Water (24 page)

Very slowly and only with the greatest concentration did I begin to see a glimmer of something around him. It was a pale iridescent blue and it came from within him, clothing him so that I could barely see his skin. It covered him from head to toe, only his face exposed.

When he moved, it flowed around him, softening his outline, as if he were covered in silk.

“It… it’s beautiful!” I stammered, amazed.

He grinned, the covering changing to a warm bronze in what I assumed was happiness.

“What do you think it means?” he asked.

“Well, it was blue to start with, is that your normal colour?”

He grinned, nodding. “All Oceanids have a sort of silvery blue spiritus.”

“And then it changed to a warm bronze, I assume in happiness.”

He was obviously pleased. “Yes, exactly right. Now try to see my future plans.”

I concentrated again, surprised to see an image of me intertwined throughout the spool of freeze-frame snapshots I got.

I focused on him again in surprise.

“What?” he asked, bemused.

“I was part of everything,” I replied.

He kissed me softly. “Now you know my plans for us,” he whispered, his eyes tender.

I smiled. “I can live with that,” I replied, kissing him firmly.

He stood, pulling me to my feet and hugging me tightly.

“You ready?” he asked.

I nodded, a ball of anxiety twisting suddenly through me.

I watched as he doused the fire and prepared to leave, forcing a smile onto my lips at the thought of the looming conflict Merrick suspected would take place when I outlined the peace.

The trip back was a bit subdued for both of us. Merrick paused often to hug me and show me a little piece of the landscape he wanted to share with me.

Sometimes he would gaze at me while I asked questions about the history of this place, looking at me like he was trying to memorise every tiny part of my face. Sometimes he would kiss me tenderly and tell me how much I meant to him.

We returned to the Oceanids at midday. Merrick quickly took me to the sick Oceanids asking Marinus if he could call Maya for us.”You think I’ll be able to help all of them?” I was very suddenly excited.

He shook his head. “No, not alone, their sickness could kill you if you gave them that much health. But maybe with Maya and me, we can help many of them.”

She appeared a few moments later, her pretty face still pale from helping Luke and Josh to recover.

“I hope neither of you are sick,” Marinus boomed worriedly. “Maya can’t help anyone else again, she is too weak.”

Merrick shook his head. “No, we want to help her,” he replied.

I took her hand and concentrated on her health, grinning in satisfaction as colour returned to her cheeks and her eyes began to sparkle.

After a few moments she drew back from me, grinning from ear to ear.

“How do you feel?” Marinus asked her sceptically.

“Great,” she said, laughing, “better than great actually.” She twirled around excitedly.

Marinus’s booming laugh echoed around the cave as he pulled her into a tender hug.

“Do you think I’ll be able to help too?” he asked me over the top of Maya’s head.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, “what is your talent?”

“Strength,” he replied.

Merrick nodded. “Yes, I think that would help a lot!”

Our elation was quickly stunted when we entered the first aven and the tiny little Oceanid I’d visited the very first time I’d come into the hospital. She had recovered a little bit and her large liquid eyes followed our progress as we surrounded her hammock. She smiled when she saw me, struggling to move so that she could take my hand again.

“Is it such a good idea to experiment on her?” I asked, suddenly doubting my new-found abilities and desperately afraid that I might hurt her.

“She is not going to get any better unless we try this.” Maya’s voice was soft and sadly sympathetic. “We’ve done everything we can for her,” she whispered, taking Marinus’s free hand and stepping forward.

We gazed at the little Oceanid as every cell in my body hoped she would get better.

At first nothing seemed to happen, she continued to wince every time I moved imperceptibly, her hand still broken, her mouth a twisted grimace of pain.

I closed my eyes and imagined her whole, imagined her vital and as I did so, instead of growing weaker as I had before, I grew stronger, healthier.

A gurgling laugh filled the room.

My brain couldn’t quite understand what my eyes were telling it. She was laughing at me, exquisitely beautiful and so full of life it looked as though she would burst with it.

The hand that rested in mine was completely restored, and she pulled it from my clutching fingers to clap them together and push aside her blankets so that she could get out of bed.

I stared at her in awe, as she skipped around us before hugging me tightly and racing out of the room.

The others were just as incredulous, before Marinus scooped Maya up, swinging her around and laughing as he did so.

Merrick pulled me into a hug and kissed me soundly.

“You did it,” he whispered, pride and adoration shining in his eyes.

“I think…” I whispered back, “I think we did it.”

I explained the strength I’d felt flowing into me to the others which sparked another excited discussion, because they’d felt exactly the same way.

“Let’s try again,” Maya enthused, grabbing my hand and leading our little procession to the next aven.

The same thing happened, except that when the next Oceanid leapt from their bed as healthy as if they’d just been on holiday for a few weeks, the four of us felt even stronger.

