A single, crystalline tear fell from the pitch-black eye of a young girl standing over the grave of her mother. The tear rolled down her blue-tinged face before falling to the freshly dug dirt below her webbed feet; The last tear she swore she’d shed in her mother’s memory, although she’d still shed a few more. Having never known her father, Starshe was on her own now. As a mermaid, she was never far from the lake in which she grew up, but now, she had no choice but to leave. The water had become polluted, and the result was the death of her mother, who suffocated in the sludge below the waves. When she was found, it was far too late.

Standing amidst the graves of the cemetery, she laid a rainbow seashell beneath the coral headstone, straightened up her backpack, and went on her way. Her destination was Glitter Springs; a mystical place her mother used to tell stories about when she was small. Based on these old stories, she figured that it would be somewhere in the fey realm, so that was what she intended to search for first.

Unsure of how long she could survive away from the water, Starshe chose to follow the nearest river upstream away from town, wading within the waters wherever it was less than waist deep. Any deeper and her legs would fuse together into a fin but she needed her skin to stay hydrated to avoid drying out completely.

That night, the first night she ever spent away from home, the young mermaid rested her legs in the stream while her upper body stayed on dry land. She wanted to feel the cool water on her legs one more time before she left the river altogether the next day.

her eyes shot open when the subtle sounds of something large wading through the water jostled her awake. A bear was making steady strides toward her.

Trying to stay calm, Starshe hummed a short tune and created an illusion of an empty riverbank. The bear still approached her, sniffing the air. It soon came upon her and sniffed right next to her face before wandering off down the riverbank. This was the last night she would sleep like this.

Morning had already approached so she gathered her backpack and prepared to move out. Because she wouldn’t see water for a while, she decided to dip her clothes in the river before re-dressing herself and making her way into the forest.

She trekked into the forest for an hour before looking for signs of any kind of fey or magical activity. What she found was what looked like a trail of pixy dust or fairy glitter across some of the low-hanging tree leaves. Following this trail led her toward the edge of the forest near a dirt road. Even though she followed the trail a long way, she came across nothing else, as if the forest had nothing else of note to offer. This made her skeptical of the trail she followed. Her skepticism was aided by nearby rustling noises that sounded like someone was sneaking around.

Deciding it wasn’t worth her curiosity, she turned around and dart back deeper into the forest, but there was now a problem. Someone was blocking her path back, and they were holding a net above their head. Realizing what was going on, she turned back toward the road and ran out into the open.

Starshe pulled out a dagger and held it at the ready while scanning the road. In doing so, she saw another person hiding in the brush not far from the first one stepping out of the forest’s edge with a net. They both wore camo, and the one attempting to stay hidden, was aiming a crossbow.

“Stay back,” said Starshe, brandishing her dagger and taking steady steps backward.

“Or what?” said the one still approaching. “You’ll stab me?”

As an answer, Starshe lifted her free hand with a blow dart in it in front of her mouth and a deep blue wood-grain tube appeared in her palm around the dart. She blew the dart out, landing it in the chest of her pursuer, causing them to wince in pain as blood was drawn. Immediately after, the one still between the trees fired their crossbow, landing the bolt in her thigh.

This was the first time Starshe felt pain like this, but it didn’t stop her from reloading, turning, and blowing another blow dart at her other assailant before she could lose her balance. The dart barely missed as it landed in the tree closest to them.

The now wounded pursuer, likely blinded by pain, tossed the net and it fell next to their target instead of on her while she was loading another shot.

Starshe took aim and fired another blow dart. This one landed in their throat and they fell to the ground, holding their throat while their ally reloaded their crossbow.

Starshe loaded another blow dart, and the two fired at each other at the same time, both hitting each other. The crossbowman let out a grunt as the dart hit them somewhere on their body while the crossbow bolt landed in Starshe’s chest, causing her to crumple to the ground as her consciousness faded to the tune of excruciating pain in her chest.

Her world went black.

 

Starshe blinked. Her world had gone dark, but somehow, she still felt alive; at least as alive as normal. She stood and patted her chest, not finding any wounds or bolts stuck in it. Her leg felt fine as well. Next, she scanned her surroundings only to see what looked like a blue landshark the size of a house next to a gate of the same size.

The shark's rugged body was deep blue like the lake had once been, and its limbs were supported by vicious-looking claws. The gate was surrounded by a vortex of blue energy so dense she couldn’t see more than the ridged silhouette through it. She only knew it was a gate because she knew where she was.

Starshe was a Wielder and even though she had the ability to summon her wielder's weapon, she could never reach this ‘inner space’. This place was deep inside her being and was where the magic she drew upon came from. She knew this because her mother told stories of Starshe’s father, who supposedly was also one. Because of this, she knew she was teetering on the edge of death but wasn’t quite dead yet.

Taking a deep breath, Starshe said, “Am I going to be okay?”

The monstrous shark lowered its head. “What is it you seek?” its voice was deep and gravelly as it rattled inside Starshe’s head.

Puzzled at the question, Starshe scratched her head. “I thought you were a part of me or something... Wouldn’t you know?”

