Stolen Moments

By Blayne Jessup

A young adult fantasy novella that follows the main character, Tyris, as he attempts to learn why he is having memory lapses. He is joined by his best friend and a reluctant guide as they soon find out that his problem is just a small part in a growing threat. Taking place in a shallow ocean, the entire adventure is set beneath the waves following this small group of merfolk. They encounter both friend and foe alike as they uncover more than one mystery and find out that rumors are sometimes very, very true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483576411

Book preview

36

1

Tyris floated before the door to his chamber, the light of the day nearly spent.  It was wrong.  He had left his tower at the end of his shift only a few minutes ago, so the daylight shouldn’t be so faded.  What had taken so long?  Even more disturbing was the fact that he couldn’t remember more than a few moments after his shift ended until now.

Glancing about, he saw nothing unusual or out of place so he quickly opened the door and swam inside.  Everything seemed to be in the right place, nothing disturbed.  He grabbed a lantern off the shelf and shook it vigorously to start the glowing.  It didn’t produce a lot of light, but enough to see around his rocky chamber.

No longer hungry, he removed his sword and laid it on the table which was little more than a rock in the middle of the room.  He then took off his thin shirt of barnacle mail that he wore for protection and laid it down over his sword.  After a final glance around the room he swam to the corner and came to a rest, leaning his back against the wall and stretching his fin out in front of him.

As his emerald scales reflected the glow of the lantern he struggled to recall anything from his trip home.  Nothing. He swished his tail from side to side, stirring up a thin layer of sediment. 

Still trying to recall something, he pulled a soft stone and a much harder pebble off the shelf next to his head.  He scratched a thin line into the stone using the sharpened pebble.  Seven lines.  This was the seventh time in the last two weeks that he had blacked out and couldn’t recall anything.  What had started as a minor inconvenience was now starting to worry him.

If he brought it to someone’s attention it could jeopardize his career, but if he didn’t say anything then someone would notice sooner or later and that would be even worse.  Then he would most likely lose everything.

The last light of the day faded away, leaving nothing more than the soft glow of his lantern to illuminate his room.  In the gently pulsing light he considered his options and found that he disliked all of them.  He could try and hide the lapses, tell a fellow guard, tell his commander, or resign.  Then again there was always….her.  That was the least savory option of all.

2

Waking up with a start, Tyris quickly grabbed in the dark for his lantern.  Finally grasping it he shook it vigorously until the small worms inside began releasing their glowing slime to illuminate the room.  He had been dreaming something unpleasant, but now it had faded away; no hint of the dream remained.  Such was the nature of dreams, even for the mer.  He turned to peer out the small window where he could see the faintest traces of daylight.

Stretching his muscular arms he scanned the room, finding everything where it should be.  He grabbed a small clump of seaweed off the shelf and dropped it into his shoulder pack.  Next he pulled his barnacle mail shirt on and tied his sword belt securely around his waist with the sturdy blade resting loosely along his tail so that it wouldn’t get in the way of his swimming.

Since he was already up he decided to swim through the coral gardens on his way to his post.  Stretching one more time to work the stiffness out of his muscles, he opened the door and entered the tower he was posted to.

Blinking in mild confusion as his friend nodded in greeting, Tyris slowly closed the door.  He had just left his home.  But that couldn’t be right since he had no memory of the trip and the early light of day was now illuminating the town.

Late night?  Givalti asked as he watched a school of fish go by.

Yeah, something like that.  Tyris muttered as he swam over to the opposite side. 

Below him lay the gently rolling plains outside of town.  Small kelp farms and their workers were easily visible from the post.  Schools of fish swam by with the occasional ray gliding over the bottom.  On the other side lay the town of Limbus with most of the stone houses clustered around the town center where a daily market took place that often included one or two travelling merchants in addition to food and other goods from the local population.

Normally the view relaxed him, but not today.  Have you noticed anything odd?  Tyris turned to Givalti, who was carving a small piece of wood.

Givalti looked up.  No.  Haven’t even had any reports of creatures today.  Rather nice not to be sending someone out to search for a boogey mer. Why do you ask?

