Music in the Waves.

Boom there it was

When Kali saw Celia swimming towards her, she smiled.

  "Hello Cece. It's so good you are here. My granddaughter has found Shamir's necklace, after all these years." Said Kali asked her friend swam.closer.

   "I thought it was destroyed? Where was it all this time? That thing is dangerous. " said Cece.

      The two shamans put the necklace in its box. They then put the box in her cauldron. 
         Each added different items to the pot, a splash of black seaweed, the marrow from an old shark, an eye, ginger, and lastly some nasty green slime from the underside of a dead turtle.

  Once this stuff was mixed, it bubbled and splattered, then it turned a deep dark blue. As the necklace was being destroyed, I felt a pull, towards the cauldron. I managed to stop just before I reached the edge. My grandma was looking at me with a worried look on her face.

Celia shared her looked, then she spoke.

    " Kali, I hate to say this, but I think your granddaughter has the same type of magic, Shamir had. You need to be careful and tell her the truth. " said Cece.

   Both merwomen looked over at me. Kali took my hands and swam with me to a different part of her room. Her room was massive. It took up the whole bottom of the castle.

  "I kind of was hoping you wouldn't inherit this magic. Well granddaughter, it looks like you have the same kind of magic that my brother had. He took it to the dark side and paid the ultimate price." she said.

" That explains why we couldn't find this necklace. Only one who had the same magic could find it." I said.

"Yes my dear. Shamir was very talented. He only wanted to help people and for a time he did. Until he was off exploring the old caves. He found someone and something there that we never thought would corrupt him. " Kali said as she sat down on a couch like chair.

"With our kind, magic is not something we know about. It's kind of new for some of us. We are part of a natural magic. It's why we age slower than humans. Some of us respect this. Then there are those like the one your uncle found." she explained as she put her hand to the bridge of her nose.

" Duncan was very old. He was older than my father's father. We don't know how he stayed alive out there where Shamir found him. Duncan's skin was very pale and his fins were black as the coal on the land. He could see in the dark, where most of us could not. I was just beginning my studies when he came into the city lead by Shamir. " she continued

"I remember my father being adamant that despite Duncan being a mer, he wasn't allowed back into our society. Shamir wouldn't listen to our father. He told him that Duncan was good and not a threat. Our father went out to talk to this mer. " Kali shuddered.

"When father returned, he seemed different, dazed. I don't know what Duncan did to him, but he wasn't quite right for about a week after. Shamir was concerned, but he didn't realise what actually happened to father until it was too late. " explained Kail as she crossed her arms in front of her.

" Despite our warnings, Shamir befriended Duncan. He spent most of his time with him, learning new spells and potions I never knew existed. At first the spells and potions were for good. Healing torn fins and scales, solving tummy problems, but gradually they got darker. There were love potions, and resurrection spells. I tried to warn my brother, but he forever saw the good in Duncan. Magic has a price and sadly Shamir would pay it. " said the old sorceress.

"What happened to Shamir? Did Duncan do something to him?" I asked taking my grandma's hand.

I could see it in her eyes, the pain that loss leaves. I had to know what happened to my great uncle. I didn't want to follow in his footsteps. Kali got up and stretched her fins. She swam over to a painting I had never noticed before. It was in a part of her laboratory that was painted black. On the wall behind what used to hold a cauldron, was a picture frame. It was covered with a deep purple shroud.

Kali lifted the shroud, and I almost fell over. There on the canvas was a merman, or what resembled a merman. His once lovely chocolate skin was now ashen and pale. The scales on his forearms and tail were slowly falling off. His once long and lustrous hair was now scraggly and short. These painting were magical, most were happy scenes. But Shamir's looked like tragedy itself.

The water around him was dark, he sat on a rock that had been made smooth over the years. His tail was a deep purple, it once shimmered like the sea amethysts in the old garden. I felt bad for him and then Shamir opened his eyes. He looked right at me.

Kali touched the frame, allowing him to speak to me.

"Kali, who is this lovely child?" asked the merman.

"This is your great niece, Shamir. She has the same magic you had once. I wanted her to see you and learn from your mistake, " said Kali.

"Sister, I have had time to think about my actions over these years. I regret befriending that man so blindly. Be wary of him, young one. I can never get back what I once had. Dark magic is very tempting. If I would have only listened to my sister and my father, things would be very different now." said Shamir.

"What happened to Duncan? Is he dead? " I asked. Kali and Shamir sighed.

"He was destroyed by the darkness in his heart. The last thing he made was that necklace. As long as the necklace is whole, his memory lives. Please get it away from me. " said Shamir as he swam deeper into his painting.

Kali looked at her brother. He was once one of the most handsome men in the ocean, He had been betrothed to the sorceress in the next kingdom. Duncan saw fit to ruin everything for him, including his relationships with all those around him.

"I fought Duncan, and with the last of my power. Without my sister's quick thinking I'd be long dead." said Shamir.