novelraw Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Chapter 31:
One of them particularly caught my eye.
He was taller than the others, with a broad chest and a calm look on his face that I recognized immediately.
It was Garin.
Sensing my gaze, he turned around and smiled at me. I did the same and swam over. It was a relief to see him.
Garin had always been level-headed, and right now, I needed someone like that.
"It’s good to see you back in full health," Garin said to me as I reached them. He stopped swimming for a moment, letting the others slow down as well.
He looked me over, probably checking to see if I was actually as healed as I looked.
"I honestly didn’t believe it when the healer said you were fully healed, I guess shark folk really are something else," another merman chuckled.
He was a bit younger, with a friendly grin.
He looked at my chest where the worst of the bruises had been, shaking his head in disbelief.
"If I took a hit like that, I’d be horizontal for a month."
"I couldn’t have done it without the village’s constant attention," I replied sheepishly.
It was true. If they hadn’t taken me in, I’d probably be a skeleton at the bottom of the reef by now.
"I’m just glad I can finally move again without feeling like my ribs are going to snap."
"You guys are planning on heading out again?" I asked, the air around them earlier was unusually tense.
"Yes... I’m afraid so. If we let up now, we’ll never be able to get rid of those annoying pests... Umm, no offense," Garin’s tone turned apologetic at the end when he realized he was talking to me.
He winced slightly, realizing he had basically called sharks "pests" to a guy who was part shark himself.
"None taken," I replied with a reassuring look.
I wasn’t offended. I knew exactly what he meant.
Those wild sharks were nothing like me.
They were driven by hunger and instinct.
Sure, I was technically a shark as well, but unlike those predators, at least I was able to enforce mercy and compassion.
I knew what it was like to be a human, to have friends, and to care about people.
Those things out there? They were just teeth and muscle.
"Mind if I accompany you guys then?" I asked.
The words came out before I could even talk myself out of it.
I was dying to get some action.
Being cooped up in the village for so long had made me itching for something to do.
"Are you sure? You just healed up," Garin said, his brow furrowing with concern.
I knew he was only concerned about my health, which I appreciated, but I really felt fine.
"It’s alright, I’m still capable of fighting too. Just let me come and you’ll see," I said, trying to look as sturdy and ready as possible.
I balled my fists and flexed my shoulders, showing off the fact that my range of motion was back to a hundred percent.
Garin looked at me for a long time. He looked at his friends, then back at me.
A small, smile started to form on his lips.
"Even if I said no, you’d probably follow after us, wouldn’t you," Garin said with a helpless look.
"Of course," I replied with a grin. I wasn’t going to let them go out into danger while I sat at home eating sea grapes.
"Alright, but try not to stray too far away from us. Those things are more tricky than they look," Garin warned, his voice turning serious again. "They hunt in packs, and they don’t fight fair."
"Noted," I nodded my head in affirmation.
I wasn’t planning on being a hero and doing everything myself.
I just wanted to help and maybe use this opportunity to master my senses.
The five of us, me, Garin, and the three other mermen, left the village, heading deeper into the reef.
The water grew cooler as we moved away from the village and out into the open sea.
The reef was beautiful, filled with bright corals and waving kelp, but there was a stillness to it that felt a bit off.
Usually, a reef this big would be teeming with life, but it felt empty, like everything was hiding.
It seemed the effects the sharks had on the environment was more than I had expected.
We swam for a while, keeping a close formation.
We used rocks, outcrops and thick patches of seaweed to hide our figures, our eyes searching for the flash of a silver fin or the dark shadow of a predator.
But even after quite some time, I was confused because we hadn’t run into any sharks yet.
’Aren’t they supposed to be swarming the place?’ I wondered.
Artria had made it sound like they were practically knocking on the village doors.
I looked around, my shark senses sharpened, but I didn’t smell any blood or feel any strange vibrations in the water.
Since there was nothing to do but swim, the silence started to feel a bit heavy.
My mind kept drifting back to Artria and the way she had looked at me before she stormed out.
"Hey Garin, you’re close with Artria, right?" I asked, pulling up closer to his side.
I needed to talk about it with someone who actually understood her.
"Umm yes, something the matter?" He blinked his eyes, curious.
He slowed his pace just a bit so we could talk without the others hearing every word, though they were still close by.
I then told him how my interaction with Artria went.
I explained the whole conversation, how I had tried to be responsible by asking her to kill me if I lost control, and how she had reacted like I had just slapped her in the face.
I told him how she had screamed at me and called me an idiot before swimming off.
I was genuinely seeking his advice on what I should do to fix it.
"Aissshh..." Garin let out a pitying hiss, shaking his head.
He looked at me with a mix of sympathy and sheer disbelief. "You really messed up big time...."
"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling my stomach sink. I had thought I was being noble, taking the burden of my own possible madness onto myself.
"The fact that you don’t even know makes it even worse," one of the other guys chuckled from behind us.
He wasn’t being mean, but he clearly thought I was being a bit slow.
"Well it’s not really his fault since he doesn’t know," another said, coming to my defense.
The more they talked in riddles, the more confused I became. I felt like I was missing something.
Was it an insult to ask someone to kill you down here? Or was it something else?
"Listen... Umm, what’s your name by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask," Garin said, realizing he had been calling me "you" or just "hey" most of the time.
"It’s Jacob. Jacob Park," I told him. It felt good to say it.
"Alright Jacob, remember back when you saved us from that shark woman last time," Garin said, his voice dropping an octave.
At the mention of my mistress, a chill filled my heart but I nodded nonetheless.
I remembered the feeling of her fist hitting my face, the smell of my own blood in the water.
I looked at Garin, waiting for him to explain what that had to do with Artria being mad at me now.
"And you recall how Artria called her cursed?" Garin asked, his voice low and steady.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with any of this?" I asked.
I really wasn’t getting where he was going with this.
I knew Artria hated the sea witch, that much was obvious from the way she talked about her, but I figured it was just the usual hatred people had for monsters or maybe she disliked her because of how she’d treated me.
Whatever it was, I had no idea.
Garin slowed his pace, his eyes scanning the dark gaps in the coral around us.
The other mermen did the same, their expressions turning from friendly to heavy.
It felt like the water itself had suddenly become colder.
"What if I told you, Artria and Persephone... I mean, that woman, were related?"
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed in shock.
The word burst out of me, and I completely halted my movements, my tail twitching as I drifted in the water. My brain felt like it had just hit a wall.
Garin hurriedly raised a hand to his lips, signaling for me to quiet down.
He looked around nervously, and I realized that while we hadn’t seen any sharks lately, it didn’t mean they weren’t around.
Sound travels fast underwater, and shouting was the last thing we should be doing in enemy territory.
"But what do you mean they’re related?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
AN: "Hey everyone! As the world expands and the cast grows, I’m thinking of transitioning to 3rd POV starting Chapter 33. This will let me show you more of the world and the other characters you’ve been asking about.
If the story becomes a third pov one, Don’t worry, I’ll be keeping the focus tight on Jacob’s internal thoughts and perspectives so the transition feels natural and the connection to him stays just as strong. I wanted to be transparent with you all about this change, so If you’d like to voice your opinions, please do so now. I thought it would only be fair to hear what you guys thought as well.
Also, here’s the discord link to my author server:
There you can talk with one another and message me anytime if the need arises. I really hope both this group and the server grows. Here’s wishing us the best of luck.