Boom!
The sonic sound reached both their ears moments before the rush of water encased them. The unnatural underwater waves tossed Calista about, and she fought against the currents as much as her frail 134-cycles body could. Mermaids typically didn’t develop strength of body until around 169 cycles, unlike their counterparts. Calista’s mother birthed her early, so she had fallen behind the rest; however, what she lacked in body, she made up with her mind.
Her father snatched her up in the midst of twisting and carried her out of harm’s way. When they reached a small cave away from the chaos, he let her go.
“What was that?” Calista asked.
“I don’t know, but I have to go check it out.”
She grabbed his arm. “Father, please, stay with me. I can’t stay here alone.”
“You’re right,” he said, picking her back up. “We’ll go together. We have to find the source and make sure there are no other merfolk at risk.”
Calista stayed tucked under his massive arms, swimming beneath his body into the currents. He raced through the deep blue, dodging other fish and debris caught in the waves. Within minutes, they neared the original site of destruction.
Several Hai Ho Shang, mermen from the region near the humans’ China, were in a battle with a large fishing ship. Their nature was to pull down ships and drown the humans in the sea, but only if they perceived a threat. Red stained the water alongside human limbs and a Hai Ho Shang, whose large, fish-like body was impaled with a harpoon. Smaller fish had come to feast on the dead merman, whilst his brothers fought with the ship to bring it down.
“They were at Council with us!” Calista said. “What happened?”
“Calista, I need you to stay back. I must assist them.”
As soon as he said that, another harpoon impaled a Hai Ho Shang, this time through his bald head. An eyeball floated to the surface as his body sunk into the depths.
Her father stifled Calista’s scream. “Hush, Princess. I need you to hide in the caves so you don’t get hurt.”
She knew what his request meant; he was going to interfere with the battle. “No, Father! Don’t go to them! They are doomed already.”
“I am King Aquilis, Sub-Mate to the Queen of the Arelia Region of Merfolk. If I don’t help, who will?” He cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. “This is why we must stop fighting the humans. Do you understand now?”
Before she could respond or protest further, he whooshed away toward the carnage. She couldn’t bring herself to hide in the caves, nor could she help, no matter how much she wanted. She resigned to watch in horror as her father entered the battle.
With only three Hai Ho Shang left against an unknown number of humans on the ship, Calista feared the worst. But, her father was strong, one of the strongest mermen in all the regions. Surely, he could save the others.
One of the smaller mermen jumped out of the water and came back down, pulling a human man with him. The other two mermen attacked the belly of the ship, swing their abnormally large flukes at it in an attempt to drown it along with the others on board.
She heard her father try to calm the remaining Hai Ho Shang, yelling at them to stop their attack, to run instead of die.
They did not listen.
She had heard of their anger running so deep, they would go into a blind rage, but she had never seen it for herself. Their sharp teeth snarled, and a blue glow swallowed their large eyes as they whipped their flukes at the boat, which started cracking under their attack.
Why won’t he fight? Calista wondered, as her father continued trying to communicate with the mermen. They wouldn’t hear him, no matter how loud he screamed; he should know that. He was the one who told her about their rages.
The smaller merman burst out of the water and plunged back down with another human man, who thrashed about in the Hai Ho Shang’s mouth. The merman crunched through bone and continued working the human until two halves of him floated away in blood. The human’s mouth moved for moments until his brain fully ceased functions.
One of the other mermen’s fluke smashed into Calista’s father by accident, sending him tumbling through the water. No matter his strength, he couldn’t stand up to a tail meant to penetrate ships.
Calista started toward him, but then stopped when another harpoon swished through the water – and through her father.
She screamed again, her shrill voice penetrating the water like the sirens of her ancestry. Her own anger rose, taking over her eyes, which took on the same blue glow as the Hai Ho Shang. She opened her mouth again, her young, sharp teeth bared, and screamed once more.
The remaining Hai Ho Shang took notice of her, and then saw her father falling into the dark, where other fish would consume his body until nothing was left. The ship above them dipped into the water, the mermen having accomplished their goal of drowning it. When they realized that the ship had come under water, they ignored her and her father for the humans flailing at the surface. They never left survivors.
Apparently, that included her father.
I n her court in the underwater region of Arelia, Queen Calista’s gaze skimmed over the subjects and held back her insecurities.
Not the time to show weakness, she thought.
She had been thrust into her role as Queen of the Arelia Region of Merfolk when her mother had returned to the sea just a cycle earlier. Her mother had died much before her time of rule was over, but then again, she had never really been a true queen since her sub-mate died when Calista was just a young mermaid. The cycle after his death, her mother lost her young mermaid she was to birth, leaving Calista the only heir to Arelia.
Her mother had not acquired a new sub-mate, as was the norm and almost a requirement of all queens – remaining without a sub-mate affected their ability to rule. Her ineffectiveness and lack of power had been an embarrassment and a stain on their regions, and when she died, Calista vowed to restore their position within Council and the entire Kingdom of Merfolk.
But now, sitting on the throne in the underwater Region of Arelia, Calista wondered exactly how she would accomplish that. Their region had lost their seats on Council and had been virtually left on their own. Their trade with the other regions had dried up, and their merfolk were suffering more than ever. Calista could not do anything while her mother was alive, but now, she could fix everything.
She glanced to her right, at her sub-mate, Jergen, who sat on his throne in his human form. She knew her father never wanted that for her, but with her mother’s premature death, she had to mate quickly; usually, the princess had months to mate while the queen slowly faded from the region. They had declared their union as soon as her mother’s body had been sent to sea and immediately consummated, less than one cycle ago. They hadn’t even discussed it before announcing it to the region. They both knew what had to be done for her reign.
Calista rose from her throne to address the court. “Merfolk of Arelia, I know your concerns, and I understand them. For many cycles, we have suffered needlessly. We have lost our status as the most powerful region and have fallen in the eyes of our fellow merfolk.”
“Queen Calista?” one of her subjects called out.
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