Slowly, the shark repeated the question, making Starshe reflect a bit before answering.

“Uh... My mom... At least the place she used to tell me about, you know? Glitter Springs.”

Instead of saying anything, the shark continued to stare blankly for what seemed like hours.

Finally understanding the question, Starshe spoke quietly. “I want to be happy again.”

In an instant, the rough edges of the shark smoothed out and its claws were replaced with stubby paws. “As you seek, I shall aid you in finding.” The voice was now much lighter and feminine. “There is still much to do. Awaken.”

 

Starshe’s eyes opened to daylight. She tried to move but the pain spreading from her leg and chest stopped her in her tracks and even breathing hurt. She winced and brushed her fingers over the wound in her chest, feeling the remnants of a broken crossbow bolt sticking out. Next, she felt her leg and found the bolt missing from that one.

Now that she was somewhat sure of her condition, she took a look around at her surroundings. The sunlight came from a small hole in a cloth draped over a small cage containing her. The rattling of her surroundings told her that she was moving; probably on a wagon heading to a black market somewhere.

Wincing in pain with every movement, she felt for any of her equipment and found that they even took her clothes and she was fully naked within the cage aside from the bandage around the wound in her leg. The bolt wound in her chest wasn’t bleeding but having it there didn’t help.

Thinking hard, she came up with a plan. It’d hurt, but if they wanted to keep her alive, it should work. She started by gritting her teeth, gripping the broken bolt with her fingertips, and pulling as hard as she could. Once she got it to budge, she continued pulling until it was out. Next, she pushed the bolt against the small hole in the cloth above her and screamed, “Help me, I’m dying! I pulled it out and I can’t stop the bleeding! It hurts!” She began thrashing around while still pushing the bloody bolt where anyone outside the cage could see.

An extremely hoarse voice barked at her. “Shut up, you little bitch! You deserve it.”

Another voice responded, “We can’t let her bleed out. You know what’ll happen if we deliver a dead kid.”

The movement beneath the cage stopped and the cloth covering it moved. Outside, the two people stared at Starshe as she thrashed around, bleeding out. she saw the pair she failed to fend herself from staring at her. One had a bandage around their throat and a scowl on their face while the other had a look of worry and curiosity.

Gasping for another scream, something bubbled up in her throat and she coughed up blood. This led to a coughing fit she couldn’t stop as the blood kept coming; a consequence of ripping out the bolt nestled firmly against her lung.

In a hurry, the captors opened the cage and lifted the coughing girl out of it. In a hurry, the uninjured one attempted to tend to the wound but pressed into it, causing Starshe to scream in a pitch so high it shocked her captors. It also alerted someone else nearby.

A young man deep in the forest heard the wails of the young mermaid and was closing in on her location. While the captors struggled to treat Starshe’s wound, the boy darted between the trees and foliage toward the sound of a fey creature in danger. By the time he arrived, the captors were still struggling to keep her alive. Since they didn’t yet notice him, he took to the shadows as he approached and watched from high in the treeline.

While flailing around, Starshe searched her surroundings for anything that could help her escape but found nothing. Fearing that she might miss her opportunity, she pushed her hands against her captors, feeling for some sort of weapon until she brushed her hand against a dagger. In a fluid motion, she yanked the dagger out and slit the throat of the bandaged captor, causing them to slump to the side. Before the remaining captor could retaliate, Starshe aimed for their throat, too but only caught their arm.

Realizing what happened, the remaining captor attempted to knock out the girl with a punch but missed as she wiggled away from the impact and retaliated with a stab in the chest, causing them to let out a guttural scream before their eyes went blank and their dead weight fell on her.

After a short struggle, Starshe pushed the body off of her and scanned her surroundings more carefully. She was on a horse-drawn wagon alongside what she assumed to be traveling supplies for the now-dead pair that captured her. She heaved at the thought of the once living people beside her were now corpses because of her, but she swallowed back her bile at the thought that it was all in self-defense. Next, she started searching for her things and anything else of use.

The young man in the tree, having witnessed this display, climbed down and cautiously approached the wagon. Before he reached it, he called out, “Hey, you okay?”

Starshe, already on edge, having not yet found her things and weak from blood loss, ducked low and responded, “Who’s there?”

“My name is Simon,” said the boy. “I saw what happened and I want to help you.”

“If you saw what happened, why didn’t you help me then?”

“All I knew was that there was a screaming girl on a wagon who seemed injured and two people who looked like they were trying to help.”

“No, they tried to kidnap me and took all my stuff. I think they needed me alive so they could sell me, that’s all.”

Simon put his hand on the side of the wagon, intending to board it. “You’re still injured, right? Let me help you.”

Not wanting to turn away help but weary of the boy, Starshe said, “Alright, just stay out there and let me find my stuff first.”

Simon stood and waited for Starshe to find her things as requested. She rummaged around between bloody coughs until she found a small box with her bag and clothes stuffed inside. Finding some loose cloth, she poorly bandaged her wound and dressed herself before looking outside the wagon where Simon stood, waiting.

