“I’m dead; the moment they get bored, I’m gone.” Amara was still trembling, walking back and forth in the small clearing. They had stocked the island; she was prey, like a damn deer for a wealthy king.
She scrubbed her hands through her hair and let out an exasperated sigh. “Why just me? Once I’m dead they need more. Why, why kill my whole fucking crew?” she said, pausing to spit on the ground. Amara eventually plopped down, leaning her back against the rock wall.
She could see into the jungle ahead. One side was guarded on her left—the sad part. She was cornering herself, but at least no one could sneak up on her.
Amara had her knees drawn to her chest. The woman felt almost like a lost child since her arrival on the island. The captain fished out her humming blade. The woman’s fingers squeezed around it to the point they ached. She took a few deep breaths; during wartimes she would normally meditate, but today she tried counting backwards instead to soothe her nerves.
The snap of a twig interrupted Amara as she reached five out of twenty. Tensing, the woman lifted her knife and stood, pressing a hand on the stone behind her.
She heard branches snap, the sound of huffing, and even soft cursing. Amara watched a spot where she saw the moving bush and green as the red-headed girl stumbled out. The woman had a bucket clutched to her chest, and just as she cleared the tree line, the redhead stumbled, ending up on her knees in the sand.
The woman in white was breathing heavily and covered in scratches. “Oh… I found you,” the Tideborn woman said with a wisp of a smile. Her dress was covered in dirt, and tears that had come through the tree line.
Amara stared at her knife pointed towards the stranger. She felt herself trying not to sway. “I need food again soon if I survive this.”
“Go away! I don’t intend to let you people rip me apart. Stay back!” the captain snarled. She was tense, ready to strike if the other moved in on her. She had seen men ripped off their feet by these creatures. What she was not expecting, though, was the other woman to stay sitting in the sand. Slowly, she set the bucket down she had been holding so close and gently scooted it towards the captain.
Amara stared at it, hearing a scraping sound from inside. From a distance, she could just catch glimpses of something gray that moved inside it. “… I haven’t been able to pull much of your goods to shore yet, but I knew you must be hungry. Please, these crabs are nice and fat. Your knife will make quick work of them.”
Amara glanced at the blade in her hand, feeling sick. “So it was you who came up to me while I slept?” God, she wanted the girl to say no, but it would be a lie and she knew it.
The redhead nodded, looking down again. For a predator that ate humans, she seemed very shy or even ashamed, which was strange for the captain to witness. “Yes. I—I don’t want you to die. You aren’t a pirate or a killer; I saw your ship, it is a merchant vessel. I also witnessed your fight. You are a warrior. You remind me, with how you carry yourself, of my brother,” she said softly and licked her lips. She fidgeted, gently pushing at the bucket again and looking up at the captain.
Amara felt herself tense with a quiet disgust and anger. “Liar... fucking Tideborn only give birth to women,” she said coldly, taking a step forward. Maybe if she was quick enough, she could end things before the other’s soulful eyes made her pity the beast in front of her.
She had taken a few steps forward when she registered a terrifying fact. The area was nearly silent other than some animal noise. The song had quieted down. It was then she realized that to do this, to kill this woman, would mean she would be hunted down, likely in less than a damn day. That was if she was lucky and they didn’t just bide their time.
The Tideborn met her gaze, green eyes boring into her own. “I was once human like you. My love and I fled to the sea together. She loves me very deeply, and since I changed—” She paused and rubbed at some tears in her eyes.
“We realized even though I can come to land, I—I need human blood, just like my sisters. I haven’t fed since I changed,” she admitted and dug at the torn fabric of her dress. The woman looked down, seeming ashamed to even meet Amara’s eyes again. “My sisters and my queen call me Sea Star or Star.”
The captain stared at her, her eyes wide. “You. Your human? Were human? Can’t you? Are you cursed?” she asked, taking a step back. Amara still had her doubts, but if she could walk on land, that already changed so much of what she knew of the Tideborn.
The girl looked at the former captain and touched her own chest gently, close to her heart. “My love’s soul is wrapped and braided with mine. There is no turning back once you make the choice, and we chose the sea.”
Amara slowly sank down, eventually ending up on her ass where she started. She was exhausted and her back and legs ached. “You’re going to kill me, I can understand that, but why can’t you just eat fish? Why do you choose people?” Star stayed where she was, but Amara could see her twitch like she had stopped herself from getting up.
“She even reacted like a dog or animal when someone is low to the ground; I’m a lot less scary when I can’t move to fight back as easily,” she thought, still clinging to the knife, though she rested her hands in her lap.
Star sighed loudly, tucking a gossamer strand of fiery hair behind her ear. “I’ve tried. If we could just feed off fish, the world would be easier. We need human blood—not always, but at least from time to time.”
Her lip quivered, and she turned her face to the side, seeming to try and hide it. “We kill whole ships because it means we can drink a lot and almost everyone can. Then we can go months without more, and less ships need to be taken,” she admitted, not meeting the human’s gaze.
Amara felt her stomach churn. She twitched, squirming where she sat. “So you slaughter huge groups, but how can you be sure it’s our blood you need?”
