Moonlit Waters: His Mermaid Luna

Chapter 5: Shattered

OCEANA

Panic tightened in my chest as I looked around but there was no one. The guards were on the opposite side, where I was going. Therefore, I only had one option to ensure this human would not get away.

I opened my lips to release my siren, ready to submerge so the water could carry it, but something unexpected stopped the sound in my throat.

The body of the dog the human was cradling shifted, and I heard the sickening crack of bones. I remained motionless, my eyes wide, as I watched this strange phenomenon unfold. How was this possible?

I slowly swam closer, keeping my gaze fixed on the human as he approached his second dog, frantically pumping its stomach and repeatedly calling its name: Lykos.

His pleas were rife with desperation as he kept calling out to it and his voice was raw with emotion. I didn't even notice how far I'd swum until I felt myself bump into a rock. Realizing I was too close, I quickly hid behind the rock, peeking out to watch as the human sobbed beside his immobile pet.

A wave of sadness washed over me, and I didn’t register it until I felt something wet running down my face. I was crying along with the human. Quickly wiping my tears, I looked around, feeling like a traitor for shedding tears for him. But I couldn’t help how I felt.

People had always told me that humans were barbaric monsters incapable of empathy. Yet, it was clear that they cared about their pets. My mind raced with questions as I turned to face the other body, which was still human.

“Does this mean the pets turn human after they die?” I murmured, but my thoughts were interrupted by movement as the human, who had appeared defeated and hopeless just a second before, stood up and began pumping the other pet's stomach again.

I watched him plead with it to wake up, and just as he was about to give up, the dog moved. As the creature threw up water, the man held it in his arms, crying in relief.

Even though it was wrong and went against everything I had been taught, I could not help but feel sorry for the human and his pet as I watched the scene play out. I knew little about either species, but their loss weighed heavily on me. There was no denying the unbreakable bond between them.

But then all of a sudden the atmosphere changed again, and I saw the newly awakened dog clamber out of the human's arms, looking at the other dead dog. Lykos, as the man had called it, dashed toward the dead dog, collapsing on the sand, visibly dizzy from nearly drowning.

His cries were low and haunting as if he had no strength, and I could not help but cry again as I watched him try so hard to move the dead dog. Since Lykos' owner was a man, I decided to refer to him as a boy even though I was not sure if he was a girl or a boy.

I could feel grief deep down in my heart as I observed the man and his pet sobbing over the dead dog and hot tears trailed down my face again. But then I heard it again—the sound of bones breaking—and I watched in amazement as the human's body fractured and reformed.

When the sound stopped, there was no longer a human and his dog in front of me, only two dogs. The human had transformed into a dog too, and my breath caught in my throat as I rubbed my eyes, wondering what I was looking at.

So he was never human? But a dog disguised as a human?

I had never heard that humans could transform into anything before, and this revelation sent my mind reeling. I watched in stunned silence as the newly transformed dog approached the other two. The two dogs began digging in the sand, and I watched as the older dog returned to its human form.

He picked up the dead dog, placed it in the hole they had dug, and then returned to his dog form. They began closing the hole they had dug in the sand to bury their fallen companion, and it was only then that I realized I was no longer crouching behind the rock and quickly hid again.

I started crying more as the dogs stood over the recently excavated grave and let out the most agonizing cries I had ever heard. Their mournful howls echoed through the air, tugging at my heartstrings.

But then I was startled out of my gloomy daze by vibrations in the water. The guards were coming; they heard the cries, and I couldn’t be discovered here.

Diving back into the water, I swam away, but I didn’t get far before a sudden thought stopped me. The guards were going to kill them because they thought they were with humans. Poor dogs, but what could I do? I was powerless to stop them, and at that moment, the guards with their spears appeared from the water.

I screamed in my head at the dogs to run, but they didn't. Instead, they turned and confronted the guards, and my heart raced as I realized that this fight would not be as exciting as the one I had witnessed earlier.

I was still standing there with bated breath when a firm grip on my arm caused me to freeze in place. I turned to look into familiar green eyes and opened my mouth, not even knowing what I was going to say, but Dorian didn’t let me speak.

“What the hell are you doing, Oceana?” he asked angrily, and I stammered, trying to explain myself, but he didn’t give me a chance to find my words. With his hand still firmly on my arm, he cried out that I should not be here before diving. I didn’t even get to have one last look at the dogs as he dragged me to the bottom of the sea.

LYKOS

“Thank Goddess, you are alive.” Argon's voice reached my ears, faint but clear, and when I opened my eyes, everything came crashing back. I was alive, though I did not understand how.

"Felix," I whispered in my mind, a sense of dread washing over me, but everything came to a halt when my gaze fell on a human body lying a few feet away from us. And before I could say anything, Argon's voice echoed through my mind: He is gone.

“No,” I whispered, scrambling out of his arms and running toward the body, and the scent confirmed it before I even reached him. “No, Felix!” I screamed, tumbling in the sand, as an icy sensation ripped through my heart, leaving my body numb.

"Please, no," my voice broke as I collapsed next to my best friend, reaching for his face with my paw before resting my head on his chest. My heart shattered.

"He is gone. My son is gone," Argon choked as he kneeled beside me, the world tilting and going blank, even though my eyes were open. I cried until my eyes dried up, and then I heard Argon's voice say that we needed to bury him. I did not understand how he remained so strong after losing his son.

