Water

Wave Five

It began as a murmur, weaving its way through the water until it bubbled up and assailed her senses. The murmur mutated into meaningless whispers. They bounced around the cavern seeming to come from no direction and every direction. 
 
          The vibration began again, much closer this time and attuned to Leira’s ragged breaths drawn through transparent gills. Leira brought a hand to her ear, wishing the seaweed-thin webbing between her fingers could somehow block out the whispers. This wasn’t the shared connectivity of Mer thoughts she was used to. It was invasive and unnatural. The whispers all jostled to be heard, forcing their way into her mind like jagged rocks. She looked at Cam, but he just stared at her, nonplussed. His face was pale and he reached a hand out to steady her.     
 
          A strand of pulsing light, a solitary whisper, made its way toward them. It lit up a trail through the murky waters. Following the luminous path with her eyes, Leira finally saw the cause of the whispers. A golden sphere of pure energy lay in a depression at the end of the cavern. Filaments of light were interlacing and pulsing through it, each one a whisper, a thought.                                                                    
          (Woah.) Cam’s thought broke the spell. The strand making its way across the cavern faltered for a moment then snapped back to its hub, as though pulled there. Leira hesitated only fleetingly before crossing the cavern. She knew the thread of light, the whisper, had been trying to warn her. For she had recognised it. It was her mother’s.

    As soon as she neared the mass of light, it glowed brighter. The water around it seemed to boil and hiss as though growing agitated. The whispers within grew louder and Leira could sense words and fragments of speech projected out. But there was only one whisper she wanted to hear.

          (Leira, what are you doing? Get away from that thing! We should go – we need to get out of here.)
Ignoring Cam, Leira reached out her mind to the single trail of light that was still winding its way back into the mass of energy.
(How can this be?)
(Leira, go.)
(We lost you. So many tides ago.)

          Her mother had been quick, but the stonefish had been quicker. The effect of its venom, almost instant. Almost. Her mother had just had chance to project thoughts of loss, and love, to her Herd before succumbing to the attack. She’d plummeted to endless depths as soon as the venom reached her heart – her body unreachable. And yet, here she was. Her essence anyway. Trapped in this -
(Source.) Cam’s thought carried through the water.
(What?)
(It’s a Source, Leira. We need to get out.) He edged closer, and wrapped his fingers round her wrist. (This isn’t funny anymore; we have to go. We haven’t been trained for this yet.)
(But my mother -)
(Seriously, you want to talk about her now? What’s wrong with you? The water’s burning us; we have to get out. It’s getting hotter. Come on!)

          Leira shrugged him off. The whisper was getting closer and drawing Leira to it. It seemed to rise from the seabed, unanchored. Leira marvelled at the ugly, ragged beauty of it. Energy flowed from it into her. She felt more powerful than she ever had before. She sensed her body taking shape and becoming full, knowing without needing to see that she no longer looked emaciated. Leira revelled and basked in the vitality the Source was giving her, not heeding the tendrils of light beginning to twine around her.

          (Leira.) Her mother’s voice penetrated her bliss. The urgency in the whisper snapped Leira from her trance. She noticed a warm sensation trickling across her arms and neck. Glancing down, she saw a myriad of light strands wrapped around her torso and tail, pulsing as though with mirth. She sensed the Source feeding from her own energy now.

        She looked for Cam – he shot her a desperate look before whirling around and swimming away. He was making for the tunnel.
(I’ll go get hel-) His thought snapped off as a strand caught up to him. It twined about his tail, rolling him closer and closer to the Source. He screamed.
(It burns!)

          Horrified, Leira watched as the strands began to cut deep into Cam’s skin. Fragments of seared flesh drifted through the water, and blood spilled into the water. Cam’s eyes flashed wildly and his muscles strained against the Source. His screams continued.

          Leira struggled to try and break free. This was all her fault; she had to help Cam. The grip was too strong. She felt herself succumbing to the Source. Her mother’s whispers became frantic, begging her to stay awake, to fight it. The whispers gradually fell into soothing tones - a mother trying to comfort her daughter - as blackness crept into Leira’s eyes and mind.