The Birth of a Monster
942, Sea of Darkness (Atlantic Ocean)



Thalliya swam through the deep blue sea, a smile stretching across her face. She flicked her tail faster and faster, gaining speed as she cut through the water. The sun flickered high above her, its rays sinking into the dark depths of her home.

Angling up, she breached the surface and laughed. Her high-pitched giggle resonated in the hot morning air. Flopping backwards, Thalliya threw her arms out wide, allowing herself to float on top of the waves. The gentle lap of the water against her skin helped soothe the burn of the sun. She peered up at the sky, knowing better than to look at the bright yellow orb directly. The last time she’d done that, she hadn’t been able to properly see for ages.

“Ta-ya!”

Smiling at the shout of her name, the little mermaid dove back underwater. She waved at her baby brother as he swam towards her. His light blue tail cut through the water with a smoothness that belied his usual clumsiness.

“Ketea!” she gushed, her eyes shining brightly.

Her little brother smiled wildly. Racing towards him, Thalliya grabbed his arm and dragged him backwards. He squealed in pure delight, loving the speed at which she swam.

Looking up, Thalliya spotted the rest of her family. Her twin sister vibrated with the same excited energy as she did. Her mother and father both smiled warmly as their dark blue tails propelled them forward.

“Are you ready? I’m so excited!” her twin gushed as she swam towards Thalliya. “I can’t wait to wiggle my toes. Ariel said we get ten of them. Ten!”

“I –”

“And I want to move through the humans’ portals. All of them. Ariel says you have to learn the right magic first, but she said a guy-she-spoke-to-there’s buddy absolutely said it was possible to do. Like for anyone. Even for you and me. Don’t you want to learn magic?”

“Marina,” their mother said with a small chuckle.

Turning with wide eyes, she looked at their parents. “Did you learn magic when you went to land?”

“It’s not magic; it’s something they call reading.”

“Reading magic?”

“No, it’s –” She stopped as she shared a smile with their father. “Yes, reading magic.”

“I can’t wait!”

Neither could Thalliya. She’d dreamed of walking on land every night for the last year. She was finally of age. In another few minutes, she’d feel what it was like to have legs!

“Hey, doofus!”

Their father rolled his eyes before turning to face his brother, who was also their king. Ariel waved at them from beside him. Thalliya and Marina waved back.

“You heading off?” their father asked.

The king nodded. “Ariel has a recital at two.” Turning to face her and Marina, he grinned. “Make sure you try this thing called honey. It’s delicious.”

Her sister nodded enthusiastically, her eyes practically popping out of her head. Thalliya giggled. Sharing a glance with her twin, she silently agreed not to say anything. The faster this conversation was over, the faster they could get their legs.

Laughing, their uncle shook his head. “Okay, okay. We’re off. You two be good.” As he swam away, he shouted over his shoulder. “And don’t forget about the honey!”

She wouldn’t.

Eyes shining, Thalliya grabbed her sister’s hand and dragged her through the water. Laughing, their parents followed suit, holding Ketea between them.

“The last one to Malaqah is a rotten crab!” Releasing her twin’s hand, Thalliya swam as fast as she could.
But Marina was faster. She blitzed through the water like a dolphin, sticking her tongue out as she passed.
“Stop!”

Startled, Thalliya did as she was instructed. She turned to look back at her parents. Her mother’s face was pale; her father’s was full of horror. As they raced towards her, Thalliya opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. But she didn’t get the chance.

Ketea was thrust into her arms.

“Stay here!” her mother shouted.

She turned, watching them swim ahead. Her mouth was still open. Her brain was still frozen with confusion.

But then Marina screamed and Thalliya’s blood ran cold. She clutched Ketea to her chest as she started to shake. Her twin was entangled in a net. She was being wrenched to the surface.

Not knowing what to do, Thalliya stayed where she was. And she hated herself for it.

“Hold on, Marina!” their mother shouted.

“We’re coming for you!”

