Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series (28 page)

As the dryer instantly picked up, ruffling
the lower part of his shirt, he waited nervously, continually
glancing at the door, hoping no one else would need to use this
facility for at least another two minutes, as it’d take him at
least that long to return his clothes to a reasonably dry
state.

Shirt somewhat dried, he grabbed it out as he
lifted his right leg and tried to stick the wet fabric of his jeans
into the dryer’s gap to activate it, but nothing happened, and he
was about to lose his balance. Whatever happened to good old paper
towels?

Just as he was making progress and the dryer
had actually turned on somewhat drying off his jeans, a deathly
peal of thunder resonated through the restaurant, causing him to
thud painfully against the wet tiled floor, his knees taking the
brunt of the damage.

As his knees throbbed in pain, a brilliant
flash of light burned into his eyes.

Shielding his eyes with both hands, moaning
beneath his breath, he knew that he couldn’t prevent what was about
to happen. Without William here to stop him from teleporting, he
knew he was as good as gone.

As the tiles beneath him turned into dry
wooden planks, all he could think was,
This is madness!

As the blinding light faded away, a gentle
breeze blew across Ian’s face, as he breathed in the salty scent of
seawater.

Flicking open his eyes, noticing the slight
temperature drop, he noticed that he was sitting on the edge of a
wooden pier, which stretched some ten feet into a blue-green lake,
which, as he looked into the distance, seemed to fade away behind a
grove of vibrant lush trees. Taking a guess, he’d say that this
lake was a large cove, and that the ocean was just beyond those
trees.

Turning towards the shoreline, he instantly
took a liking for it. A sandy white beach arose from the lake, and
from his view he could make out four purple striped crabs, a few
pale green starfish, and many unusual creatures which he couldn’t
put a name to even if he’d been a marine biologist. Farther out, a
thick forest took off right where the beach ended, though a couple
of the hardier trees actually resided on the sand.

Overall, the landscape was amazing, far
better than the cold frigid place he would’ve teleported to last
time if William hadn’t saved him. Still, he couldn’t relax. Behind
any one of those trees could be a murderous Elayan, an elf bent on
strict justice, or a hostile dwarf. Somehow he doubted this last
one as his concept of dwarves didn’t permit them to make ocean
resorts their homes, yet this world was already turning out to be
unlike any fantasy movie he’d watched so he couldn’t make any such
assumptions. He’d have to be ready for anything if he wanted to
come out of here alive again.

Dangling his shoes inches from the clear
water, he tried to force himself to keep this serious mindset, yet,
despite that, it was a lost cause. Gazing into the sunlit lake, he
watched ivory-colored fishes darting back and forth as if involved
in a chasing game, the calming cry of birds taking him on an early
vacation, the rippling of the water filling him with peace. Surely,
this place of all places was paradise.

As he rolled up his jeans so they wouldn’t
get wet, his eyelids slowly shutting, he suddenly startled by a
loud splash, his bliss shattering in pieces. Eyes jolting open, he
saw the strikingly handsome face of a man in the water below him.
Short black hair decked with tiny shells and crowned with golden
seaweed hung from the man’s head, while a bright golden tunic
embroidered with ocean wave designs and decorated with
bluish-purple conch shells clung to his chest like a diver’s
swimsuit. His cerulean blue eyes shone with both innocence and
compassion, as they examined Ian, as an artist would examine a
finished work.

Completely hypnotized by the swimmer’s
friendly gaze at first, Ian at once grew wary as he refocused on
the man’s aquatic appearance. This was no human, but a merman.

A tingling sensation of fear and disgust
coursed through his body at this last thought. He’d never been a
big fan of these half-human, half-fish creatures like a lot people,
mainly girls, at his school were. To him they were gross. Even the
notion of having a slimy fish tail instead of legs revolted
him.

Worse still, these creatures were known to be
deceitfully wicked. Just today in Ancient History class, his
teacher Frank Montelli had warned his students to beware the
siren’s alluring call. After receiving blank looks, Montelli went
on to describe that sirens were basically mermaids, mermaids that
bewitched sailors, leading them to their deaths.

