Brellitine Grever and The Sea of Gelled (The Brell Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  Brell couldn’t stop the flabbergasted look from showing on her face, and she wondered if he’d escaped from a nearby institution, which of course trickled through the connection. She felt more than heard his frustrated breath. “Brellitine. If the Dreign off my head can float in mid-air, enter your leg, and allow us to communicate telepathically… isn’t it possible that magic and mythical creatures actually exist?”

  Brell just stared at Callum with wide eyes. Throughout his speech, he didn’t move a muscle, nor did his facial expression change, and it looked as if she was hearing voices in her mind while staring at a dummy. Finally, he sat down on a rock opposite her.

  “How has this got to do anything with Timmy?”

  Callum look intently at her Dreign for a moment, and spoke in such a hushed tone that Brell had trouble catching his words. “Would you believe me if I told you that Salamandar took Timmy to Zeldae?”

  “What!” She shouted, and sprang away from the rock she had been sitting on. “You’re joking, Callum Hempt. You better be.”

  “I’m not.” He remained seated and looked up at her with pity. “I’m seriously not. I mean what I’m saying Brellitine. And if you want, I’ll take you to Timmy. I’ll try.”

  Brell glared at him stiffly for a minute. What was happening? A circle embedded in her leg, somebody else’s thoughts whizzing through her head, a weird story about fairies and mermaids and now Timmy was apparently going to be a human sacrifice? This was crazy! But then again, she had no other way to find him. Timmy was lost and this Callum was the only one who had provided any sort of lead. Something in her gut was telling her to trust him, to not walk away from the forest. Something was drawing her to this mysterious boy, to the stories he said and to the places he mentioned.

  “Give me proof.” She said suddenly, crossing her arms.

  He threw his hands up as his mouth dropped open. “Wasn’t the handkerchief and the Dreign enough?”

  “Give me proof that Gelled exists, and that this ‘Salamandar’ has Timmy. You could have him for all I know!” she pointed out with a huff.

  A bird startled out of a nearby tree at their raising tones. “If I had him, why would I still be in the forest? Wouldn’t I have escaped with him?”

  “What are you doing in the forest?” she asked slowly, her eyes narrowing.

  His shoulders rounded and a faint grimace crossed his face. “Hunting. I can’t do that in the sea so I do it up here.” he muttered rather quickly.

  “Oh.” She frowned. That made no sense.

  “The only way that I can prove to you that Gelled exists is by showing you.” He was looking at her hopefully.

  Usually, Brell could feel if a person was bad, but she didn’t feel anything now. Should she go by her gut instinct or should she consider this situation rationally? Her mother always told her to think with her head and her heart. This was the only lead she had as to where her brother was. Either this boy was lying and this was a trap or he really knew where her brother was. The latter gave her a glimmer of hope, hope that she hadn’t experienced for a very long time. So she took a deep breath, preparing to jump into the unknown.

  “Fine. You take me to Timmy. What do you want in return?”

  Callum looked at her with shock. “Nothing.”

  Brell squinted at him. “Well go on then. Show me this ‘Sea of Gelled’ you’re talking about …” she side-eyed him, “… through a pond. This is all so crazy!” Brell laughed shortly and shook her head, then sobered, pointing at Callum. “But let’s get this straight: I’m only doing this for Timmy.”

  “Of course.” Callum closed his eyes briefly and then opened them, now glinting with excitement.

  He got up and slipped away with silent footsteps. Brell followed, looking around her as they moved deeper into the forest. For once, fear didn’t cloud her vision and thoughts. The trees didn’t look so dark and frightening, and the wind wasn’t so chilly. The forest wasn’t filled with strange noises. It seemed oddly peaceful to be in that safe green haven, sheltered from the harshness of the day.

  She wondered about Aunt Lucy and what she would be thinking if she didn’t come back. She couldn’t do anything to Timmy and her now… Timmy. Brell’s thoughts drifted. She remembered the wailing, howling noises he had heard and how he was so scared throughout the day.

  “Callum, can you answer something for me?”

  “Sure.” He responded without turning around, making his way through the rich undergrowth of the forest.

  “The night before Timmy disappeared, he heard weird noises like someone bawling. But even though we sleep in the same attic, I didn’t hear anything. Does that have anything to do with Zeldae?”

  “The Great Queen Zeldae.” corrected Callum and then continued. “Yes. Remember I told you that Salamandar was responsible for getting a human heart for Zeldae? I don’t know how, but making a person scared somehow helps. Salamandar can hear from the person’s heartbeat whether or not the person is healthy.”

  Brell raised her eyebrows in surprise. Timmy — skinny, malnourished Timmy —had a healthy heart? She mentally shrugged. At least she didn’t have to worry about that.

  “So Salamandar has a very keen sense of hearing?” Brell asked.

  “Yes, because Zeldae granted him that power through magic. While Zeldae is naturally powerful because of her bloodline, she gives him some limited powers, enough to complete the mission. It helps him create noises that frighten humans and gives him super hearing, among other things. Salamandar used that magic on you too.”