Just wondering.  I have a weird feeling that something is going on.  Tyris replied, returning to the view.

I’m sure it’s nothing.  You say that every so often and the most that happens is a pod of dolphins swims by.  Relax a little, nothing ever happens here.  It’s not even like we get a whole lot of sightings for those monsters.  Apparently one of the towns up north has had some raid the houses on the outskirts.

Despite his best efforts Tyris couldn’t relax or shake the feeling that something was about to happen.  Finally he settled into one of the seats, stretching his tail out in front of him.  It was a more uniform color than Givalti’s, whose fin was a more mottled color and a good deal broader, but that was a fairly normal difference between a typical mer and the slightly less common mer that closely resembled the sculpin fish that liked to hide under rocks.  Like Tyris’ tail, Givalti’s tail moved from side-to-side unlike the few oddities with tails that moved up and down.

Do you think the stories about the Widow are true?  Tyris blurted out, realizing there was no delicate way to ask the question.

Givalti looked up sharply.  Why would you want to know?  She’s crazy at the least, but I wouldn’t ignore the stories. They came from somewhere.  What’s going on?

Letting out a long breath, Tyris again debated his options.  I need some answers.

A smile split his friends face.  Girl problems?  I can answer that one you old barracuda!  What’s her name?

No, it’s not that.

Givalti’s smile faltered as he watched his friend stare at the small cathedral on the hill roughly three miles away.  What is it?  Tyris, come on.  You know you can trust me.

The sincerity in his friend’s voice jarred him and before he realized what he was doing, he had told him about his memory lapses.  Without meaning to, he had just made his choice.

Givalti thought it over for a few moments.  I wish I could help, but this is beyond me.  I wouldn’t recommend the infirmary since they can’t tell a scallop from a clam most of the time.  You should ask the captain for leave after your shift.  Tell him you have personal stuff to deal with and he shouldn’t pry.  At least not too much.

I already thought of that, but that doesn’t fix the problem and he probably won’t like it, not with all the rumors floating around right now.  You know there has been more sightings of things moving around.  What do I do?

His friend stared at the cathedral in silence for a few moments then looked at him.  Go to the one place that might give you answers.

3

Tyris cautiously swam towards the cathedral under the cover of night.  His lantern revealed the area immediately around him but little more.  His course remained straight only because a massive light remained illuminated on top of the cathedral, serving as a distant beacon to home in on.

The meeting with his captain had gone well with a minimum of prying into his reasons for going on leave.  His captain did give him a firm warning that he might be replaced if the need arose.  Tyris had eagerly agreed, knowing that there wasn’t much chance of that happening.  There was just two things left to do now. He had to make it to the cathedral without anyone noticing and then actually go in.

You’re sure about this?  Givalti asked quietly, as he glided through the water next to him.

Tyris thought for a few moments.  Yes.  You said it yourself that this is the one place that might have some answers.  I just hope that the rumors are false.

Yeah, well, they came from somewhere.  Givalti muttered darkly.

They continued in silence, passing the occasional jellyfish that glowed gently as it carelessly drifted in search of food.  Before long the faint outline of the cathedral could be seen.  Why was it so feared?  It looked well maintained at least.

Just promise me this is our little secret.  I don’t want to be ostracized or exiled just for coming up to take a look.  Givalti said suddenly.  You know how paranoid our town is.  They don’t even like it when those beast riders come through.  He uttered the last words with a slight edge to his voice.

Tyris paused at a boulder half a mile away from the cathedral.  Not a word, but I must admit I feel better knowing that you’re out here.

Lot of good that will do you.  Givalti rested his arms on top of the boulder.  I still think that you should have brought your sword and armor.  Good luck.  After a short pause, Givalti said, I’ll wait until the light starts then I’ll have to head down to my post.

Thanks.  I hope that I come back to let you know how it went.  Without looking back Tyris headed off alone with nothing more than his lantern and his shoulder pack with his meager savings.

In moments he was at the main gate.  He paused, staring at the intricate carvings of kelp on the doors illuminated by three large lanterns.  One sat on either side with the third directly over the massive doors.  He hesitated before slowly