The Last Mermaid

By Aleera Anaya Ceres

I am the last mermaid. That sounds pretentious, I know, but when you're the last of your kind, no one lets you live the title down…

Raised by sea goblins in the cold waters of the arctic, I was content enough as the only mermaid in the village—as the only mermaid in the seas. But after a freak accident, I'm sent away to survive the freezing waters on my own.

It's in the unforgiving waters I travel, and it is then that I realize that my entire existance is a lie, because I discover him. A lone merman convinced that there is a long lost kingdom with others like us who hide from a rising threat.

To find it, he'll need me, but can I really face the mystery of my entire existance and life? Will this make-believe kingdom really give me the answers I've always longed for?

Or will we die chasing a dream?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aleera Anaya Ceres
• Release date: Mar 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201613228

Book preview

Chapter One

Iam the last mermaid.

That sounded pretentious, I know it, but no one let me live it down. When you’re the last of your species, you tend to get the looks. The looks I’m used to. The ones that whispered, Oh, there she goes. Poor thing. She’s the last of her kind, you know. The poor dear, her family died in the war with the Djenu. She was lucky to make it out alive. Yeah, those looks, piteous, concerned, and infuriating looks.

I should probably be used to it by now. I’d suffered through it my entire life, but it still stung to feel like an oddity. I mean, sea goblins raised me, and a mermaid among goblins was odd enough.

Don’t get me wrong; I loved my ma’ and da’. They were the ones who found me. Someone had bundled me up into a seaweed woven basket. They said a dolphin had been carrying me around and dropped me into the frozen silt just before it collapsed.

I guess it could have been worse for me, I could have been found by sharks or something. I thanked the gods every day that this goblin family had been kind enough to take me in, even when they’d had so little themselves.

Their ugly, scrunched up faces were my first memories. They’re a cold blooded, ugly race, so imagine being a little baby mer, suddenly being held and looked down on by large, crooked noses and small beady eyes. Terrifying. But I eventually got used to it. I’d even come to love them, and their race. (A goblin boy had been my first kiss, though that had ended dreadfully.)

A mermaid and a goblin had no future together.

I had no future with anyone, really. When I died, that would be it. The mer would be no more and in years to come, my species would be nothing more than a speck of memory in the minds of those who inhabited the ocean. No one would remember us.

I should have been fine with that knowledge. It shouldn’t have bothered me. I should have accepted it.

But by the gods, I wanted to be remembered.

Which was how I found myself in this current predicament.

I was hiding from guards, my body wedged tightly in the confines of two blocks of ice. I kept low to the sea floor, anchoring my long green tail down, careful not to let the silt fly up in a cloud around me. I knew I blended into my surroundings, knew that the guards who were currently patrolling the area would not see me. I had a furry polar bear skin covering my body to thank for that.

There were four, short little creatures with large, heavy feet that weighed them down to the seafloor, spindly limbs and knobby knees and elbows. Their noses were aquiline, crooked and full of warts. Small black eyes darted through the water, alert for any threat that might come their way.

I thought the real threat was in the cage they guarded heavily with steel spears.

The cage was a hollowed out iceberg, with tall, thick iron bars that were close together, leaving a miniscule amount of space between them to serve as a gate. Inside, swimming back and forth, were a dozen orcas. Massive creatures, with thick muscular bodies and mottled white and black spots, with thick white teeth that were probably strong enough to break through the ice of their confinement if they truly wanted to.

And I planned to swim among them.

If only the guards would leave.

I held my breath, watching them patrol the cage, back and forth, back and forth. The cage was a gargantuan structure, the tip breaching past the surface of the arctic waters, and the point touching the sea floor below. It was in here that they wanted to trap the creatures. They wanted to tame them, to keep them as mascots or food. As protectors. But these orcas were wild.

Which made this adventure all the more dangerous. And exciting.

If only I could get past the guards.

I hadn’t really thought too far into my plan. I never did. In life I preferred to flow with the movement of the ocean, without a care, feeling instead of thinking. Every move I made was an impulse, and it made life so much more fun. I’d woken up that morning with the urge to swim through the orcas’ cage, touch the end and swim back. Planning was for blubbers.

Well… I was feeling pretty blubber-like now. These guards were specifically trained to maintain focus. When their jobs were as dangerous as guarding the beasts’ cage, they had to be alert for any and all things.

Almost absentmindedly, my hand went to the necklace at my throat, squeezing it once before I started backwards, low on the icy ground. Then I felt the tug on my body, the bear skin slipping from my head, and I let out a soft, startled gasp.

