My Exotic Mate

Evacuation!

Marise

“Mari!” My sister, Mesai, screamed as she moved as fast as she could. Our land was under attack and we, as Nymphs, can typically die if our natural elements are destroyed. But we found a loophole, if we’re not at the scene of destruction, no harm will come to us. The beautiful part about being a nymph is that we can bind to nature all over the world. Water, lands, and wood nymphs were all women. We’re known as the most beautiful creatures in the world. Our mom was a nymph and our dad was a God. They met during a war where he was hurt and she healed him although, healing him meant hurting her. They fell in love, despite him being engaged to another woman. They ran away and got married. A few years later my mom gave birth to three beautiful girls. I was the oldest as my sisters, Mesai and Miren were twins. As far as our age, we’re ageless. Meaning that we don’t age after we reach our 20s. So technically I am 25 and my sisters are 23. We were described as beautiful young women with matching attributes. Typically, we were divided into subclasses. There were the Dryades, the nymphs of trees and forest. Their lives were connected to a specific tree in the forest in a sacred location. Then there were the Oceanids, nymphs of the waters. They were the daughters of Oceanus, God of the ocean.

We were raised by our parents in a loving home where the other goddesses taught us how to read, write, and learn about our special abilities. We learned that we are nurturers to the land, animals, and people. We also learned about our sources, which is like a calling or an intuition that would give us clues and ideas about a variety of things. It is this force of energy that runs through our body until we act on it.

We had special abilities that allowed us to do things other nymphs couldn’t do. Like running, we can run faster than any creature and fly as high as any bird or plane. God I wish my parents were on Earth right now, they’ll know what to do. I think of them often and promised them that I would protect my sisters. My dad, Tristan, was a descendant of Zeus, while my mom, Zuri, was a nymph and descendant of Aphrodite. We’re also able to lift things without actually touching them. This gift came from one of our descendants, Nike, who was the Goddess of strength. I’m not sure how we’re all related but, I won’t take for granted the gifts they passed on to us. Our lineage is a complicated one, too many details to explain. Another special ability that we have is called environmental manipulation. It’s where we can turn whatever area we’re in into something different. It’s almost like hiding in plain sight.

Our sources told us that we needed to leave immediately. This surge of energy suddenly flowed through our blood. It was the strongest I’ve ever felt. We had no time to get anything or even warn the other nymphs. We didn’t even know if they were alive. We just knew that we were running out of time. I watched in horror as our homes were being destroyed. Everything that came from our bloodline, was gone. Buildings collapsing, fires breaking out burning everything is it’s path. I watched as a tear fell

down my face as our home blew into pieces. Who was doing this and why? Why us? Our land is peaceful….was peaceful.

“We need to go, now!” Miren screamed. We took off, flying all the way to another part of the world, leaving the land that's been our home since we were born. We settled into a dark forest and Miren used her hand as a light so we could see where we were going. I wondered why our land was being attacked after living peacefully for a long time. What about the other nymphs? The Naiads, the Dryads, Anthousai. They were family and we just left them.

Mesai walked up to me, she could sense I was feeling guilty. She grabbed my hands and prayed to the Gods for our forgiveness. When she was finished, she smiled at me. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“How do you know?” I wondered.

“Because mom and dad are watching over us. They led us here. We just have to rebuild our home. We’ll go fetch some wood while you search for a river nearby.”

It was dangerous to split up and I started to protest, but Miren intervened. They always like to do that, double team me. Typical twin thing.

“Come on, Mari. Everything will be fine. We’re safe here and no one can find us.” They both batted their lashes at me and as I took a deep breath, they smiled knowing I was going to give in.

“Fine. But be careful and be back here in ten minutes.”

My sisters and I are very close, although Mesai and Miren are twins and can feel each other’s pain. They always made me feel included. We’re all adults and I know they’re responsible, however, I made a promise and have been sticking to it.

They took off and I started growing some crops. I dug my hands into the dirt and watched as it was replaced with green grass. Assorted flowers emerged and bloomed. The trees became more vibrant and the ones that were dying, came back to life. Green vegetables appeared and I could smell the herbs before they emerged through the soil. I smiled as I saw what I was creating. It was beautiful,not like our land was, but it will do. Once I finished, I gave myself a pat on the back. I checked the time and ten minutes passed and my sisters had not returned. Instead of looking for a river, I took off to look for them. As I got closer to the deep end of the forest, I started to feel pain. Something was wrong.

“Miren!…..Mesai!” I called out, but no response. As I walked closer the pain became almost unbearable as it shot up to my arm, like a blazing fire. My head felt as if it was going to explode, making it hard to see. My limbs became weak as I felt the pain radiating off of Miren. Through my blurred vision, I can see her lying on the ground. I tried to look for Mesai but couldn’t see her anywhere. My vision blurred with white blinding light, but I still managed to get close enough to her to heal her. I placed my hands over her body and felt as the energy went through me. I was getting weaker and weaker but she was coming around and that’s when I fell.

When I woke up, I was still laying in the middle of the forest. I tried to sit up and although it hurt like hell, I was able to do it. I had no clue how long I was out. I tried to adjust my eyes to the sun. My body was sore and stiff. Once my vision was clear, I looked around and saw Miren staring blankly. I got up off the ground and stumbled over to where she sat.

“Miren?” She looked at me, her face covered in tears.

“Where is Mesai?” I panicked as I sat next to her.

“I thought I lost you, too,” she cried. “How could you try to heal me, knowing what it can do to you?” I froze when she said those words. What did she mean too? My heart raced thinking of the worse.

“Tell me what happened.”

“T-th..,” She stuttered, failing to get her words out. “They took her!”

My stomach fell to my feet. The pain that shot threw was worse than any bullet, than any arrow. What I felt now was beyond guilt and rage. I felt like a failure because that’s exactly what I did. I failed them. I broke the promise I made to my parents. I was also confused. Why would someone take her? My fist was balled and I shook my leg. I took a deep breath to calm myself. But the tears fell anyway. I wasn’t sad. I was enraged. I was so disappointed in myself, but I had to pull myself together. Especially for Miren. She was distressed, scared, and hurt and it wouldn’t help if I was erratic and destructive. We’ve never been separated, not like this at least.

I inhaled sharply. “Who took her, Miren?”

“I don’t know. It was a group of men. We tried to coerced them into giving us the wood.” Oh no, why would they do that? Men today are not like the ones back then. They’re smarter. They know when they are being played and my sisters fell right into their games. I wanted to scream at her but she’s also hurting.

“We started to run and they chased us here,” she continued. “They were some big men, shapeshifters. It all happened so fast that I couldn't make out what they looked like. They were so strong and there were too many of them.”

My sisters were ambushed. And I wasn’t there to protect them. Why did I say yes? Granted, we’re all adults but we’ve always been careful sticking together.

“Do you feel Mesai’s pain?” I asked. Since they’re twins, they have the ability to feel each other’s emotions without being so close.

“Not anymore,” she huffed.

“Okay, we need to figure out where they took her. Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She stood up, wincing as she took a step forward before her eyes went wide.

“What?” I asked.

“I can’t feel her at all.”

“What? No. That can’t be right.” How is this possible? I shook my head. This just became a little more complicated. We don’t know what we’re up against, but I know that I’ll do whatever I have to get my sister back.