Berganashio - Chapter 26

The fangs of the sea-wolfs snapped at the totters.

"The tree! Over there!" Papa yelled, as they dodged the aggressive attackers.

The four small creatures had absolutely nothing to protect themselves with. The three totters managed to bolt up a tree and cling to one of the branches about six feet above the ground. Jovie had fluttered up to a limb on the other side. Her heart felt as if it were about to burst from her chest. Just as she took a deep sigh of relief, several fiery arrow jetted past her head. One of the arrows singed several wisps of her golden hair and left a burn mark on her cheek.

"Ahhh eeekk!" She screamed.

The arrows missed her and skimmed down toward the wild sea-wolfs. The beasts were trying to jump up at the base of the tree. The fiery arrow had missed Jovie, and instead, it plunged into the chest of one of the sea-wolfs. He reeled and howled in agonizing pain.

"What the? Howwl. Howwellll!!!"

The two sea-wolfs looked up in disbelief. They couldn't understand where the fiery arrows had come from, as they had not seen that the four small creatures were armed. Unable to move anymore, the one sea-wolf who had been hit in the chest, fell over in a dramatic heap. His fellow companion saw what had occurred and bounded off without a second glance before more arrows could magically appear as they had before.

"What are those?" Sister totter sobbed. She was still clinging to the tree limb for dear life.

Jovie swallowed. "They're sea-wolfs! I've only heard about them... never seen them until today."

"The arrows..." Papa huffed.

Jovie nodded. "Yes, they were coming for me... But instead they helped protect us... right in the nick of time! I've never been so grateful of the fiery arrows in all my life!"

"Me too!" Brother totter said, with amazement in his expression.

The four of them eyed the large shape of the dead sea-wolf.

"How do we know if he's actually dead and not faking?" Brother totter asked.

Jovie cringed. "Let's just wait up here a bit and make sure."

They waited awhile but the sea-wolf at the base of the tree was motionless. Carefully, they made their way down from the safety that the tree had provided them.

"We must hurry to the waterfall." Jovie motioned for them to move.

"And keep a better lookout... in case more of the sea-wolfs try to chase us!" Brother totter grabbed his sister's paw and tried pulling her along at a quicker pace.

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Keenwai still felt uneasy about the new course of action. However, he still felt indebted to the merfarie kingdom. He was impressed by Larkin's quick response to his parents plan. He felt admiration towards Larkin, mixed with something else, that Keenwai could not quite articulate.

In the corridor, Keenwai and Kunya paused. They looked at the four merfarie children and Cotton.

"I suppose we must leave immediately so we have time to make the flight back to the meerbird mob... so that we can prepare them for the battle. Three days will come fast!"

"So long, you two!" Bry wished them a farewell. "See you for the battle with the horrible fairies!"

Pori scoffed and shook her head. "Bry, you're far too young to be part of any battles! You're not going." She looked at Larkin. "I disagree with the whole idea. I don't see the fairies as a threat in the slightest... and mother and father are not in their right minds or something... Something is just very wrong with all of this!"

Larkin tried to defend the situation. "Pori, you're not in charge here! They are."

"Of course, he's right in this situation." Villi gravely and slowly added. "Who are we to argue with them?"

"They know best, don't they?" Larkin asked.

Pori shook her head. Part of her wanted to be okay with it, but she felt adamantly against the idea. "I will have nothing to do with it and Bry is too young!"

Cotton bowed his head humbly. "I've never seen the purpose of fighting... I guess I've seen so much cruelty already in my life..."

"They've already made their minds up." Villi stated matter-of-factly.

Keenwai was surprised by the disagreement between the merfarie siblings. "Nothing is ever easy about war. It is one of those necessary evils from time to time. Kunya and I must leave now."

Cotton and the merfaries wished the two meerbirds a farewell. Keenwai and Kunya started their flight home. As they flew, Keenwai noticed the two small vials that were dangling from Kunya's neck.

"Where did those come from?"

"They were a gift from Pori and Villi."

She explained more about them. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with an idea.

"Keenwai, I have an idea of something I want to try when we get home."

"Alright."

"Keenwai, have you thought any more about your anointing?"

"Some." He answered. His wings looked strong in the breeze.

After several hours of flying, they finally made it back to the mob. The mob was full of exuberance to see them and welcome them home.

Grinyella, Podder, Dror all stood together.

Kunya touched the vials of merfarie tears around her neck. "I have an idea. Where are the meerbirds who came back blinded from the sea-wolf ship?"

"They are over there by the trees." Dror nodded.

Kunya rushed over to them, calling out to them.

"It's me, Kunya. We’re back home."

She wanted to let them know who was approaching them, as she didn't want to startle them.

"For anointing day, I was given the anointing of healing. I want to try something but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

The cluster of blind meerbirds nodded slowly. Kunya carefully removed the cork from the top of one of the vials. She put a few drops of the merfarie tears on the closed-eyes of the meerbirds. They had been accidentally blinded by the merfarie children's birthmark scales who had intended to blind the sea-wolfs instead.

"I can see!" Cried one of the meerbirds.

"Me too!" Anther one echoed, as he rubbed his eyes and blinked at the sudden brightness of the sun.

One by one, all the previously blinded meerbirds declared that their vision had been miraculously restored.

Grinyella smiled proudly. "I see that you are walking in your anointing beautifully, Kunya! Well done!"

"They've been bumping around awkwardly since they got back..." Podder added.

Dror nodded. "Indeed, it was very sad for them to be like that."

Kunya took a deep sigh and smiled at all the meerbirds who could now see clearly. They were leaping and playing as if they were children again. The tears hadn't worked for the merfarie children when they had tried using it on numerous occasions.

Kunya nodded, with gratitude and satisfaction in her gaze. "Yes... apparently, the tears in the right hands... or paws, in this case, is what it took for the healing power to work!" Kunya looked down at her paws. The two vials were now empty. It was clear that the bottled tears had been well-spent. She was full of immeasurable joy.

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Author's Note:

To read chapter 27, follow the link below: