A little while later, the front door opened again, and Elliot shouted a greeting.
“Hey there! I’m ready to go,” said the sea lion shifter cheerfully. “I hope looking for join him.
this isn’t too much trouble,” Reed said again, any sign the shifter didn’t actually want to
Tempest sighed dramatically. “I wish I could go with you.” “Probably best that you don’t,” Elliot chuckled.
That was all it took before the two of them were out the
door, walking down the beach, and diving into the sea. Transforming beneath the waves, side by side. Reed led the way to the pod’s home, his anxiety growing like a pit in his stomach.
He briefly worried he might be sick. The trip had taken longer than he would have liked, due to the sea lion’s smaller stature. They had dashed up to the surface for Elliot to get one last breath of air before heading into the caves.
As he announced himself and the sea lion shifter, his family looked up from their evening meal, clearly surprised. His mother smiled warmly at him, then addressed the pod.
“It seems our young Reed has fulfilled his promise,” Lady Serena said. “Is this the shifter you mentioned from the land town?”
“Yes, mother,” the merman replied quickly.
Murmurs travelled through the assembly as the mermaids stared at the sea lion lounging casually in their midst. They would understand him in either form, though surely Elliot would be more comfortable speaking in his human form.
“My name is Elliot and I grew up in Crescent Cove, the magical town on the coast near here,” the sea lion said. “I understand you have questions about how the shifters and witches live side-by-side.”
“What is a witch?” asked Lumina, looking concerned. “A human with magic,” Elliot continued. “Our town is hidden from mundane humans—those without magic. A powerful spell protects us from accidental discovery by anyone who does not know about magic and magical creatures.”
Jupiter raised one bushy eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “Humans with magic? Humph!”
“Perhaps it sounds far-fetched, when you have never encountered one before,” the sea lion shifter replied coolly.
“Those massive storms the last few suns, the ones that appeared and disappeared with unusual speed, those were a nearby witch,” added Reed, hoping they had noticed the unusual weather.
“That was…a human?” Lady Serena inquired, surprise written on her face.
Elliot nodded. “She is a local in our town, Crescent Cove. Plant magic runs in her family, but an ancestor possessed storm magic, which appears every few generations. It is said that she is descended from mermaids.”
“What?” gasped the mermaids in unison.
“Is that true?” Reed turned to the sea lion shifter, his heart in his throat at the possibility. “She never mentioned it.”
His mother cast a questioning glance in his direction and he snapped his mouth shut, deciding to interrogate the sea lion shifter about this revelation later. He did not want to detract from the main purpose of their visit.
“Records from those days are hard to come by, but that is the story passed down,” Elliot continued. “We have many other kinds of witches in our town. Magical creatures of all sorts who would be happy to have you join us whenever you please.”
“How can that be?” demanded Lady Serena.
The shifter faced her. “It has been this way for over two hundred years. We have never known anything else. Shifters born in Crescent Cove grow up free to come and go as they like between the town and the sea. We look after each other.”
“I don’t understand how that’s possible,” Reed’s father spoke up at last. “No humans have captured the shifters to force them to perform? To live in tanks and be stared at by other humans?”
“No,” said Elliot with a confidence Reed wished he felt.
Across from him, Lady Serena looked contemplative. “I do not know if I believe you yet, sea lion. Perhaps some of my younger mermaids might accompany you two back to your… Crescent Cove. To see for ourselves.”
“Of course,” Elliot nodded. “I’ll take care of the arrangements. They can stay in town, or there’s a lovely moon pool near the edge of town, if they prefer to sleep underwater.”
“You would do that? For strangers?” his father asked.
“I do not consider you strangers,” the sea lion shifter smiled.