“Mother!” She reached out a hand as their father made it to her side.

“Marina!”

“Help!”

Thalliya turned Ketea’s head against her chest, holding her hand over his eyes. She wanted to cover her own, but she couldn’t.

She watched as Marina was dragged upwards by the fishing net. Their mother held her hands, trying to pull her free. Their father grabbed the bottom of the net and tried to swim down. Neither were of any use. Marina disappeared above the surface. And her mother was wrenched up too.

Thalliya gasped. Trembling, she backed away. What could she do? What could she do?

“Father!” She wanted to ask him how she could help, wanted to ask what was happening, but she couldn’t think past her own fear.

“Stay there!” he ordered as he swam for the surface. His dark blue tail cut through the water like a knife. His anger, his fear, they were near palpable. And then, he too was gone, wrenched above the surface by the men on the dragon-head ships.

Her heart thudded in her ears like crashing waves.

“Ta-ya!”

“It’s okay,” she cried. “It’s going to be okay.” Holding him close, she started to swim for the surface. She just needed to look, to see that her sister and mother and father were okay. She just needed to –

She screamed.

A shape had been dumped back into the water. Blood spread everywhere. She knew it was one of them, but she didn’t know who. The person’s tail and fins were gone. And so was their head.

Shuddering, she brought both hands to her eyes. But she couldn’t turn away. She couldn’t stop herself from peeking out between her fingers. Another body hit the water. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she held herself like she wished her mother or her father would.

A third body was dropped, this one smaller. Her size. She screamed and screamed. Swishing her tail, Thalliya propelled herself forward. It was only when she caught another movement out of her eye, that she realised she’d let go of Ketea.

Her heart stopped.

Her tail froze.

Her mouth opened and closed uselessly as she watched him swim toward one of the bodies.

She needed to get to him. She needed to grab him before the humans did. She’d thought they were friendly. No one had told her they could be this cruel. But even though she knew what she should do, she couldn’t move.

Fear left her frozen. She tried to call out to him, to beg him to come back.

But she was too late. A net came down and scooped him up.

He was gone. Just like all the others.
Trembling, Thalliya shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. She prayed, despite all evidence, that this was just a dream. That she would wake up and everything would be okay. That everyone would be okay. “Don’t leave me!”

She shuddered with every intake of breath. This was supposed to be a day of happiness, of excitement. She and Marina were supposed to be trying honey right now. She couldn’t…

No…

This couldn’t…

Swimming towards her twin, she screamed. “No! NOOOOOOOO!” She pulled Marina’s body against her and rocked her back and forth as another splash reached her ears. She refused to look up, refused to see what she knew in her heart to be true. “Sis, please! Please…” she cried.

She heaved so hard, her chest hurt. But she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop.

Her stomach revolted. Her pain increased.

“Marina…”

She cried until she couldn’t see anymore due to the puffiness of her cheeks. Until her devastation turned into anger. Into rage.

Squeezing her sister’s hand, Thalliya lifted her head and howled.

“Quiet ye screams, my child.” The words were said as a murmur and yet, they slid into Thalliya’s head at a volume that was impossible to ignore.

Startled, she stopped crying. Forcing open her eyes, she stared at the woman before her. Her lips parted in awe.

The woman had legs.

And yet she floated in the water. Able to breathe. Able to speak.

“Who are you?” Thalliya whispered.

The woman smiled. Her golden hair flowed around her, framing her beautiful face. “I am Freya Goddess of Love and War. I heard the pain in yer heart, my child, and I am here to offer ye the power to avenge yer family, should ye want it.”

Thalliya’s lips trembled. She nodded. She wanted that. She wanted that so much. Looking down at her sister, she murmured her name with barely a sound. “I want it.”

“Then let her go. Give her to Ran so that ye may be mine.”

Thalliya shook her head. She couldn’t.

She couldn’t.

“It must be done, my child. Ye cannot revenge her otherwise. Or Ketea. Or yer mother and father. Give her to Ran.”