Always been one given to an overactive
imagination, Ian had shivered at this gruesome thought. It
perfectly reinforced what he’d learned from watching the fourth
Pirates of the Caribbean movie on Sunday. Mermaids were vile,
devious creatures. And if mermaids were so evil, what was to say
that their male counterpart would be any better? Nothing really. If
anything, the males were probably even more dangerous and vicious
than the females.

Yet even with these warnings blaring in his
head, he still couldn’t permit himself to take off running down the
pier. Something about the merman intrigued him and he wanted to
know what he was doing here and what he wanted. So, against his
better judgment, Ian decided to remain silent and appear as
friendly as possible, hoping that the merman would see him as a
friend for doing so, and not an enemy, for he already had plenty
enough of those in this world.

Staying nearly motionless, his anxiety biting
away at him, Ian watched the merman slowly swimming closer and felt
a strong urge to speak to him and ask him what was going on.
Unfortunately, though, this wasn’t possible, as he now knew no
languages in this world, the Elven language now entirely gone from
his mind just like Azadar had said it would be.

Sure, he could try to speak English, but that
didn’t seem like it’d work at all--it hadn’t for the elves. Worse
still, he could try his limited Spanish, but from the look of the
man, he likely wouldn’t even comprehend the childish basics of the
language. No, he had no choice but to remain still, hoping that the
merman would somehow bridge the communication gap.

However, rather than saying anything or even
signing with his hands, the merman just continued to swim closer to
him to the point where Ian was thoroughly frightened. His only two
reasons for not jumping up and running away as fast as possible
were that the merman didn’t look hostile, and that his intense
curiosity as to what the man wanted from him wouldn’t permit him to
leave. Thus, Ian remained stuck in his spot while the man settled
down directly below him, his face only several feet from Ian’s
legs.

Gazing into his anxious face, Ian held his
breath as the man reached into his tunic and pulled out an
orange-colored vial of clear liquid.

Unscrewing the lid, the man poured a single
droplet onto his fingers and, before Ian could react, rubbed it
onto the skin of his right leg.

Jerking his leg back as if poison had been
rubbed on it, as images of death preyed upon his mind, Ian
scrambled further back onto the pier, when a weird dizzying
sensation flowed through his body, reminiscent of the feeling of
waking up out of a deep sleep.

Instantaneously, previously unknown words,
strange symbols and letters, and unique sounds from at least five
different languages raced through his mind, causing him to gasp in
astonishment as he tried to take in all the information.

Before he could make some sense of what had
happened though, the man spoke up: “I will save you the
astonishment of finding out,” he began in a somewhat rushed tone,
as he raised his long blue tail above the water briefly before
quickly submerging it with a quiet splash. “I am a merman.”

Ian was speechless. Though he’d already
guessed the man’s race, seeing his tail connected to his upper body
made it all come alive to Ian. He felt his stomach crawl. Gross.
How could this guy possibly live with a fish tail attached to
him?

Cringing, Ian thought back to five years ago
when his dad Ben had taken him and his brother Erik fishing. Though
they’d both loved the sport and had caught many fish, he just
couldn’t get over the fishy smell and slimy feel of the bluegills
and found it one of the worst experiences in his life. Of course,
Ben and Erik had teased him relentlessly about his aversion to
these critters, but none of their taunting could change his mind.
He’d never fished since. In fact, he’d tried to avoid even seeing
fish after that day as they always brought back unpleasant memories
and odors to his mind. It had generally worked well--until today,
that is.

Now, seeing this merman right in front of
him, he had no choice but to remember that fishing trip. Face
distorting as he remembered when his brother Erik had thrown a fish
at him, he was suddenly thrown from his thoughts by the man’s now
urgent voice:

“Rescue my daughter, Taeria,” he commanded
urgently, as if there were no time to spare, a strange mixture of
authority and fear resonating in his voice, which had been
previously calm and relaxed.

“What?” exclaimed Ian, barely noticing the
man’s melodious flowing language filled with numerous vowels, as he
was too confused by the words.

