The Luna's Pet

Mira

Mira

The sun beat down on my back mercilessly as I dragged the heavy tarp behind me. The sand clung to it, gathering in the corners as it sank deeper into the soft white shore. The salty breeze whisked the sweat from my skin as I strained to keep my momentum up. Crashing waves beckoned to me, calling to the very blood in my veins, it's seductive call making my mind wander. What I wouldn't give for a quick swim right now, but there wasn't time.

"Mira! You cant do this!" My twin brother's voice boomed across the peaceful shoreline as he raced towards me.

"Just listen to me please, we will find another way!" Kai gripped the back of my tarp, tugging on it gently to halt my treck forward. Long white hair clung to his face, sweat matting it against his skin. It was obvious he wasnt going to just let me continue on with my mission, no matter the time constraint. Glaring I tugged the tarp towards me, a game of tug of war starting between us like when we were children.

"Let go Kai! I don't have time for this again and you know it!"

His face mirrored my own as we stood in a stalemate on the sandy shore.

"Make time!" His eyes flickered with irritatation.

"It's either you or me Kai... and I don't think you're the Alpha's type." He rolled his turquoise eyes at me and shot me a half smirk.

"I could be... with the right wig and some lipstick."

Unamused I furrowed my brows "I'm serious Kai, his forces are creeping closer everyday! What's going to happen when they discover us? There's a reason our ancestors moved to land and hid their scales!" His chisled jaw tightened, his brows knitting together as he ran his thumb along the tarp's raggedy edges.

"Kai...." my voice softened slightly at the broken look on his face. His eyes lingered on the tarp momentarily before casting the thick material aside like a toddler.

"I dont care! I can't lose you Mira! I won't! This is a suicide mission! Even if you succeed..." his voice cracked slightly as grief gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"I know.... but what choice do we have. I'm the only female of age... and the only one who can..." Tears streamed down my cheeks threatening my resolve.

Cutting me off he yelled "There has to be another way! You know what he will do to you! It's not worth it!"

My brother's normally olive skin was flushed and his hands trembled with anger as he stared me down. He was the only family I had left, our parents passed over a hundred years ago leaving us with only each other. I knew what losing me would do to him and it scared me more than my own fate.

Yet, the idea of that beast finding the clan made my stomach knot. There weren't that many of us left and he would wipe us from existence if he knew what we were.

My feet fumbled as I crash into my twin's chest, pulling him tightly into a hug. Words escape me as there's nothing I can say to change what is already set in stone. The elder's had already decreed this was to happen, that I would be the sacrifice that saved the clan. There was no turning back, no other option for me anymore. Kai pulled me closer, his hands wrapped around my tiny frame in a bear hug. "I'm not letting you go." His words seemed more to himself than to me.

"I'll find a way back. I promise... and then you can spend the rest of my days annoying me like always "

He huffed sadly and squeezed me tighter.

"Not enough." He muttered and I felt his tears soaking the shoulder of my shirt. I heard him sniff loudly, like a boar in the jungle rooting around noisily. I felt his felt him wipe his nose on my shirt and my pushed him away.

"Triton's Beard! Seriously Kai! That's so gross! Way to ruin a sweet moment! We are lucky the fate of the clan doesn't rest on your disgusting shoulders! Who wipes their nose on someone else!?! Geez!" I pull off my shirt while he laughs hysterically and race to the water's edge to wash off the slimey trail he left.

"Pretty sure your shoulder is more disgusting than mine right now!" He could barely get the words out he was laughing so hard.

I quickly submerged the clothing in the water, avoiding the slime from my twin's nose. As the sea water rushes over my hands, black fins slide from the side of my palms and lace like webbing connects my fingers.

Glaring I look back at Kai, who was still rolling in the sand laughing while holding his side.

"You're so childish!" I throw my wet shirt at him, the water immediately bringing out his own scales where it hit.

"You can wear mine, don't get all huffy." He smirked as he stood up, brushing the sand off his trousers.

"You're twice my size!" I hit his broad chest with a small pebble from the water. He laughed and tossed his shirt at me, the edges dipped in the water slightly and he just smirked and shrugged. "Opps..."

Slipping on the shirt I couldn't help but laugh as it fell past my knees loosely. When we were small we were identical down to the very scale. Now we couldnt be more different. He stood a good two feet taller than me with broad shoulders and slightly darker skin. He was muscular, even for our kind, and his signature smirk said he knew it too. While his hair had turned white with a silver hue as we aged, mine had turned a deep navy, making us question how we were even twins.

Tying the shirt off to the side with a knot I grabbed the tarp, it was a bit harder to grasp with my webbed fingers, but I managed.

"Make yourself useful and grab the other side of this thing." I gestured my head a few times towards to the tarp.

"Why are you dragging this thing anyways?" Kai looked at me inquisitively.

"Its an old trick our ancestors used to hide the clan. I soaked the tarp is soaked in seaweed and laid in the sun for days." Kai scrunched up his nose slightly, he knew the stench that would create and seemed to notice it for the first time since he arrived. "The smell masks everything else around here. I don't want them following my scent back to the clan." His eyes filled with sadness once more and we walked in silence for awhile, dragging the tarp along the burning sand behind us.

My duty weighed heavily upon my heart when I stared at my brother. I wished with all my being that things could be different, but I knew what was waiting for the clan if I failed...

I couldn't fail.

The Alpha had been seizing lands all around us, never being satisfied by the power he was amassing. Our clan was the last of the Undine, an ancient race akin to mermaids, sirens and nymphs. While mermaids were bound to the sea, their fins requiring constant moisture, the Undine are able to appear human when on land. As long as we stayed out of the sea our secret was safe.

Yet the sea's call was impossible to deny and thus our ancestors built our village along the shore. The sound of the waves soothing our wrestless spirits.

Our aquatic form resembled a mix of the sirens of old and mermaids. Irridescent black fins that traced our spines, a long powerful tail that flared out into two delicate fins. Our tails mimicked those of the mermaids, yet ours were coated by small spikes along the sides of our fins. Mermaid fins were blues and greens to match the tide, while sirens were deeper shades of purples. Ours were iridescent and shined in the sunlight like jewels. Black scales twisted up our spines in intricate patterns symbolizing our heritage.

Sirens were our closest relatives, we resembled them enough that many belived our kind was merely a myth. A fable told to young children as the evening lights dimmed. The myths painted us as evil soul-less creatures that snatched the souls of mortal men to fill an empty void. Impure... demonic.... an abomination that had to be destroyed.

The only thing the myths got right was that we lacked a human soul- a useless commodity if you ask me.

Being soul-less gave us immortality, our lifespan is tethered to neither time nor age, yet we are not impervious to harm. Most of the undine were slaughtered by fearful mortals. Our numbers dwindling until only our small clan survived.

The pure siren bloodline died out long ago as well, with only a few stray descendents who carried the recessive genes still scattered amonst the mortals. Their beautiful songs lost to the cruel decay of time. Our clan hid among the siren descendents, our shared ancestry cloaking us from detection. Our scents mimicked their's enough that no one had questioned it in centuries, but as the siren genes became more rare our clan became vulnerable once more. If the army finds our people there will be no hiding what we are.