The more Oceanids we helped, the better we felt, until we were racing from aven to aven, laughing and hugging each of them as they thanked us and exclaimed at their health.

By the time we reached the last aven, our elation had turned to awe-inspired silence. In just one afternoon, the four of us had helped all of the sick Oceanids, tripling the pod in size.

“I can hardly believe how easy that was,” I whispered as we stood and watched the last Oceanid, run up the path, whooping with joy.

“Do any of you feel tired?” Maya asked us, her expression thoughtful.

No one did.

She turned to Marinus. “I think that was you,” she told him, “and Merrick, I think our health has remained in such good condition because of your sensory talents.”

“What are you saying?” Merrick asked her, frowning.

“It seems that if we combine the right talents with Alexandra, we form an almost indestructible team,” she replied. “I don’t doubt that if there were more sick Oceanids here, we would have easily been able to help the rest of them too. Just wait until we tell the rest of the pod!”

Merrick shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a great idea, Maya,” he cautioned her. “Not all of the Oceanids are as dedicated to peaceful activities as you are.”

Marinus nodded. “He’s right, Maya, we need to be careful.”

“Well, they’re going to want some sort of explanation,” she replied, pointing to the swell of excited voices that was flowing over the cliff from the direction of the fever tree.

“Merrick, I think it’s time,” I told him, watching fear flash through his eyes before he quickly hid it from me.

He shook his head but I continued anyway.

“These Oceanids are well again.” I took his hand and gazed into his worried eyes. “But there are so many others who continue to suffer and die. Apart from that I can’t deny the responsibility I have to the humans too. If we don’t help them, thousands of them will follow the same fate as your people. You said it yourself,” I squeezed his hand gently, “we’re out of time, and the longer we wait, the more people, yours and mine, will die.”

His eyebrows bunched together as he glanced in the direction of a river of song that had erupted from the central meeting place, his shoulders hunched.

“I know you’re afraid for me, afraid of what the violent group will do to me to convince me to join them, but I promise you I won’t, and besides,” I stretched onto my toes to kiss his downturned lips, “I have you to protect me.”

They swirled around us in a cacophony of joyful sound and over them, floating and intertwining in a soft misty substance, a myriad of blues ranging from a deep peacock blue to the silvery blue of dew.

Merrick kept me slightly behind him, his hand locked around mine in a vice-like grip as he led me to the centre of the cave beneath the fever tree.

Talita joined me there, beaming from ear to ear as she greeted dozens of Oceanids who had been sick.

The rest of the Oceanids were milling among the now healthy ones in confusion, expressions of delight contrasted with wary questions as they tried to get the full story of why their previously sick comrades were now completely whole.

Eventually Taltia managed to get the throng to settle in a broad circle around the tree, before turning to me.

I smoothed the iridescent shimmering silver sheath Sabrina had hurriedly dressed me in, clearing my throat self-consciously, trying to find order in the tangle of my thoughts as I began.

“When you brought me here, I had no idea any other sentient life existed on this planet,” I began, rousing polite laughter from some, and irritated hissing from others.

“Over the last few days,” I continued, ignoring the potent swirls of dark purple anger I could see twirling out from some of them towards me, “I’ve learnt a lot.” I smiled. “I’ve learnt about your plight, your bravery, your tenacity, and I’ve come to deeply respect your species.”

“She speaks as though she is foreigner,” one of the Oceanids sitting behind me commented.

I turned, scanning the crowd, focusing on future plans until I found the person who’d spoken against me. He was sitting there with an evil smile playing on his lips; his future plans involving only death and destruction swirled around him in a dark spiral.

Most of those around him were muttering for him to keep quiet, although a few were nodding in agreement.

“In the time I’ve been here, I’ve learnt a lot about what I can do, but more importantly what we can do together,” I continued, and outlined briefly what the four of us had done in helping the sick Oceanids.

Dozens of questions were thrown at me, and Merrick helped me to field them as graciously as possible.

“In spite of all I’ve seen and done,” I continued, ignoring the swirl of malice emanating from a few of the Oceanids scattered around the crowd as it crept towards me, “I cannot, and will not ignore the human element of this story.”

Angry hissing rattled through the crowd, the previously happy atmosphere instantly lost in a pall of hatred.

Talita stepped forward. “Let us at least hear the plan Alexandra has,” she suggested, having already heard a hurried version of it from me as I’d been dressing in Sabrina’s aven earlier.

I stepped forward and outlined the plan, explaining the dual approach, explaining why I thought it would work from a human perspective. Merrick stepped forward and provided them with more details about the oceanic clean-up project, explaining which talents we would need to use for both the pollution and the influencing of the humans.

A woman stood up, trembling with anger. “Humans play no role in our future except to destroy it.” She spat the words at me, her powerfully muscled arms pulled back as she glared at me.

