Restless Waves

Chapter 73

The boys kept their heads above water and neared the island.

"Are you sure about this?" Kaerius thought when the first hunter saw them and pointed spears in their direction.

"I'm Rowan Solar," Rowan shouted, which answered Kaerius's question. The island slowly descended into the water, so when Rowan stood up, the sea settled by his waist. "If you hurt me with spears, you won't make it home tonight."

The hunters stared at Rowan while he scanned the faces, looking for anyone who looked like his dad, but older. A lot of the hunters had young faces, so the two older people standing in the middle of the group stood out like blood on a white cloth.

"You're no Solar," the older woman said in a shaky voice. "How dare you use our name."

Rowan linked his fingers and tried not to look too annoyed. "If you don't think of me as a Solar, why have you tried so hard to get rid of me?"

The older woman's lips curled down tightly. "Because you're one of them." Her sunken eyes flicked to Kaerius who watched with only his nose upwards exposed.

"Yes, I am one of them, but I'm also one of you. You don't have the right to hunt me or any supernatural creature; they live in this world too."

"You're an abomination."

"How?"

The woman looked to her husband, Michael's father. If the old man's hair wasn't so white and his face wasn't so wrinkly, Rowan might have seen some similarities.

"Humans and creatures are not equal. Humans are the superior race and will not live among the supernatural like we are the same. Humans need to be in charge."

"What makes you so superior?" Rowan asked, curling his fingers into a fist. By now, all the Thalassic Mortals had popped up to the surface to see what was going on. Rowan could feel his parents' eyes on him, though he didn't dare turn his back.

"Look at what we, as humans, have accomplished," Michael's dad said, pointing towards the lights in the distance. "While supernatural creatures are still hiding in abandoned warehouses and the Thalassic Mortals don't even know what pen and paper are."

"That's because you don't let them learn. As soon as they try and join in, humans shun them out. That's your fault."

Michael's mother gripped her spear and clenched her jaw. Rowan Kept a close eye on where Kaerius was, just in case they attacked.

"Why are you here? To argue?"

Rowan felt the water lapping at his lower back. "No, I've come to make an agreement."

"You mean, force us to make an agreement. You've stranded us on this island."

"Well, forcing you to make a peaceful agreement isn't so bad." Rowan wasn't sure they would really listen to him, but he had to try. Their views had made him angry. His patience was already wearing thin.

"You think we'll make peace with you? We've been hunters all our lives. A teenage boy isn't going to persuade us to give up our life's work," Michael's dad scoffed.

"Your life's-"

"You're just a kid. You have no idea what you're doing. It's a joke that-"

"After all you've done!" Rowan yelled, silencing the hunter. His voice boomed loud across the water, and Kaerius shivered. "After all you've done to my family and me, I'm still stood here asking for peace when I should just leave you to rot on this island!" His fingernails dug into his palm because he squeezed them so hard. "You took twelve years from my mum and broke my dad's heart. How could you do that to your own family?" Rowan didn't want to make the hunters irritated, but they had to know how they made him feel.