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

  “You’re our only hope.” He uttered urgently, taking her by surprise. With a last look at both of them, he hurriedly disappeared through the stone passage.

  “Callum! Wait!” Brell tried to follow him but the water constricted her movements. She tried to stretch her legs further, but it was in vain. What did he mean? She struggled uselessly in the water, but still couldn’t move fast enough. Stupid legs!

  Lily’s cool hand grasped her shoulder and spun her around. “Callum will come back, dear. Now you see why you need a tail to move, don’t you?”

  Of course she needed a tail. But then her legs… she couldn’t imagine a bulk of scales in its place. Did she even have a choice? What if she never got her legs back? What if she was stuck in the sea forever? What if the wish got messed up and she—

  “Brell,” Lily sighed, interrupting Brell’s panicked internal ramble. “I understand you’re scared. But you’ve come this far. Don’t back out now.”

  Brell looked down at her legs. They were useless in water and she needed to save Timothy.

  “Will this tail be permanent?” she asked tentatively, unconsciously flexing her calf muscles.

  “The problem is, I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before.” Brell clenched her fist, knowing what she was going to choose, but unable to form the words. When she finally did speak, she felt as if it was someone else’s voice.

  “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  Still standing in the middle of the white passage, she took a hold of the farthest grey crystal to the left of the black one, shifted it to the right and pulled hard. It immediately came into her palm and she watched with amazement as the silver chain rebuilt itself at the place she had pulled. Then she shifted her attention to the small crystal which felt unnaturally warm against the cool water. Rolling it in her palm first, she hesitantly placed it between her teeth.

  “No! No!” Lily jerked it out. “Not that way! Don’t you remember what I told you? First say your wish, and then crack it! But your wish has to have a rhyme, for only rhyming spells activate the magic inside the crystals.”

  She was still a bit taken aback by Lily’s sudden explosion. “I’m awful at poetry.”

  “Ah-ha!” there was a twinkle in Lily’s black eyes. “I knew you would need a tail, so I already prepared a rhyme. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

  Here I am, a human girl,

  Give me the honour,

  Grant to me a mermaid’s swirl.

  Swirl is another name for a mermaid’s tail.”

  Brell raised her eyebrow. “Give me the honour?”

  She took the crystal from Lily and held it in front of her, solemnly repeating the lines. The mist inside it became to thrash wildly all of a sudden, and the crystal grew very hot. Placing it between her front teeth, she balled up her hands into fists and bit into the hard crystal.

  For a split second she felt she was biting down on marble, and nothing happened. Then CRACK! It shattered and as she spat out the crystal shards, Brell noticed that the mist had jumped out. It floated like a milky fluid in the water before making a beeline for her legs. She wanted to shrink away from the warm mist the moment it touched her toes, but she controlled that reaction by squeezing her eyes shut and digging her nails into her curled palm.

  She was sacrificing her legs for a tail… for Timmy.

  The moment the mist enveloped her toes, a burning sensation filled every single pore. It circled her feet and climbed up to her ankles, and her skin felt like it was on fire. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming, wincing as the heat turned up to her knees.

  Lily’s soft voice whispered comfortingly, “It’s ok, Brell. Just hold on for a few more minutes. It will be worth it, trust me.”

  The mist and the agony was crawling up to her thighs and then to her waist. It burned so badly! Her closed fist started trembling. She felt the mist move up to her head, little pinpricks of heat attacking her everywhere. Then, suddenly, the pain just vanished, leaving a mildly warm feeling. A gust of cool water encircled her whole body, making her feel surprisingly refreshed. When she opened her eyes, she didn’t dare to look at the bottom part of her body.

  “How bad do I look, Lily?”

  Lily’s eyes were misted over as she looked Brell up and down.

  “Beautiful.” Her voice was hushed. “Simply beautiful.”

  Brell was pretty sure that she could never, ever be beautiful, but she risked a glance at herself.

