I hate water, I really do. I couldn't help but have a massive distaste for it. Granted, that could also be caused by the fact we were rushing down a river, or stream, or rapid, I don't know the actual term for it, being swept away from the giant rhino and a burning forest.

I was screaming as we went down the rapids, being thrown into rocks and falling small distances before being caught by the water and continuing down once again. The water rushed in my ears, and I would consider the sound lovely if it didn't mean more danger. At the same time, it was a lot more comforting than being trampled. It meant that our death was in our own hands, instead of the hands of the rhino.

I kept Prin close to me, but I had accidentally let go of Aknon's hand as we raced down. I think that it was for the best though, as it was beginning to get dangerous with us so close to each other like this. I felt like I was close to kicking Aknon's head several times, so the further we were, maybe the better.

But I had the feeling that Prin couldn't swim, judging from her grip on my hand and the scream which came from her mouth. It wasn't smart of either of us to scream, because of the water which was threatening to fill our lungs and causing us to splutter. The saltwater went into our mouths and left a strange and horrid taste.

I couldn't see much through the water due to panic. Most of the time I'd been forced to look at the dark sky, so seeing things was tricky and unhelpful.

It was both a lifetime and a few seconds between us jumping into the river and being at the bottom of some kind of waterfall. I couldn't tell you what kind of geological disaster this place was, but Sarphi and Onyx had managed to get out of the water quickly. But Sarphi was coughing and spluttering just like I was. Her breaths sounded painful, and Onyx had to pull Sarphi out of the water, since she was too weak to get out herself.

I lifted Prin out of the water and tried kicking to push us forward and towards land, but it wasn't doing very much in terms of movement. She tried moving her arms to help us forward, but that didn't work either. She was panicking a significant amount, and her feet were kicking in the water, causing water to splash into my face.

Aknon had grabbed onto a rock to stop him from moving further down the river. "Onyx!" he called, trying to reach out for the dog with one arm. "Come here. Help."

The dog looked between Sarphi and us. He was seemingly really confused about what he should do. But I knew that he couldn't do a lot for my sister as he was. He moved to the edge of the river and jumped in, he struggled to swim against the pressure of the water, but he grabbed Aknon's leg and pulled him towards land. But that meant that Aknon's head was under the water for a good few minutes as he was dragged over to land.

I wrapped my tail, which I'd just remembered I had, around a rock. It hurt a lot, like you were doing a pull-up with one arm for several minutes.

"Are you okay?" I asked Prin, wincing slightly as the water droplets kept hitting me from the bottom of the waterfall.

Prin nodded her head and took deep breaths, glancing around with wide grey eyes.

Aknon had found his way to the side of the river and Onyx came back towards us.

"Take her hand." I said as I moved just a bit so that he could take her hand carefully in his mouth. The very notion caused Prin to whimper as he pulled her away from me and over to the side of the river. Her legs kicked in the water which was probably causing her more harm than help in this case as her toes were bashing against rocks and dirt.

I was going to shout at her and tell her to stop but she was so close to land that I didn't think that it was worth it. I kept my tail around the rock and waited for Onyx to come and get me. But he didn't. Instead, he turned back to Sarphi and kept nudging her with his head. He turned her onto her side and kept patting her back with a loud thump.

The concern for my sister caused me to look between them and my tail in a very conflicted manner as I wondered how far I could swim against the current. Aknon and Prin were looking over Sarphi as well, along with sputtering and coughing themselves.

I reluctantly let go of the rock and let my body be carried down the river. I began moving my arms and legs in the same way I'd seen others do when they were swimming. But this current was far too strong for a novice like me. I struggled and grunted, trying my hardest to get to the other side, but the water roared in my ears, and it made me disorientated.

I felt like I was drowning as I was pushed under the water and broke through to the surface several times. Onyx even seemed to know that I was struggling as I heard the faint sound of a bark and more water shifting. But I suddenly felt something lifting me, pulling me somewhere by my legs, which seemed to be tied together.

I was pushed onto land, dirt smearing across my face and clothes as I coughed loudly. I was confused and unsure of where I was as I looked up at the sky. Ringing rang loud in my ears as I slowly rolled over. I was vaguely aware of Onyx licking me, of my sister sitting up and looking around, and of Aknon cursing at me.

"-hear me?" Aknon's voice finally reached my ears. And then his hand met my face, along with a sharp stinging sensation. "Good." Some sort of satisfaction came to his eyes as I jolted upwards, looking around.

I cursed my brother out and shoved him, hoping to push him back into the river, but I didn't push with the amount of force needed to do that. "We're okay?" I asked. "We're all good, we're fine. We're okay?"

"My head hurts," Aknon complained.

"My chest hurts," Sarphi added.

"I'm terrified and Prin's arm hurts," Senka joined the club. Even Onyx gave a bark.

"I'm fine," said a voice from the river. Even though I had looked around, I hadn't noticed the mermaid in the water.

A mermaid?

I gasped and scurried backwards, before scurrying forwards again and looking at the girl closely. The girl had blue hair and skin which glistened and glimmered. She had webbed fingers, and her green eyes were raging. She looked stunning as she lay there in the water, arms folded on land whilst her tail swished. Little droplets hit me in the face now that I was so close, but I couldn't get enough of the marvellous sight which was a real-life mermaid.

Everyone knew mermaids existed, but it was very rare that people actually got the chance to see one. They usually dwelled in the middle of the sea, or in very dangerous places. That didn't make me feel at all comforted. I had thought that we would get at least somewhat closer to safety by throwing ourselves down the waterfall, but apparently not.

"Who are you?" I asked in the most charming voice I could muster. I must've looked like an utter lunatic with my hair sticking to my face or sticking up in every direction. My clothes were a mess, and I could feel the dirt sticking to my body from when I was pushed on land. "My saviour?"

The mermaid giggled and blushed a light blue. "I suppose you could say that." Her voice sounded strange, like she was talking underwater, but that didn't deter me at all.

What deterred me was Aknon pulling at my collar and pulling me backwards. "Will you hold your flirting for five seconds whilst we figure out where we are?"

The mermaid didn't seem to agree with him though as she moved closer. "Oh, he's fine," she spoke in a seductive and dreamy voice. I didn't even care that she'd used the wrong pronouns for me, I hadn't asked for hers yet, I was just going off what I could see. I didn't know much about mermaid society, but something like that hadn't been brought up in their tales.

"See? I'm fine." I crouched down by the edge of the river and gave another smile. "Don't mind my brother, he's just a grumpy sod."

"What's a sod?" Senka asked, but she didn't get any response.

"Oh, I can tell." Her eyes moved away from mine, and she looked at us all, eyes sparkling like sunlight dancing on water. "It's not often we get travellers here."

"Are most of them scared away by the man-eating rhino?" Sarphi asked innocently, standing up and adjusting her clothes.

"Yes," the mermaid replied with a nod before sighing. "Where do you want to go?" It sounded like she was rather upset that we would be leaving, and like this happened to her every time someone else comes. Although I also assumed that she got a lot of corpses and bones in her river.

I felt really bad, and I almost pitied her as she seemed so lonely. But I knew that this was important. The four...five...six? We were exhausted, and we really shouldn't spend much more time here.

"Could you show us how to get out of here?" Aknon asked, more hope coming to his eyes than he'd had in days.

The mermaid bit her lip but nodded anyway. "Of course."