It’s just me, a young voice reassured quietly.

I twisted sharply and stared into the face of my younger brother. He’d slipped quietly beneath the thick, long covering beside me, knees and elbows pressed deep into the ground. Brynjar! I hissed from between clenched teeth. What do you think you’re doing here?

His young, goblin face smiled widely at me, bright blue eyes innocent and mischievous at the same time. I followed you, and I want in.

Gods take me. I frowned, already shaking my head. Ma’ and da’ would kill us both if they knew you were here.

Then let them sing both of our dirges sister, because I don’t plan on leaving.

The furrowing of my dark brows was an automatic reaction, followed soon by a resigned sigh. I could deny him nothing, least of all a bit of fun when the opportunity presented itself. I left the strictness and the boringness to our elder sister, Siv.

Besides, how could I be frustrated or angry with Bryn when he looked up to me? No one else admired me the way that he did. Everyone else judged me, whether it be with pity or disapproval, they all thought ill of me. He was the only one in the waters of Caldor that didn’t.

He was young though, having not yet blossomed into adulthood or gone through the ceremony that marked him of age. He was only ten years old, seven years younger than me and ten years younger than Siv. When all Siv had ever cared about by the time she was my age was snagging a husband, it was no wonder Bryn had turned to me.

If you’re going to be here, then you’ll have to make yourself useful, I muttered, turning my attention back to the cage. To the guards and their spears.

"Lucky for you, Nanna, I already have a plan in mind." He put enough emphasis on my name that I turned sharply to look at him just as he slipped from under the protecting camouflage and slid away between white and gray icebergs. I turned back to the guards, holding in an icy breath as I waited. I counted down the seconds, seconds that seemed to take forever before I heard the barking.

I pressed myself tighter to the sea floor, watching as the guards were suddenly alert, gripping tightly at their spears with long fingers and knobby knuckles. Their ugly faces scanned the horizon, gazes flicking straight over me as they tried to locate the source of the noise.

Suddenly, a dozen sea lions zipped through the empty spacious water in a hoard, mottled gray-brown bodies stampeding against one another, large mouths opening to let out harsh cries. They crowded around the guards, knocking them over. The guards jumped up on their bare feet and made clicks and shouts, pushing up their spears, making a series of jabs as if to scare the animals.

The rest was a blur of bodies and screams. The sea lions, not appreciating their current treatment, began herding the guards away from the cage. They went willingly, chasing them away before they could rile up the orcas, until eventually there was no one left to guard them.

I counted backwards from ten, waiting for the guards to come back. When they didn’t, I smiled and eased my way slowly out of the heavy polar bear skin that covered my body. The icy bite of cold slashed my exposed skin, but I welcomed it despite the discomfort. The heavy cloak would only slow me down from my purpose.

Nails sinking into ice and silt, I used my fingers to drag myself along the floor until my body met the gray, cold metal of the cage. I wrapped my fists around the bars and drew myself up. The gate itself was locked, as if that could keep me out. Smiling slyly, I reached up to my dark curls and pulled a very thin coral pin from my tresses, inserting it into the keyhole.

My bottom lip stuck between my teeth as I concentrated on wiggling the pin around. It clicked, and the gate swung open in the smallest of fractions. Shoving the pin back into my hair, I started to ease the gate open further…

A hand clamping down on my arm made me jump.

Gods take me. You scared me half to death, Bryn! I glared down at the eager face of my brother.

All goblins were small, about three feet in human measurements, but Bryn only stood at two; he didn’t even reach half of my own height.

His eyes glowed with mischief. Hurry, he urged. Let’s go before the guards come back.

I closed the gate quietly and furrowed my brows together. Bryn, I started. You can’t come.

His face fell along with my heart. Was this the feeling Siv got when she crushed his hopes and dreams? Gods, why did she do it if it felt so painful? Or did she find joy in the gesture? Knowing her, she probably did.

It’s too dangerous, I explained quietly, urgently. Those orcas could rip through you in under a minute.

He glared rebelliously, Then why are you doing it?

Because I’m the last of my kind, it doesn’t matter what happens to me, anyway. I frowned. Just do as you’re told and call me if the guards show up again. Before he could argue further, I went through the gate and closed the door, grabbing for the pin and shoving my hand through the bar to lock it back into place before he could follow me.

He stuck his tongue out at me and I ignored him as I turned and felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. The orcas swam about, slow and leisurely through their prison. Their bodies up close were so much larger and more intimidating. The view from within the cage was certainly different from the view on the outside.

