The little girl squinted at the sun. It was so bright and so hot. Could it
kill her like Mama said? All around her was a skinny stretch of sand,
littered with boulders covered with the skeletal remains of algae. They lay
there, frozen in stone, waiting for the tide to come in, so they might be
green again.
Danae panicked. Would she dry up and die like the seaweed? She remembered one time she saw a whale calf that had managed to beach itself so bad that neither its mother nor her mother was able to bring back to sea. It was a dry, sunken, as though all the water had left it, leaving behind a hard core. Its eyes remained open. panicked.staring blankly into the sun.
She shuddered. It was both very quite and very noisy on Land. No longer could she hear the sound of the surf around her ears, which had been a part of her life since infancy. It was further away, a short walk away but to her, a journey.
Overhead, seagulls squawked. It was a comforting sound; reminding her of the rare times Mama would let her surface.
Then she remembered: Mama was gone. Her memory consisted mostly of images: she could remember floating, she could see debris, wood, and her Mama trying to grab her before blackness set in and Danae woke up on Land. Now she was on her own and would have to try to think of a way to find Mama and survive. She was torn between leaping into the comforting arms of Ocean and waiting on Land. She knew Ocean better than she knew Land but she also knew that Ocean was vast, long stretches of water whose terrain she hadn't completely memorized. Besides, what if Mama came looking for her? Might be best to wait.
She could hear the strange sounds of creatures called Men: footsteps, clanging metal, and the strange language of Talk. They were walking on the beach, almost single file, making strange noises as they peered behind rocks. All Danae could make out was a flash of purple, armour, and curved horns on their head. She crouched down, hoping to become so small that no one can she her.
Then all of a sudden, she saw a brilliant flash of light. A great luminous thing that seemed brighter than the sun itself. There was a fearsome melee as the metal people tried to defend themselves against the light. There were great shouts as the metal people were wounded fighting the light. Finally they retreated, leaving behind miscellaneous bits of armour.
Danae crept out to take a look when all of a sudden, more humans started to come. There were five of them, walking steadily with the air of triumph in their step. They were very queer looking; dressed in clothing that looked like had been chosen at random. They were not uniformly dressed as the metal people. Danae had almost expected them to look like the Lady of Light her Mama had told her about: a bright, ethereal creature with glowing white, almost metallic skin. Many times had she imagined those cold dark emeralds staring at her and a white hand reaching for her. Danae clung to the rock even tighter. The light people crept closer, forming a box all around her. They were giants; she could see their heads touching clouds. One giant, a female she guessed, reached out and said something though didn't understand. Danae decided to study them a bit closer in hopes of finding a weak point.
There was a man with sandy her in red with a red shield and sword. There was a dark-skinned man in blue with a trident. He reminded her a little of the stories her Mama used to tell her about Maori woodcarvers: craftsmen with skin as black as the ocean on a moonless night who created beautiful wooden statues honouring their gods. Of course they carried arrows, not tridents.
The person who had tried to talk to her was a woman with pale skin and red hair. She was dressed in the most peculiar garments: a leather skirt and a sky top. The weapon she held in one hand was one Danae did not recognize but she had her theories about. Beside her stood a man whose clothing and hair was bleached the colour of the sun and beside him was a man whose attire was such a mixture of various bits of material that Danae guessed he had to be a hunter. She shivered as her mind came up with different ways they could kill her.
"I don't think she understands us, Deirdre," Rohan said. He was as perplexed by this situation as the villagers who had sent the cry for help. Why would Nemain send one of her best battalions to search an area uninhabited expect by a handful of grizzled fishermen? It made no logical sense.
The girl was probably the strangest creature they'd ever seen. At first they had mistaken her for a mermaid but she wasn't. She had two legs, not a scaly tail. The knights guessed that this was probably the thing Nemain had sent her troops in search of; therefore she needed to be taken to the castle where Cathbad could protect her.
Unfortunately the poor creature was terrified of them. It was like she'd never seen humans before. The knights guessed that maybe the Temran soldiers had frightened her so they tried their best to appear friendly.
