Chapter 8
814 Words
The city grew larger as the morning passed.
Daisy and Lyra remained hidden among a chain of rocky outcrops just beyond the harbor.
From their position, they could watch without being seen.
At least, that was the plan.
Daisy stared openly.
Everything fascinated her.
The harbor bustled with activity.
Ships of every size drifted across the water.
Men and women hurried along wooden docks carrying crates, barrels, and fishing nets.
Voices echoed through the air.
Laughter.
Arguments.
Greetings.
The sounds blended together into a strange melody.
Daisy had never seen so many people.
Never imagined there could be so many.
"They're everywhere," she whispered.
Lyra laughed.
"That's generally how cities work."
Daisy ignored the teasing.
Her attention remained fixed on the harbor.
Humans looked so different from mermaids.
Yet not entirely different.
They smiled.
They laughed.
They worried.
In many ways they seemed familiar.
The realization comforted her more than she expected.
Perhaps the surface world wasn't as frightening as the stories claimed.
A group of children ran along one of the docks.
Their laughter carried across the water.
For a moment, Daisy smiled.
Then the smile faded.
She wondered what it would have been like to grow up among her own people.
To have friends her age.
To belong somewhere.
The familiar ache returned.
Loneliness.
The feeling had followed her throughout her life.
Only now did she fully understand why.
She wasn't merely alone.
She was the last.
The final survivor of an entire race.
A sudden splash nearby interrupted her thoughts.
A fish leaped from the water.
Daisy watched it disappear beneath the waves.
Something about the movement felt wrong.
The fish had seemed frightened.
As if fleeing something.
She frowned.
The ocean around the rocks had become unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the gulls overhead seemed restless.
"Lyra."
The sea spirit immediately became alert.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
That was the problem.
Daisy couldn't explain it.
She simply felt it.
A tension beneath the surface.
A warning.
The same instinct that had alerted her inside the sanctuary.
The same feeling she had experienced before the creature attacked.
Her pulse quickened.
Slowly, she extended her senses into the water.
The ocean responded.
Currents brushed against her awareness.
Thousands of tiny movements.
Fish.
Seaweed.
Hidden reefs.
Then—
Something else.
A presence.
Cold.
Dark.
Moving toward the harbor.
Daisy jerked back.
Fear flooded her chest.
"What did you feel?" Lyra asked.
Before Daisy could answer, a distant horn sounded from the city.
One blast.
Then another.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Workers stopped.
Sailors turned.
Guards rushed toward the harbor walls.
Confused voices filled the air.
"What is happening?" Daisy whispered.
A fisherman pointed toward the sea.
People began shouting.
More horns sounded.
The sense of unease deepened.
Then Daisy saw it.
Far beyond the harbor.
A shadow moving beneath the water.
Huge.
Much larger than any whale.
The sea around it churned violently.
Her blood turned to ice.
"No."
The word escaped before she could stop it.
Lyra's face turned pale.
"It found us."
The creature from the sanctuary.
Or one of its servants.
Either possibility was terrifying.
Panic spread through the harbor.
Ships began turning toward shore.
Guards shouted orders.
People fled the docks.
The massive shadow continued approaching.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then something unexpected happened.
A brilliant beam of golden light erupted from the city's highest tower.
The light struck the ocean.
Ancient runes appeared across the harbor entrance.
A magical barrier.
The water exploded.
The shadow slammed into the invisible wall.
A thunderous impact echoed across the bay.
Daisy stared in shock.
The city was protected.
Protected by magic.
The creature recoiled.
Dark water swirled around its enormous form.
For several tense moments neither side moved.
Then the shadow retreated.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
Disappearing back into deeper waters.
The barrier remained.
Golden and unbroken.
The harbor erupted with relieved cheers.
But Daisy felt no relief.
The creature had not been defeated.
Only driven away.
And if it had followed her here, it would follow her elsewhere.
The realization settled heavily on her shoulders.
People would be endangered because of her.
Cities.
Kingdoms.
Perhaps entire nations.
The prophecy suddenly felt much larger.
Much more dangerous.
A gentle breeze swept across the sea.
Daisy turned toward the horizon.
There, emerging from the morning mist, sailed a magnificent ship bearing silver sails.
At its mast flew the royal emblem of Aetheria.
She didn't know its name.
She didn't know who stood aboard.
But fate recognized it.
And somewhere on that ship, Prince Cassian Aurelius felt a strange pull in his chest as his gaze drifted toward the rocky coastline.
Toward a silver-haired girl hidden among the waves.
Though neither could yet see the other, destiny had brought them within sight of the same shore.
For the first time, the distance between the Last Mermaid and the Immortal Prince was beginning to disappear.
- Writer