Gently, they moved their powerful tails and fins, bumping against each other in the small confines of their space. A small part of me suddenly felt fear, and it almost froze me in my place. No, I had vowed to myself for years that I would not let fear overpower me. The minute I gave it that power, it would be my demise.

Swallowing that sentiment, I started forward, slowly. Their bodies, slick and smooth swept passed me. They were all in a tranquil mood, ignoring me, though I obviously did not belong among them. I knew that if provoked, the orcas would attack. And they would not be lenient with me. They’d chew me up and chow me down until there was nothing left but bloody scales and ivory bones. I pushed away that shuddering thought and started forward, moving my tail gently, undulating in the water as I swam. My hands shook, so I placed one on top of the other, as if that could keep me steady.

The orcas were closer to me now, slick, smooth bodies sliding against mine. I bit my bottom lip to avoid jumping and startling them. The slightest of movements would send them into a frenzy, and if they did, I wouldn’t make it out alive.

I was swimming between the lot of them, cramped in, dodging enormous bodies. My goal was getting closer with each stroke of my tail fin. The end of the wall, the other side of their caged prison. I tried not to smile, but I couldn’t help the curve that pulled my lips upwards. Close. I was so close… I reached my hand out and pressed my palm against the cold ice.

I did it. I swam across the cage without a scratch. Now, all I had to do was swim back. I turned slowly, keeping my back pressed tightly against the ice. Inhaling, I wrapped my fingers around the necklace at my throat, palm pressing into the jagged edges of the metal plate. It gave me strength to brave the journey back out. I had to hurry, before the guards came back.

I started forward but froze when suddenly, two enormous orcas slammed heads. I jumped. The beasts around the two feeling threatened, thrashed. Their bodies became a blur of black and white within the cage, the waters vibrating in a thrill of fear.

I pressed myself up against the ice, my nails scraping across the surface so hard I almost wondered if I’d fall through it like a phantom ghost. Fear made me tremble, and I forced myself to push it aside, but then I heard a sound that had the blood in my veins turning to ice.

Nanna!

The beasts parted, revealing a crouching figure on the ground between them. A gasp tore from my throat, too late I realized I’d screamed a name. My brother’s name. Brynjar!

His arms covered his head protectively, but I could already see the floating tendrils of blood twirling above him. They blocked his image, as the two orcas went head to head once more.

I moved without thinking, reaching my arms out as I darted beneath the clashing whales. I collided with Bryn’s body, pulling him into my arms and to the safety of my chest. Above us, the whales continued to fight; my body vibrated and shuddered from their brunt force. Their muscular bodies bumping ours, knocking us to the ground. Tails thrashed, blinding me with pain. Through it all, I held Bryn tightly and didn’t let go. He sobbed into my chest, fingernails digging into my sides. My eyes burned with grains of silt and pain. I gasped and looked up. They were fighting, bodies pressing against ours.

We have to get out of here! I wasn’t sure if I thought the words or shouted them. But I turned in the water with Bryn clutched in my arms. They pressed us to the ground, with tails and fins slamming us deeper into the earth.

Hang on, Bryn, I gasped against the top of his head. I felt his almost imperceptible nod against my chest. I accommodated him in one arm, using the other to drag myself along the ground. I dug my fingers in, and pulled, feeling them crack and bleed. The space to the gate felt like miles, slowed down by the bodies jostling against us. I bit the inside of my cheek as we reached the bars. Pulling myself up, I ripped out the pin from my curls and shoved it into the lock. It clicked easily, as Bryn hadn’t closed it correctly in the first place. The gate swung, and I immediately pushed him through. Go! I shouted, following him. I whirled and slammed the door closed again. The whales inside were full-fledged fighting now. Unruly, slamming into each other with an aggressive force.

Gods… I pressed my forehead against the bars. Bryn stood on the ice, his knobby fingers gripping the cold metal. He stared in at the scene with wide, fascinated eyes.

Wow, he uttered in awe, we swam through that.

I shot him a glare he didn’t acknowledge. "What do you mean we? I told you to stay put, Bryn!"

He looked up at me with those wide, clear eyes of his. Eyes that were like chips of blue ice, but were in no way cold. You always want to have adventures without me, was his reply. He turned back to the scene in front of him, his voice wistful as he looked on. It isn’t fair.

