The Song of the Sea

24. The Pull of the Ocean

Raephier hit the water with more force than he was expecting. Whether it was that or the transformation back into a merman that made him a little light headed, he wasn't sure, but he immediately lost his bearings and so headed back to the surface.

It only took a few seconds to re-orientate himself and locate the area where the bubbles had been seen. With a flip of his tail, he dived back under the water and swam as quickly as possible to where he thought Tyler might be.

The water was murky and full of debris from the wreckage slowing down Raephier's progress, but it wasn't long before he saw Tyler, his body suspended in the water like a piece of drifting seaweed.

Raephier wasted no time in grabbing hold of him under his arms and propelling them both to the surface.

"Tyler!" Raephier shouted, shaking him a little. But there was no response. He wasn't breathing and Raephier had no idea what to do.

"Raephier! Over here!"

Raephier turned round in the water and saw James in a small row boat a few meters away.

He dragged Tyler over and James reached down and pulled him into the boat while Raephier pushed from underneath.

Tyler's limp body landed with a thump into the boat which caused a stream of water to pour out of his mouth followed by a round of hacking coughs. It looked horrific, but Raephier was just relieved that he was still alive.

James rubbed and patted Tyler's back as more of the ocean seemed to pour out of him.

Raephier scrunched his nose at the sight and let go of the side of the boat and allowed the current to let him drift.

Oh how he'd missed the sea, the feel of the water between his fingers, and his beautiful tail. It was true what they said, about not valuing something until you didn't have it anymore. And there was nothing on land that shone with the same iridescent colours as his tail.

"Raephier?"

James's voice brought Raephier out of his head, and back to the present.

"Yes?" Raephier replied eager to help, but then stilled when he saw James's expression.

"W-what are you?"

Raephier felt his blood run cold at the glimmer of fear he saw in James's eyes. This is what he'd been warned about ever since he was little.

Humans were not to be trusted with the knowledge that merpeople existed. Because humans didn't like anything they couldn't understand. Because if they couldn't understand it, then it was assumed it must be dangerous and therefore must be wiped out.

Is that what would happen to him?

And had he also somehow managed to put the rest of his species at risk?

Raephier suddenly felt like he had a hundred sets of eyes on him and he slowly turned to look at the ship behind him. His gaze scanned up the wall of wood in front of him and took in the sight of an entire crew of sailors staring down on him with a look of shock on their faces.

His heart began to beat faster and his breathing became erratic. He felt like a fish that had been separated from it's shoal as the predators circled above him. There was no hiding it now. He had given away his last secret. And now he was trapped......wasn't he?

Raepheir tore his gaze away and stared out towards the horizon.

He was in the water! He could just dive down and swim away. He'd be free!!!

His heart wasn't even beating anymore. It was fluttering. He was bouncing back and forth between excitement and fear. How amazing would it feel to just swim away and give himself up to the ocean? To see the coral reefs and explore underwater caves again.