In the course of the night I could feel Bri fidgeting in her sleep, becoming restless. Her breath was uneven and heavy. “NO!” she yelled and suddenly tried sitting up only to smash her head on the low ceiling of the cave. I ran out from under her and stayed close by the cave entrance and squinted trying to see her face. She held her head for a moment before looking up at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked genuinely.
“I’m fine, it will be just a bump tomorrow. I’m sorry if I startled you."
“Can I ask what you were dreaming?” What could possibly scare her that she has night terrors?
She was hesitant to answer but she finally spoke, “My sister… she isn’t the kindest...she has a dark soul.”
She paused a moment before continuing, “She was the one who attacked your boat with your friends aboard. She killed them.”
I was quiet for a minute trying to relive that night, trying to remember the details.
“There were no bodies in the water. Did she pull them down and drown them?” Her expression was grim.
“Not all of them. She is particular with humans. Sometimes she likes them alive, other times tortured and alive, or simply dead. She eats them….”
The silence that followed was for eternity. I wasn’t sure what to say so I remained silent, Bri went on. “I saved you from the ship because my sister was greedy with taking 5 humans at once. I wasn’t allowing her to take another. You may or may not see her tomorrow, but if so, you will be safe with me. She has no ownership over you… You see mermaids are allowed one human per year. It is a tradition we withhold for many centuries. Alsea shouldn’t have broken the code of our people. Hence, I tried saving you. I’m assuming the group you were with has been eaten. Her greed and lust for violence is abnormal to our kind. But there’s one like her in every generation. I’m sorry for the loss of your friends.”
She reached her hand over and cup behind my back and allowed me to fall into her hand like a chair. She cuddled me close and hummed slightly; she stroked my head a few times. I was beginning to feel more like a pet than a human being with free will.
“Could you not? I’m not an animal. I’m fine with you carrying me and all, but I don’t want to be stroked like a dog.” I glared and with irritation in my voice.
“I’m sorry, little one…” She removed her hand from my body and the chill of night crept in rather quickly. She rolled over, her back facing me and hair rolling over her shoulder blades. I walked near her neck, following my hand up her neck to the back of her head. I unknowingly started caressing her hair while moving towards her forehead and face. I skimmed her face till I felt something wet across her skin, she was crying.
“Please turn over, I want to see you.” I whispered. She did so slowly, keeping her eyes down on the ground. I stepped near her lips, holding my hand on her cheek.
“I’m sorry… I was quick to take my anger on you. This is all overwhelming. I’m seeing things that weren’t supposed to exist, people I knew are dead, and I’m standing beside a beautiful mermaid… I think.” I trailed off. “I still have some questions about that. The legs thing, I thought mermaids couldn’t leave the water?’
“Well, in some other races of mermaids, yes. Our specific kind can manage between land and sea, depending on the migrating season. Certain seasons we leave the water to stay hidden from the world, but the water always calls us back. We manage on land, we’ve learned to be graceful with our legs but prefer the water.” she finished with a small blush.
“Are other mermaids your size?”
“No. Some are taller than others. The shortest of our kind would be around 15ft-20ft or so. While in the water we could be prey to other sea creatures, our size keeps our populations in order. The smaller are often picked off by colossal beasts. The ‘kraken’ as humans call it, is a fierce predator that eats mermaids. Though only snaring 2-3 in a year so not a horrible loss of our people. Sometimes if a certain ecosystem is lacking food resources, a mermaid will give herself up for the life of the ocean. We are protectors for the sea, as only we could protect more. Humans outnumber us but a laughable amount, including technologies that would kill us rather quickly. There were times when we had arrangements with humans. We would coexist and benefit well with each other's resources. But alas, that was long long ago; we cannot do such a thing now.”
“What about Atlantis, is there such a place? What about people who reported seeing mermaids and lived to tell the truth?’
“There are many creatures in the vast ocean. Some come from the depths below to surface for food or sunlight for a moment. I shall call them distant relatives… They take on the appearance of a fish or mammal. Depends which part of the ocean you are in. They are more primal and fearful of humans, they stay away as best as they can. The abyss is where they like it; a chance encounter with them is few and far between but it does happen. Perhaps a dead carcass finds its way to the surface, but by the time it does reach, it is probably ravaged by other sea life, making it unrecognizable, making it believable that it was a hoax. As for Atlantis, it does exist however; it is not for the faint of heart. It is more like a prison for the undesirables and cruelest creatures; a prison for many creatures, not just the ones that live in the ocean. It’s called other names too… Tartarus, Barzakh, purgatory. How it became known as our kingdom beats me. Atlantis houses a lot of evil creatures. The ocean can hide anything, but knowing where in the ocean to put it. Shall we go to sleep now?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice.” I stared blankly out the cavern, trying to process all the information Bri has described. I had quite the pounding headache after that conversation; I curled into the crook of Bri’s neck. Tomorrow would be a new day and new experiences.