“Oh, did you take care of it yourself?” said Simon.

“Yeah, you can come up now.”

After climbing aboard, Simon took a good look at the girl and said, “You’re bleeding through your clothes.”

Looking down, Starshe saw that the bandage around her chest changed nothing about her condition. In fact, she was now light-headed and faint. “Oh... no...” The young mermaid’s vision went blurry as she lost her balance, toppled over, and lost consciousness.

Acting quickly, Simon caught the young mermaid and saw to tending to her wounds himself. He re-bandaged the hole in her chest and stopped the bleeding. Afterward, he took it upon himself to dispose of the two bodies in the nearby underbrush after taking anything of use off of them. He also fed the horse at the front of the wagon, making sure to keep it calm and content.

After a few minutes, Starshe opened her eyes from a dreamless sleep and sat up, looking around. Simon was sitting at the front of the moving wagon, holding the reins as the horse trotted forward. After realizing that her chest had been re-bandaged and the burning pain had lessened, she stood and went to sit at the front of the wagon as well. “Thank you for helping me,” she said.

“You shouldn’t lie about your injuries. I could have let you die if I wanted to.”

“I didn’t. I thought I did a good job.”

“Not good enough, obviously. Now, you owe me.”

Starshe folded her arms and winced at the lingering pain. “You can have the wagon if you want. I don’t need it.”

“Not enough. I have questions.”

“About what? I don’t know anything.”

“You’re aquatic in nature, right? A mermaid?”

“Yeah, what gave it away?” said the young mermaid, sarcastically.

“Long, flowing blue hair, blue skin, completely black eyes. I’ve never seen a mermaid in person but you fit every description I ever heard.”

With a sigh, Starshe said, “Okay, what are your questions since I owe you?”

“You’re a mermaid, but it’s not just a magic trait, is it? You’re a real mermaid, aren’t you?”

Starshe was taken aback by the boy’s apparent lack of common knowledge. “Of course, I’m a real mermaid. I’m a real mermaid because it’s a magic trait, silly.”

Simon scoffed. “Based on that scream earlier, I thought you were a true fey. I guess magic traits can even mimic stuff like that. Guess that just means you’re lucky. If I didn’t hurry over, you’d be dead.”

Starshe huffed. “Whatever, is that all?”

“Well, I heard there was a real mermaid that lived around here; a true fey. Her name is Artemis. Have you heard of her?”

“No... I haven’t...” The young mermaid couldn’t help but look up, fighting the tears welling up from the memory of her mother.

“I know we just met, but it’s not very nice to lie to the person who saved your life. Just tell me what you know. We’re going towards Silverscale town, anyway. I’ll just find her when I get there.”

“You won’t find her,” mumbled Starshe.

“What was that?”

“You won’t find her.” This time, she spoke louder.

“What, are you her or something?”

Taking a deep breath, Starshe stopped as a twinge of pain reared its head and said, “No, I’m Starshe, her daughter. She’s dead.”

“Oh, that explains it.” Simon commanded the horse to stop with a pull of the reins. “Where were you headed, then? You were leaving town, right?”

“I don’t really know where I’m headed. I just know I’m trying to get somewhere. Why are you looking for my mom, anyway?”

“Well, if she really was a true fey, she’d know how to get to the fey realm. I was going to ask her how to get there, but I guess not.” He pulled the reins and the horse started trotting along again. “I’m still going to visit her grave. Maybe I can gain some insight by visiting it.”

“Why do you need to get to the fey realm?”

Simon shrugged. “I have my reasons.”

“Well, mind if I come along? I have my reasons as well.”

He shrugged again. “Sure, do you know the way?”

“No.”

“Sounds like a burden.”

Starshe stood and made her way to the back. “You can stop the wagon here. I’m getting off.”

“I didn’t say no. You’re injured and you don’t know where you’re going. At this point, I have no choice but to take you with me. You’re just lucky they did a good job on your leg. You wouldn’t be standing right now if it wasn’t for that, now sit down and let yourself heal. There’s not enough supplies in case you start bleeding out like before.”

Relieved, Starshe found a spot to lie down and rested until they were back in town. After a few hours, they arrived, and with her guidance, they went straight to the cemetery. Once they were, she was reluctant to take a step back toward her mother's grave and opted to stay in the wagon while Simon went out alone. He returned eventually and took the reins again, leading the horse out of town.

Curiously, Starshe said, “So, did you gain any insight like you said?”

“No,” said Simon. “Just a heavy feeling of resentment. Cemeteries are always full of stuff like that.”

“Makes sense. Do you think we can actually find the fey realm?”

“It’s not a matter of ‘can’ or ‘can’t’, more like when.” Simon kept his eyes forward while speaking.

“Okay, any idea where to look?”

“Actually, I have an idea, but we’ll know for sure once we get there.”

“And where is there?”

“There’s a cave somewhere in the eastern mountains. I think we’ll find something there, hopefully. It’s a long ride but at least we have this wagon.”

“I’ll leave the driving to you, then.”