With a broken sob, Thalliya gripped her tighter. Then she kissed her chest, murmured an apology, and released her. She watched as her twin’s body sank into the darkness. Gone forever.

“Tell me,” she said, looking up. “Tell me how to avenge them.”

The goddess smiled as she held out her hand. “Give me yer heart, my child.”

Thalliya frowned in confusion. “But I’ll die.”
“Nay. Ye will be reborn as my champion. With me as the keeper of yer heart, no one will be able to harm ye ever again.”

Thalliya wanted to believe her. Needed to believe her. Otherwise, she’d have nothing worth living for. Her entire family was gone. She was all alone with just their screams for company. She couldn’t live like this. A tear slid down her cheek before vanishing as just another drop in the ocean.

Trembling, she raised her chin. “Tell me how.”

A golden comb appeared in the goddess’ outstretched hand. Its handle was a mound of green and blue jewels. A sea dragon curled around them, guarding its treasure with a fierceness that stole Thalliya’s breath. Beneath the dragon, three large teeth made up the bottom of the comb. Each one was sharpened to a deadly point.

Her heart pounded in her ears. With a hard swallow, she reached for the comb. It was hot to the touch, nearly scolding. She wanted to jerk her hand away, but didn’t dare to. Instead, she wrapped her fingers around the dragon. Her eyes widened when it moved beneath her hand and bit her.

Had it not been for Freya, she would’ve dropped the comb. The goddess’ hand closed over hers, forcing her to hold onto it as the dragon dug into the flesh of her palm. Thalliya’s tail thrashed beneath her as tears stole her vision.

“It must feed on yer pain, my child.”

“It hurts!”

“It will pass.”

Crying out in agony, Thalliya tightened her fist around the comb. A large cloud of blood seeped from her hand. The dragon bit deep into her palm, chewing out a hole in the centre. And then it was inside her, moving up her arm.

Thalliya’s screams increased in pitch and volume as she watched it slither beneath her skin. Every length it traveled, it did so by chewing the muscle in its way. By the time it reached her shoulder, Thalliya was shivering with convulsions.

But the pain she had just experienced was nothing compared to the agony she felt now as it slid across her ribcage and into her heart.

Throwing her head back, Thalliya screamed again.

“Do it now!” Freya shouted as she pushed Thalliya’s hand towards her chest. The teeth of the comb scraped over her heart, but didn’t break the skin.
Shaking violently from the pain, Thalliya didn’t know if she could go through with it. It hurt so much already. She just wanted it to stop.

“Now, my child!”

She sobbed uncontrollably. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Closing her eyes, she wished she could find comfort in her mother’s arms.

But she never would.

Because they’d taken her from her. They’d taken everyone.

On a broken scream, Thalliya slammed the comb into her chest.

She gasped. Her heart jerked against the three teeth. Her eyes snapped open as she sagged forward in agony.

“Give it to me!”

Tightening her fist around the comb, Thalliya gritted her teeth and pulled. Tears flooded the sea. She stopped, unable to endure the pain.

But then the pounding in her ears was interrupted by another splash. And another and another until she was drowning in the sickening sound that would haunt her forever. Clenching her jaw, Thalliya took a deep breath.

And ripped her heart free.

The goddess took it without hesitation. A bright light flashed in front of her, but Thalliya was too weak to lift her head.

“Breathe, my child. The pain will be over soon.”

A warm hand touched her shoulder. The dragon inside her chest wriggled where her heart had lain. She clenched her teeth, expecting more pain. Startled, she looked up as a delicious heat spread through her entire body.

“Our deal is done.” The goddess smiled warmly. Then her eyes hardened as she grabbed Thalliya’s chin. “Never give yer heart to another,” she warned, “or I will take back what I have just given.”

Her lips trembling, Thalliya nodded. “Never,” she whispered. Her fists opened and then clenched again. She would not rest. She would never know love.

Not until every last man was dead.