I shook my head, adamant that I was not going to be cowed by their anger. “We all share the same planet,” I began only to be interrupted by an angry hissing as several Oceanids voiced their anger at my defence of the humans.

The woman who’d challenged me took courage from the anger that was now swirling in dark eddies around the Oceanids, stepping towards me as she spoke.

“Humans have nothing but evil in them,” she told me as several Oceanids expressed their agreement. “They don’t know how to share which is why we’re in this mess in the first place.”

“Most of them don’t know about the mess,” I countered, raising my voice at the disbelieving murmur that rushed through the crowd, “and those that know but do nothing have no idea how closely linked their own destruction is to yours.”

Several Oceanids let out a bark of laughter at my statement, shaking their heads and muttering in their own language.

Merrick stepped forward, manoeuvring me slightly behind him, very, very angry.

“Alexandra is more powerful than all of you put together.” His voice bounced around the cave.

“She is a weakling,” the woman who had challenged me interrupted him, “look at her, can any of you even see her spiritus?”

Merrick hissed, “She has more strength than you will ever have, Saphira.”

She laughed. “Look at how easily corrupted he has become.” She spoke to the crowd. “One night alone with her, unsupervised, and he is willing to abandon his whole species.”

Several of the Oceanids muttered among themselves, their scowls discouraging.

“Do you know what I think?” Saphira asked them. “I think we are Oceanids, and we don’t need the help of a stranger, let alone a half-cast with no heritage or place among our people. They,” she swept her hand towards Merrick and Talita, “they would have us believe that she is the fortieth generation Gurrer, the one who is going to restore us to our rightful place. But what if they’re wrong?” she asked those around her, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cavern. “Are you willing to place the fate of our entire species in her hands?” She ran her eyes over me in disgust, shaking the thick locks of her hair in defiance at the thought.

Many of the Oceanids were nodding in agreement with Saphira, others were looking worriedly between her and me.

I was surprised when a familiar wavery voice cut through the arguments that had broken out across the throng as Livius, looking much younger but still with the wisdom of many years of living in his eyes, challenged her.

“Saphira is full of talk, but I haven’t heard any other plan from her. It is very easy to criticise a plan but not as easy to come up with one on your own, is it, my dear?” He bobbed, although the movement came across as mocking rather than respectful.

Neith stepped to Saphira’s side, his powerful muscles tense as he spoke.

“The only way to ensure that our species survives is to rid ourselves of the scourge of humanity.” He spoke with great charisma, and many Oceanids who hadn’t responded to Saphira’s angry comments nodded in agreement

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Neith.” Llyr had stood. “But all attempts at eliminating the humans in our history has failed and resulted in terrible losses for us.”

Neith smiled at Llyr, briefly bobbing in a sycophantic gesture before opening his arms wide to include all of the Oceanids in the room. “Llyr is well versed in our history.” He began moving through the crowd, each step bringing him closer to where Talita, Merrick and I stood. “Oceanids have been fighting for dominion of the planet for as long as we can remember. We have always failed. But now we have a secret weapon, we have her.” He pointed at me smiling as the crowd murmured amongst themselves.

He began circling us as he spoke. “She is, just as her lover Merrick has said, very powerful.”

The muttered voices in the crowd increased in volume as I watched them discussing the scandal Neith had so neatly introduced. Merrick and I knew how innocent our time alone had been, but they didn’t and it seemed to shake their perception of me.

“If she were to choose to use her unifying power to annihilate the humans, the war would be over in weeks, and we would reign supreme over land and sea.”

Plumes of colour raced around the room as the Oceanids’ desires blossomed at Neith’s inflammatory words. Greed and hatred mixed readily with the notion of absolute peace and freedom until they muddied and confused each other so that I couldn’t work out who was motivated by what any more.

Neith fuelled their imaginations by darting in and out of the crowd, repeating wisps of conversation he heard as he went.

Talita spoke quietly but authoritatively into the mêlée.

“Neith speaks as if he controls this power.” Her words immediately changed the tide of emotion, settling much of the excitement.

He hissed at her angrily, obviously sensing he’d lost the advantage with the crowd.

“Alexandra and Alexandra alone holds the power to unify and strengthen you to enable you to achieve balance.”

“Her plan is going to take months, if not years,” Neith interrupted angrily. “War will be done in weeks.”

“If she does not choose war, it will take years and almost all of you will die,” Talita replied, squashing his argument as she did so. “It seems to me that only Alexandra can make the choice between a peaceful resolution and the killing you all so desperately seek.”

“So what is it you choose?” Neith turned on me. I leant away from him as the full force of his anger was thrown at me, woven through with sickening images of what he wanted to do and what he was prepared to do to me if I didn’t co-operate with him.

Talita interrupted him. “Alexandra will take her place as the leader of the pod tomorrow at a special banquet,” she announced. “At the banquet she will announce which strategy she has chosen to follow.”