The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Armida awoke in Terran form on a green sand beach. She strained to stand. Every muscle ached with a refusal. The purple blotches that had clotted on her body were proof it wasn't the transitory crippling pain of morphing; it was evidence of another thing entirely. She drew her knees up to ease the vulnerability of her nakedness. The surf lapped over her toes.

≈Fish lady, what happened? When I left, turquoise scales covered most of your body. You have become a landwalker.≈

The beach was empty. Armida studied the sea. Nothing. The cove was bounded by low cliffs etched and worn by the movements of time.

These hallucinations and spectral voices were better than reality. Shivers quaked through her. Torquato. The other mermen.

≈Fish lady? Are you hungry?≈

Armida would not give in to the voice.

But she was hungry. Ravenous. She did not remember when she'd last eaten. It felt like a very long time.

≈Yes.≈

A crab hit the sand, bounced off her leg, and skittered away.

Tilting her head back and shielding her eyes with a hand, Armida stared at the black cormorant circling overhead.

≈You'll need to be faster. Crabs aren't my favorite. Figured you might want it.≈

≈I do. I'm injured.≈

≈Well then, let me help.≈

The bird darted after the crab and, in a graceful swoop, recaptured and delivered it again to Armida and, a few minutes later, two others. While she ate, the cormorant posed with its black wings partially spread. The slick feathers glistened with water droplets.

Armida smiled. ≈You remind me of a Terran priest holding out his arms as he prays for his parishioners. What is your name?≈

≈I want to remind no one of anything involving Terrans and their flocks. After hunting crabs for you, I need to dry my wings in this manner. My name is the place I am from, far from here. I am called Bertoki.≈

≈I am far from my home as well, I think. I cannot seem to escape trouble.≈

≈Maybe it's because you are willing to take risks others wouldn't. Seems like you stayed too long at the smoker.≈

≈I had to—have to—find out what the Terrans are doing. And why. Answering that will help me correct the misfortunes plaguing Marea. You have heard of Marea?≈

≈I have not. It is simple though, if you fight the Terrans, then, let's get on with it.≈

≈Wait. Please. Where am I? Do you know why the sand is green?≈

≈No idea, fish lady. Before my time.≈

≈It's the same as the stones in my necklace.≈ Her hand shot to her neck. She sank into the sand with relief. It hadn't been lost in the turmoil and she cried with amazement.

≈Hey, fish lady, best be careful you don't get a burn, though it could help mask those bruises.≈

Armida had forgotten she was naked.

✧✧✧

Armida crawled into the surf, and after morphing, turquoise scales formed though some weren't as iridescent where the bruising beneath remained. She rolled near the surface, waiting for Bertoki to return.

≈It's bad, fish lady. The smoker has been spewing ash and smudge, soot and stone in the sky for hours. It's not stopping. And the murk in the sea is no better. Everything in the area is...dead.≈