  To call her ordinary would be a misnomer; what had taken the place of her legs was something beyond her imagination.

  Her pale peach skin had merged into a sleek amethyst coloured tail with silver flippers and shimmering scales. The purple colour of her tail was mingled with splashes of lilac and dark purple. The tail simply felt like a previously unused part of her body. When Brell felt like going forward, her tail swished back and forth and took her there. She stared at the way it moved, still unable to comprehend the fact that it belonged to her and it was she who was moving it.

  “You should see your attire, little one.” Lily threw forward her tail and created a mirror with the sparkles.

  Brell gasped, her fingers involuntarily feeling the soft fabric of her shirt. She wasn’t the girl in the ratty hand-me-down clothes anymore; she was a breathtakingly beautiful young mermaid.

  A shining, silky cobalt top that ended at her stomach folded delicately around her. The netted sleeves ran all the way down to the curve of her elbow, rippling in the water and when she moved, the colour of her blouse changed between blue and silver. And then she noticed her hair.

  Never before in her life did she think of her hair as anything but a damp brown mess that could be wrenched back into a ponytail. But now it was silky smooth, hanging down loosely over her shoulders, tenderly brushing the top of her blue shirt and spreading out in the water. The hair at the sides of her face was finely plaited and pulled back with a clip, which she soon realised was a cluster of pearls. The skin around her fingernails was dotted with raised turquoise dots, forming small inverted triangles whose base was next to her cuticles.

  Lily gasped delicately. “Dear, see if you can use magic from your tail, like I can!”

  “I doubt it will work.”

  Lily sighed impatiently. “I don’t. The crystals which gave you this tail are so powerful that I think they also imparted some magic to your tail. Try to concentrate on the tip of your tail going warm, think of the object you want to create, and flip your tail forward!”

  Brell concentrated her energy to the bottom of her tail, pictured a mirror in front of her and threw her tail forward. Nothing happened. She tried again. No results. For some reason, she felt a little disheartened though she had known that it would not work.

  “I don’t think I can do it. Can all mermaids do this?”

  “Um …” Lily rubbed her palms together. “All the people in my family tree can, and also a few other families, but that’s about it.”

  “So of course I can’t have magic!”

  Lily smiled. “But it was worth a try. Oh!” her eyes widened. “I forgot to tell you something very important! When you are near your brother the crystals will glow. The closer you get to him, the brighter they glow. So they’ll help you find him.”

  Brell fingered the crystals, hoping in vain that they would glow that moment. How she missed him, her younger brother. Wasn’t he the only reason she had come to this alien, bizarre world… just to get him out of it? She had become a mermaid, sacrificed her legs for a tail, that too just for him. And what if all this time—

  But Brell’s train of thoughts broke off when she became aware of Lily’s hand clasping her arm a bit too tightly. Suddenly, the water whooshed past her ears and she realised Lily had dragged her out of the white passage, and into the purple room. Her face was deathly pale and she was — much to Brell’s surprise — sweating.

  “Lily?” she shook her shoulders. “What’s the matter? Are you all right? Lily!”

  She shook
her once more and Lily’s eyes finally focused on her. They strayed to her face and softened.

  “Your iris is pure black, just like a mermaid’s.” She murmured, and ran her fingers through Brell’s hair. Then she spoke a bit more firmly, “Brell, you’re very important and don’t you ever forget that. But now you have to go —”

  “What are you talking abou —”

  “Listen! The guards will be coming any second to escort me to the Procession and —”

  “Procession?” she questioned, but Lily didn’t stop talking.

  “— and if you’re here when they arrive, they will surely kill you. Go through the back exit, keep a low profile, and find this place.” Lily slipped a note into her hand. “After the procession, contact Callum with your Dreign. Even if he blocks you, still try to get through to him. Don’t do anything till you can contact him. Tell him your location, and he will tell you where to meet him.” Lily started to move to the dresser, then turned back. “Wait… listen. This will most likely be the last time I get to see you, Brellitine. Take care, remember who you are and …” she faltered as a loud knocking rang from her front door.

