*Whew, another story line done! Please tear this to shreds, I know it wasn't my most inspired work on this site, so please give me some criticism, and enjoy!
All characters are 18+*
In the waves, Shia watched. First she was disappointed. They were erecting a makeshift gallows, while she had been hoping for a good burning. Then she was angry and annoyed, because they needed to keep the two alive for a night so they could build the gallows. She waited, a foot below the waves, popping her head up every hour or so to watch the construction of the gallows.
Her consorts had left her hours ago. It was too risky, the wailing, being above the surface, being within sight of the shoreline! Every Merlee broke the rule about breaking the surface, it was a rule that was meant to be broken by playful younglings, and mischievous young adults. But within sight of numerous ships, and land itself, it was a crime punishable by death.
Shia was too far into her revenge, that she barely noticed when her two most devoted suitors left her. She was crazy, she was dangerous. She had sunk all of the human ships, done most of the wailing. Her eyes were surrounded by dark sleepless shadows, and her teeth were constantly bared. Her muscular tail thrashed at the water, and her thin strong unfeminine torso flexed, looking strangely asexual without breasts or nipples or definition.
The sun rose, and Shia kept her head above water, regardless of being less then three hundred yards off the shoreline, regardless of the sun that burned her fish-pale brow and cheekbones.
She watched with disbelief, and then fury. Her mind went into a numb furious blank when humans came in and out of the building that had caged Adriel and Christopher. The humans looked stunned and terrified. The hole in the ceiling had been expertly patched, and word filled the village, word that they had disappeared through the cell walls. For years to come, Christopher and Adriel would become a ghost story, and then they would fade altogether.
Shia gathered herself. She would attack this village. Excite the animals until all of the humans died or fled, march on land herself and set fire to their houses. She would attack it until there was nothing left! She would exact her revenge, if it was the last thing she ever did!
Then hands came from the deep, fixing on her tail and arms and hair, pulling her into the riptides.
Shia took nearly half an hour to slowly die. Her hands were tied to a root that dangled from a rocky cliff face. The sand in this hidden cove was sprinkled with the bone dust of her old lover, and the dust of generations of traitors and crazies and Merlee who couldn't bear to live without the sun.
Before she died, her face burnt black.
---
Adriel was clumsy, especially with human food and utensils. He nursed Christopher back to health with bumbling, but devoted care. Christopher was very weak, especially on his left side after the blow to the head. Adriel carefully sponged the wound clean every hour. He fed Christopher soup and mashed-up cheese. He helped hold Christopher up when he relieved himself, and when he took short walks to strengthen his body. They spoke very little.
They had been captured for less then 24 hours, but it left a deep change on both of them.
Adriel had been hopeful and accepting of humans. He had seen the kindness of the Spaewife and Christopher, and assumed that humans were just gentler then the Merlee. He was deeply afraid of most humans now. It was only Christopher that he trusted now. Chris, and maybe the Spaewife.
Christopher had also lost faith. He and his lover had been falsely accused, beaten, hurt. They would have been hung in the morning. All by people he had known and trusted for his entire life. He had aged noticeably in one day. Even Adriel could see faint bewildered look in his eyes, and the grimness of his mouth.
It would take a long time for them to heal.
---
On the third day, Adriel was leading his lover around the courtyard of the old ruins. Chris was able to walk far better, but his left leg was still a little weak. His brow was furrowed with concentration, and they both heard the hooves clopping on loose stones.
They hid behind a low stone wall, and Max rode into the clearing. He was riding a heavy Clydesdale gelding named Teeg. Heavy saddlebags dangled from the horse's massive flanks, and Max jumped off, looking around.
"Brother?" He called, hands cupped around his mouth.
Chris and Adriel crawled out of their hiding place and went to Max. Max stared at the young man who had gotten them into all of this trouble. His skin was a pale gold now, and his slender legs and feet were bare. Max looked away and spoke softly.
"This was the first time I was able to get away. For a while they searched for you two, but no one really wanted to find you. They never found the hole in the ceiling, so they think that you two vanished into thin air. They think that he is a powerful sorcerer, and they are afraid to find him."
"Father and Mother, are they suspected? Does Anna suspect?"
Max took a deep breath. "She suspects, but she doesn't want to get me or our family hurt. She is leaving it alone. That's what the whole town is doing. People got killed, children got killed. Whatever happened, I just hope it doesn't happen again. Enough people have died."
The brothers turned in surprise when Adriel spoke. "She is dead." Adriel's eyes were downcast. "It was only a matter of time. She love Theo, Theo love me. She want to kill me, and hurt me. She scream, she try get on boat. She kill humans."
Adriel took a deep shaky breath and started to cry. "She will die where Theo did, and she will die in disgrace."
Christopher was still a little weak, but he was perfectly lucid. He embraced the sobbing boy from the sea in his strong arms, and Adriel let himself go. He cried on his lover's shoulder, and Chris looked up at Max.
Max only looked down at him, not saying a word. Though nothing would ever be said, Max knew. He finally understood his strange adopted brother, understood the deep primal feelings that Christopher had felt for him. Max couldn't comprehend such a strange urge, but he could understand it.
