The price of money

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Kicking her tail powerfully, she swept through the water. Although it was summer now, in the surface world, the sea was at its usual glacial temperature. Not that that bothered Radian, for she was born in these waters, and being a mermaid, had a natural liking for cold, salty water anyway.

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Her sleek body swam through the water at an alarming speed. Small silver fish darted out of her way, reforming after she had passed them. Her long blondish hair streamed out behind her, and her large green eyes shone with the exhilaration of her flight. Her webbed hands were pushed out in front of her to better navigate through the waters, for there were dangerous rapids and strong currents this close to the surface, so she had to be careful. Her long green tail, a multitude of shades, was sleekly muscled and strong, and she took pride in it.

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Spotting a ship, she shot up, breaking through the surface of the water to get a better look. There was a biting wind, and the sun shone brightly in contrast to it. With her upper body above the water, she watched the ship.

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They were fascinating objects, ships. They stayed on the surface of the water, yet some forms of them fell beneath the water, and remained in the position they were in when they fell for all eternity. Sometimes they had humans on them, mortals, yet sometimes they did not. They came in all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes they did not mean any harm to the merfolk, yet sometimes they did.

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Coming out of her reverie, she watched as two males on the ship, hefting a large spear between them approached the edge of the ship. They had an evil glint in their eyes as they watched her.

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She swam closer to see what they were doing. This made their smiles grow.

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Suddenly, without warning, the spear flew the air and sank into Radian's stomach. Shock was evident on her features as she watched her life's blood spill out of her wound. She put her shaking hands to the spear, unsure if she should pull it out or not. A length of rope was attached to the end of the spear, and the men on the ship began to pull her towards them. Her strength seemed to flow out of her with her blood, and she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness.

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As they pulled her through the water, sharp pains shot through her body. And then, she was out of the water, in the chill wind. She screamed: a high shrill sound, piercing the ominous silence. The men recoiled, and she fell a few feet, almost making it back into the water, but then more men joined the two, and she was hoisted up and onto the deck of the ship.

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Lying on the wooden planks of the deck, she trembled. She was gasping for water, her large green eyes began to sting with the long contact they had had with the air. For merfolk had no eyelids; they had no need of them underwater.

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The men laughed to themselves at their accomplishment. A mermaid would fetch a hefty price on the market, especially with that tail of hers. Her naked skin covered in scales. Her chest rose and fell with each breath. Those eyes of hers were rare though. There were no whites to them. They were a rich green all over.

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She screeched in distress. He shook his head. She would die soon and then the pain would be over. Not caring to watch her tragic end, he pushed his way past the circle of men around her and stalked across the deck to his cabin. Being the first mate of the Oceans Song, he did not have to sleep down below with the other men. Instead he had his own cabin, with his own bunk. His chest was tied securely at the end of the bed. He walked over to the chair beside his desk and sat down. His body wasn't what it used to be, and this would be his last voyage. It was fortuitous to have caught the mermaid. She would prove to be his trophy, commemorating his last voyage. He sighed as the ache in his knee dissipated.

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James, the captain's son, came wearily out of his cabin. Not being a sailor like the rest of the men aboard, he was confined to his cabin for the whole journey. All the men were gathered in a circle in the middle of the ship. Walking over to them, he pushed his way through the crowding mass of people, until he reached the centre, and there before him lay the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

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It was a mermaid: a female mermaid. Her long supple body lay sprawled out on the deck, and her feminine features were contorted in pain. He felt rude staring at her, and went to walk away when he noticed the large spear piercing her flat stomach. Blood was seeping out of the wound, and her hands were shaking violently, whilst hovering just above the spear.

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He dropped to his knees, unsure of what to do, yet desperate to help her. Looking up at the faces surrounding them, he cried out.

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"Aren't you going to help her? She's dying!" When he got no response, he was taken aback.

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"Will? Greg?" He appealed to them, but they just shook their heads and walked away. The crowd began to disperse then too, unsure of what to do now that James was involved too. Being the captain's son, he was exempt from the usual roughhousing, and teasing from the other men, and they felt uncomfortable around him, afraid they would incur the captain's wrath by saying something to him.

