Prompt 2 & words: wicked, exile, darkness
Under the guise of a full moon and her mentor, Alonsa, Andromeda waited in silence for her first catch. Darkness surrounded the coven of Mer. The ocean waves beyond the safety of their cave crashed against the sharp rocks, stirring up trouble.
The young Mer drummed her fingers against the silky fabric of her dress. The Blood Coven were not known for their patience, and Andromeda was no exception. The air was thick with possibilities; she could almost taste it on her fangs. All she wanted to do at long last was to lure a man into her clutches, make love to him, and kill him before he could think twice.
"I smell a strong one out there tonight," Khaouli, another young Mer of the Blood Coven, mused, licking her tongue over her blood red lips and the point of the fangs that peeked out. Her stark white hair whipped against her bare shoulders.
Older Mer who made up the Council of Elders in the Blood Coven of the Syfires murmured to one another in hushed tones. It was clear there was something going on that they did not want the others to hear.
"I wish they'd go ahead and just do something already," Andromeda grumbled. "Do we have to just wait for the storm to begin? I've been waiting for this moment for eight moon cycles."
Khaouli bared her fangs. "Alonsa, control your daughter. It is best she not act so foolish in the presence of her elders."
Andromeda tossed her midnight hair over her shoulder. "I know my place here, Khaouli. And so should you."
"Ladies!" Alonsa scolded. You both will have your chance at your rite of passage to become a full Syfire."
Andromeda glared at her sister. They were only related by the blood bondage ritual of the coven, but even so Andromeda despised how much Khaouli treated her.
The sky above turned black as night and thick clouds choked the atmosphere.
Alonsa raised her head to the sky, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. "Ladies, my daughters of the Blood Coven, it is time."
The women in the cave joined hands, chanting the words that would give them the strength to lure any survivors to their hidden isle:
On this island beneath the waves
In a long abandoned sea cave
We wait with baited breath
For a lone man to meet his death
Upon the moment eyes shall meet
They shall hear our song so sweet
Touch our skin so smooth
Follow us unwillingly to our boothe
One taste of our blood shall bind him tight
Secure the bond by one neck bite
And when the deed of love is done
He shall dissolve into the none
Through the Blood of the Coven I offer this wile
Lest I fail and end up in exile
The chant ended, and the elders dropped the hands of the overzealous Mer who only wanted to sink their fangs into the flesh of an unsuspecting sailor.
Andromeda and Khaouli locked eyes with matching glares of taunt.
"Andromeda, daughter of Alonsa. Come forward," one elder's voice boomed across the cave, masking the sound of the thunder that now raged outside their hideaway.
Andromeda picked up the edge of her seafoam gown, the ends billowing in the wind, and walked forward. Her bare feet left small imprints on the sand.
"Are you ready?" the elder asked, their voice scratchy.
The young Mer bowed her head. "As I will forever be."
"Then your time has come, dear Andromeda." They stepped apart, and the mouth of the cave widened as Andromeda strode forward. All around her, the other Mer bowed their heads in a sign of respect as she faced her final test to her rite of passage.
If she were to succeed and bait her hook, then she would officially become a full member of the Blood Coven. Khaouli had sensed that the storm would be deadly which meant Andromeda would have many helpless to choose from.
"Andromeda!" her sister's voice echoed through the mouth as she ran closer. Khalouli held the edge of her skirt.
"What is it, Khaouli?" she asked. "I must journey out here alone."
"You must pick the man named Thomas," she breathed.
Andromeda frowned. Why would Khaouli be helping her? This was Andromeda's mission; it was up to her to succeed or fail.
Khaouli's grey eyes pierced hers with a pin of green at the center. Andromeda knew her sister was talented but she never knew just how far those talents reached. "Heed my warning, dear sister. You must choose Thomas. He must be the one you sacrifice."
"I will make my choice however I please," Andromeda replied.
Khaouli bared her fangs. "Foolish child. This is for your own good, for the sake of the clan. Do you wish to see us punished?"
That was not what she wanted whatsoever. The chant told her what would become of her if she were to fail. She needed to prove to the clan—to Khaouli—to herself—that she would complete her rite of passage.
"I wish to live for eternity as a faithful member of the Blood Coven of Syfires," Andromeda replied.
With a final glance back, Andromeda took the plunge into the icy waters of the Northeast Atlantic.
The water was a stormy grey to match the iciness of the surface. Above her, a ship emerged on the horizon. Cries and calls came from the decks as people ran about searching for safer ground.
Andromeda watched, her head just barely above the water, as her gaze scanned over the bodies that began to drop from the decks.
"Come to me," she whispered across the waves. "Seek my voice. Soothe my ache, for you are the one I desire."
For a moment, there was nothing.
