Darkness Lingering Upon the Lagoon

Part 1

It was just before dusk and the sun was sinking lower about to touch the horizon. The warm summer winds were brushing through the fields and blowing pollen up toward the sky. The land of Timbridge was a wide, vast land of creatures including the trolli-elves from the Brockton Forest; the trolls from the Morbin caves; and the mermaids who lived in the Jewel Lagoon.  Adeline, daughter of Elvine, also known as a defender of the Trolli-elves, had the duty of guarding near the Coast. Packing her things back into the baskets attached to her carrier bird, Adeline enjoyed the last bit of sun light reflecting off the ocean tides. Toby, her friend and co-defender, was getting ready to leave as well once he noticed Adeline was equipped to go back to the forest. “Would you mind if I flew alongside you?” Toby asked.

“Of course not,” Adeline answered, “I’m going the long way though. I want to check out the lagoons.”

“That’s fine, I haven’t been over there in a while.”  The two trolli-elves finished gathering their things and climbed up onto their carrier birds. Together they flew into the sky and toward the lagoon. On their short journey they would see the light-fairies dancing in king and queen Holland’s gardens and the smaller animals tucking in for a pleasant night sleep. The sun was almost fully hidden and the stars began to show through the darkening sky. Adeline and Toby were almost at the lagoon when they saw that the sun was still shining there.

“Right over there Cherry.” Adeline directed her carrier bird to land on a rock closest to the water. Toby as well, followed Adeline’s orders. Ever since Adeline was confirmed to become a guard, her confidence in directing commands to others was greatly increased. Toby, on the other hand was not one to lead others, but accepted that Adeline was. Ever since they were younger, Toby had admired and supported Adeline in everything she did. One could say he had deeper feelings for her, but he had never gotten the courage to admit it.

“Why exactly did you want to come here Adeline?”

“Well… I got a strange feeling the other day that there may be something wrong. I just wanted to check in case my senses were true in any way.” Adeline had been saying that she was getting signs from her sister Alice since she had passed away. Alice, was Adeline’s twin sister, and she too had been a guard for the trolli-elves. She was known to be well aware of things others were not always capable of seeing. Many times, Alice had prevented any major human invasions in the Brockton forest and because of her, many trolli-elf lives were saved.  Two years before, on her way to help an older elf out of the mountains, Alice had been killed in a glacier accident. The old elf, Mr. Harris, had made it back to the forest and was the unfortunate one left to tell the others what had happened. Adeline had been heartbroken and had avoided her guard duties for several full moons. It wasn’t until she thought that her deceased sister was sending her messages that Adeline got back to her passion of protecting her community. From then on, Adeline made sure to keep her senses clear just in case any messages were meant for her to receive.

“Well there’s no harm in making sure everything is in order.” Toby climbed down from his carrier bird, ready to follow Adeline wherever she planned on going. Adeline pulled a sac out of one of her baskets and flung it onto her back and began walking toward the cluster of mermaids.

“Luna, how darling your hair is today! Where did you find those pearls?” Venus, one of mermaids, said with such an elegant voice. Mermaids were known to have such a way of speaking that they could put you into a dream like state.

“They were my mother’s,” Luna answered, “She gave me them at noontime.” All the mermaids were hysterical about the charming jewels, when they were interrupted by a small voice,

“Why good evening ladies,” Toby nodded his head to them, announcing his presence. All at once, Luna, Venus, Lana and the other mermaids joined around the two trolli-elves.

“Hello boy,” Lana said flirtatiously while combing her fingers through her hair. Another well-known characteristic of the mermaids, was that they were very inviting to any male species, whether it be a love interest or not. Toby blushed and turned to Adeline in embarrassment.

“Hi gals, we are very sorry to interrupt you on this beautiful night, however, I wanted to check up on you all, seeing that I haven’t made the time to visit in a while.” Adeline figured she wouldn’t waste time seeing that there was not a single spark of daylight left to guide them home.

“We are all quite fine I suppose. Would you agree sisters?” Venus looked toward the other mermaids to see if there were any problems that she wasn’t aware of. They all shook their heads “no” confirming that everything was in order.  Adeline nodded her head and her and Toby said their good-byes so that they could head back to their carrier birds. They were about to leave when one of the mermaids stopped them once she could get away from the others,

“Oh wait! I am not completely sure that everything is… how shall I say this…pleasant?”

“Why is there something the matter Melanie?” Adeline asked.