Dragging my body up, I watched him take on his human form, his voice hollow as he spoke about finding the elders. I lacked strength, but now was not the time to crumble, and it occurred to me that this was why he appeared so strong.

We had no idea where we were and needed to return home. We needed to get Felix home so he could rest with the rest of his family. We began digging in the sand to bury his body temporarily while we figured out what to do, and once we were finished, Argon shifted back and carried Felix into the grave.

Tears blurred my vision as I looked upon his human face, knowing he didn’t get to see it, and I started praying that this was a nightmare, that someone would wake me up–that he would wake me up and tell me we had arrived home and tease me about the nightmare I had.

We began closing the hole, our hearts breaking with each grain of sand that fell. When we finished, we stood and called upon the gods to open the gates wide for my best friend, while the roaring ocean stood the only witness to our sorrow as its relentless waves crashed against the shore in a mournful wail accompanying our grief.

"Until we meet again, brother," I whispered into Felix's grave. However, at that very moment, the ocean's roar grew louder and a sudden, chilly wind blew through us, sending a shiver down my spine.

Argon and I turned to face the water as if on cue, and our eyes widened. Emerging from the depths, we saw them—heads that soon became men. Their gold armor gleamed even as the light faded, and their long hair cascaded down their backs like streams of dark seaweed, making them an imposing sight.

They held spears in their hands, glinting menacingly in the twilight, and Argon and I exchanged a glance before taking a step back together. Though we had heard stories about them, we had never laid eyes on the sea people.

“Stay calm.” Argon’s voice reached my ear as the seamen stalked toward us, hissing with fangs bared.

“Easy, Lykos,” Argon repeated as I instinctively began to growl, feeling threatened. “We need to show them we mean no harm,” he said, urging me to lower my head but it was easier said than done. I was an Alpha and bowing to no one was ingrained in my very being. Everything in me resisted.

“Aren’t you going to transform?” I asked Argon, struggling to maintain my cool. "No, that would get us killed," he said, and I felt my tension rise. "They hate humans," he began, but his explanation was cut short when one of the seamen let out a shrill cry that sent me reeling, and my eyes widened as their spears hurtled toward us.

The first spear narrowly missed my head, burying itself in the sand with a thud, and I leaped to the side, Argon following suit as we faced the approaching attack. The seamen moved with predatory grace, their spears flashing in the dim light as we scrambled for our lives, the sound of my heart drowning out all other noises as I realized we were in trouble.

A spear grazed my flank, drawing blood, but I ignored the pain and charged at the nearest seaman, my jaws snapping shut around his arm. He screamed a high-pitched sound that made my ears ring, but I held on, rocking my head as Argon beside me ripped into another seaman with ferocity.

They were strong and fast, their movements fluid like the water from which they came, and fear gripped every fiber of my being. One of them swung a spear at Argon's head, but he dodged just in time, retaliating with a powerful swipe of his claws that knocked the seaman back.

I deflected another spear that was heading straight for my chest, breaking it in half with a snap of my teeth. We were outnumbered and fighting with everything we had as the sand beneath our paws became slick with blood, while the air filled with snarling and hissing sounds.

One of them pierced Argon's side with a spear; I saw him stagger, blood pouring from the wound and a red haze clouded my vision at the sight. I launched myself at his attacker, tearing him apart with savage fury. However, a spear pierced my shoulder, sending me flying and crashing miserably to my side.

“Argon!” I yelled through the mind link as everything around me began to spin, and Argon's voice was strained as he responded.

There was no time to stay down, so I got up and continued the battle, but my injuries weighed me down, sending jolts of pain through my body with each movement. Blood seeped from the gash on my shoulder, and my breath came in ragged gasps. The seamen were relentless, their numbers unyielding, and I felt my strength waning, the fight slipping out of my grasp.

My mother's face flashed before my eyes—her gentle smile, the warmth of her embrace, followed by my sister's laughter, which echoed loudly in my mind. I couldn’t die here, I told myself. I had to survive for them. But the determination crumbled as a blow to the head sent me flying and thudding into the sand.

Everything fell silent for a brief moment before Argon's desperate and commanding voice cut through the fog. "Get out of here, Lykos! You need to run!"

"No," I murmured in my head, attempting to stand but falling. I could not abandon him. But before I could react, a spear pierced my chest, causing me to scream in agony. Argon charged at the seaman who had struck me, wild, desperate fury in his eyes as he began tearing through them, shielding me while his screams echoed through the night. “Run, Lykos! Please, don’t let this be for nothing!” His plea broke through my resolve, and, with a heavy heart and numb body, I scooped up a paw full of sand and flung it into the eyes of the two seamen in front of me.

They recoiled, giving me a precious moment to slip between their spears. I ran, each step tearing at my soul as Argon's growls and the sounds of his struggle faded behind me.

My legs pumped furiously, summoning all of my remaining strength. But my body was failing, and just then, a spear pierced my neck, knocking me over. My eyes widened, and the world spun around me as I tumbled over a cliff, hearing the spear snap in half as it hit the rocks.

The sharp rocks that were half-submerged in the water came hurtling toward me. I hit them hard, shattering my body in the process, and the last thing I felt was the icy embrace of the water, just before my mother's face reappeared and everything went blank.