She would trade all the spells in the world if it meant she could tell a lie.
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Merle of Thorne is An Anthology of short stories made from prompts under the Fantasmical Contest 2023.
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Nemredith should have gone, but she detested ice, so she refrained. Because of this, Merle found herself replacing The Resident Witch, whom she served, once more.
The Atlantic was far away from home, Wynestria, and this ship was not making the journey any better. Since the start of the journey, Merle had been by herself, standing in a corner.
She observed the two conversational groups of people on either side of her.
Sailors and Privateers.
She reflected that the divide humans put up between them and mystic beings seemed to extend deep within themselves as well. Man, woman. Black, white. Able, disabled.
Labels.
Labels they had placed there. To Merle, they were all the same, humans, and it always boggled her how they didn't see themselves like that.
They despised one another simply because certain aspects of their lives were different.
Yes, Merle had to admit that these labels were sometimes necessary. After all, the Seelie and Unseelie court existed for them, a crucial distinction between little folk.
But unlike humans, they had not waged war on one another over these differences.
Gullible humans.
They spent so much time fighting amongst themselves. How would they unite when the mystical creatures come back to take their land?
"Yer Merle right?" a dark-skinned privateer asked, and she nodded.
Pointing to herself, the privateer said, "Sameerah. Me thought Nemredith was coming."
"She hates ice."
"Oh. Yer a witch too?" Sameerah asked.
Since she'd come on the journey, she'd been wearing her cloak. A very special one made by Nemredith a long time ago and endowed to fit and protect her wings.
The surrounding cold was brutal, making Merle grateful for the cloak. It covered her arms and her hair; thus, the only feature they could see was her hazy blue irises.
She wondered how Sameerah would treat her upon finding out she was a Little Folk. But before she could answer, a Sailor did.
"She's a fairy, that's what she is."
Merle sucked in a harsh breath; the sailor's phrase grated on her ears.
Sameeerah must have noticed this because she asked, "Yer don't like to be called that?"
"No. Just Merle of Thorne."
"Hoi!" Sameerah yelled at the sailor who spoke. Sailors and privateers turned to them. "Call her Merle of Thorne! Got that!"
Merle's stiff lips parted to a smile at Sameerah's gesture.
Though the sailors scoffed and returned to their conversation, Merle was grateful for Sameerah and the two ended up conversing the entire trip.
Merle was deep within her narration of a time when she'd saved Zarek, her gnome friend who also worked for Nemredith when someone yelled.
Merle and Sameerah shared a concerned look before darting forward like the rest of the crew.
The litter of ice was an indication that they'd reached their destination.
Up ahead, Merle's eyes widened at an ice wall that rose hundreds of thousands of metres up into the sky with the sun hiding behind it.
"Something must have done this," a sailor spoke.
"And we 'ave to find out what, that's what we 'ere for," said a privateer.
"Who's going under that ice?"
Before Merle could volunteer, a sailor pointed at her and said, "She should go. She's the fair—"
"Merle of Thorne." Her voice came out hard and cold, with steely eyes fixated on the sailor. Her stance must have threatened him because he gulped.
"And I also want to find out what's going on down there," she added.
"Well, yer can't go alone," said Sameerah before she continued. "Me coming down with yer."
Before anyone could stop her, Sameerah hollered at two sailors to assist her get ready.
Merle, however, didn't need the setup. She had the power of glamour that she had acquired upon completing the quest of Pilaria some time ago.
She resisted using it often because it only allowed her to shape-shift for an hour per day and left her weak when she returned to her form.
Nemredith didn't know Merle had this power and had given her a tonic to take should the need arise to go beneath the surface. But she'd forgotten the tonic on her desk.
She could picture it there, laughing at her as she went without it.
When Sameerah got back, Merle told her of her power and its limits before she morphed and what better shape to take than a mermaid?
The sensation was unfamiliar.
The weight of her wings on her back was now transported to her lower limbs and cool water soothed her back.
The water caressed her hair as it glided with the current around her, the petals remaining on it.
Sameerah signalled for them to swim further. They had only an hour and Sameerah also had limitations on her oxygen tank.
The more they swam, the darker it got, and Sameerah's underwater flashlight could only shine so far.
They noticed some objects and passed confused glances between themselves before going further.
Merle didn't know what it could be, but what they found was not what she would have ever conjured in her mind.
The sight made her gasp even though she only took in water. She raised her hands to cover her mouth to shut out the scream bubbling in her throat.
Sameerah floated shell-shocked, her flashlight casting just enough light to reveal numerous tails and limbs separated from their bodies, floating and frozen in the water beneath.
At that moment, a different current passed through them. The shock on their faces morphed to fear as two pairs of eyes widened.
She couldn't see it at first, because of the poor light, but as it came closer, she couldn't understand what exactly it was.
She knew the sight would hunt her forever even if she made it out.
With its mouth wide open to the size of a full-grown human and broad teeth jutting out, the creature barrelled towards them and it was barreling fast.
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