, it was a harsh, distant sound, as if he were laughing from inside a locked room. He reached out and stroked her face with one of his cold hands. She flinched away from him, and he removed his hand, “I shall tell you my story first,” he replied.
“I am Marek. I was once a nymph, but I left the water to become a merchant among the humans. After many years, and after I had accumulated a fortune, I wanted to return to the water. But the foolish nymphs would not give me the way to return. I was forced to remain human, trapped among them, unable to see the underwater cities.” The man’s eyes grew distant, as if he saw them in front of him now. Marek blinked, and continued, “I was determined to seek out a way to return. So I searched for water nymphs along the shores and rivers. Once, when I was searching the Jarles River, I was attacked by a white alligator. I survived only because I stabbed it’s right foot with a bone on the ground.”
He smiled at Quara’s confused expression, “It was Random Magick that saved me. Yes, something I did evoked the Magick. I suddenly grew much stronger, and gained many other powers besides. And now, what I want. I want you to search for a way for me to return to the water.”
For a minute there was silence, then Quara’s mother spoke, “And what if we refuse?”
Marek snapped his fingers.
Instantly, white fire burst from the ground around her, it was not affected by the water, but burned on the surface. There was a terrible scream, frenzied splashing, wails of pain.
“Mother!” Quara cried, she turned to Marek, who was smiling, and grasped his wrists, “Stop! Stop!”
He turned to her, a raging pain spread through her body. She screamed and writhed, but the pain only intensified. Distantly, she could hear Golr shouting, then she felt herself fall. Her plunged into the water and hit stone, pain lanced through her mind and sent her back into the darkness.

[Kiddo [le pwnsome]]