"Come to me. Seek my voice. Soothe my ache, for you are the one I desire."
Andromeda swam closer to the ship. The precarious tilt gave her hesitance. If the wreck was too terrible, then there would be no one to lure.
They'd already be dead.
"Come to me. Seek my voice. Soothe my ache, for you—"
Then an explosion, a force so strong that Andromeda dove several feet below the surface of the water before regaining her composure. Her heart sank. Orange flames danced across what was left of the boat.
This was it. She was going to fail.
"H-help...me." The voice was weak and almost unheard above the water. A strong hand wrapped around her wrist. Andromeda turned, meeting a pair of dazzling sea green eyes. Dark hair matted his forehead. Blood trickled down the side of his face, dripping off his skin and tainting the water red.
Thomas. It had to be.
Andromeda smiled and held out her hand. "Come with me. Hear my voice. Love me sweetly, for you are the one I desire."
The man blinked, his eyes alternating between glassy and clear. He seemed to hear her words, although something gave her pause.
This one wasn't as affected as the many others before him had been. Andromeda watched over the years as other Mer in her coven reached their rite of passage, each one delivering the shell of a human to be dissolved into foam back to the sea cave where they resided on ritual nights.
He took her hand with almost too much hesitation. Maybe he'd do better beneath. The water was known to be a place of healing for many. And if he'd sustained any injuries from the shipwreck, this should help provide a sense of relief.
Andromeda dipped below the surface of the waves and tugged him down with her where the water could fully surround him. She drank in the man in front of her: bare feet, torn and stained white shirt, and trousers that clung to his legs.
The everyday shipwreck victim.
Beyond that, though, he had dark hair to rival the ink of a squid and green eyes brighter than anything Andromeda had ever seen before. Humans were fascinating. His sharp jawline would be perfect to plant kisses against and his hands...
Andromeda sighed, bubbles floating delicately off of her lips.
His hands looked like they could give a woman anything her body desired.
"Come with me, hear my voice." Her dark hair floated around her head like an ink cloud. The scales that adorned her body shimmered.
For a moment, he relaxed. The water washed away the red on his skin, purifying his body. Then his face paled, and soft bubbles escaped his lips as he tried to talk.
Andromeda pressed a slender finger against his mouth.
"Do not fear the water," her voice sang out. "Embrace it. For the ocean, she is your equal."
He breathed in again, the water swaying to the rise and fall of his chest.
Down, down, deeper, she edged him. The man obeyed, and his gaze never left hers. There was something about those green eyes that Andromeda could just get lost in. Beneath the darkness, under the comfort of the waves, she pulled him closer. Her hands roamed up his tattered shirt to cup his face.
His response was automatic, gripping at the scales along her waist as if she were his lifeline and he was drowning. Andromeda wrapped her tail around his legs, securing her hold on her catch. Her fingers ripped open the fabric at his chest before running them over his soft, sweet skin. The man's mouth dipped to her neck, but Andromeda pushed back with a tease. She pressed her breasts against his chest, earning a groan of satisfaction that escaped from his lips.
"Soon, my love." Fingers slipped down his body before hooking against the belt loop of his pants. She dragged him forward, deeper into the water with a wicked smile.
To the place where others before had met their fate.
Andromeda led him behind a shimmering wall, the entrance into her sleeping chambers. One thing she loved about being mer was the magic that came with it. Mer did everything they could to keep themselves out of sight from traditional landlings and with magic, they could each make their own little pod.
"Where?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.
"My home," she sang to him.
On a bed of sand, she laid him down. Bare-chested and vulnerable, he reached out for her. Andromeda leaned over his body, willing her form to shift. From mer to landling, her appearance maintained its beauty. The gills etched into the side of her neck disappeared. Her silver scales shimmered before disappearing and leaving her naked atop him.
She ran her fingers down his chest as her legs pressed against his body, earning a groan of satisfaction from his lips.
"Are you ready?" Andromeda's voice floated over him, a beauty that could rival the jewel of the ocean.
"Love me," he rasped.
Andromeda found the zipper of his pants and tugged them from his hips. She moved her body against him as he rose to meet her. His hands grazed her back, gripping at her hair as her fangs teased his neck.
"What name shall I say, dear sailor, as we mate into the night?" she whispered, flicking her tongue across his Adam's apple.
"T-Thomas." The man swallowed.
"Then Thomas it shall be." Andromeda floated her lips across his cheek to meet his mouth. The moment their lips connected, Thomas gripped her harder sinking into the opening between her legs.
Moans escaped his mouth as they tasted each other. Their climax built like a wave dancing across the ocean, ready to come crashing down upon release. Sweat tangled with hot breaths and dragged nails across damp skin. Thomas filled her with a pleasure that Andromeda had only once felt before.
