Page 58 of Storm and Sea

“That’s why you’re all alone, isn’t it? Why the Sireni shun you? Why have you chosen to throw your lot in with the enemy?”

“I—I don’t⁠—”

“But of course, the Sireni in Corallina weren’t the first to cast you out,” Nephi smiled wickedly, showing off the canines he so badly wanted to sink into flesh. “Your parents abandoned you first. Isn’t that right?”

He saw Atreus’s movements as though in slow motion. The set of his feet, the lunge in his knees, and the cocked shoulder. Nephi dodged his punch with unchallenged ease, redirecting Atreus’s momentum with an elbow to the back. Atreus fell face-first in the sand but was up again in seconds, trying for another strike. This time, Nephi dodged, gripping his wrist and bending forward, throwing Atreus’s bulk clean over his head. He heard Atreus’s breath knock free of his lungs.

“You’re strong. But untrained. You fight like a human.”

Atreus wiped sand from his mouth and stood warily. “How do you know all this?”

Nephi considered how to answer, taking his time. With hands in his pockets, he waded into the surf until he was waist-deep. With deliberate slowness, he lifted his tail, fanning out his bright red fins.

“Because I’m like you. A mutt. A bastard child nobody wanted. A halfling.” When Atreus appeared confused, Nephi sighed, feeling bad for the man. “They abandoned you and didn’t even bother to tell you why. How cruel.”

“Tell me what!?”

“That you’re a freak. A mix between two species that should never be. An abomination. You should have been killed as a babe, but like me, somehow you survived. We are born with Skraith inside us, slowly driving us mad. And now we live like outcasts.”

He lifted his tail, admiring his scales as they glistened in the early light.

“The green comes from my sireno father. And the red comes from my mother, a Ra-Maa woman. Mixed colors like these are the easiest way to spot a halfling. But to someone with more training, it’s possible to identify by scent alone. That’s how I figured you out.”

Atreus swallowed hard, and Nephi could see the wheels turning in his head. Answers he’d likely searched for his entire life. All thrown at his feet in a flash.

Poor bastard.

But it was better to learn the truth and hurt than to remain oblivious.

“Now you know why they left. And why you’ve been hiding yourself from Nyel. This is the shame we bear.”

“I’m… a halfling.”

Nephi nodded. “You are. From your scent alone, I can tell you carry Rusalki blood; the rest is unfamiliar to me.”

“And I have Skraith?”

“An evil spirit that lives in your body. Your mind. The punishment for your continued existence. Humans might call it a demon.”

Atreus shook his head. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what any of it means.”

“If you continue to live hidden among your enemies, it won’t matter. To them, you’re human, and it’s in your best interest to keep it that way. But if a Mer saw you, well…” He tilted his head. “I trust you’ve already experienced how they react.”

Atreus’s freckles stood out against skin drained of color, his hands clenching and unclenching like he didn’t know what to do with them.

“So you’re saying… if Nyel sees⁠—”

“He’ll come home in an instant. Halflings are sick. Cursed. Driven mad by the Skraith. We’re demented, twisted beasts. The deadliest Mer in the sea.”

Nephi flourished his tail a final time before splashing out of the surf. The water evaporated quickly in the blazing sun. Marvassa took away his scales in seconds.

“I’m not mad.” Atreus’s voice shook.

Nephi laughed. “I used to say the same.”

Atreus glared at him. “I’m not,” he said more firmly. “and I’ve never attacked anyone.”

“Not yet.” He loved the way Atreus paled further. “Show him what you really are. You’ll see that I’m right. I’ll be waiting for him when he runs.”