  Chapter 5: To the Sea of Gelled

  Brell stopped dead, and Callum turned around once he realised he couldn’t hear her footsteps behind him.

  “He used magic on me?” she squeaked.

  “Yes.” He said. “You didn’t wake up when your brother heard those sounds because you were under a sleeping spell.” She began to walk forward in a daze. So that was the reason she had been having such good sleep for the past couple of days. No wonder! She just followed Callum’s leather boots, her mind racing the whole time. Suddenly he stopped and she almost ran into him.

  “We’re here,” he announced.

  Brell glanced up. “This is it?” she said, expecting more than the small pond in a clearing about the size of a house. The trees looked exactly the same as the trees she had seen before.

  “Yes.” Callum said stiffly.

  Brell waded into the silver-blue water that just came up to her knees. “How does this lead up to the Sea of Gelled?” she asked, puzzled. “This water is so shallow!”

  She heard no reply from Callum. She turned to find him stripping nearby plants of their leaves. She watched closely as he gathered yellow leaves, tap roots, and stems before finally withdrawing a shiny blue pebble from his pocket.

  “What are you doing?” Brell asked suspiciously, wading out of the cool water.

  “Making a potion. Be quiet for a minute.”

  Callum laid all the items he had collected on a smooth, flat rock. With the help of another small rock, he crushed all the leaves, stems and roots till all that was left was a brown mush. The blue pebble, which he hadn’t crushed, he placed in the centre of the paste. To Brell’s utter astonishment, the pebble melted into the mush in front of her very eyes and began to bubble and froth and turned a sickly green colour, as if someone was heating it. He cupped his hands and poured water from the pond onto the mixture.

  Callum scooped up the mixture in a large leaf and handed it to Brell.

  “Wh —?”

  “Gulp it down before it stops fizzing.” Callum ordered.

  “Are you insane?” she jumped away. “There is no way I’m going to even touch that!”

  “It’s the only way you can enter Gelled.” His eyes blazed like glowing embers. “Just drink it!”

  “No!”

  “You have to! Before the bubbling goes down!” Callum thrust the leaf towards her, urgent as the fizzing started to die out.

  Brell could almost hear her hea
rt hammering wildly against her ribs. What had she gotten herself into?

  “Give me one good reason.”

  He made a frustrated sound. “I just told you! You can’t find your brother without this.”

  She knew she shouldn’t accept stuff from strangers but what could she do? Groaning, she pinched her nose shut and swallowed it down, her gag reflex immediately protesting.

  The mixture was so blazing hot that it scorched her throat. It was like pouring lava into her mouth and her mouth felt like a kettle on the boil. Her arms and legs tingled as if she had just been crushed under a boulder. Her entire body went numb and the only thing she could feel was her heart thumping and crashing wildly. She gagged, her eyes watered and with great difficulty she tried to compose herself.

  “What was that?” she spluttered the moment she managed to cool her mouth down with some water. “Were you trying to kill me? It almost worked!”

  Callum approached her apologetically, his hands up in the air.

  “I’m sorry, but it had to be had without you having knowledge of what it was, otherwise it wouldn’t work. It helps you breathe in water… and also quietens your heart beat.” Brell’s eyes flew open. “Let me explain! No human — except the ones whose heart will be taken by Zeldae — has ever entered the Seven Seas. Mermaids have different hearts, and the pounding of your heart will be heard as loud as drums and you’ll be caught. No one can know that you’re in the sea.”

  “Wait a minute, so you mean that I will be undercover the whole time?”

  Callum nodded.

  “This just gets better by the minute.” muttered Brell sarcastically. “Great. So my heart is now silent?”

  He nodded, but to Brell her heart sounded just the same.

  “How will we enter Gelled?” she asked.

  “You’ll see.” he replied, entering the pond. “You know Brellitine, “you ask too many questions.”

  She scowled. Things were happening so fast, that she just couldn’t keep pace with it. Another question popped into her head but she pressed her lips together, trapping the questions inside.

  Unaware of her silent struggle, Callum called back, “See?” He dipped his arm into the water. “It’s deeper.”

  Brell waded back into the water where she had stood a couple of minutes ago and stared down into it incredulously. The pond was becoming deeper. Slowly and steadily, the sand level at the bottom was dropping down and the water was rising towards her waist.

  “To enter Gelled, you need someone who is from there. Because of my presence, the pond is becoming deeper. Now don’t hold your breath, okay?” Callum said. “When you get surrounded by water, just breathe in the water, like you would breathe in air.”

  Brell started to panic as the water rose up to her shoulders. Suddenly, the sandy ground beneath them disappeared and Brell didn’t have time to take a breath before she plummeted into the water. She thrashed wildly and kicked the water with her legs, trying in vain to reach the surface. Somehow, she seemed to be going deeper and deeper despite her best efforts. A cool hand wrapped around her flailing arms and she peered through the crystal clear water at Callum. He pointed to her calf and made a simple motion with his hands.

  Brell understood, but she couldn’t bring herself to push all the air out of her lungs. Steeling herself, she breathed out all the air and watched it slowly bubble up.