Yet now all she felt was nothing.
His heartbeat became fainter with each heavy pant. She was losing him, and the ritual wasn't complete.
She could not fail.
"Stay with me, love," Andromeda cooed. She dragged a finger along the sand, picking up particles of salt and drizzling them against her neck.
Thomas' gaze dropped to her neck then back up to meet her own. "May I?"
Andromeda nodded.
His head bent down toward her, hands grazing her body as his teeth latched onto her neck. Thomas licked the salt, swirling his tongue against the bitter particles. His teeth found the sweet skin underneath and he pulled delicately at it, nipping Andromeda's neck to the rhythm of her euphoric pants beneath him.
"Mark me, Thomas," she whispered, as Thomas continued to drag his lips across her throat.
Andromeda let out a sigh when Thomas' teeth broke the skin on her neck. Blood bubbled to the surface; she beckoned him to taste the sweetness as she knew just how far he'd gone now. When his mouth met the red liquid, the storm rumbled above them.
It was time.
Andromeda slid her hands through his hair then down his chest one last time.
But when their eyes met, his hypnotic green against her clear crystal blue, a shift mangled her heart.
"Thank you," she said, releasing him.
Thomas reached out to her, cupping her face in his hands. "My love?"
"I could be," she replied. "In another life, perhaps."
The storm roared again, stronger this time. Closer. Her final warning to kill him and return to her coven.
"You must leave me now, dear Thomas. You will enter a slumber. Perhaps some day soon, we shall meet again."
Thomas blinked, cocking his head to the side.
Andromeda blew him a kiss, whispers of her siren song tinkling across the air and over to her sailor. His eyelids drooped as his mouth fell open and his head slumped forward. The water surrounded him into a translucent bubble, creating a bed in which he'd now sleep for evermore. She hated to push him out into eternity, but there was no other choice.
With her catch safely released, Andromeda swam back to her coven in the cave hidden beneath the waves. The entrance to the cave cast a dark shadow on her path.
"You have no idea what you've done." The voice sent a chill down Andromeda's spine. She turned to find Khaouli standing behind her, blocking the entrance back out to sea.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She kept her voice steady. Andromeda had been around Khaouli long enough to know the woman loved to intimidate her just because she'd been Mer for longer. "You're the one who told me to choose him in the first place."
Khaouli stepped forward. "Sacrifice. He was meant to die. We do not release our catch like an innocent fish."
Andromeda swallowed, trying not to let her facade crumble.
They had one job in the coven: lure, mate, kill. But to save a human? That was blasphemy.
"This one was different." And he was. Something about him...he was too good to kill.
"The council will never approve it. You must fix your grave mistake, dear sister." Khaouli's gaze kept fixed on hers. "For you might've just started a war."
Before Andromeda could react, her sister pushed her out of the cave and back into the water. The storm above her raged once again.
Andromeda swam down to one of the deeper parts of the ocean. She cocked her head as her gaze landed on a stark white shell that began to sink toward the ocean floor. It floated gently into her outstretched palm; there was nothing particularly peculiar about it. Andromeda ran her fingers over the ridges.
She blinked; before her eyes, new lines of text appeared on the shell:
Revived as a Syfire
In love with a Aquarid
The one who is saved
Shall remember her name
Stripped from him his desire for another maiden
Strengthened by lust with which he's laden
A forbidden pairing
A fate so daring
The captor of men
Who sets her sights free
That time shall come when foe meets friend
In a battle that cries death till the end
"What is this?" she whispered, her eyes widening. Andromeda glanced around the open ocean.
Khaouli and Alonsa appeared beside her, speaking in her mind: "You shall go forth and free the man from his slumber. But what's dead should stay gone."
Alonsa swam forward. "Daughter of mine, Syfire of the Blood Coven. Go forth, for this prophecy is the path you've now chosen."
Andromeda's tail twitched. "What do you mean prophecy?"
Khaouli glared at her with sharp grey eyes. "Exactly the reason why you should've never become a full Syfire. Thomas was never meant to become one of us, and now because of you he has no choice. This is his fate." She lunged forward, hands wrapping around Andromeda's throat until the Syfire couldn't breathe. Sharp talons dug into her neck.
"Enough!" Alonsa boomed, her voice strong enough to put tsunamis to shame. "Andromeda, you must now prove that you can keep the clans from war. For when a Syfire and an Aquarid mate, heaven and hell shall rain down upon them. You must keep them apart. For she is the key. And if you can turn her, then you can prevent a disaster."
She. Who was she?
Andromeda dropped her head in understanding. "Yes, Alonsa. I will not fail you."
"Good." Alonsa snapped her fingers, and a portal opened beneath the waves. "Come, young Syfire. We still have much to teach you. Soon, you'll be ready for your second chance."
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