She didn't understand English so the knights were tried to make gestures of friendship. They reached out their bare hands so she might see they wouldn't harm her. She studied them carefully as if trying to commit every feature to memory, before placing her hand in Ivar's palm.
Danae panicked. Would she dry up and die like the seaweed? She remembered one time she saw a whale calf that had managed to beach itself so bad that neither its mother nor her mother was able to bring back to sea. It was a dry, sunken, as though all the water had left it, leaving behind a hard core. Its eyes remained open. panicked.staring blankly into the sun.
She shuddered. It was both very quite and very noisy on Land. No longer could she hear the sound of the surf around her ears, which had been a part of her life since infancy. It was further away, a short walk away but to her, a journey.
Overhead, seagulls squawked. It was a comforting sound; reminding her of the rare times Mama would let her surface.
Then she remembered: Mama was gone. Her memory consisted mostly of images: she could remember floating, she could see debris, wood, and her Mama trying to grab her before blackness set in and Danae woke up on Land. Now she was on her own and would have to try to think of a way to find Mama and survive. She was torn between leaping into the comforting arms of Ocean and waiting on Land. She knew Ocean better than she knew Land but she also knew that Ocean was vast, long stretches of water whose terrain she hadn't completely memorized. Besides, what if Mama came looking for her? Might be best to wait.
She could hear the strange sounds of creatures called Men: footsteps, clanging metal, and the strange language of Talk. They were walking on the beach, almost single file, making strange noises as they peered behind rocks. All Danae could make out was a flash of purple, armour, and curved horns on their head. She crouched down, hoping to become so small that no one can she her.
Then all of a sudden, she saw a brilliant flash of light. A great luminous thing that seemed brighter than the sun itself. There was a fearsome melee as the metal people tried to defend themselves against the light. There were great shouts as the metal people were wounded fighting the light. Finally they retreated, leaving behind miscellaneous bits of armour.
Danae crept out to take a look when all of a sudden, more humans started to come. There were five of them, walking steadily with the air of triumph in their step. They were very queer looking; dressed in clothing that looked like had been chosen at random. They were not uniformly dressed as the metal people. Danae had almost expected them to look like the Lady of Light her Mama had told her about: a bright, ethereal creature with glowing white, almost metallic skin. Many times had she imagined those cold dark emeralds staring at her and a white hand reaching for her. Danae clung to the rock even tighter. The light people crept closer, forming a box all around her. They were giants; she could see their heads touching clouds. One giant, a female she guessed, reached out and said something though didn't understand. Danae decided to study them a bit closer in hopes of finding a weak point.
There was a man with sandy her in red with a red shield and sword. There was a dark-skinned man in blue with a trident. He reminded her a little of the stories her Mama used to tell her about Maori woodcarvers: craftsmen with skin as black as the ocean on a moonless night who created beautiful wooden statues honouring their gods. Of course they carried arrows, not tridents.
The person who had tried to talk to her was a woman with pale skin and red hair. She was dressed in the most peculiar garments: a leather skirt and a sky top. The weapon she held in one hand was one Danae did not recognize but she had her theories about. Beside her stood a man whose clothing and hair was bleached the colour of the sun and beside him was a man whose attire was such a mixture of various bits of material that Danae guessed he had to be a hunter. She shivered as her mind came up with different ways they could kill her.
"I don't think she understands us, Deirdre," Rohan said. He was as perplexed by this situation as the villagers who had sent the cry for help. Why would Nemain send one of her best battalions to search an area uninhabited expect by a handful of grizzled fishermen? It made no logical sense.
The girl was probably the strangest creature they'd ever seen. At first they had mistaken her for a mermaid but she wasn't. She had two legs, not a scaly tail. The knights guessed that this was probably the thing Nemain had sent her troops in search of; therefore she needed to be taken to the castle where Cathbad could protect her.
Unfortunately the poor creature was terrified of them. It was like she'd never seen humans before. The knights guessed that maybe the Temran soldiers had frightened her so they tried their best to appear friendly.
She didn't understand English so the knights were tried to make gestures of friendship. They reached out their bare hands so she might see they wouldn't harm her. She studied them carefully as if trying to commit every feature to memory, before placing her hand in Ivar's palm.