  “… and always know that luck will be by your side. Now quickly go, or you will be caught!”

  Lily hurried to her dresser and rummaged in it for a thin blue pouch. She handed the pouch of money to Brell and then did something unexpected; she pulled her into a hug and when she let go, she whispered, “Take care.”

  She led Brell to the back of her room where the bed was and brushed her tail against the wall. A door materialized from it. The knocking from the other door across the room came again.

  “Go! Go!” Lily grabbed her and pushed her out. “Go before it’s too late!”

  Dazed, Brell stumbled out and turned just in time to see the back door closing in her face. What had just happened? She shook her head and tried to remember what Lily had said.

  She had her crystals, the pouch of money and her Dreign. Wait… where was her Dreign now? Her calf was a piece of flesh! She couldn’t see it and started panicking. Running her fingers over her hard tail scales, she felt an unnatural bump on the right side of her tail. Rubbing her fingers over it again, she realised that her Dreign was still there, but it was invisible since it was under her scales.

  Finally, she turned her attention to her surroundings. She was completely immersed in darkness and she couldn’t see anything except a slit of light far away. Moving closer, it grew bigger and brighter, and the moment she slipped into it, Brell had to shield her eyes from the sudden glare. Then she gasped, mesmerized.

  Chapter 8: Unrealistic

  All around her was light blue water. Colourful coral decorated the calm sea bed, dozens of oysters poked out here and there, seaweed moved to the rhythm of the sea current and fish swam, apparently unafraid of her. She watched in quiet fascination as small fish ate algae off the corals, nibbling away. Sea anemones, clownfish, salmon, leafy seahorses… she saw so many fish that she could identify and numerous that she couldn’t. There was an orange fish with strings instead of a tail, a blue-green fish which shrunk to the size of a needle the moment she passed it and so many other interesting species. Fiery orange-red crabs crawled over the little protrusions in the seabed, looking at her with their large, pointy eyes.

  Basalt rock rose majestically from the seabed, covered with algae. Huge multi-coloured boulders were embedded in the sand in no particular pattern and when she gazed upwards, Brell was shocked to see that there were boulders floating everywhere in the water. When she noticed they had doors with numbers etched on them with lamps hanging over the entrance, she realised each boulder was a house, like Lily’s. She looked behind her and gasped when all that was there was water. Lily’s boulder was not to be seen. So where had she come out from?

  Mermaids flashed by, chatting, laughing and singing. They were everywhere — next to the sea bed, over the houses, between seaweeds and high above. They all had variegated tails with brilliant colours and different hairstyles but one thing was common with each and every single merperson — they all had extremely dark, coal black irises that contrasted sharply with the white sclera around them.

  A school of silver fish were moving across her path at a snail’s pace. Each scale on their body was reflective like a mirror and as the whole school went past her, she saw her distorted reflection on them. A petrified girl with black, frightened eyes peered back at her. Her original eye colour was brownish black but now it was darker, completely black. She looked like the merpeople around her.

  Then she became aware that her hand was still tightly curled around the note Lily had given her. Uncurling her stiff fingers, she smoothed out the crumpled piece of paper with her thumb and read Lily’s perfect handwriting.

  Bucklebow Inn: 2352000

  Booked Under: Susan Morris

  The number 2352000 was obviously a number like the ones that were on the doors of the houses. But who should she ask for directions? Looking around, she spotted a mermaid on a dark green boulder reading a magazine. Nervously, Brell swam up to her and noticed that her colour preferences were green, just like the boulder which was most likely her house. . She wore a halter neck bottle green shirt and had dyed her short-cropped hair emerald too. Around her neck hung a beautiful, glossy seashell.

  “Um… Excuse me.” Brell said, feeling embarrassed for no reason. What if the mermaid gets to know that she is human?

