Seren and Meredith prepare for bed without speaking, only partly due to the storm which makes it nearly impossible to hear anything else. Meredith can't help thinking of the first tale their grandmother had told them, especially about the ill will between human [colonists] and the aquatic natives. These thoughts keep her awake long after her sister has fallen asleep and, once again, she can hear the haunting music. As always, it helps her drift off to sleep.
Meredith wakes, completely disoriented, to chaos. As far as she can tell, she is no longer in her bed. In fact she seems to be tumbling through the water. She tries to cry out but can't seem to open her mouth at all. Managing to open her eyes, she can see herself surrounded by debris and her sister floating away. Then hands grab her and pull her even farther down, away from the remains of her home and family. Meredith struggles, trying to pull free of the hands, to get away to find her family and friends. The owners of the hands are stronger and she grows dizzy from being underwater and unable to breathe. This time Meredith wakes to find herself in a bed inside a bubble of air. As she looks around, she realizes the bubble is floating in the middle of the ocean. Above her, she can only just see light which suggests the morning sky. Below her is ever increasing darkness. There is nothing else around her and she huddles in the bed, shivering with fright and confusion. “You wake.” Meredith whips her head around, trying to see the source of the oddly muffled voice. “You fear. I not show self.” “Where are you?” Meredith frowns, some of her initial panic evaporating. “Near.” “What happened?” Meredith swallows hard, still looking around her for the source of the voice. “Bediel. They make storm. Bad storm. Break homes.” “The village is gone?” “All gone. People safe.” “People safe? But without the village...” “People safe. New homes. Safe homes.” “So where am I?” Meredith frowns in confusion. “You different. You hear song.” “That was you?” “Friends. Friends sing. You hear.” Meredith's frown deepens. “I don't understand.” “Language hard. Your people language hard.” “Okay,” Meredith thinks for a moment, “You said someone sent the storm, right?” “Yes. Bediel.” “Okay. And my village is completely gone? Nothing left at all?” “Yes.” “But all the people are safe?” “Yes. Saved many people.” “And they have new homes?” “Yes. Under storms. Bediel not hurt now.” “You mean underwater? But how will they breathe?” “Have air. Have homes. Have food. Good food. Not fish.” “I guess that's good,” Meredith takes a deep breath, “But you're saying I'm different somehow? Because I could hear your friend's music?” “Yes.” “But what does it mean? Why can't I just have a new home with my family?” “Need you. Stop bediel. Else family not safe long.” “But you said these bediel couldn't hurt them now.” “True. Yes. But bediel change. New hurts.” “So they'll keep finding new ways to attack until we stop them for good?” “Yes. You help. Make safe.” “But what are these things?” “Not explain. Not good. You not fear now. I show self.” “Okay.” Meredith swallows hard as the creature swims into view. It appears to be male, based on what Meredith can see of the humanoid torso. The arms and head are also humanoid although the hands only have three fingers and a thumb, each tipped with a silver talon. But the entire body is covered with silver scales. His hair is long and silver and his eyes are big and brilliant blue. He has no nose and only a slit for a mouth with gills along his jaw and down his neck. The tail is that of a fish and ends in a blue, crescent moon shaped fin. His other fins are also blue. One juts out from his back and there are three down each of his sides between his arms and tail. As his hair moves, Meredith can see fan-like ears. He also appears to be quite short. Far shorter than Meredith. “What are you? I mean what do you call yourself?” Meredith is fascinated by the way he moves in the water. “People Pamoel. Me Lapa.”
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Pamu is one of several planets in a system with a Sol like sun. It has two as yet unnamed moons and is a water world with polar ice caps and no ground above sea level. Its oceans are home to a host of sentient and not so sentient races, including a variety of dragon.
When humans arrived, they built their homes on floats anchored to the ocean bottom, not realizing they were disturbing the races below. What happens as a result is the subject of the novel Beneath the Waves. |
AuthorAlexandra A. 'Lexa' Cheshire is the author of numerous novels and short stories published through Howling Wolf Books. Lexa is a wife, mother, cat owner, and music lover. Archives
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