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I can’t explain it, but there is this connection that gravitates me towards the Masiren. Not even the darkness can steal that from me. It’s some deep-rooted piece of my soul that senses something familiar within it, finding comfort.
Slowly, I reach my hand out while I gauge its reaction. It dips its head slightly forward, a silent sign of permission. My palm closes the distance to rest on its head, the grey skin is smooth to the touch. My eyes track the rest of its body, noticing how replenished it looks from when I found it in the well. The red that coated its skin has long been washed away, the singed skin healed. Only bearing a few mangled scars from where it was chained down.
“Thank you,” I say through the pocket of air, my voice sounding muffled as it travels through the water.
The moment I remove my hand, the Masiren spins, wrapping its tail around my ankle. It coils tightly to prevent my foot from slipping through right before it starts spearing deeper into the sea. I’m yanked away from the ship to the darkened depths, where the sun can’t even reach.
I don’t fight, because if it wanted me dead, I already would be. But I can’t help but wonder where it’s taking me. Is it protecting me from danger above the surface? Is it wanting to show me something? Is the Masiren playing a part in guiding fate, too? A million thoughts race through my mind, but nothing sticks for what the true reason may be.
The Masiren travels deeper and deeper until it dips below into a tunnel submerged with static water. No flow, no current. The only visible movement is caused by our wake.
I’m not sure how far it’s taking me away from the ship, but I’m finding I don’t care. It’s quieter down here, anyway. Drowning out the whispers that scrape along my mind, silencing them.
The end of the tunnel leads us to a massive opening that has intricate designs marked along the stone curving around us. Its tail releases me as I right myself and gradually swim close to the edge, waiting. The Masiren remains still, watching me.
“Why did you bring me here?” I ask, turning so my eyes can scan each carving that has a faint glow emitting from it.
I glance behind me and watch the Masiren’s yellow eyes change to white. “To talk to you.”
My head tilts to the side as I ponder that, while the tune of its voice causes a warmth to spread throughout my chest. “You’ve been watching me.”
“Since you were born.”
Every muscle in my body freezes, as I stare unblinkingly into its eyes. Hesitantly, I ask, “How is that possible?” My question flows through the space with a shaky breath.
Its lethal limbs gracefully sway in the water, and its tail weaves back and forth to keep it steady and in place. “I am a creature of the Gods. Crafted from their power since the beginning. It’s why you don’t fear me.”
I think about how I never met the Masiren until recently. The way it was abused and left to rot in the well… Was that because of me? “Did you get caught by the previous king because of me?”
Its head shakes. “It’s my job to watch over you. Getting caught was always a part of my fate. I couldn’t tell you when you saved me, because a moment longer would have cost you and your friends freedom.” My brows crash together as I bore my eyes into it, and the Masiren’s eyes soften to a dimmer glow. “I could hear you…in the beginning.”
“The beginning?” I ask.
“When you used to scream.”
My lips part with a gasp.
“I am connected to you and can hear you through the link of our consciousness. I could feel your pain. Your fear. Your hate. How the loneliness was consuming you more and more each year.”
I shake my head, remembering the condition the Masiren was in when I found it, and a small fissure spreads through my chest. “But why couldn’t I feel you or the link? I-I would have saved you so much sooner if I knew you were chained in the bottom of some rusted well.”
Its tail lashes sharply to one side then the other as if remembering. “Our connection never had a chance to grow for you to feel it. Once the iron was wrapped around your neck, it stunted our bond’s growth. Before that tragic day, I was already able to sense you because I was aware of the bond since you were born, opening the link in my mind. But now, in time, you will begin to feel me. To reach out if you need.”
My eyes trace over the Masiren in awe, taking in this deadly creature that is so gentle with its kind words. “And those years in the cell were minuscule to my lifespan, but significant for yours.” Its eyes flare brighter, but I can’t read the emotions swirling in its gaze. “My suffering was nothing to what you endured. I may have burned under the sun, been starved because someone forgot to deliver meals, and cramped in the same hole. But you…”
Its head tenderly nudges mine and it feels like an endearment. “You had to bleed rivers of pain until the king was satisfied. Until death was holding its breath, waiting to open the doorway for you. People were too afraid to come near me, let alone lay a hand on me. But it was the opposite for you, and what I was able to feel through the bond was only a sliver of the agony that you were dealt. You already saved me. It was I who was wishing to save you.”
Speechless, I’m unable to find words to give a proper response. All I want to do is pull the Masiren in and hold it. To give it the comfort it never received, to take care of it.
Suddenly, the Masiren reaches out to trail one of its long, pointed claws along the path of a black vein. “And now, this dark power is controlling you. You need to rule over and dominate it.”
“There is no need to control it. I already have a handle on it, and this power helps to numb away the painful memories.”
The Masiren shakes its head. “No. It may hide the pain, but it twists the emotions from those memories into ones of hate and vengeance. This power is an extension of you, but you aren’t an extension of it. Force it to your will and find the light within yourself.”
“I’ve tried.”
The Masiren hisses and I think it just scoffed at me. “This is why I’m here, to help you open the doors that are locked with shadows. You may be the daughter of the God of Darkness, but you are also the daughter of the Goddess of Light. Both equally exist in you.” A flare of glimmering light pulses at the tip of its nail. “To clear the darkness, you just need to shine bright enough.”
