Neri tried to brush off her cousins' concern at her fall from heaven, while at the same time avoiding the inquiring eyes of the priestess. She didn't have answers either, nor the time to think of calming words. She didn't understand what had happened, one thing she did know.
The ice was nowhere to be seen.
The ocean wide and blue, but scarily empty of the ice that should cover it now.
It truly became the longest night of her life.
-
Hours later the moon was still in her spot in the sky, unyielding and unmoving. Forcing the sun to wait for her time to rise once more.
Neri loved the night. The quiet and peace that it offered as she would take in the sight of the faraway stars. But now every passing minute was only another moment of torture.
If the ice didn't come.
If the moon wouldn't move any longer.
What would they do? What had they done to anger the gods, for them to punish them like this.
It didn't take too long for a sinking suspicion to rise its head in Neri's mind.
The creatures in the water might be the solution to the problem, but no one of her family could swim to begin with. Let alone for longer amounts of time in the bottomless ocean, where they would also need to dive.
No, they wouldn't be able to communicate with those beings. Neri on the other hand...
Disappearing behind the dunes was quite easy, once no one was looking in her direction. After that did Neri take off most of her clothes, so they wouldn't get soaked with the ocean water.
Her wings were big and powerful, she could use them to swim just as well as to fly. If only she could convince herself of that fact and everything would turn out fine.
For now she stood at the edge of the shore gazing over the endless planes of blue.
-
The water was cold as she dived in.
Neri had first flown out to where she had been saved by the creatures, taking a big gulp of air before diving in head first. Her wings had been hold tight against her body as she sunk lower and lower, till the light of the sun was a far away memory.
That was when her lungs began to burn. Her wings unfolding rapidly, before using their power to get her back to the surface.
She went again, and again. Trying to get deeper each time her world took a dive in the ice cold water.
Yet no matter how many times she tried, no one could be seen by her.
-
2500 words We're officially at the half way mark
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Shattered Waters
ParanormalMy entry for MerMay 2023 of talesofthedeep. Third prompt: Sighting, power, sun Their world was expanding, but they weren't ready. The picture is a mer swimming by the surface and illuminated by the sun. The cover picture is from Matheo JBT on Unspla...
