“We have not heard from the Southern pod in many moons. We cannot be sure they have survived the recent devastation,” replied his grandfather, Jupiter.
His father frowned. “I know. With each passing moon, it feels less likely they are still out there.”
“Indeed. These are unprecedented times,” Jupiter nodded grimly.
“I can hardly blame the merman for not wanting to marry either of the eligible mermaids in our own pod,” continued River, his face awash with sadness. “You had your choice of mermaids, back in your prime, father. Our numbers shrink with each rotation of the sun.”
Reed’s grandfather sighed. “All the more reason the young one must make a choice. It is no longer about finding love and happiness—it is about the survival of our kind.”
“Lady Celeste and Lady Lumina are nearly twice his age, Father,” River continued, frowning.
“Which means the time grows short for them to bear healthy merlings,” grumbled the older merman, his brow furrowed. “We are running out of time.”
“Lady Serena and I are still healthy enough to bear more merlings,” River said, so quietly that he nearly missed it.
“You expect me to believe that you have never tried to have more merlings, in all your moons together?” Jupiter shook his head. “No, you have had but one successful birth. And that is more than others of your generation can boast.”
Reed slipped into the room on silent fins, speaking up at last.“Something is wrong with the ocean. It is only getting worse with each passing moon.”
“Many things are wrong with the ocean, young one,” grumbled his grandfather. “Far more than should be.”
The younger merman took a moment to pause and gather his courage. “What if we could do something about it? What if there was somewhere safe we could go?”
His father shook his head. “If these problems could be fixed, don’t you think we would have taken care of it by now, guppy?”
“I overheard some seals earlier, talking about a magical town near the coast,” Reed continued. “A place where shifters walk on the land as humans, then dive into the sea to return to their true form.”
“We do not shift at will like them. You know the rules - we do not take human form for any reason,” River grumbled.
Jupiter’s eyes narrowed. “It is sacrilege. A betrayal of the moon goddess who blessed us and all that we stand for. Surely you are not suggesting we turn our back on all that we have ever known, young one.”
“But the shifters, Father. They’re like us, creatures of the sea at their core,” Reed argued. “Seals, sea lions, sharks—if they are safe in this place, surely we would be as well.”
“Absolutely not. We cannot risk being discovered by humans,” his father’s voice grew sharp.
“It is all fantasy and tall tales,” snapped his grandfather, his tone final. “Even if such a place were to exist, it would not be accessible to merfolk. We cannot survive on land.”
Reed’s face fell. The changing seas were affecting more than anyone wanted to admit - birth rates, fertility, food scarcity. If no one would listen to him, what chance was there for their pod to survive another generation or two? Something had to change, and soon.
Not just for his sake—of course he did not want to marry amermaid twice his age—but for the future of all merfolk. They had lost touch with the other pods many moons ago, travel being severely limited due to rising human interference. If they were the last pod to survive, there was simply no way that Reed could repopulate their numbers alone.
His parents had been the only successful match of their generation. Lady Serena had only one sister and River had been the only merman born to the previous generation of Cascadian mer. Neither had any brothers; mermen had become increasingly more rare in recent years. Fewer pregnancies, fewer live births, had become their reality.
In the past, they would request a match or two between a nearby pod, bringing in mermen as needed to replenish their numbers. That was no longer possible. Whether his family wanted to admit it or not, the truth would destroy them regardless.
He had to do something or they might truly go extinct. As the youngest mer in his pod, Reed had spent his whole life being told what to do by his elders and ancestors. No one had ever paid particular attention to his thoughts on the problems they were facing. All knowledge from mer society had come from long ago, when the night skies were clearer and the stars had shone more brightly.
Despair threatened to overtake him as his thoughts
spiraled. Was marrying one of the mermaids of his mother’s generation and producing the next generation of Cascadian mer really all he was good for? His destiny? In his heart, Reed felt certain this could not be true. Surely the great, wide ocean had more to offer than that.
He massaged his temples, letting his loose black waves of hair fall over his eyes. There had to be something to this talk abouta magical town. If he could get closer, maybe he could find out more. Come back with enough information to convince his family to give it a chance.
His resolve firm, Reed took off in the direction of the nearest land he knew of. If the town was as near as the seals had implied, then surely it would not be difficult to find. The waters parted as he raced through the open ocean, seeking that place he had been forbidden to approach. The coastline.
The closer one got to the human land, the more likely there would be humans out on boats and playing in the ocean. The higher the chance that he might be spotted. All his life, Reed had been told the greatest threat to their existence was human discovery. They would capture him and take him away, keep him in a little tank of sea water, and he would never swim freely again.
Fear of this reality had kept him far from the Coastline for all of his days. In the dark of night, though, once every few moons, Reed had dared to approach the forbidden sandy beaches that called to him. Not close enough to be seen; never close enough to be caught in one of their nets.