Star met her gaze once more, her cheeks wet with tears. “I have tried dolphin, whale, whatever I can. My queen said when it didn’t work, we were made to protect the sea from human greed. I’m already weak. I can barely sing. I don’t want you to suffer or hurt. Likewise, I didn’t want to do this at all, but…” She sighed and gripped her head, looking beyond stressed.
Amara leaned forward long enough to grab the liquor bottle she had managed to bring with her. Taking a big gulp, she gagged a bit and coughed. It had nice fruity notes, but it was strong. She could only imagine how long it had been under the waves. “This shit’s good. Honestly, I’d rather be drunk anyway if she decides to take me down,” she thought as she took another sip. The silence stretched, and her words came out clear, thankfully.
“So it was by chance we came close to your nest. I chose a route I thought would get us where we needed. It’s my fault...” Amara grunted, seeing the faces of her crewmen fill the space behind her eyes. “They were good men… well, Cecil was a dick, but he didn’t deserve what happened.”
“We hide the wrecks with magic. My queen doesn’t want anyone to suffer, not really. Our attacks are frightening, I understand that, but quick. People are killed quickly. To my family you are food, but that doesn’t mean they want to torture you.”
Star slowly looked around before hugging herself. “I don’t want you to suffer a slow death if I die. My queen loves me deeply. This is my fault, not yours, but I fear she would blame you.”
Amara covered her face with her hands. She could feel her stomach knotted up so tight, even with the booze in her system. The human stabbed her knife in the stone beside her with hope the magic would keep it sharp. She sighed. “What are we to do then? If you are going to kill me, I ask only a night to walk free before you do, and plenty of wine,” she said, feeling the lie on her tongue. She wanted more, so much more; her whole life had been stretched to the horizon before all this mess. However, what the girl said next made the captain lean forward.
“My love told me I don’t have to drink all, just enough to fill my belly. To make me stronger. I don’t have to kill you if I’m careful; you can go on living. I will even bring you anything you need. Clothes, food, water—we have much hidden here.” Sitting up straighter, the redhead held herself differently, almost like nobility.
Star was no longer the hesitant, clumsy girl, or so it seemed. Amara was watching her carefully. She glanced up as she saw clouds starting to form close to the beach beyond the trees. Wind picked up as they were sitting together. “How do I know you won’t kill me anyway? When you get brave, what stops me from being useful?” she asked with a sinking feeling in her gut.
“I—I was once royalty, and by my blood and the name of the house of the House of the Amenoque...”
Amara looked her over and picked up the water skin she had taken the night before. It had the family crest she saw on many ships. “Your family trades these shores?” she asked and was answered by the girl nodding.
She gently pushed the bucket forward once more. “Here, please... the storm is coming. I—I feel the pull.”
Amara looked down at the knife in her hand, which had begun to pulse. The song was returning to the island in a stronger wave. It seemed joyous and excited. She glanced at her wrapped feet and at the strange waterskin. With a resigned groan, she closed her eyes as she said the next words. “A small bite. I have my knife. It cuts anything. If I feel myself dying, I will kill you,” she said firmly.
Star’s eyes lit up. She seemed either ready to sob or cry in joy; the other couldn’t tell. “Y—yes, of course. I accept this. Thank you, I—”
“This isn’t for you. I’d rather try to have a few good last days; no monster can still his nature. Because you were human once, I pity you, and I will die for that decision. I have no doubts.”
The redheaded woman slowly lowered herself, pressing her forehead to the ground. She openly sobbed softly in that position, the position of a slave or servant. “Thank you. I’ll honor this deal. I’ll take good care of you. My family calls me Sea Star, as I said, but you may know me as Star.”
As the mermaid sat up, Amara nodded to her. “They call me Amara. I was born on the islands close to Harpsford.” She felt strange sharing her name; thankfully, mermaids weren’t fae and didn’t steal such things.
“There is a fire stone in with your food. I’ll come back in the morning. But please, no matter what, don’t go to the beach when the storm comes...” Star quickly scrambled to her feet and vanished into the tree line, leaving the human behind.
Amara watched after her. It was the fact barely any sound was made that made her grip her blade just a bit tighter. “Star wanted me to see her coming, damn.”
Amara rested her head on her arms; she had tucked her knees in again. The soft clink of her lock ends made her smile as she tried to think of something pleasant. “It’s too bad I can’t go home. That ship was all we had.”
Once the captain had time to calm down, she set herself to the task of eating—or, well, getting her food ready. “I’m a damn fool. My best chance is slitting my own throat…” she muttered in pure aggravation.
“But you’re still here, aren’t you? Couldn’t say no to a sad face of a pretty girl… you’re so fucked.”
Amara laid out the dead crabs. Star had been right; the knife made quick work of them. The crabs had been carefully lined up close to a fire Amara had started. She wrapped some in palm fronds and set them next to the flame to cook. She rolled the stone Star had left in her hand. Small and black, it was cool to the touch and, like glass, it was see-through. The symbol on the side represented fire; she knew that much from what one of her crewmen, who had been a mage, had shown her long ago.
Author Note
So guys now we know more about the Tideborn. What do you think? will amara survive her encouters with them? what will happen during the coming storm?