The Sacrifice of Love

~4~

"You will have to try harder than that, my child." Enid sighed in frustration at the disappointed voice of Asherah, and she turned to send her mentor an exhausted glance. "But I have never been much of a good swimmer," she complained, allowing herself to sink a little.

Asherah chuckled at the girl's dismay, and her long, shimmering tail curled under Enid so that she did not sink to the floor. "You will learn to become one of the best navigators of the sea, my child, just you see," she reassured with a smile.

Enid pursed her lips but lifted herself up anyways, glancing down at herself. The moment she had stepped out of the cave the first day she had arrived at the coral reef, her human legs had transformed into her own long, red, scaly tail.

At first, she was both horrified and mesmerized by her transformation, but that was at least a week ago. Now, she grew increasingly more annoyed with her inability to adapt to her new home and appendage. "Come along, my child. Let us swim together," Asherah urged.

The older siren's tail remained under Enid's body as the two of them slowly made their way up above the coral reef walls. "If I may say, Enid," the older siren began, catching the girl's attention. "You have taken your situation very well, a lot better than I was expecting."

Enid merely smirked as she attempted to move her tail up and down. "Well...my father used to tell me tall tales as a child. On the nights where I could not rest, he would stay with me in my room and tell me of his days when he was a sailor, delivering shipments to Port Royal," she explained.

"Your father was a sailor? Did he ever tell you stories of sirens?" Asherah asked curiously, a content smile on her face. "Oh, yes. He would tell me of his crewmates who were convinced that their wives and daughters were calling out to them from the sea. 'There, over there!' they'd cry, but no one on the ship ever believed them."

Enid chuckled as she heard the echo of her father's voice in her head, reciting those same words to her. "Father told me that the captain had those sailors thrown overboard, as to not risk the rest of the crew going mad. Father said it was because of the sea creatures he called sirens - beautiful mermaids that lured sailors to their deaths at the sound of their voice."

Enid then turned to Asherah, but stopped once she realized the siren was no longer at her side. She turned around and spotted her floating a few feet away, admiring the younger woman with a proud smile. Enid glanced down at herself and realized she was no longer swimming with the comfort of Asherah's tail guiding her.

She then met Asherah's red eyed gaze happily as she joined her side, the purple tail sweeping once again around Enid's form. "I knew you could do it, my child," Asherah said with a purr. Enid swam closer to the siren's side with a wide smile on her face, and the two of them continued to wander the vast ocean.

A question slowly settled into Enid's thoughts, though, and she found herself speaking her mind. "Will I be doing the same thing as the sirens in my father's stories?" she asked curiously. Asherah glanced down at the young girl at her side, and she felt her chest tighten when she met her wide, brown eyed gaze.

The curiosity swirled and was mixed with her earlier pride, as well as anticipation for the answer to her question. Asherah's smile slowly faded and was replaced with a frown - she did not have the heart to tell her young student the truth, not just yet.

"You have a long way to go, my child. You need not to worry of those dreadful stories," she replied simply, her hand resting on top of Enid's head gently. Enid merely smiled and dismissed her question, and instead focused on the deep blue waters ahead of her.

Her eyes narrowed, however, when she was filled with a sudden rush of pride. "One day, Asherah..." she began with a light voice. "I'm going to be able to swim this entire ocean all by myself. Maybe I'll even make friends with other creatures?" she wondered out loud, looking up at the older siren with bright eyes.