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James cast his wide eyes back to the mermaid. He bent his head down to her.
"What can I do? Tell me what to do." he begged her, tears leaking out of his eyes. She drew in a ragged breath, and with that, her whole body sagged and her hands fell to the deck. The deep green of her eyes began to fade, until they were a dull black, and her skin lost its shine. Looking at her now, James would have thought her long dead.

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He got slowly to his feet, never taking his eyes off her. She was lifeless now, and there was no hope left for her. He stood there for a while; just looking at her, mourning for her, and then his father appeared. He walked over to James, the sound of his boots blending in with the sounds of the sailors at work and the seagull's calls.

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He was in his usual clothing; the large captains hat, the long opulent coat with stitching along the edges, the tight black trousers, and the shining black boots. His dark blue shirt was tucked into his trousers, hanging over them, and unbuttoned at the top, to reveal his amulet, hanging against his skin. He took off his hat, and knelt down beside James, so that he was at eye level with him.

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James gaze remained on the mermaid, but his father gently cupped his chin, and turned his head towards him. He looked into his eyes, seeing the sadness and anger that raged within the boy. Captain Brine looked released James's chin, and shook his head sadly,

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"There was nothing you could do boy," he said sympathetically. Looking at James, he realised that that wasn't going to take his feelings away, so he grasped him gently by the shoulder and, standing, led him away from the corpse. "Come on now boy, you have to harden your heart to these things. Mermaids may be beautiful, but they are vicious creatures, killing all kinds of things in the sea. They are ruthless demons. It's good that we kill them, because that means that we are saving all the other creatures in the sea. Do you understand?"

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James looked up at his father and nodded woodenly.

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"There's a good lad, " his father said jovially, clapping him on the back.

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Gliding through the water, Faren smiled to himself. He was going to tell her today. He was going to tell her that he loved her. He felt as if his heart would burst with emotion as he swam after her. She was always exploring, going closer to the surface than anyone else, and he admired her for it.

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His powerful, more thickly muscled tail, which was of a deeper green than Radians, with streaks of black in it beat at the water, propelling him towards her. He could see her now, as his dark green eyes pierced the murky depths of the water. She was far above him now, almost at the surface. He smiled at her exuberance, and swam slowly towards her.

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Suddenly, her body gave a sharp jerk and blood stained the water around her. The sunlight glinted off a metallic object in her stomach. He panicked and swam faster, as fast as he could go. He felt as if his heart would burst. Then her body began to move, up and out of the water. He lost sight of her, yet continued on.

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By the time he broke the surface, he was just in time to see her dragged over the edge of ship. It was an enormous ship, much bigger than the usual kind that floated past here.

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Faren couldn't see anyone on the boat now; they were all away from the edge of the ship, with Radian. His eyes burned with hate. Circling the ship in the water, he could hear a commotion on board, and then it was deathly still. He searched for weak points in the ships hull; somewhere he could pry out a loose board, but there was none. The ship was secure.

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He screamed in despair. Radian was dead.

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Faren swam back to his village in the murky depths of the sea, and sought out Radian's family. He told her father what he had seen, and almost stepped back at the anger on his face.

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Radian's family were infuriated and saddened by her passing, and they gathered all the people of the Mer, to punish the land dwellers on the ship. Faren led them to where he had last seen the ship, and they tracked it down from there. The merfolk were silent in their pursuit; so as not to alert the humans, and to show their respect's to Radian's family. They swam through the night, on into the next day, and the next, determined in their hunt.
When they found the ship, wallowing low in the water, they did not attack it, for they could not reach the humans, instead they surrounded it, waiting for their chance.

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The boy, James, was wandering around the deck of the ship listlessly, with nothing to do. He went over to the edge of the ship, and peered down at the waters below. For a moment, he thought he saw the shimmering skin of an animal, but in an instant it was gone, and he dismissed it.

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The first mate walked over to him, or limped for he had a weak left knee, as all who were with him when he had captured his first mermaid should know. He carried a fishing rod in one hand, and a tackle box in the other.

