Short story for the Forest & Fawn ocean-themed contest in 2024
Challenge Requirements:
· Set around the Ocean/Sea
· Protagonist with a scar that’s important/relevant to the story
· Quest to find missing magical item
· Must use form of the phrase “Who was that guy.”
· No more than 2000 words
· Must complete in 10 days
A Sea of Scars
Up and down. Up and down.
The rough wood rubs on my raw cheek as the waves gently roll below me. Deep blue and bright turquoise is all that spreads around me now. I know this without opening my eyes, an almost impossible task as they are swollen from the heat, lashes melded together from tears drying in the briny sea air. Long silver strands of salt-crusted hair are plastered across my face, probably skewing my vision anyway.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been adrift on this vast sea in this small vessel since I was exiled from the only home I have ever known. All I know is that I have long since run out of provisions and my throat is ravaged from the lack of fresh water, making it nearly impossible to swallow or breath. But it doesn’t matter, nothing matters anymore. Yet still I count my scars, fingers moving from one to the other murmuring their names.
Alastor. Euryphon. Lichas. Talos.
~~~
The stillness of the tattered boat wakes me. The waves have stopped and there is something hard pushing into my back. The silence all around me strikes my ears. Am I dead? I probably should be dead. But I can still hear my ragged breaths and feel the soreness coursing through my body, surely those things would not be present in death, but one never knows with these gods.
Moving my arm slowly, partly from lack of strength and partly from fear, I reach behind my body and feel something soft…and grainy? Clenching my hand, I grasp a fistful of fine sand; land! I push up into a sitting position, ignoring my protesting bones and peel locks of hair from my stinging face. Softly rubbing my sore eyes, I blink them open and stare blearily at the lush trees and golden shore before me. The small boat must have drifted towards this island and caught on these rocks. A wave of relief washes through me at the wonderous sight.
I am safe. Thank the gods.
I could cry if not for the dehydration wreaking my body. Water; I need to find water. Putting my feet into the warm sand, I gradually push to a stand and take a step on shaky legs. After just a few steps my legs give out and my knees hit the sand. When I attempt to push up, my arms give out as well. Face in the sand, I feel my body failing. No, I cannot have survived being used and then banished by my people just to fade away when I reach safety.
Forcing myself to roll onto my back, my fingers find the big scar on my left arm; Alastor. They trace a line down to my palm; Euryphon. Then move up to my collarbone; Lichas. And finally up to my cheek; Talos. The pattern then repeats from scar to scar. My fingertips skim over all the small ones covering my body, they don’t matter. It’s the big ones that drive me, have kept me going in all the dark times of my life. Tracing the pattern again, I murmur the names aloud and feel a fire building in my veins.
It was my magic they used to their advantage and my disadvantage; Alastor. I turn over to my knees. I am the reason they are all still alive and thriving; Euryphon. Placing my hands in the sand, I push up. They are the reason I was locked way for all those years; Lichas. Standing steady on my feet, I look towards the tree line, hand touching the large scar crossing my cheek. And he is the reason I am exiled; Talos. I stride across the sand towards the olive branches.
~~~
The soft leaves brush my face as I make my way through the tall trees. Luckily, I was able to find water on them when passing and abate some of my thirst. It must have rained on the island recently, even though I didn’t encounter one single storm while at sea. These woods are similar to the ones on my isle, well not my island anymore, yet they still feel foreign and are full of strange noises. But it’s almost as if there is something here, something driving me forward, calling to my water magic. That core in my stomach where it resides, which has always felt incomplete and dim, is now humming with power; like maybe that missing piece is here and I need to find it.
Saasss
I pause my steps, turning my head quickly to scan the trees. Hearing nothing more, I continue on following that slight tug.
Saasssk
Now I know I heard that. Turning in place I squint through the leaves.
“Hello,” I try to call out but my throat is still parched; voice hoarse from not talking for days.
I continue to scrutinize the trees around me and see a shadow move in my periphery. Whipping my head to the side, the branch I was holding slips smacking me directly in the face and I lose sight of the shape. Perhaps I was just seeing things in my distracted, deteriorated state.
Saassskiiaa
Hearing my drawn-out name sends a shiver up my spine and I spin quickly in place.
“Who’s there?” My voice works this time and bounces off the trees echoing back to me, but I also hear my name reverberating through the leaves.
Saskia
Turning towards the deep voice rumbling from a nearby copse of oaks, I spot a figure emerging from behind a large trunk.
“Who are you,” I croak. “How do you know my name.” I take a step backwards, spreading my fingers slowly at my side to summon my power. I feel the energy of the water moving through the ground heading towards my call.
