The Unreached Duchy

Chapter29

“Let’s just drop the subject then, if that’s how you feel Rusalka. Let’s not ruin what has been an almost completely perfect day.” Senara said, sounding defeated as she swam up to Namtao’s side before she dove for home. Namtao just nodded in agreement and dove after Senara who had begun to follow the stone trail put in by masons and humans that lead to home.

Rusalka sat for a moment looking at the red and gray tail fins disappearing under the water. She knew what Namtao said was true, she had seen it happen more than once to Lava Masons. They had gotten to close to humans and as punishment, Makara turned them into one. Banned the poor soul to live a mortal life on the land and not having anything to do with their families. If any family members did have contact with the banished person, they were also turned into a human.

Suddenly, Rusalka noticed a ship coming right at her. Only because it looked like her that was carved onto the front of it and it was moving at a ramming speed, almost as fast as a mima can fly in a hurry. Tagmatarkhis officers had discovered over the years that the humans on ships usually did not see them or other members of Makara because they were too busy rowing while chained to the ship or too busy trying to get out of the bottom of the ship. The humans on the decks, the Tagmatarkhis also noticed, almost never saw anything that was in the water near the ship. The Tagmatarkhis had also figured out that as long as you stayed away from the wooden paddles and away from the bottom of the ship, you were able to watch the ship without getting injured.

Snapping back to reality, Rusalka dove straight down and swam as fast as she could to catch up with Namtao and Senara; even though they were already far ahead.

They always knew when something wasn’t right with Rusalka and she always knew with them. They could always tell without even seeing the other, so Rusalka was not surprised when she saw them turn towards her. What Rusalka did not expect was the look of terror and fear that appeared on their faces.

She had not gotten far enough away from the wooden paddles in time before it came crashing down on the water, hitting Rusalka hard in the back and then everything went black.

Namtao and Senara watched in terror, fear, and helplessness as their best friend had gotten hit in the back by a wooden paddle of a human ship; then as she got caught on the wooden paddle of the ship and was being dragged closer to shore. On this part of the small continent, there were no humans or slaves because they were forbidden to come here by the Royal Family.

Rusalka didn’t know what had happened, except her lungs hurt – which was a new and odd feeling for her, and that she was now stuck on a wooden paddle of a human ship. Every fiber told her to scream but she didn’t know if that would put her in any more danger since she didn’t know how she got on the wooden paddle to start with. She certainly didn’t want to end up on the shore, because then she’d have been at the mercy of humans; which according to Makara’s history have not always treated Rusalka’s nation with kindness. The burning feeling in her lungs; she guessed that’s what this feeling was and what the humans always referred to when they fell from high ledges or got hit with something in the chest, told her she had to be extremely careful no matter what she did.

“Rusalka, if you can hear me, do NOT move. I’m coming to get you!” Namtao called out “I just don’t know how I’m going to do that yet.” He mumbled to himself, hoping he sounded as confident as he wanted to, and as he continued to swim directly towards her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere” Rusalka called back loud enough for him to hear “Plus I have nowhere to go and I have no idea how I’m going to get off this paddle even if I did!” She mumbled to herself as she was examining the angle at which the wooden paddle has been resting at since she got stuck on it.

“You’re lucky this ship has stopped rowing for whatever reason. Let’s hope it stays that way.” Namtao said as he swam around so he and Rusalka were face to face. “Are you alright? Can you feel if anything is broken?” He asked as he extended his hands to brush the hair from Rusalka’s face that had fallen in her eyes when the wooden paddle had been moving. “It hurts to breathe a little but that’s it. I could use some help getting off this thing though.” Rusalka admitted as she took placed her hand on Namtao’s shoulder. “Gratitude for coming after me. Apologies if my being slow costs you the promotion you want and deserve so much.”

“Don’t worry about it Rus. You’re more important to me than any promotion ever will.” Namtao said as he looked thoughtfully into Rusalka’s eyes. “Now, let’s get you off this paddle and get going towards home while we’ve still got the chance before the humans realize we’re next to their ship and decide to fire on us or worse.”

“Gladly!” Rusalka exclaimed as she placed her hands on Namtao’s shoulders to steady herself. “But Nam, how are we going to get me down? If I slide off, I’m liable to get wood pieces all in my scales and skin.”

“Easy Rus. The angle this wooden paddle is at is perfect for me to lift you off of it without hurting either of us since we’re completely under the surface now.” Namtao replied as he repositioned Rusalka’s arms around his neck and scooped her up in his arms. “See, like this and I can still swim away from the ship to safety.” With that the pair swam off away from the ship.