The Mermaids Madness by Jim C. Hines

Author:Jim C. Hines [Hines, Jim C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

To Danielle, the sea had always been an impressive thing, but ultimately dull. Water was water, fish were fish, and seaweed was seaweed.

She soon discovered how mistaken she had been. Swimming through the ocean was like flying through another world. Her body felt light as air. The currents were gentle winds, pushing her to the right. Those winds grew stronger and colder the deeper she swam.

Dark shapes passed beneath her. A school of fish, or creatures larger and more distant? There was no way to be certain.

For the most part, she stayed close to the surface, skimming just beneath the waves. She kept her arms at her sides, imitating Snow’s movements. The water washed over her face, rinsing the sweat from her body.

Breathing water for the first time had been a shock, but after a few coughing fits, she had finally mastered the trick. She doubted she would ever get used to the water flowing through her gills, or the sensation of her neck opening and closing with each breath. Equally difficult was learning to clamp shut the muscles deep within her chest, sealing air in the bottom of her lungs to help her float.

Her stomach hadn’t cramped this badly since she had Jakob. Her tail muscles seemed well adapted for swimming, but her stomach and back would ache for weeks. Either she still didn’t have the movement quite right, or else she simply lacked the strength and endurance of a true undine.

Still, they were making better progress than any human could, having closed more than half the distance to shore. She looked back at the Phillipa. In the moonlight, the ship was a shadow the size of her fingertip.

“How far to Lirea?” asked Talia from up ahead.

Water fountained from Snow’s lips, clearing her lungs. She grabbed the doll in one hand and closed her eyes. “She’s directly ahead. We should be there before sunrise.”

Danielle turned onto her back. Swimming this way used different muscles, bringing some relief, though it meant the air chilled her wet skin. At least now she understood why the undine went without clothes. Her sword belt tugged at her hips with every stroke of her tail. How much slower would she have been with clothes dragging against the water?

She dove deeper to escape the wind, doing her best to keep up with Talia and Snow, both of whom were in better physical condition. Something brushed her tail fin, and she streaked to the surface, yelping in alarm. She ducked her face back into the water to see a school of mackerel passing beneath her.

Snow laughed and splashed Danielle with her tail.

“They’re nothing to be scared of. You’re a bigger fish than they are.”

“Barely.” Some of those fish looked almost as long as Danielle.

“Stay close to Talia,” Snow said, still giggling. “She’ll protect you if we have to face any killer tuna.”

Danielle closed her eyes and whispered silently to the closest fish.

Moments later, Snow shrieked and leaped from the water. “They nibbled my tail fin!”

Danielle smiled and kept on swimming.

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