Berganashio - Chapter 8

Merfaries were quite different in many ways from the fairies who lived with Queen Finyellë. Aside from living on opposite sides of the world of Berganashio, they had different cultures, values, and skills. They were small and could fly like fairies. Their lower halves looked like mermaids, which may be well-known in some worlds. There were four merfarie children who were traveling rapidly, above and sometimes below the ocean water. They had such beautiful scales and fins. When they grew tired of flying, then they would swim with equal skill. They were athletic, confident, and always ready for adventures of some kind.

“You’ll never catch me now!” shouted Larkin, as he dove under the water and swam skillfully. His two older sisters, Pori and Villi, didn’t seem particularly competitive at the moment as they fluttered through the dark night. Pori, the eldest merfarie, held the tiny hand of Bry, who was the youngest sibling out of the four of them.

Little Bry asked, “We there yet, Pori?”

“Still quite a way to go, but you can ride on my back if you like.”

“Sounds good, sis.” Bry flew up and grabbed ahold of his sister’s back. He was grinning ear to ear now. He wiggled his fingers and blew a raspberry in the air at his other sister, Villi, who was flying next to them.

Villi spotted her other brother, Larkin, up ahead of them. He was bursting up from the water. Villi started flying at a faster pace, trying to catch up to him. “Boo!” Villi stealthily flew up from behind Larkin and poked him on his muscular shoulder. He had really had a growth spurt over the last year and was looking more masculine every day it seemed.

“Where we headed tonight, sis?” Little Bry asked, as he squeezed his sister tighter.

“Father told us all this morning... you don’t remember?”

“Oh…yeah! To see the seahorsies!” he piped.

“That’s right. We’re going to see Tilly again.”

“Yay for Tilly… he is such a silly seahorse, sis.”

“Indeed… and you are a silly merfarie boy!”

Bry’s dimples and cute freckles did a little dance as he giggled in response to his sister. Pori and Bry finally started to catch up to the other two siblings.

Villi had stopped up ahead. She was staring straight ahead. Her body was frozen in the air, aside from her wings. Her wings were beating the air, almost as fast as her heart was drumming in her chest. “See that?” Her mouth aghast, “It’s the sea-wolf ship!”

Larkin’s muscles tensed. Seawater dripped off the tips of his wavy, black hair. Glaring at the ship, “Let’s burn it,” he spat angrily.

Pori hung on to Bry a little tighter. “I knew we shouldn’t have brought Bry on this trip.”

“I’m not scared!” Bry whispered, but his back shivered slightly as he said it.

“As long as we keep flying, then we’ll be fine. Sea-wolfs can’t fly,” Villi reminded them.

Pori shook her head in agreement, “Right…and we’re not gonna take on the whole lot of them tonight… That's not what we came for!"

“Let’s at least fly over the ship to see how many are onboard,” Larkin negotiated.

Pori looked up at the sky and saw dark storm clouds beginning to form quickly. Somewhat reluctantly, she cautioned, “We’re gonna have to hurry though, it looks like a bad storm is going to break out any minute.”

They flew up higher into the sky, getting closer to the ship. “Ughh..what is that awful sound?” Villi asked. Her short brown hair flew in the breeze.

Pori wiggled her ears. “I think they are trying to sing.”

“They stink!” Larkin exclaimed.

“Yep, that’s bad…real bad,” agreed Bry.

Villi keenly scanned the outside of the boat. “They must all be inside the cabin. I don’t see any of them. Wait…is that a cage over there?”

“Yeah…it is a cage, and it looks like something white is in there,” Larkin said. He squinted, as there were light raindrops beginning to fall.

“Wait a minute…it’s a white sea-wolf…an albino?" Villi cocked her head sideways.

Larkin, with intrigue in his eyes, questioned aloud, "Who knew?"

Pori ventured closer. “He looks dreadfully sad.”

“Wonder why?” Bry asked.

"Wouldn't you be sad, if you were stuck in a cage?" Villi asked.

“Let’s go all the way down there and ask him why he’s in a cage,” Larkin dared.

Pori cringed. “What would father and mother think?”

“Who cares what they think now! They sent us out in the first place… that means they trust us!” Larkin cried with determination and confidence. He flew down speedily. The others followed behind.

Larkin landed right in front of the cage. Without introduction, he asked, “Why are you in the cage? Do the other sea-wolfs hate you or something?”

The other merfaries landed behind their brother and quietly waited for an answer. Cotton had been crying in the cage. His white hair around his blue eyes was damp from the tears. Startled to open his eyes and find four tiny creatures in front of him, “Ahh… hello!" He wiped his face quickly. "You must be merfaries…I’ve heard stories about your kind.”

Clearing his throat, Larkin corrected, “Not just any merfaries, but princes and princesses, under King Phineas and Queen Malka of the merfarie gardens.”

“Oh goodness me…I humbly beg your forgiveness for my ignorance. I should have guessed you were princes and princesses by how handsome and beautiful you all are! And what are your names?”

“I’m Larkin, and that’s Pori, Villi and Bry,” he replied pointing back to his siblings. “What’s your name?”

“Cotton…just Cotton… I’m no prince or anything special here… just a prisoner at the moment. To answer your question earlier…the other sea-wolfs do hate me.”

“Why is that?” Villi said coming closer to the front of the cage with her brother.

“Are you a murderer or robber somethin’?” Larkin interrogated.

“Quite the opposite actually.” Cotton looked over at the dead sea animal still inside the cage. “I’m hated and no use to the other sea-wolfs because I don’t kill other animals…I’m not ruthless like them. I only eat plants.”

“Just like us!” Bry said far too loudly.

“Shhhhh.” Pori hissed, looking back to see if the other sea-wolfs heard anything.

“But it doesn’t matter because tomorrow the other sea-wolfs are going to kill me once and for all, as I am no use to them.” Cotton closed his eyes for a moment.

“Kill you? How awfully cruel and heartless!” Pori shook with the thought.

Grabbing his hand dagger from his side belt, Larkin began to hack at the ropes that were tying the cage shut. “We’re setting you free.”

“Free?” Cotton swallowed, not even knowing what to think about the thought of freedom. “What would I do with freedom?” he asked himself pensively.

Villi and Pori quickly snatched their daggers as well and joined Larkin, without a word. Meanwhile Bry flew through the cage rungs and laid down on one of Cotton’s large front paws. “So soft and comfy!” Bry giggled and then flew up and hit Cotton’s chest. “Look Pori…I just stick here…no hands or anything!” Bry looked especially tiny hanging from Cotton's furry chest.

Pori smiled quickly at Bry’s goofiness but kept sawing at the thick ropes in desperate determination. She looked behind her and spotted two drunken sea-wolfs staggering out onto the deck. “Ahh-oh… Guys cut faster! They’re coming out!”

Larkin got his rope cut through first and then Villi got hers cut through soon after. The two sea-wolfs looked over at them right as Larkin and Villi finished.

“Hey! What’s that over there by the cage?” One of the sea-wolfs yelled.

The other sea-wolf belched and replied, “Let’s go check it out. Looks like fireflies or somethin’.”

“No, those aren’t fireflies…they’re setting Cotton free…catch em’ quick!”

The two sea-wolfs bounded over to the cage, but in the very instant Cotton got free from the cage and started standing his ground with teeth bared, ready to defend the merfarie siblings.

One of the sea-wolfs swatted at Larkin who dodged to the side quickly.

Villi yelled, “Larkin, use your scales!”

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