Gods, how could I fault him for wanting a little fun? After all, wasn’t I a thrill seeker myself? Still, my pulse raced in my throat, my gills opening and closing along with the beating of my heart. In comfort, I reached up to enclose my palm around my necklace, an action I’d picked up since I was a young mer. But when my hands greeted empty space, my heart stopped.

I looked down at my neck. Where my necklace would have been, attached by a thin rope, a silver engraved plate should have hung. Instead, there was nothing.

I looked down at the silt and ice. Maybe it’d fallen when I’d pushed Bryn out? Still, there was nothing there. My breathing began to labor, I knew Bryn’s voice asking me what was wrong, a distant sound in my mind. It was gone. My necklace was gone. I gripped the bars and tried to squeeze my face between them, narrowing my eyes within the space, trying to glimpse my most prized possession.

I couldn’t lose it. It was the only tie I had to my race, to those who were just like me. Ma’ and da’ said it was the only thing on me the day they found me. Wrapped around me and a blanket, as if the necklace had been tying me in place. They’d kept it and had shortened the rope so I could wear it around my neck. It was the only thing I had to feel close to my birth parents, whoever they may be.

I caught the winking of silver on the ice, just below the whales’ thrashing bodies. Slowly, I opened the gate a crack.

No! Bryn pulled on my gray tunic. I pushed him away and darted into the cage, closing the gate behind me. Bryn pounded on the bars.

Open it when I tell you to.

Nanna, just leave it!

I smiled sadly at him, before I turned and ventured into the chaos. He wouldn’t understand. No one would. That necklace wasn’t just some object I was fond of, or something that could be replaced. It was my life. A clue to my past. Proof I’d had a family with scales and gills, before I became the last of my kind.

I dodged and wove my way between crushing, violent bodies. They jostled and bumped, fins slapping my face to draw blood. I didn’t care. I was blind in my desperation to reach my necklace. I dove for the ground, pinning myself to the ice to drag myself along searching for it. Pain blinded me, pushing me backwards. Still, I searched blindly, hands moving along the ground to find what was rightfully mine.

And then my hands came in contact with it, the cold sharp edges biting into my palms. I yanked it towards my chest, pressed it there briefly before I got up to swim out…

Only to come face-to-face with a furious orca.

It reared its massive head, and I shrieked, turning and swimming but the beast followed me through the cage. The other animals seemed to make room for it as it hunted me. My heart pounded, fear clawing through my stomach.

Open the gate, Bryn! I shouted as it came into my sight. I could feel the orcas teeth snapping at my fins. Close. It was too close to me. Open the gate! I screamed.

Bryn wiggled the pin around the lock. I was so close, I was going to slam into the bars and be devoured by an orca. This would be the end of me. The end of my kind…

But then Bryn pulled the gate open a fraction, and I slipped through the space. He let out a grunt as he started to push it closed, but the roar of the orca was louder. I turned just in time to see the orca ram its head into the gate. Brynjar fell back into the silt as they pushed the gate open. I rushed to my little brother, picking him up in my arms and pulling him away, just as all the orcas stampeded out of their cage, leaving nothing but clouds of silt and snowflakes in their wake.

Bryn stared at the empty cage and looked up at me. A smile touched his lips. Oops…

Chapter Two

There were few times in my life when I’d really felt fear. The real kind. The kind that twisted your insides and left you with the inability to breathe.

This was one of the times I didn’t get that feeling.

Ma’ and da’ were furious. That was to be expected, after the silt we pulled. They were always furious with me and my reckless ways, but never had I seen them yell at Brynjar so ferociously. They walked back and forth in front of us. I sat on our cold, makeshift couch. A short little thing, made of metal and woven kelp, topped with a polar bear skin. I had to squeeze into the seat, and hunch over. I tried not to sit up straight, overpowering the room and my parents. Though they both only stood at three feet, and I loomed over them, they still had a dominating presence. Goblins usually did.

You put not only yourselves in danger, but the whole tribe as well! Da’ screamed. His wrinkled, warty covered face scowled in disapproval. He shot glares my way frequently while mother paced the floor. Those beasts could have killed someone. And how do you expect the tribe to survive winter without them? What will we do for meat and blankets? They were our source of survival and you let them escape!

I couldn’t bite back the words that tickled out of my mouth. We live in the arctic, da’. There’s always an eternal winter here.

The glare he gave me was so mutinous, my insides formed into a knot.

Brynjar, he ground out between clenched teeth. Go to your room.

But da’-- he started to protest.

Now!

