Mystic Waters: Out of the blue

Chapter 5

"When I summons you, I expect a prompt response." Pete's father was angry which strengthened his mental energy as it bounced around Pete's head to the point it was painful. "What has happened son, I sense turmoil and danger?"

"Something erupted from the Rift. It killed the entire patrol, except Zane. He escaped to warn us but is fighting for his life." Pete's body tensed as the images of the battlefield flashed through his mind. His father was able to see the devastation through his son's eyes.

Upon feeling his son's pain for the loss of his men, he softened his tone. Using his voice Pete's father asked, "What came out of the Rift that could take out twenty-eight mermen?" Pete's father was two thousand and thirteen years old; an original guardian from the homelands.

Pete kept his eyes downcast, "Father, I lack the words for what to call it. Possibly a two-hundred-foot serpent of sorts and big around as an ore boat." Pete looked into his father's eyes searching for an answer. He had only heard stories as a boy of the sea serpents, but he had never actually seen one.

Pete's face had gone slack as his eyes moved back and forth, while the images of the slaughtered men played through his head like a movie. "That was not the only discovery. There were hundreds of lampreys surrounding it like it was the mother of all lampreys. The lost men had large bite marks on them and were drained of all their blood." Pete ran his hand through his hair and continued shaking his head in disbelief.

In all the years Pete had served this great lake, he had never seen anything like it. These lampreys were four feet long and thick as a merman. Fangs that resembled small tusks, surrounded by circular rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Pete was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, "I would suggest, son, you call for reinforcements from the old country. There aren't many Nordic Warriors left, but you don't need many, either. They have fought ocean serpents for centuries." The father also ordered that no one goes out in the lake alone, and only if it is necessary at that.

His father retreated into his shelter. The natural layers of slated rock created the perfect crevice for his twelve foot, four-hundred-pound body. In his youth he was half man, half fish, but was regressing back to his ancestral form of an ocean born sturgeon.

Pete turned to leave when his father entered his mind, "Send a fully armed party out to see to the dead. One more thing son, what of the human girl? Will she be joining our family?"

"No father, I wish to bring her back to land." Pete knew her return would have to be timely, but with all the danger in the lake; her safety came first. Pete took his time climbing up the winding stairway from his father's quarters. He knew he had to get back to Meranda to offer some sort of explanation. How could he begin to explain any of this to her? Coming up empty, he decided that the truth was the only way to go. She had already discovered their secret.

When he first saw Meranda tending to Zane she looked natural, not freaked out or scared. If he hadn't known different he would have thought she had known of Merfolk all her life, after all, she was a marine biologist. She had to have somewhat of an open mind. It had been his diversion from the truth every time she had asked about the operation that had hurt her. Then he remembered what Sal had said; "...trust her, she is stronger than you think."

He rounded the corner running his hand over the smooth contour of the walls. Pete sunk down and sat with his back braced against the cool stones feeling some of the tension leave his body. He watched the light filter down through the cracks and dance around him. It always amazed him how a ray of light could reach down this deep catching the gold and silver flecks in the granite imitating the stars in the skies above.