Graysen’s hand delicately cupped my face, and his thumb stroked my cheek. I clung onto the folds of his shirt for dear life, using him as a much-needed anchor until the rattling stilled beneath the waves. The world became silent save for unfamiliar low bellowing and humming sounds.
“You can open your eyes,” he whispered softly against my ear, his lips brushing my temple. “The worst is over.”
I grimaced and allowed my eyes to cautiously glance around us. Our surroundings in the carriage looked undisturbed, as if nothing had happened. There was a smallbulb dangling from the ceiling that had flickered on to provide additional visibility. The rugged floor was streaked with aqua and white beams morphing as the refraction of the ocean danced.
“Would you like to look outside?” Graysen cooed, petting me with the back of his hand as I continued clutching onto the shirt loosely fitted to his stomach. It would take a moment for adrenaline to release its grip on me, and in turn, my grip on him. The rocking had forced my face from his shoulder into the crook of his chest, and I inhaled his smoky aroma deeply to self-soothe.
“If we’re being honest, no,” I laughed nervously. This should be so fucking cool, but the human part of my brain felt it was violating the laws of nature.
“What are you afraid of?” his chest vibrated with a purr. I wasn’t sure if it was intended to soothe me, or if he was pleased to have me crumbling into him like a scared animal.
“Losing my coping mechanism of denial that I am surrounded by water and absolutely drowning if anything goes wrong.”Fucking obviously.
“Drown?” he asked with genuine puzzlement. It was the same tone he used whenever something didn’t match between our experiences of the world.
“Not be able to breathe in oxygen... because we’re in water.” My knuckles finally began to budge, and I moved my face away from him slowly. I continued leaning in his direction, ready to return to my burrow should things become rocky.
“You can breathe just fine in water.”
“You can breathe in water?” My human ignorance protested the idea, but I knew this wasn’t a world of humans.And if the fire man felt safe submerged within the sea, who was I to tell him he was wrong?
“Look outside. I don’t want you to miss a thing.”
I reluctantly turned my head to the window and looked into the blue depths of the distance. Behind us was a rocky peach-colored cliff embedded with an array of gems glinting orange, green, and blue. Pink sand clouded around its peak, where the tide caressed the edge. A large cavern disrupted the cliffside, with the faintest bioluminescent glow emitting from its entrance. I watched its vibrant lights fade as we continued.
I nearly jumped back into the safety of Graysen’s chest when a school of red fish with bulging eyes blocked my view, but they were quickly chased away. By something larger. It was an ethereal figure with two long, delicate fins on either side of its slim torso. Was that… a squid? Eel? No. I couldn’t place it.
Dark shapes filled the distance, a lack of reference making both the size and closeness of each object ambiguous. One of the many shadows seemed to be growing in size, suggesting it was moving vaguely in our direction. I squinted my eyes and made out two long extremities with inconsistent movements compared to what I could expect from fins. After a moment, I realized they were jointed arms just like my own.
“Graysen, is that a person?” I whispered.
He leaned in, and our foreheads nearly touched to allow us both to view out the window. “Your seventh lesson in our people. Sirens.”
I startled at a sudden thud against the glass, knocking my skull into Graysen’s. A webbed hand nearly the size of the frame had slapped the window right in front of my face. As I gripped my chest and took a deep breath to recover from my surprise, a humanoid face appeared and stared back. The fucker waslaughing at my reaction, as was Graysen despite his attempt to hide his amusement within a cough. I narrowed my eyes at him.
The Siren’s body was hairless, and his smooth skin shimmered with what little light made it this deep. His flesh was honey-toned, fading to a counter-shaded burgundy along his back. His hair was a warm brown and wisped around his face in a feathery cloud. His eyes were solid black, much like Mykie’s, but were encased in narrow almond-shaped lids that tilted at the outer edges. He smiled and waved at us, his teeth tiny and pointed, with an obvious chunk of flesh stuck between them.
“Not mermaids?” I mumbled under my breath. The term “Siren” resonated with me as a monster of mythology. Mermaids sing happy songs. Sirens hunt, calling men to their doom. I wondered why this species harbored the more negative fish-person namesake. I didn’t find this man’s little prank malicious.
Graysen leaned in closer to the window and pointed at his own teeth. The Siren tilted his head curiously for a moment, then seemed to understand the message. He used a claw from between the webs of his fins to pick out the fleshy chunk of meat and gave Graysen an unsure thumbs up. Graysen nodded and mouthed, “You got it.”
Having already lost interest, the man started to swim away, revealing a muscular tail with a spiked sail lining his back.
“There must be a colony of them nearby,” Graysen remarked.
“Are they friendly?” I searched for more in the distance, but the water had become too dark for me to see much beyond our immediate vicinity.
“I’ve never met a mean one.” He shrugged his lax shoulders. “Then again, I haven’t met many of them. They live in deep water away from other people. There are caverns thatroughly thirty to fifty Sirens will inhabit at one time. The caves are beautiful. The walls are covered in crystals, and they chisel away at large rocks to create magnificent furniture and décor. I visited one once when I was in my nomad phase of life.”
Anticipation growing into enchantment, I kneeled on the bench and stared out the window. All shapes, colors, and sizes of marine life flicked past us as we soared ahead. The ocean floor was in view a few yards below us, and the faint glow from the carriage illuminated what would have otherwise been total darkness.
“Why does the sand shift colors like that?” I asked, noticing that the pink sand faded to orange, then back to pink again. As if they couldn’t blend.
“Are you asking me about science again? Or will mythology suffice?”
“Mythology is perfect.” Frankly, I didn’t want to bring up scientists again on our road trip-sea voyage-expedition-odyssey.
“Lore claims the lines would paint a picture if you viewed them from the heavens. Although, opinions differ on what you might see.”
