He glared but seemed to agree with her and tapped me on the shoulder. “What do you think?”
“It’s like I’m in a dream,” I said and twisted around as I swam. Looking toward the surface, I could see the sunlight dancing across the waves. Turning back over, I came face to face with a dolphin.
“Oh, my God!” I screamed in near terror as it startled me. The dolphin swam around us, squeaking.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Tammer held his hand toward her and she let him touch her snout. “She’s my sweet, sweet girl.” He ran his hand down her side and then held onto her dorsal fin. “She’ll let you ride her, if you’re nice.” He smiled and patted her side. She took off at full speed, and they were gone. Mom doubled back.
“Tammer and his dolphins - they adore him. Not many merpeople get the pleasure of riding them.”
I looked out toward the open sea where they’d disappeared, and I shivered. I’d have to stay close to the shore before I dared venture into the unknown. It would certainly be a long time before I tried to go at it alone.
“Give it time, sweetheart. You’ll soon get the hang of being in the ocean. The really fun part is finding treasure. For instance, look at this!” She was pointing down at an old boat about ten feet below us. The small boat looked like it’d been there a few years. She dove within three feet of it and clapped her hands. “I’m sure there are things in here we could discover!”
It was a bit creepy for me and I didn’t follow her. I remained suspended between the surface and the floor. A group of fish circled me and as quickly as they had come, they were gone. In the distance, a group of dolphins approached us. In the lead, with his sweet dolphin, was Tammer, his smile ten feet wide.
“Elan, they’ve had babies! You’ve got to come and see!” He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
“Morgandy! Would you like to come?” Elan asked.
“No, I’m okay. Actually, I’m a little tired, so I think I’m going to surface.”
“Good idea,” Tammer said. “You can rest at that island and we’ll be back to get you in about half an hour. Is that okay?”
I nodded and watched them leave, escorted by the group of dolphins. To my left, where Tammer had indicated, the ocean floor rose quickly. I swam toward it and pulled myself onto the beach. I was cold and tired. It was amazing that we’d come as far as we had in such a short amount of time.
Phasing back into my legs, I reached for my bikini bottoms and quickly pulled them on, looking around to make sure no one could see me. Just a few feet from the lapping water, the sand was like an oven. I lay down on it and sighed, shifting my shoulders in the soft, warm sand. That, combined with the sun’s warm rays beating down, made me sleepy. Some seagulls flew overhead, nosily shouting at each other. Putting my arm behind my head, I closed my eyes.
“So, we have a gold tail. Very, very strange.”
I recognized the voice instantly and sat up. Akin was standing at my feet. How had I not heard him? Quickly, I stood and took a few steps back.
“What are you doing here?” I nearly shouted.
“Following you. You’ve learned to swim quite well. For a Halfling,” he added.
“You’re really rude.” I said, not sure what to do. “Go away.”
He walked toward me. “I don’t think so. No one tells me what to do, not even my father.”
I backed away from him. “What’s your problem?”
His eyebrow rose. “My problem? Well, let’s see. For one, you’re a Halfling. We don’t need any more of your trash around. Second, Elan was told not to bring you and here you are!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said and looked around me. Where was Mom? “You need to leave me alone.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. You see, you’re quite a challenge to me and I’ve decided to take the challenge.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t want to hang around and find out. I turned and ran.
Sprinting through the palm trees, I could hear him behind me. I was hoping to make it to the other side of the small island to reach the water. The silver surface glistened through the trees and shrubs and I had nearly reached the break in the trees when I felt him grab my arm and pull me down.
I landed on my stomach, my face in the sand. He had fallen on my legs and I could feel him getting to his knees.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
“No one can hear you out here,” he grunted and tossed me onto my back.
I tried to kick at him, but he straddled me and pinned my arms down.