“There is no need for that,” he moves closer to me, but I step back into the shadows, fingers still stretched.
“For what?”
“You do not need to call the power of the sea to help you. I am no threat.”
“How did you…”
I have never met anyone that possesses or even understands my magic, and here was a stranger from the trees who knew exactly what I was about to do.
“Who are you?”
“I am of no consequence,” he takes another step forward and I almost gasp. He is beautiful. The sun shines off his long, almost white hair and his eyes, the same color as the sea I just arrived on, are vibrant and sparkling. “Step into the light.”
I stall, still not knowing who he is or what he is doing here, but there is something soothing about him, almost familiar. I take a hesitant step forward into the small clearing and his eyes narrow, gaze raking over me, over all my scars.
“What happened to you?”
Well, he doesn’t know a lot about water magic then. “The magic the water gives demands a sacrifice from the wielder.”
An angry look passes across his face. “They really did not teach you anything.”
“Who? My parents?”
A huff escapes his perfect lips. “Some parents. Keeping you locked away, only letting you out to appease their people. Forcing those scars on you with dirty magic.”
I’m bewildered by his words and feel my blue eyes going wide. “You don’t know what you are saying. Water magic manifests in scars, that’s how it works.”
“No!” He practically spits, vexation still flitting across his features. “Those people selfishly marred your body and you have no idea what you truly are or how to properly use your power.”
“Then please tell me.” I beg stepping towards him. I feel inexplicably drawn to this male and need to resist the urge to reach out to him. “Tell me about myself and this island. Help me harness this magic.”
He looks almost pained at my request. “I wish I could. But those are things you need to find out on your own. There are things waiting for you on this island, you just need to find them for the answers you seek.” He leans in and whispers in my ear, “Just know you are something special Saskia.”
He steps backwards into the cluster of oaks he came from and disappears.
“Wait!”
But it is no use. I am only pleading into the shadows.
~~~
As I walk through the trees, I find plenty of fruit and water, the island seems to give without taking, which is a new experience for me. I continue to let that magical pull guide me, as the stranger’s words replay on a loop in my head, but still not really understanding what they mean. I begin counting scars to settle my thoughts, ending with the men whose requests for magic caused the largest ones to deface my body.
Alastor. Euryphon….
My hand stalls at my neck as the name evades my lips. I cannot believe the list that is so familiar to me is escaping my memory.
“Who was that guy?” I murmur aloud, fingertips tapping my collarbone in a steady beat.
Lichas and Talos.
My fingers trace the patterns as I dwell on the words of the stranger. You are something special Saskia. What could that even mean? He acted like he knew about my parents, about my past, and my magic. Then why wouldn’t he help me? Or maybe something was preventing him so he couldn’t help me? With these questions circling my brain I don’t even realize what direction I am heading until my toes are covered by something cold. When I look up I am facing the sparkling deep blue sea, the energy of the water coursing through me, sparking my magic. I notice that I am back where I started, the worn wood half on the sand, half in the waves, the big rock beside me. I must have gotten turned around somehow along the way, but then again, I was following that magical lure and it led me here.
It is only then I realize how strong that beckoning has actually become. My thoughts were so focused on the peculiar male and the males of my past that I didn’t feel it. I close my eyes and let it guide me further, whether that is into the deep sea or elsewhere, for some reason I trust this magic. My feet move almost independently over the warm sand towards the direction of the rock cluster and my eyes flutter open when bare toes hit the hard edges. The water lapping against the craggy outcropping is like music to my ears and I have the sudden urge to climb, so I reach up for the closest ledge. At the first landing I look down and realize this rock is actually a cave housing a clear pool. And deep in the depths I can see something sparkling; that tug becomes even stronger. I must get down there. Sliding down the rocky incline, careful not to rip my gown any further, I make my way to the water’s edge and kneel. There at the bottom of the water is a crown encrusted with jewels.
It’s yours if you want it.
And I do want it, this thing I have felt since hitting the shoreline has been leading me here.
Take it and all the answers will be yours.
Heartbeat racing, I tentatively reach into the water, which swirls around me like it’s greeting an old friend. My fingers brush the cold metal and a familiar spark rushes through me. Drawing the crown from the water, I look at my reflection in the gleaming gold of the dripping surface.
“Welcome home Saskia, Princess of the Nereids.”
Recognizing the deep voice, I look across the shimmering surface to meet the teal eyes of the handsome stranger. I feel the bubbly energy of the water weaving through me, like it has never felt before, and I smile at him, finally feeling complete.
“I’m ready.”