for a moment.”
“You can believe in mermen and underwater cities cursed by gods, but you can’t believe in handheld camcorders?” This time Lyra actually did laugh.
“I don’t know about these cam cords you’re talking about, but there is unbelievable,” he motioned around them, “and then there is just plain ridiculous.”
Lyra picked up a coin. “At least it looks like you found your treasure.”
“I never really thought of it that way,” he said, smiling widely. “We’ve got coins from the Viking, Phoenicians, Arabian and Spanish. Even one from Carthage. They seemed to have done a lot of scavenging during the Middle Ages. I think, before us, many of the humans brought here were from that time.”
As he spoke, Aidan walked down to a table with broken relics. He lightly touched a leather bound book, one amongst many. Some were ship logs, warped from water. There were a few novels. One in particular looked to be a torn paperback romance novel from the 1970’s.
He continued, “It’s said that some of the Merr women used to lure the sailors into the water and carry them down, though I don’t know how factual the accounts are as no one really speaks of it. Though, it would explain how they got so many personal artifacts, like the coins and some of the jewelry. It also explains some of their speech patterns, like the ‘my lords’ and ‘my ladies’. Most of what is here is scavenged from shipwrecks.”
“I can see that.”
“I can see what you’re thinking and you mustn’t. They are not responsible for sinking the ships—at least not since the Middle Ages and those were much different times. They merely collect from the wreckage along the ocean floor after there had been a wreck.”
“So I’ve been collected?” Lyra frowned.
“That is not what I meant to say.”
“But that is what you said. I was collected because I am female. My family is dead and I am not because I’m a woman? How am I supposed to react to that?” Lyra shook. She tried to hold back her anger, but it seeped out.
“You lost family?”
“I lost everything that night in the sea.” She turned her full attention on him. “Since you seem to know so much about my situation, I want you to tell me who wrecked the ships.”
“I…” he began to shake his head.
Lyra slammed her hand on the table, causing it to shake. Aidan jumped protectively for his artifacts, reaching his hands over them as if he could shield them all from her sudden show of rage.
“Who wrecked the ships? How is it the Merr know where to go and when? If they’re not wrecking the ships, then they must know who is. I want answers. Who killed my family?” When Aidan’s mouth opened but didn’t release the answer she sought, she picked up the wire-rimmed glasses and held it up between them. He gasped, reaching as if to snatch it as she pressed her thumbs into the center nose piece. It wouldn’t take much to break the delicate metal.
“No, stop, please. It’s not the Merr. It’s the scylla. The Merr go out into the water to hunt and capture the scylla. They try to stop the wrecks, but they cannot always be successful. I have it on good authority that they try to save as many of the humans as they can.” He gestured to the glasses motioning that she should set them down. She did, but she didn’t let go of them. “There were two scylla in the water the night your ship went down. They caught both of them.”
Lyra relaxed her hand, letting it drop to her side. Aidan visibly sighed in relief. “What happened to these scylla?”
“You don’t have to worry about them. They never survive.”
Chapter Six
“The scylla you brought back from the ocean is your brother.”
Rigel stared at Gregor, unable to process the man’s words for a long moment. Then, glancing behind the scientist, to where the scylla were kept in isolation, he asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Nemus’s transformation started this morning. It is him.”
“You can believe in mermen and underwater cities cursed by gods, but you can’t believe in handheld camcorders?” This time Lyra actually did laugh.
“I don’t know about these cam cords you’re talking about, but there is unbelievable,” he motioned around them, “and then there is just plain ridiculous.”
Lyra picked up a coin. “At least it looks like you found your treasure.”
“I never really thought of it that way,” he said, smiling widely. “We’ve got coins from the Viking, Phoenicians, Arabian and Spanish. Even one from Carthage. They seemed to have done a lot of scavenging during the Middle Ages. I think, before us, many of the humans brought here were from that time.”
As he spoke, Aidan walked down to a table with broken relics. He lightly touched a leather bound book, one amongst many. Some were ship logs, warped from water. There were a few novels. One in particular looked to be a torn paperback romance novel from the 1970’s.
He continued, “It’s said that some of the Merr women used to lure the sailors into the water and carry them down, though I don’t know how factual the accounts are as no one really speaks of it. Though, it would explain how they got so many personal artifacts, like the coins and some of the jewelry. It also explains some of their speech patterns, like the ‘my lords’ and ‘my ladies’. Most of what is here is scavenged from shipwrecks.”
“I can see that.”
“I can see what you’re thinking and you mustn’t. They are not responsible for sinking the ships—at least not since the Middle Ages and those were much different times. They merely collect from the wreckage along the ocean floor after there had been a wreck.”
“So I’ve been collected?” Lyra frowned.
“That is not what I meant to say.”
“But that is what you said. I was collected because I am female. My family is dead and I am not because I’m a woman? How am I supposed to react to that?” Lyra shook. She tried to hold back her anger, but it seeped out.
“You lost family?”
“I lost everything that night in the sea.” She turned her full attention on him. “Since you seem to know so much about my situation, I want you to tell me who wrecked the ships.”
“I…” he began to shake his head.
Lyra slammed her hand on the table, causing it to shake. Aidan jumped protectively for his artifacts, reaching his hands over them as if he could shield them all from her sudden show of rage.
“Who wrecked the ships? How is it the Merr know where to go and when? If they’re not wrecking the ships, then they must know who is. I want answers. Who killed my family?” When Aidan’s mouth opened but didn’t release the answer she sought, she picked up the wire-rimmed glasses and held it up between them. He gasped, reaching as if to snatch it as she pressed her thumbs into the center nose piece. It wouldn’t take much to break the delicate metal.
“No, stop, please. It’s not the Merr. It’s the scylla. The Merr go out into the water to hunt and capture the scylla. They try to stop the wrecks, but they cannot always be successful. I have it on good authority that they try to save as many of the humans as they can.” He gestured to the glasses motioning that she should set them down. She did, but she didn’t let go of them. “There were two scylla in the water the night your ship went down. They caught both of them.”
Lyra relaxed her hand, letting it drop to her side. Aidan visibly sighed in relief. “What happened to these scylla?”
“You don’t have to worry about them. They never survive.”
Chapter Six
“The scylla you brought back from the ocean is your brother.”
Rigel stared at Gregor, unable to process the man’s words for a long moment. Then, glancing behind the scientist, to where the scylla were kept in isolation, he asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Nemus’s transformation started this morning. It is him.”
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