“Well you see, it’s my sister Sabrina, she has been taking off during the day and we haven’t seen her around much anymore. Although, she is at that age where the blue starfish is more flattering than the white, but I suppose I never thought she would turn out like the others. I am just a bit concerned and I was hoping that perhaps… you would be my personal informer and see what she has been up to lately…” Melanie held her hands together signaling that she knew it would be a huge favor. Adeline and Toby looked at each other and seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Of course Miss Melanie,” Toby said, “We would be honored.”

“Oh thank you both so much, it was such a divine thing for you to come by this evening!” Melanie swam back and joined the others. Toby smiled at Adeline and told her that her feeling had been right after all.

            Once they took flight again, they could feel the cold night settling in as the hairs on their arms stood up. “We’ll follow Miss Sabrina tomorrow at dawn, Okay?” Adeline yelled over to Toby.

“Yes, I was just going to say, the sooner the better.”

“I can’t help but think that you, Mr. Toby has an awful admiration for Miss Melanie.” Adeline said in a playful matter. Toby waved her comment away, but couldn’t stop his cheeks from reddening.

            When they got back to the Brockton Forest, they planned their meet up for the next day and then headed in different directions back to the comfort of their warm domes. Adeline prepared some flower tea in a leaf bowl to help prevent any sicknesses since she had been traveling through the night chill. On the other hand, when Toby arrived home, he went straight for his bed and fell asleep instantly.  The day was over and a new one would be welcomed quite soon.

Part two

            Just as they had planned, Toby and Adeline met up at the service post to prepare for their day. Sabrina would be waking up soon and Adeline proposed that she and Toby should head toward the lagoons right away. The sky was just turning from its wide range of blues to its dawn palette of colors. The air was once again warm and comfortable enough to travel. Once Adeline and Toby took flight they both felt some excitement for being “needed”.

            At the lagoons, Adeline sensed that there was some tension building up in the waters. By the way Toby looked at her, she knew he felt the same. However, by looking around, everything seemed normal. “Over there.” Adeline pointed at a young mermaid with blonde hair and had blue starfish in a crown arrangement set around the top of her head. “That’s Sabrina. Toby, follow behind me and keep an eye out for anything unusual going on around.” Adeline directed her rider to keep a good distance from them and Sabrina, so that she wouldn’t see them.

            They had been following the young mermaid for quite some time now until Adeline saw something sitting on the shoreline. Adeline grabbed her water drop spectacles to see if she could get a closer look. Once Adeline saw what it was she gasped and halted her carrier bird to stop and directed it to land on a nearby tree; toby following after her. “What’s the matter Adeline? Did you see something?”

“It’s a human!” Adeline shouted. “Why is she meeting with a human!? Doesn’t she know how dangerous that is?”

“Okay well just take a deep breath. Maybe you saw wrong… maybe it’s not a human but a…. troll!”

“Toby, no. This was a human. With long legs and arms, and those dark garments they always wear.” Adeline knew sometimes she over-reacted but she was also completely sure of what she saw. Toby finally accepted that it was a human and sat beside Adeline in puzzlement. Adeline drew a leaf from the branch and took a stone out from her pocket. She began to write down her thoughts to try to organize them in an understandable matter.

            Meanwhile, Sabrina jumped up onto a rock closest to the human near the shoreline. “Chester, why won’t you come meet my sister? I’m sure she will like you once she sees how I care for you,” she asked.

“Well I don’t think the other mermaids would be fond of someone like me hanging around. That’s why we meet up so far from the lagoon.” Chester had been meeting Sabrina at the shoreline for three full-moons now. They had become very fond of each other and Sabrina was sure she was in love. Although, deep down, Sabrina knew it was a forbidden love since humans were not welcomed in her part of Timbridge.  However, that was not the only problem. What Sabrina did not know what that Chester, whose name was actually Seth, was the son the Human leader Jem. Jem was using his son to get closer to the mermaids because he heard of there being golden treasure in the Jewel Lagoon. Chester [Seth], wanting his father’s approval, felt if he could trick the mermaids into allowing the humans to get closer, and his father would be proud of him. It had all seemed easy until Chester began to have real feelings for Sabrina. He had never had a friend like her and Chester didn’t want to ruin their relationship. So, undecided whether he would follow his father’s instruction or his heart, he continued to meet up with Sabrina making his father think he was doing evil and making Sabrina think he was a good guy.

            Adeline did not know what to do. Should she go back to the lagoon and warn the other mermaids? Should she just go up to Sabrina and tell her she is making a mistake? Toby interrupted her thoughts, “Do you think they are in love?” his eyes were all dream like when he spoke.

“Toby! Have you gone mad?” Adeline punched him in the arm to wake him from his illusion.