Brynjar stood from his seat and slowly made his way out of the room, dragging his feet across the floor and looking over his shoulder to send me sympathetic glances. I didn’t acknowledge them. I kept the nonchalant smile pulled tightly on my lips until he disappeared. Only then did it quiver, falling into a frown. With Brynjar out of the room, my bravado was gone.

You were a babe when we found you, da’ whispered furiously. You were crying in a basket. Were it not for us, you would have frozen to death.

I’d heard this story a thousand times before, and all it’s varying versions.

Were it not for us, you would have died.

Were it not for us, an orca would have gotten you.

Were it not for us, you would have been eaten.

Were it not for us…

Do you expect me to grovel at your feet? I asked defiantly, suddenly annoyed. As if saving me had been the biggest mistake of their lives. As if it had been something they deserved a monument for.

I expect you to be grateful! he shouted. I flinched, and when ma’ placed a hand on his shoulder, he visibly relaxed and added quietly, I expect you to abide by the rules of the tribe and of this household. He shook ma’s hand from his shoulder, eyes blazing cold anger in my direction once again. "I expect you to be responsible and not drag Brynjar into your deadly schemes. You might have a death wish, Nanna, but I will not have my only son buried beside you in the ice."

Behind my eyelids suddenly began to burn, throat constricting with all the words I wanted to shout but couldn’t seem to do. I blinked, hoping to expel the feeling from my body, but it just built higher and higher until I couldn’t contain it any longer.

Then maybe you should have just let me die as a baby.

I hurtled the words at him, at them both, meant to strike with all the slashing pain of a knife. Da’ staggered back at my words, and ma’ let out a soft gasp. Her eyes went wide with disbelief, crooked face cocking to the side. Da’ set his lips into a thin line.

That’s what you’re wishing, isn’t it? You wish you would have let me die in the cold so I wouldn’t have come to disturb your perfect little goblin lives?

I was lashing out, angry and hurt. I never shouted things I truly meant. I always played it off behind smiles and simple jokes, but something about this time was different. Maybe because of the hurt Bryn had suffered. Maybe they were scared. And maybe I was, too.

Still, da’s next words rippled shock through my blood.

Yes, he said. That’s exactly what we wish.

A part of me wanted to reply to that, to belch out a sarcastic retort that would put this whole situation behind us. But I couldn’t speak. My tongue felt leaden, an anchor I couldn’t seem to rise. My stomach twisted, knots roiling, threatening to make me sick.

He went on. This was the last straw, Nanna. The tribe has spoken, and the final decision is ours to make. Your actions have jeopardized Siv’s prospects, and Bryn’s future as well.

Blood rushed through my ears. I watched his lips move, but no sound seemed to come out. Even if I couldn’t hear it, I knew what he was saying, but refused to believe it.

This is my home. My fingers reached up for my necklace, but even that couldn’t bring me comfort. My heart was pounding. My past, present, and future pulled together to collide in this exact moment. And my life fell apart before my eyes.

Ma’ stepped forward. Go upstairs, she ordered. Get some rest. Tomorrow morning, we will discuss the consequences of your actions.

I looked between the both of them. Da’s angry, sharp features and ma’s softer ones, though they were no less stern, no less disappointed. I disappointed them daily. I knew that, but this time was different. They were different. And soon, I would be too.

Slowly, I got up and swam past them, my palm still encircled around my necklace. I held it tight, as if it were the one thing keeping me tethered to reality. I swam up the carved staircase. Houses in Caldor waters, mainly in the Kofi tribe, were all the same. Icebergs hollowed out, gray metal and ice, making for a dreary, cold place.

Pushing aside the curtain that served as my door, I swam into my room and froze just shy in the entrance. I looked around, and without wanting it to, reality seemed suddenly very far away. Like I was looking at the place through the eyes of a stranger. Of someone who didn’t quite belong. Seal and polar bear skins piled high on the ground where I slept, beside it a pile of pale tunics. I had few possessions, aligned neatly against the wall and were gifts from Bryn. A stone. A shell. A mermaid carved from ice. Besides those few things, there was nothing else. Nothing that could mark this room as my own. And for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of wrongness, as though I was a stranger, living a life that wasn’t mine.

I swam deeper into the room, sitting on top the pile of blankets. My back was straight, head held high, and my hand still cradled the one testament to who and what I was. I breathed in and out as the shouting downstairs started. The words were muffled, but I didn’t think I needed them to be clear for me to know.

Nanna?

I looked up and saw Bryn at the entrance of the bedroom. He held one arm in his