  It took all her willpower to let the water enter her nose. Her heart was hammering, and she thought she would choke. The first drop of water trickled down her nose, into her lungs. And it felt like air. The feeling was so nice… so cooling. Her tensed body immediately relaxed and she sucked in water again, pushing it out slowly through her nose like she would do with air.

  “Good!” Callum said, clearly pleased. Brell stared. When he spoke, water came out of his mouth and his voices sounded just the same as it had on land. The water rippled in all directions as they floated gently for a moment, letting Brell become accustomed to the new sensations. The dappled sunlight shone through from the forest above, the refracting beams dancing as the water moved.

  “It’s fun!” Brell watched as the water came out of her own mouth. Above her, she could see the ripples on the surface. Below her, the water turned an orange-red colour.

  “What’s down there?” she asked, pointing down.

  “That’s where we have to go.” He swam downwards and for a moment she froze. Following him meant that she would actually be entering this world he talked about. It meant leaving the familiarity and safety she felt on land and entering a world she barely knew anything about. Was she ready for this? She looked down on her hands and remembered the day she held Timmy’s hand and taught him how to walk. Suddenly, the answer was clear. Yes, yes she was.

  She flapped her limbs awkwardly for a moment, trying to figure out how to follow Callum before settling on a breast-stroke motion. As she swam further down, she noticed the water was becoming noticeably warmer. Soon she began to feel stuffy and hot; every gulp of water she took in was like swallowing boiling liquid.

  “Callum!” she called out, unable to keep with his pace.

  “Follow me! Come on!” he dove forward even faster and Brell struggled to keep up with him and the heat. It was then that something struck her; the top of the pond had cool water, but the bottom had increasingly hotter water… wasn’t it normally the other way around?

  “Where are you going?” she shouted, the heat suffocating her. Brell added more strength to each of her movements, trying to catch up. Then she saw where he was heading to.

  A little distance away was a swirling black void the size of a door.

  Callum unexpectedly fishtailed around, grabbed Brell’s hand and brought her forward with him. He propelled both of them into the water, moving as fast as lightning as the void drew nearer.

  The last thing she remembered was hitting her head against something really hard before she passed out.

  *

  Brell blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to her new surroundings. All around her darkness prevailed, and the water was cool again. Cool water felt nice going into her lungs. Light slowly crept into her vision with bright bouncing spots. She was lying on her back on an aubergine mattress and below her head was what seemed like a clump of lavender scented seaweed. Wait… lavender didn’t grow in the sea! Her forehead was wrapped up in a warm cloth. Brell dizzily sat up, her hand automatically flying up to her head to yank the cloth away.

  “I think you better keep it on, little one.”

  She jumped and tried to find the source of the soft voice. Then Brell saw her.

  Waist-length curly caramel-coloured hair with honey-blonde highlights framed a heart shaped face. The golden hair was woven in a complex plait, forming an exquisite swirl that floated gently on the water. She looked like she was in her late twenties and her face was set with beautifully arched eyebrows, long fluttering eyelashes and coal black eyes. Her dimpled chin was held high and her pale neck was adorned with a silver necklace encrusted with sparkling magenta gemstones. She wore a shimmering violet shirt with a slanting silver belt. Then what Brell saw next made her head spin like a whirlpool.

  Instead of legs, the woman had a light blue tail with shinning scales. The bottom of her tail separated to form silver fins.

  A mermaid.

  Chapter 6: Lily

  “Don’t be afraid.” The mermaid’s voice was as soft and soothing as a therapist. She moved a little closer to Brell. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Brell gazed blankly at the mermaid, spellbound. When the mermaid moved, her silver fins left behind a trail of sparkles in the water which disappeared after a few seconds.

  “Has she awoken?” Callum’s voice rippled through the water and he appeared next to the mermaid.

  “Good.” he nodded when he saw her.

  “Where are we?” Brell shook her head, trying to remember. They had swum into the swirling void and then…

  “After we entered the Meander — the portal — you pa
ssed out on the floor.” Callum said.

  Brell groggily took a peek at the floor of the room. It was concave, bent like the inside of a sphere, and was made out of purple marble with thin silver veins running across the surface, slithering here and there. They were in constant motion, like silver snakes contained within the floor itself. It was kind of creepy and ethereal at the same time.

  “So the pond leads… here? To a house?”

  Lily quickly read Brell’s confusion. “Meanders are a common way to get from place to place in the Seas. The one you used led to my home.”

  She swept her beautiful tail against the floor in a zigzag pattern, spreading shimmering dust. The dust moved by itself and formed a square shape which turned into a solid black knob. Lily grasped the knob and tugged at it. A square section of the floor lifted up, revealing a dark swirling mist which coiled at the bottom.

  “Passing through a Meander can be exhausting. That in combination with you hitting your head on the floor when we arrived must have made you pass out,” Callum said with a smile playing on his lips.

  Brell fingered the warm cloth on her head and then noticed a glass cup in Callum’s hand with a thick black paste in it.

  “I’m not going to drink that.” Brell shuddered, remembering the sizzling green mixture he had sort of forced her to have earlier.