“Ow! Why did you do that?” Toby rubbed his arm, “It’s not the craziest thought…”

“Well either way it cannot continue.” Adeline climbed onto her carrier bird and directed it toward Sabrina, who was swimming back to the lagoons. “Sabrina! Stop!” The young mermaid looked all around in confusion once she heard her name being called. Toby tried to get to Sabrina to warn her that Adeline was angry, but he was too slow.

“Adeline? Wha�" what are you doing here?” she asked nervously.

“What are you doing associating with a human!?” Adeline asked in a stern voice as if she was a parent speaking to a child in trouble.

“Oh please Miss Adeline, You mustn’t tell my sister, she will be furious with me!” Sabrina pleaded. “I promise I will stop seeing him if you keep this a secret.”

“No I�" oh well yes, as long as you stop seeing him. Now you go back to the lagoon before you put yourself in anymore danger.” Adeline turned toward Toby with a look of accomplishment but was shut down when she saw him with his arms crossed and a disappointed expression painted across his face. “What?” Toby didn’t say anything and just directed his carrier bird toward the forest.

            The two trolli-elves arrived back at the service post just in time to be sent out to their guarding posts. Adeline and Toby were in charge of the coast again and they both headed out after their noontime meal. The day was flying by and the evening quickly rolled in. Back in her dome, Adeline sat on her rock and thought about Sabrina and the human. Perhaps she had handled that all wrong, but at least Sabrina agreed to not see him anymore.

However, Adeline had never been a parent before meaning she didn’t know about the lies told by children when they just wanted an adult to stop being angry with them. With that being said, Sabrina planned on meeting Chester closer to the lagoon that night. Chester told is father that his plan of dazzling the mermaids until they became more welcoming was beginning to work. That was the first time Chester’s father looked at him with pride and Chester knew that his father meant more than his feelings for Sabrina. It would be the next time that he met Sabrina that Chester would bring his father and others to the lagoon so they could finally take possession of the treasure.

Part 3

The next morning, it was raining and all of the trolli-elves were glad because the streams had been more dry than usual. Marcus, who had been Alice’s love, now worked down by the brook collecting pebbles for his father’s construction company. Alice and Marcus had met at one of the seasonal festival and instantly had an amazing connection. They both admired the trees in a way others didn’t see them. Alice would meet Marcus in the forest where they would walk and have a conversation for hours. Adeline had always envied their relationship and hoped someday to find someone like Marcus who would care for her in the way he cared for Alice.

While eating a Morfin cake at the morning bakery, Adeline waited for Marcus to arrive. They wanted to catch up since they hadn’t talked in a while were. But then something strange happened.

“Humans!” an elf shouted. The warning bells were ringing through the tree vines. Adeline rushed to the service post where she found Toby already sitting waiting for instruction. King Holland entered the hollow tree with three soldiers by his side.

“Hello everyone, I have been informed that Humans are invading near the Jewel Lagoon. The mermaids are trying their best to block any entrances but that does not seem to be stopping the humans… These humans… are not like the ones we have dealt with in the past. They are strongly supplied and prepared. I want the left wing group of elves to go through the valleys to push humans back to the West. We do not want to these humans coming into the Brockton forest,” King Holland was interrupted by a female voice,

“But your highness? What about the lagoons? We must get soldiers out there to help the mermaids,” Adeline stood up.

“Oh my lady, we are not equipped enough to help them I’m afraid. I am sure the Great Owls are well aware of the issue and are not hesitating their travel to the Lagoons.” King Holland went on to instruct groups of elves to different parts around the forest. Adeline couldn’t believe that they were not going to do a single thing to help the mermaids. She pulled Toby out of the tree,

“We need to go to the Owl kingdom and tell them that we are going to help them in the lagoons.”

“Adeline, you heard kind Holland, we aren’t strong enough to help the mermaids, plus they can probably defend themselves seeing that they are larger than us.” Adeline stared at him like he was crazy. Then jumped down form the tree and headed toward the stables where she could get her carrier bird, ignoring both Toby and King Holland’s orders. Once she was in flight, she directed her rider to go as fast as she could go.

“Come on cherry show me what you can do with these wings.” The carrier bird then sped up into the fast wind currents. Once Adeline got to the Owl Kingdom she called for the Great Owl leaders, Theocross and Leland. They were getting ready to leave but stopped once they saw Adeline heading toward them.

“Miss Adeline dear, what are you doing here?  You should be back in the forest, these humans are more dangerous than anything. I’m afraid they are going to pollute the waters.” Leland cried with sadness in her eyes. 