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"Here boy, " he said gruffly, thrusting the fishing equipment at James. "Cap'n says you should try your hand at fishin'. Who knows, eh? Maybe you'll catch us some dinner!"

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He barked a laugh, and then walked off. Although he no longer had the stride of a young man, he had he heart of one, for he held his head high, and glared at anyone who looked at him twice.

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James set down the tackle box carefully. Then he took out some bait, attached it to the end of the fishing line, and proceeded to cast it out. He had fished before, for living in the seaside village of Harrep, the only past times were fishing or sailing.

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Patiently watching his bait bob in the water, he held his rod steady. Feeling something take the bait, he held on to the fishing rod, as the creature tugged to get free. He smiled in delight at his luck, for sometimes you couldn't catch something for days on end. He pulled on the rod to bring the fish out of the water, but it was too heavy. His eyes widened as he calculated in his head just how big the fish must be. Then, whatever had taken the bait pulled hard on the line, and James, still grasping the rod, was hauled over the edge of the ship. With a loud splash, he hit the water.

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On board, some of the crew ran to the side of the ship to see what had happened. Captain John Brine stepped up beside them, and peered at the water below him. They couldn't see anything that would have made a splash, so they walked away from the water and went back to their duties.

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Beneath the water, James struggled. When he had hit the water, a pair of hands had grabbed at him, dragging him under. Unable to see or breathe underwater, he kicked and struggled to break free, but their grip on him was strong.

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He felt a pressure on his forehead, and realised that one of the creatures had kissed him. Opening his eyes, he found that he could see. He dragged in a ragged breath, and then felt a strange sensation in his neck. Reaching up his fingers, he felt at the side of his neck, only to find that his skin had turned into flaps, like a fish's gills. Water flowed out through the gills, and the air flowed into his lungs.

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He accepted all this instantly, being a trusting and open boy. Looking through the water all around him, he saw mermaids. They were different from the one that had died on the ship though. They were in the water, and possessed natural fluid movements. They were free. Yet there was a sinister undertone in the way they were acting towards him. Anger shone in their eyes, and hate.

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James remembered what his father had told him about the merfolk, and he felt fear. They were going to kill him. One of them came towards James, a young mermaid, with a purple tail of all different shades. Her long black, wavy hair was hanging loosely to her hips. She touched his cheek.

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"Do not be afraid, young mortal. We do not mean to harm you. You are an innocent." She had a lilting voice, and he was surprised he could understand her.

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"How can I..I come you are speaking English..miss?" James asked. When he talked, water flowed into his mouth, but then it flowed out through his gills, and not down his throat.

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She smiled at him, "we are not speaking .enkliss," she struggled over the unfamiliar word, " you are speaking the language of the mer."

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At this, he snapped his mouth shut. He looked all around him. The mermaids were all holding a weapon of some sort spears mostly, with some knives and pitchforks too. They did not seem to be friendly. He wondered aloud why they were following the ship, and the mermaid with the purple tail looked at him sharply, putting a finger over his lips.

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"James? James?" the captain called out, wanting to see if his son had caught anything yet. The boy had a lot of luck when it came to fishing, or just a lot of patience.

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Becoming worried, he walked to the other side of the ship, past the general clutter on board. Yet he couldn't see him anywhere. Remembering the mysterious splash, realisation hit him like a knife.

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"Man overboard!" he shouted in a booming voice. James could not have been under the water long. Why didn't he just swim to the surface?

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A sailor named Greg, who had been friendly with James, sensing the loneliness and boredom in the boy, was the first to the railing around the edge of the ship. He threw a life ring overboard, but he could not see James anywhere.

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Throwing off his jacket, he dived smoothly into the water. Diving down deep, he encountered the merfolk. But they didn't see him, they were centred on the boy. Swimming swiftly back up to the surface, Greg grabbed the rope that had been thrown over the edge of the ship by the crew.

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Hoisting himself up, and landing on the deck, his eyes sought out the captain. He spotted him at the railing and ran over to him,

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"Its them, sir. The Mer people. They've got him. They have weapons." He panted, disjointedly.

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To be continued.