Orion dipped the tip of his feet in the water. He quickly pulled it out.
‘Oh come on Orion,’ Conan shouted as he flipped his hair back. ‘It isn’t even that cold.’
‘I think Orion doesn’t know how to swim,’ Arien mused.
‘I do, but I’ve never swam in an ocean before and on top of that it’s freezing -,’
‘Oh stop Orion,’ Conan said as he hoisted himself on the bank and before Orion could say anything, Conan grabbed his arm and pulled him in the water.
The cold water came like a slap, stealing away his breath and chilling his body. When he broke the surface, the other boys were laughing.
‘See,’ Arien came padding beside him. ‘It’s not that bad.’
Orion glared at him, but slowly, his body was indeed getting used to the ocean’s temperature. He dunked once more and swam towards Conan who was trying to persuade Aether to join them.
‘We came here to swim Aether-,’
‘No we did not,’ Aether said coolly, staring at the sky. ‘You said we would just be getting hot tea.’
‘The tea would taste even more delicious after a cold swim.’ Conan smacked his lips together rather too loudly. He then nudged Orion. ‘Hey, let’s drag him over.’
Orion grinned back. ‘Yeah. He was laughing a little too loud when you pushed me in.’
‘Hello,’ Aether cut across. He raised his head to look at them. ‘I can hear you-,’ he stopped mid sentence, eyes fixed on something beyond them. Conan called his bluff but Orion turned and just then, he saw a tail submerge into water.
‘Was that a shark,’ he hissed to Arien who came by. Arien looked around then turned back to him. ‘What’s a shark?’ He then jolted.
‘Something touched my ankle!’ he shouted and began to swim forward. Being an exceptional sailor, he moved faster than anyone, leaving Orion behind. He tried to match his friend’s gait but he too felt something brush his feet. His stomach dropped and he doubled the ferocity of his kicks.
On the bank, Conan was clambering up and Arien was near. Orion wished they would see him.
‘Come on Orion!’ Aether shouted. Orion felt fingers circle around his ankle and they pulled him downwards.
A gasp escaped his mouth and a gallop of water rushed inside. His lungs spasmed and he thrashed. He then saw his captor and momentarily froze.
The creature before him had thin tendrils coming out of its head. It was large and human shaped, but its legs ended in a two finned tail. Covering its whole skin were tissue like substances that billowed all around.
The creature opened its mouth, showing rows and rows of tiny teeth and lunged. Orion shouted again and pushed its head back with his hands, bubbles floating from his mouth. The creature shook its head, its face was devoid of anything except the gaping mouth as the tendrils on its head came to grab Orion. The tendrils stopped their descent as a large rock smacked against them.
The creature wailed and turned it’s face upwards.
Orion was quickly depleting of air and he began to swim higher. His hand broke the surface just as he was pulled down again and someone grabbed his hand from above.
‘HOLD ON!’ A voice shouted, clutching his hand painfully hard. Orion kicked out and another rock came, hitting the creature square in the head.
Orion broke the surface.
He coughed, a ring of fire circled around him.
‘Let’s go,’ Arien said hurriedly, pushing Orion forward. Conan and Aether stood at the edge of the bank, Conan’s hands managing the ring of fire while Aether aimed rocks at the creature’s head. It wailed again and jerked backwards as the fire danced before it.
Arien hoisted Orion on the bank who laid there, throwing up water.
‘There were more of them coming,’ Aether mumbled. Orion listed his head upwards to see there indeed many more tails thrashing about.
‘I didn’t know mermaids lacked eyes,’ Orion said, closing his eyes.
‘Those weren’t mermaids,’ Aether said, his voice coming from afar. ‘Those were something else.’
When they went back to Orion’s home, squelching and trembling, Mr Bard scolded first before comforting them.
‘Who swims in the ocean at this time?’ Mr Bard shouted, slamming his stick beside the clock. Orion thought the glass might shatter. ‘What would I tell your mother’s if one of them was swept away?! They would never let you come on vacation!’
‘Mr Bard,’ Arien said. ‘Orion almost drowned.’
They told him the whole story which infuriated Mr Bard even more. But his anger didn’t last long and soon they sat on the table clutching hot cocoa mugs. (“Tea shouldn’t be drunk at this time.”)
‘So what were they? Those creatures?’ Aether asked.
‘As per your description, the creatures you encountered sound like Inmetan. Oblivious demons. They cannot see, but their sense of hearing is exceptional.’
‘That explains, because its face had no eyes.’
‘Yes, and you must be creating quite a racket, for an Inmetan to find you.’
Orion glanced sideways at Aether. He noticed how none of them mentioned the arrival of five others as well.