Songs of the Sea

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Sartin reached the surface and drew in a shallow breath of relief. He headed for the familiar island. The sand and gravel on the shore scraped his tail raw as he pulled himself into the lagoon, exhausted. He sat in the waist-deep water and panted. The gash opened wider with each breath.

After a few moments, his breathing evened and the blood congealed, halting the flow of the bright red liquid down his side. Dizzy from the shallow breaths, his body demanded more air to fill his lungs. When he did, the lesion broke open again. Small coastal fish gathered around his left hip, drinking his blood and nibbling at his flesh. The tickles helped Sartin relax and take in the slow, deep breaths his body needed.

Dread filled his stomach. What he wished would be a heroic welcome would probably end up being a public shaming. He had saved Wickizer’s life and that of the pod’s, yet he would be mocked for making a Decoy wound again.

Please help me find another pod that wants an Alewar and to change things for the better….

Once he caught his breath, he pulled himself farther on the beach to reach the medicinal ferns. He took a handful and chewed. He ignored the bitter taste and gnawed them into a sweet paste, filling his mouth with their healing oils.

While he crushed the leaves with his teeth, storm clouds rolled on the western horizon, darkening the afternoon sky early. The pod would need to sleep in the cavern tonight. He swallowed the sweet cud so that the medicine would help to heal the sore from the inside.

He stuffed another handful of leaves into his mouth. When he turned his head to look out over the sea, a large whale caught his eye. He had never seen a whale linger on the surface like this one did. He only worked the second mouthful of leaves into a bitter poultice, spitting them out before they turned sweet. He spread the mush across the injury and took another wider leaf to cover the wound. He secured the bandage in place with the strap that normally held his spear. He’d have to swim with his spear in his hand until he could fashion another harness.

Sartin glanced at the position of the sun before diving into the water. He still had enough time to investigate the whale’s strange behavior. If it was sick or injured, maybe he could help it. If it was beyond help, he’d let the night watch know about its whereabouts. Dressing secure and spear in hand, he scooted back into the open water and headed toward the creature. He kept his eye on the belly of the whale underneath the surface of the water. He had only heard tales of animals this large. When he surfaced to breathe, he saw the gulls diving around the whale in their giant arcs.

The cut caused him to tire quickly, so he climbed upon another rock formation to catch his breath. The tree whale grew larger the closer it came to his position. He had only heard of them in the scary stories that Belzer and the other aunts told him when he was growing up, the same stories he told the baby cousins now.

As if made from the trees that grew on land, the tree whale’s skin was thick and dark, probably from all the time spent above the water. Oddly shaped, a female Sea Person, carved into the tough, brown skin of the tree whale, led the creature forward. The whale’s great white fins flapped in the wind. Pale tendrils moved in the air above the whales back, much like the tendrils of the sea anemones in Sartin’s world below the water.

Soon the whale was close enough for him to see that the tendrils weren’t tendrils, but people. Land people.

Just like tree whales, he had only heard of land people in the tales he had heard as a child and retold to his cousins. From what he could see, they looked just like the Sea People. They were lighter in skin and some were lighter in hair, but other than that, he thought they looked the same. Some of the people were just as good looking as Wickizer, Thornton, or any other male Sartin knew.

One of the land people jumped up on the edge of the whale and that’s when he saw the big difference. The land person stood upright on not one but two tails. Instead of flat flukes, it looked like he was standing on two short, fat eels.

As the whale neared the rock where Sartin rested, the land person shouted something and pointed in Sartin’s direction. The other land people rushed to the side of the creature. Sartin drew in as much air as he could and descended into the water.

From beneath the water, Sartin saw the land people searching for him. They pointed and argued amongst themselves as the whale drifted by the crag. They didn’t seem as treacherous as the Story of Kirklin and Klem had described them.

Sartin resurfaced and watched as the creature swam away. He shuddered for just a moment, a combination of the cool travel breeze blowing and his discomfort with the tree whale this close to Home Cove.