“That’s why I am here, I am going to help you!” The Owls knew there was no time to waste so one of the owls, Kashra, told Adeline to climb onto his claws and ride with him. Adeline’s carrier bird wasn’t built for battle nor was she fast enough so Adeline sent her back to the forest. All of the Great Owls took flight at once in a murmuration.

When they reached the ocean, the tide ripples were skipping in the same beat as they had been the day before. The ocean tides never repeat the same rhythm twice. Timbridge was a land that was very sensitive to any presence of darkness or evilness and the animals and plants would adopt strange and peculiar behaviors if in contact with such existences. Adeline’s fear caught up to her once the lagoons were in sight. The water, usually a tranquil green-blue had turned completely black. Adeline gasped at the dreadful sight, while Kashra told her to stay calm. Leland had asked Adeline if she had noticed any unnatural occurrences happening with the mermaids when she had visited a few days ago. Adeline told her about Sabrina and the human. “Adeline I think it would be best if you and Kashra find Sabrina as I think she might be in more danger than the others.” Most of the mermaids had moved out to sea, but as Leland had expected, Sabrina was being held hostage by Human soldiers.

Earlier, Sabrina had met up with Chester [Seth] like all the days before, but instead of him sitting on the shoreline alone, there stood three human guards. They had trapped her in a fish net and tied it to a rock just a couple feet away from the shore. From there more humans came and filled into canoes headed toward the lagoon. Luckily, sea birds were able to warn the other mermaids before they would all be captured and they swam toward middle sea, where a human couldn’t reach by boat. Melanie had looked everywhere for her sister but she was running out of time and had to leave with the other in hopes that her sister was safe.

            Just as they were told, Kashra and Adeline found Sabrina. Kashra dropped Adeline off on the rock that was holding Sabrina in the net. “Adeline try to free her out of there, I’m going to deal with them,” Kashra nodded toward the human guards with spears in their hands. Adeline pulled a knife from her pouch and began to cut the net. Sabrina looked at Adeline and told her that she had been right about Chester.  Adeline went on cutting the net telling Sabrina there was no reason to apologize. Kashra was able to get rid of the guards and flew back to the rock where Adeline was and began to pull the net off of Sabrina. They heard more humans coming from the woods and rushed the young mermaid out of the net. Once she was free Adeline constructed her to go to middle sea and that he family would be waiting for her in worriment.

“Thank you both so much, you saved my life.” Sabrina the turned and swam far out to sea where she would catch the eastern current. From there Kashra clasped his claws around Adeline and flew back toward the lagoon to join the others. When the got there the Great Owls had gotten rid of most of the humans. Leaders Theocross and Leland had called on the healing owls to come and clear the waters of the lagoons so the mermaids could return home. Other Owls had headed more toward the west to make sure there were no more humans coming. However, Melodroth had captured a young human. Adeline saw that is was Seth.

“Leaders, what are we gonna do with this one?” Melodroth asked while dangling him back and forth between his two claws until he finally dropped Seth to the ground. They all agreed to banish him from both the eastern and western lands of Timbridge and threatened to take his life if he ever tried to come near the mermaids or any other creature of Timbridge for that matter. The Great Owls sent the boy with one of their soldiers to be brought outside of the Timbridge borders.

Part 3

The clean-up and healing of the land and water would take more than one sunrise but all of the creatures of Eastern Timbridge came together to help. The trolls took the journey to come and help plant new flowers and trees. They were known to be great gardeners and always loved spreading their skills. The fairies helped bring animals out of their hiding places and encouraged them that they were safe now.  Everyone was working together to help things return to way they once were. The mermaids were coming home after the next rainstorm and were thankful for the Great Owl’s protection.

            That night, Adeline received another medal of honor like she had when she was a child. Toby had apologized for not listening to her and Adeline forgave him and kissed him on the cheek. They both had realized that they liked each other and would later find themselves bonded in marriage. Sabrina too, would eventually find a kind and gracious merman who would care for her in the same way she did toward him. Sabrina also had learned a huge lesson and made a promise to herself to follow what she knew was right not what she wanted to be right.

            The land of Timbridge had yet again successfully made it through an invasion of humans. It seemed as though there wasn’t anything that could truly get in their way of living happily.

            The night ended with a bright full moon and an orchestra of twinkling lights dancing above everyone, connecting them all as they lied down to sleep.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A beautiful and wonderful story shared. I liked the characters and the story line. Myth and tale is my favorite. Your good description of place and characters held my attention to the last words. Thank you Annie for sharing the outstanding tale.
Coyote

[Annie Nicole]

Thank you so much, I'm happy you enjoyed it : )

[Coyote Poetry]

I did enjoy and you are welcome.