Sensing his confusion, the merman quickly got
to his point. “She’s up there in that cage.” His voice grew
sterner, as he glanced at Ian before steadying his sharp gaze on
the tree. “The woodsmen imprisoned her.”

Bewildered, Ian looked in the direction the
man was gazing and froze, his eyes locking onto a young mermaid
trapped up in a tree and held in a steel cage that was attached to
two nearby branches by a pair of iron chains. Her only garment was
a somewhat-tight aqua dress that reached down from her neck to
where her four-foot long violet tail began. Her beautiful hair,
long, creamy, and golden, draped over her shoulders in such a way
as to enhance her youthfulness.

As he continued to stare at her, the mermaid,
as if alarmed by his gaze, began thrashing her tail back and forth
against the cage, her face distorted with fear, her arms grasping
the bars of the cage as if searching for a way to open it.

A normal person might have pitied her, but he
wasn’t about to fall for her tricks. There was likely a good reason
as to why she was imprisoned. The woodsmen that the merman had so
angrily mentioned might actually be on his side. If he freed the
mermaid, he’d likely be freeing a monster. Who knows, she might
even be a siren? Anything was possible in this world.

Turning his eyes back to the merman, he was
just about to refuse to help, when the merman suddenly spoke up,
his mouth curved into a sad frown, his arms nearly limp at his
sides, “I understand your need for caution, human, but we are not
going to hurt you. We are a peaceful race.”

His words stirring him, Ian looked once more
at him and then spared another glance at his captive daughter.
Truly, the two merpeople didn’t appear hostile at all. To imagine
them ever killing or hurting someone seemed nearly as impossible as
picturing Jimmy completely unafraid of chatting with girls; it just
couldn’t happen.

With these thoughts in his mind, Ian
continued staring at the mermaid, though instead of happiness, he
actually felt discouragement at the conclusion he’d drawn. Now,
with no good excuse, he knew he’d have to try to free the mermaid.
And that was not something he’d anticipated at all.

As if sensing his hesitation, the merman
spoke again, his tone now laced with worry and grief, “The tides
are turning; you must save her now. They could return at any
moment.”

Something about these words struck a nervous
chord in his heart and before he knew what he was doing, he’d
dashed down the pier, raced over a thin area of wet sand, and
stepped onto the damp grass, below the maple tree where the mermaid
was imprisoned. Looking up, he judged the distance between him and
her to be at least fifteen feet. This wouldn’t be an easy
climb.

Knowing that whoever got her up there had to
have had some way to get up, he searched the tree for footholds and
soon found them--ten wooden spikes. All the branches, except for
nearby ones which could be used for support, were cut off on this
side of the tree, making it a straight climb up.

Briefly considering the idea of going
barefoot, he discarded it as he heard the merman shout again. He
didn’t have any time to waste, and his tennis shoes were
double-knotted and wouldn’t come off easily. This would be
challenging, but he’d manage; at least he wasn’t wearing dress
shoes.

Putting his foot on the lowest spike, he
gripped onto the spike above him and hoisted himself up. Though
he’d rock climbed twice in his life, this was much harder and more
painful. It wasn’t going to be enjoyable.

Repeating the process for the eight remaining
spikes, he, not caring to notice how high up he was, immediately
scrambled onto the thick branches of the tree, and began examining
the cage, looking for a way to open it. As he did so, the mermaid
stared at him horror, as if he were her executioner, large aqua
teardrops falling from her sky blue eyes like raindrops.

A bit put off by her unusually colored tears
and her shocked look, he stood there for a few seconds, feeling
slightly guilty over his harsh stereotyping of her. There was no
way this mermaid could hurt him. She looked anything but evil.

Mind made up, it took him only a short while
to come up with the right words: “Don’t worry, I’m here to help
you,” he said to her in the merfolk language, instantly noting how
bizarre the new words felt coming out of his mouth. His tongue
moved in unusual ways he didn’t think were possible, and his lips
shifted and rounded to awkward positions. He felt like a baby
attempting to speak, yet his words were clearly understood by the
mermaid, as the abject look of terror slowly faded from her
eyes.