The Little Water Elf

23- A Final Bargain

「She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish's tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam.」

Viren let the passageway entrance slam shut behind him as he made his way down the hidden staircase. A small knife was tucked in his pocket, and the candle he held provided little to no light in the dim passage.

When he returned to the hidden cell, he was honestly quite surprised to see that the elder ocean elf was still alive. His skin was cracked and bleeding in every possible place, and the scales had taken to falling off and shedding as the skin connecting them to his body died. It was a grotesque sight, but at the moment it didn't really matter to Viren.

He was done playing games.

The elf didn't react as he approached, and so Viren began the spell.

It was easier to steal his voice, perhaps because he was already too weak to do anything other than glare at the dark mage, and the voice only managed a simple hum before being the clawed hand clasped it into silence.

If he'd lost everything he'd worked for with the younger elf, at least he could make use of this siren.

Viren removed the small knife from his pocket, unsheathing it and letting the firelight reflect off of the runes he'd managed to carefully carve only moments before.

If he could manage to create a bargain with the elf, one last deal, then everything would be fine.

He may have lost her voice, but what is a single voice compared to an endless supply of ocean elves?

If he managed to convince the elf to kill the step-prince, that would be enough to get Harrow to agree risking lives and attacking by sea once more. Then, they'd be able to once again gain access to the magic the sea possessed.

Viren took out a small pouch of coin's from his pocket, and began to chant.

•  •  •

When Rayla awoke, she was surprised to find that she was alive. Then she realized where she was.

Every bit of her body hurt, and when she pushed herself up and off of the stone floor she found that a wave of intense nausea hit her. She heaved once into the corner before releasing mouthful after mouthful of salt water and blood from inside her system. Her throat burnt with the metallic taste of blood and salt.

Everything went wrong in a single instant. That last thing she remembered was her sinking into the ocean, accepting the fact that she was going to die in the very place that had once been her home.

Looking at her hand, she saw it was covered in the pattern of several blue scales and dried bits of blood.

She felt lightheaded.

Rayla pulled herself away from the mess she'd left on the floor, her back hitting the far wall and the sound of the ocean mockingly crashing behind her. Her stomach hurt. A lot.

It felt like she hadn't eaten anything in days, like someone had decided to skin her insides before forcing her to drink a gallon of acid.

She was suddenly really craving a sashimi roll, one that thy sold in the bakery near her school. They always served it with fresh seaweed and salmon that had been caught in the morning.

She took in a deep breath, wincing as the dry air scraped against the insides of her lungs. She coughed once, cringing at the sight of blood that dripped onto her hand. She didn't want to think about how she ended up there.

It was pretty clear what had happened.

Someone probably jumped in after her, and when they rose to the surface they realized that her appearance was shifting into that of an elf. They threw her into the dungeon, and now Viren—

Oh sea-stars, he was going to use her for dark magic now, wasn't he?

She closed her eyes, leaning against the cold stone of the cell. The floor beneath her was a sharp texture of stray bits of sand and salt that had undoubtably collected immensely over the years.

Perhaps, if she could go back, she'd listen to Runaan for once. She wouldn't have traveled to the human side so often, she wouldn't have fallen for a human, and she wouldn't have been captured by Viren.

But, then again, if she'd never have saved Callum from drowning.

The thought of him being dead and her life the same, normal, boring routine frightened her more than her current situation.

She heard the click of a lock, and tiredly forced herself to look up.

Viren stood there, observing her with cold, calculating eyes.

"I come offering a bargain," he began, "the rest of those in the castle know about what you really are, and think you were simply infiltrating to gather information. But I have a way to send you back to the ocean, and leave this whole mess behind you."

Viren knelt down, pulling a dagger out of his pocket. He handed it to Rayla, who timidly reached out an gripped the hilt.

"By next sunrise, you will have a choice. If you kill prince Callum, and spill his blood on your legs and feet and into the water, you will once again grow a tail and regain your ability to return to your home. But if you wait until past sunrise, the spell on the dagger will fade, and you will be stuck in this form until either Callum kisses you, or he kisses someone else and you die."

Rayla studied the blade that he had handed to her, looking at the carefully carved runes and the faint sheen of a glimmery residue of magic.

"I will leave the choice to you."

Viren left the cell, closing the cage and conveniently forgetting to lock the door.

The ocean elf watched as the dark mage locked her cell once more, and made his way down the long dungeon's hallway.

He disappeared from her sight, leaving Rayla to make the decision that would determine her fate.

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Lol I have this problem where I'm writing a part, end up being like halfway done, and then lose patience and post it just so I can read ppls comments on Ao3. Oops.