Bound With The Water Dragon

A Haven for Myths

Deep down, Morgan sensed Ejder’s shift. He knew Morgan was right but wouldn’t admit it. He did shoot his soul out of himself somehow, leaving them to contemplate who to ask and if it would be wise to involve any of the elders in this. 

“Technically, they were involved for other reasons. Maintenance mostly,” Ejder supplied their partnership. “To report to them that I failed would be our undoing though.”

“Does that mean we can’t ask Liia?” 

“I fail to see how you wouldn’t be able to ask her. She isn’t an elder.”

“Wait, what? I thought you said that she was.”

“Her kind is. The ones that came before her; before the earth became a resting place. Liia is an interstellar species created by man and her sisters before her.”

Morgan shook his head trying to understand their reality. 

“I’m not truly up on their reproductive behaviors as no one has been in direct contact with these maidens in thousands of years. It was said that their fauna within their home planet would help their fertility along. I haven’t got the slightest clue how,” Ejder supplied as Morgan stepped closer to the largest opening in the cavern. “The more they traveled, however, the less they reproduced which is why many were sent to earth to resupply their species with much needed support. Only, none of their spawns came back as true maidens. They all carried one or more genes from their human companion…”

“You mean, none of them were allowed back into the stars?”

His thoughts began to buckle with every tossed aside memory of just how damning not belonging felt. Morgan swallowed the growing lump in his throat as he tried to hide the emotion building there. 

“Exactly. Not one half breed was allowed to make the trip, stranding thousands of spawns…”

“Mermaids,” Morgan corrected him sharply. 

“Not exactly.” 

Morgan lifted his brow in question, “What does that mean? If they’re half and half…”

“That’s the thing. They weren’t half and half. It was exceedingly painful to watch them dive in to the seas as happy parents only to find their kin ruined by humans.”

“But they provided life for these beings,” Morgan defended his kind. 

“Right. It’s not their fault but none of their children would have made it in space. Their own magic was not strong enough or even being produced depending on the human toxicity levels.”

“So they were just left?” he questioned. “Does this still continue? Does she know?” 

“Liia is too young to know. She’s only a little over one hundred years old. Still very young for a mermaid,” Ejder assured him and yet Morgan felt no peace. 

“Does she have a family at least?”

Ejder seemed to consider what it was he was asking. Morgan didn’t want to hurt her with his new knowledge. The past was devastating, similar to his. It was why people made fun of him. It was why most people didn’t take the time to understand and why he gave up wanting to gain closure for it. When he’d think about it, his time on earth was rather damning considering. Other sixteen year olds were out enjoying life. They’d have fun with their friends and explore what made themselves tick. Not Morgan. His whole life flew on and away from him like the wind racing away from a storm. It nearly felt as if he wasn’t supposed to be living the one he had…

“They’re all one big family. Brothers and sisters that span the waters all around us…” 

“No, I mean… does she have a family? As in, you said they come from human counterparts. The mermaids at least…”

“That I can’t answer. I wasn’t there,” Ejder continued. “But mermaids have been recycling their gifts with humans, mostly sailors, all over the world.”

“You don’t think she seeked me out because of my humanness?” he asked awkwardly. Quickly after he stuttered at the thought. “You know what? Never mind…”

Ejder seemed to get it then. For being a small part of him, he certainly was picking up on things faster than Morgan would have liked. 

“You like her.”

“That was not what I asked,” Morgan protested. 

“You do…”  Ejder’s voice lightened dramatically. “And here I thought you were only interested in their history.”

Morgan could not hide his embarrassment then. He did all he could to get the dragon out of his personal feelings and back on track to get a hold of his body but before he could, he froze. 

“There’s no sense in being a child about it,” Ejder pushed.

“Wait, really. Stop…” Morgan hushed the dragon. “The mermaids…”

“Oh here we go…”

“They weren’t the only ones affected by man, were they?” he questioned gravely. 

It sucked the playfulness out of the room instantly. 

“Who else was affected, Ejder?” Morgan asked, unsure that he wanted the answer. 

“Too many. Earth became a haven for myths. There were types that scared the humans right out of the water that were left untouched like the kelpies and kraken. But the smaller ones, man felt they had the ability to overpower them. In most cases, they were right. With no magic and their then defenseless beings, many lost their ability to care for themselves.”

Morgan frowned at that. Memories began pouring through his mind that were not his own. Ejder showed bits and pieces of what he had seen with his own eyes. Barbaric attempts to take mermaids from where they caused shipwrecks among other things. It was not a good state of being back then, always ready for a fight. Always ready for the end.

“Liia must see you as a mutual friend if she hasn’t attacked you like the other two,” Ejder supplied. 

“Despite what you showed me, women are different. They can be cunning but loving souls. I’m not ready to pass my judgement on her,” he said finally. Morgan shifted to step back into the room when he saw a form pass beside him.  “Who else knows about this place?”

“It’s no secret. It’s history. Just like your human monuments,” Liia replied carefully as she turned the corner. Her shoulders shrugged beside her as she leaned back on her tail. “I hope I’m not intruding. You just flew away, quite literally.”

Morgan’s discomfort resurfaced again. His questions swirled around in his mind while Ejder softly slipped away. 

“I thought, um… that you couldn’t see me down there,” he forced out. 

“Oh, I couldn’t see anything. Not until your fishbone of a figure flew above the snow,” she assured him.

Above the snow…

“At least, that’s what I thought it was until I got up here,” she chuckled lightly. 

Morgan couldn’t help himself then. His concern only built. What if she was only drawn to him for his species type? 

“How did you get up here? If you don’t mind me asking,” Morgan tilted his head, furthering his concern. 

Possibilities swirled around in his mind as she contemplated what he meant. Her confusion, apparent before him pushed Morgan to help her. 

“What I mean is, I’m not exactly sure how my flight is triggered. It would be nice to know how to get back down to the normal level,” he offered, doing his best to be sincere. 

It seemed to shake Liia from her stupor. 

“Oh, right,” she stuttered for a moment, then added, “Well, there aren’t really normal levels in here, as I’ve found out.” Liia shrugged as she continued to explain much of the setups that she passed to find them. “It’s almost like at one point it was a school. I can’t tell what it was for specifically but each room I passed had these markings ground down into the ice or around them on the opaque pillars of ice surrounding it.

Morgan frowned once more, deeper in thought, wishing he could push Ejder for more information but she was in front of him again with those big blue eyes hoping for what, he wasn’t sure. 

“I could show you if you wanted to,” Liia continued, nervously petting one of her fins as she spoke. “But I overheard a leviathan saying that they just came from a human town just off of Norway. Maybe she could give you something a little more comfortable, or lead us there to help you…”

Morgan’s smile spread then, assuring her that he would really appreciate it. 

“Flippers are great and all, even for flying,” he said, shaking his head. “But it would be nice to walk properly again.”

Her smile matched his and was glorious to watch. She lit up like the sunrise. Morgan couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her. 

Again he felt her loop her arm through his. Her gesture only made him want to hold her closer but Morgan refrained. He did not need to be teased by a several thousand year old dragon…

“I can only imagine,” she replied, making him wonder if she ever did.