The sun rose high, casting shadows on top of the jagged rocky mountain. I stretched my body and rubbed my eyes to see Bri stirring from her slumber. She blinked heavily a few times and focused her attention on me. She hid her face in her arms and let out a deep sigh. “Time to get up already? fine." She slowly raised herself, careful not to hit the ceiling.
"Would you mind stepping out first? I don’t want to crush you against the wall or anything.” I did so, walking outside. I waited a moment before turning around and looking back at Bri, my timing wasn’t the best. Her breasts were swinging side to side as she shimmied her way out the narrowing entrance. Trying to stand up before she was completely out she ran her lower back and butt into the limestone and scrapped them rather hard. She frowned deeply while trying to see the damage, she turned and asked,
“How bad is it?”
I looked hesitantly, but it sure was the best ass I’ve ever seen. It defied gravity it seemed. It was scratched with several lines running from the top of the lower back down to the middle of her butt cheek. Some blood was coming out, but not much. Almost looked like road rash if you could compare it to anything that size.
“You may not survive that scratch.” I winked at her. I blushed immediately not knowing why I did such a thing.
“Oh shush! Let’s get going, we have some ground to cover before we're there.”
She carried me for a long while before we reached the edge of the actual mountain, towards the top it dipped into a valley. A small river ran through, cutting through the NW side of the valley. Large trees thick as New York buildings stood, full of foliage; following unique birds soared through the sky, squawking high above the trees. Bri made her way down the valley where she let me down on the ground to stretch out my legs for a while. She walked slowly and carefully not to leave me behind or bump her legs into me. She was overwhelmingly large, in such a way that was hypnotizing. Her legs just kept going and going, leading their way to a canvas of beauty. The shock of her being naked was gone but now there was trying to get over the lust rush when seeing her at certain angles. She was simply enticing, my wildest dreams couldn't produce anything close to her divine beauty. She would push tree branches away from her path while stepping forward, easily snapping what seemed to be a sturdy tree limb. She was careful when breaking them, being sure not to let the debris fall on me. I was keeping a fast walk trying to keep up with her strides. Her footsteps had a gentle finesse with a small thump each step she took. She was deliberately placing her weight to make less tremors.
I was working up a sweat and beginning to fall behind. Which in all wasn’t bad, I had a lovely view of her curvaceous body. I was breathing harder than I should’ve been. Bri heard my difficult breathing and stopped. She waited patiently for me to reach her. I caught up but held my weight against her leg. I was shaking and was losing my grip on her leg, falling to the forest floor with a thud. I collapsed with embarrassment steaming inside me, hoping she wasn’t judging my pathetic body.
She casually scooped my limp body and rolled me over to look at my face, she smiled and continued walking. For an hour or so we were both silent. I was nervous to meet other mermaids possibly. Bri stopped abruptly at the edge of the trees, she whispered to me,
“We are here. Do not look scared when you see the others. As for my sister, let me do the talking okay? I’ll deal with her.”
She cautiously walked forward into a clearing, there were huts tall as old circus tents, larger even. There were hordes of stunning women, all equally beautiful as Bri. They had small animal skins covering their private parts and chest, some had it tied in their hair having it pulled back in a loose ponytail or braid. They looked over and smiled and waved at Bri, one came over and gave her a kiss on the check and welcomed her. She continued walking and we hit a small market, where all kinds of goods were being sold. There was petrified sea life, baskets, large loads of fruits and vegetables, distinct animal skins dyed in bright colors, and lastly humans in a cage. I stared in disbelief at the dozen or so stuck in a thick wooden cage, they all sat close to each other. Their clothes (if any on some) were ripped and torn, ragged from their survival. They kept their heads down and didn’t look up when a mermaid came close to glance at the selection available. I was very grateful that Bri had found me and treated me so well, so far anyways. I hope she won't try to sell me to a merchant. We passed the market and still being in shock, I didn’t notice Bri stopped and her breathing stopped. I glance over to see a woman with dark hair, almost black with deep brown eyes and a face that could kill on sight. She was slender with a small chest but made up the lack of one with her ass. Within her hands she held a human, a young man. I stared closely and realized it was Erving!
“ERVING! ERVING! OVER HERE!”
Alsea heard my screams, she squinted her eyes and made a dark smirk on her face and began walking over to Bri. Bri became rigid and squeezed my body a little tighter than normally, making it a challenge to breathe. I could feel her hand trembling a bit. Alsea was right in front of us, Erving raised his head a bit and his eyes got wide and frantic.
“HAYLEY!” He reached out his arm to me, but as quickly as he did that, his upper body was hidden inside Alsea’s mouth. She gave an evil look at me, directly making eye contact at me then to Bri. She closed her mouth tightly and the cracking of his bones were apparent. Alsea lifted her head and pulled Erving’s body apart at the torso, leaving a bloody and gore mess in her hand. Distinct loud snapping noises while she smiled. She swallowed and brought her attention back to me,
“Did you know him? That’s too bad, he was really charming.” She dumped the rest of his body in her mouth and walked off. Looking over her shoulder with a devil grin and a wink towards her sister.