Chapter Six

When she woke again, she found herself in Golr’s arms, cradled against his chest. There was a cool hand on her face. Quara sat up and looked around.
Her mother was in the corner, her eyes closed, her breathing fast and shallow, but Quara could tell she was asleep. She turned and found herself looking into Golr’s eyes, which were tense with worry and fear.
“What happened?” She asked, rubbing her head.
Golr tried to smile, but all he managed was a small twitch, “Marek left. He told us we had a few hours to decide, then left.”
“How long has it been?”
“A few hours.”
Quara smiled, and was about to reply, when the door burst open again, splattering them with dirty water as before. Marek charged in, scowling at Golr. But when he saw that Quara was awake, his face softened into an expression of confidence and serenity.
“So, have you decided?”
There was silence, Quara looked back at Golr, and he nodded.
“You have abducted us, imprisoned us, and tortured us, and you expect us to cooperate?” Golr asked quietly.
There was silence, Marek’s eyes blazed with anger. When he spoke, his voice was even, but Quara could feel the rage boiling inside him, “I see I will have to give you more incentive.” He turned his head slightly and nodded to one of his guards, who had followed him into the dungeon, shutting the door behind him.
The armored man strode forward, the dirty water sloshing and splashing. He paused before her and looked back at Marek. Marek shook his head silently and gestured at Quara’s mother. The man started forward again, then stopped and glanced back again.
Marek sighed in exasperation, and made a strange hand signal, as if he were lifting a bottle or a sword in front of him. The guard made a small noise of comprehension and walked forward again. He stopped in front of Mera. He reached a gauntleted hand down and gripped her around the throat.
Quara stiffened, the man grunted and lifted her mother off the ground and slammed her into the wall. She gasped, and the color drained from her face. Quara looked down and cried out with shock and horror. Her mother was not wearing shoes, and her toes had been lifted out of the water. Quara could see her straining to reach the filthy water, but she was too high.
The green tinge was flooding out of her skin, her ears were losing their points, rounding out. But what was worst was the look on her face, one of great pain and loss. Tears slid down her cheeks and into the murky water, small ripples spread below her feet.
Marek grinned cruelly as Quara started to sob as well. He nodded, and the guard dropped her mother with a splash.
“I will ask you again, will you search for a way for me to return to the water?”
There was absolute silence, broken only by the quiet tears of the former nymph. Quara’s mind was filled with confused thoughts, half-formed notions. She couldn’t abandon her mother to live out her life as a human. She knew she had to find a way to help her become a nymph again, but at the same time, she didn’t want to help Marek. But she knew had had no choice.
She looked into Golr’s eyes, and she could sense that he had come to the same conclusion. He nodded, and she turned back to Marek, “Fine,” her voice was quiet, but she tried to be as cold and scornful as she could, while her eyes were still filled with tears. “We will search for you, but do not expect us to succeed. We do not know where to look, or who to ask.”
Marek sniggered, “Ask the sea nymphs, they had the secret, they must know it still.”
Quara clenched her fists, “Of course. When can we leave?”
Marek stepped forward, “You will not leave with her,” he pointed to Quara’s mother, “And I must take precautions that you do not scamper away like two frightened rabbits.” He walked closer and knelt in front of them again. Golr shifted backwards, carrying Quara with him, but they were close to the stone wall and they could move no farther.
Marek reached out and touched Quara on the forehead with two fingers. She tried to pull away, but he clasped his other hand around her neck, his thumb pressing against her throat, holding her there. His eyes closed and he murmured something, his brow furrowing in concentration.
Suddenly, a spike of pain lanced through her mind, blinding her with white light. Her back arched with pain, her head thrown into the crook of Golr’s arm. She almost screamed, but the pain dissipated, as quickly as it had come, and it was gone.
In front of her, Marek’s eyes were closed, his face smooth and empty. Then he smiled, his face filling with an expression of bliss. Suddenly, Quara couldn’t feel anything from him, not his emotions, nothing.
His eyes opened, and his eyes fixed on something on her face, just above her eyes. When he spoke, his voice was bursting with a perverse happiness, “Your mind,” he tapped her between the eyes, startling her, “is very different from anything I’ve ever felt before, different from many of the other nymphs I’ve encountered.” He reached forward and stroked her face, rubbing his thumb over something on her forehead, at the place where he had touched her before. She turned her head away and shivered, pressing into Golr’s chest.
Marek chuckled softly, and slid his hand up to Golr’s forehead. Quara felt him stiffen as the pain began. He clutched her to him and closed his eyes. She watched as he bit down on his lip, straining not to cry out. Blood trickled down onto his chin.
Quara felt tears pricking at her eyes again as she saw his pain. She looked over at Marek, and saw a vicious pleasure on his face. But there was a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, and he pushed his fingers harder into Golr’s skull.
Golr started to moan, the blood from his lip starting to fall from his face, into the filthy water. His body started to shake, and strangled gulping sounds cam from his throat, like he was drowning in pain.
“Stop!” Quara shouted, grasping Marek around the wrist and trying to force his hand away, “Stop! You’re killing him!”
Marek blinked and pulled his hand out of her grasp. Golr sagged against the stone, his breathing heavy, as if he had run for hours. Quara put her hand over his heart, it was weak and irregular under her fingers.
She heard laughter behind her and turned on Marek, standing and looking down at him, “You could have killed him! You nearly did! What were you trying to do?” Her anger had almost blinded her. Marek was powerful, and cruel, but she didn’t care, she was incensed.
Marek grinned, “I could not reach his mind, his skull must be too thick to penetrate. Not surprising really.” He laughed.
Quara’s anger did not abate, but she was bewildered by his behavior, enough that she did not reply. Marek had captured her, threatened her, tortured her, and removed her mother from the water, but now he was acting like they had known each other for years, and were best friends, or even lovers.
She glared at him, her eyes blazing. Then she turned and knelt next to Golr, brushing his face with her hand. She heard Marek stand, the muddy water sliding off him, trickling slowly into the filthy pool on the floor.
“You must leave now,” he said, “My men will prepare you with food and supplies.”
Quara ignored him, stroking Golr’s cheek. She whispered a single word, focusing on his half closed eyes. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Marek as they opened, slowly, fogged with pain. He groaned and sat up, his face drenched with sweat. Quara helped him to his feet, taking much of his weight on herself.
Slowly, they turned back towards Marek, and she spoke, “We will leave now. We will return, but we do not do this for you. We do it for her.”
She gestured to Mera, whose grief and despair had sent her to sleep. Marek smiled smugly, and clicked his fingers. Instantly, the shackles binding them to the walls melted away like smoke.
Quara stalked towards the door, past Marek, past the silver clad guard, leading Golr towards the door. When they reached it, she hauled on the rusty iron ring. The door opened slowly, pushing against the water.
Quara whispered a word and felt a dribble of water slide up her leg and settle just above her knee. She looked left, then right, and saw a long, dark corridor, with crackling torches placed every few feet. There was a thin sheet of water on the ground, and Quara could see water sliding under the doors that broke the smooth stone.
She stepped out, holding Golr up, and considered the two directions, unsure of where to go. She heard splashes behind her, and sensed the guard and Marek exiting the cell. She turned and glared at them, silver eyes blazing.
Marek grinned smugly and said, “Follow me,” then stalked off down the left hand passage.
Quara, still supporting Golr, followed, her head spinning with what they had just agreed to do.