  “Hmm?” The mermaid tilted her head sideways without bothering to take her eyes off the magazine.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you, but do you know where is the Bucklebow Inn? 2352000.”

  The green mermaid pried her eyes away from her magazine and looked at her hard. “You could just follow the numbers, you know. Do you want a shorter route?”

  Follow the numbers? What did that mean?

  “Yes, actually.”

  The mermaid frowned for a second, as if she were trying to remember something. “I’m afraid the only way is to follow the numbers. Clarison Way is blocked.”

  “Thank you.”

  Brell didn’t know what else to say as she went away. She looked at the boulder to her right: ‘2351199’. The boulder behind her was ‘2351198’ and the one ahead of her was ‘2351200’. She realised she would have to go ahead eight hundred boulders to reach the inn and groaned silently to herself.

  Wasting no time, she made sure her bracelet was tied securely and that she had her money pouch before she shot forward, dodging the boulders. As the water blew her hair away from her face, she realised that avoiding the boulders became a reflex action; she didn’t even have to think about it, and so she got more time to admire her surroundings. Then she saw the mermen.

  Why hadn’t she noticed them before? They looked like human men, except that they had tails. The tails were a bit shorter than the mermaid’s tail and were also a little broader, thicker, and more muscular. For clothing, their bare torsos had only a strip of seaweed on it from the shoulder to the hip. Many of them were lined up around a court were a couple of mermaids were wrestling. Merpeople were hooting, yelling, and making bets as to which mermaid would win the game. They all had startlingly different hair colours and styles, from curly brown to spiky red.

  120 boulders into her journey, she saw a rectangular pit that was dug into the seabed. As she leaned over to look into it, she was shocked to find it filled with air.

  Of course! A mermaid swimming pool! A mermaid in an orange bikini top was floating lazily on the surface of the air, her hands crossed behind her head in a sleepy manner. A shark tooth hung from her neck. Brell noticed that many mermaids wore seashell or bone jewellery.

  Along the way she saw what looked like a school. What seemed like a thousand tiny merchildren poured out of a boulder the size of a building, clambering into a flat disc with seats. She was fascinated by their wriggling tails and high-pitched, giggling voices. The disc shot off into the water, shrinking in size till it was just a speck.

  A booming noise startled her fro
m her staring, and a deafening cheer rang through the water. Curiosity flooded her and she went to check out what all the commotion was about.

  Seven turtles, each the size of a house, were racing each other. Around each turtle’s neck was a number and a name and a harness. On top of each turtle sat the turtle’s owner, urging it forward to swim faster. Whoever said turtles were slow? These moved with such high speeds that she was left completely stunned.

  The racers had to waddle in mud, burrow under huge rocks and even pass through poisonous plants to complete the race. The poisonous plants didn’t seem to hurt the turtle, but they did affect the merperson sitting on top. She watched in fascination as they dived, swirled and shot through the water.

  “Delicious fish strips! Does anyone want delicious fish strips?” A fat woman wearing a large white shirt was making her way through the crowd, waving her hand. A throng of merpeople surrounded her, grabbing the brown fish strips and tossing sea shells into her open palm.

  Brell felt a small something scratching her arm. A small turtle, the size of her palm was cuddling up to her. It was green in colour with a small red streak next to its eyes. It looked up at her with beautiful, shinning eyes and kept rubbing itself against her. She saw a small piece of paper stuck on its glossy green shell with the name “Ripples.” She turned the paper over. “If lost, please return to the ‘Pets a Glory’ shop at 2351540.”

  “Are you lost, little one?” she murmured, stroking its shell. Shop 2351540 was just a few boulders away from her. She held onto the turtle’s shell and swam ahead till she reached the shop. It was bigger than most boulders, lime in colour with wisteria growing next to the oak door. Surprised that wisteria grew in the sea, she knocked. Nothing happened. Then the wisteria began to glow eerily, brightly. Two flowers fell off the tree and floated down to the door, attaching themselves to it. Slowly, the door swung open.