The Fate of the Muse - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,65

me oddly, but I was in no mood to placate her. I felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t get out into those waves. We watched couple of guys help a visibly shaken surfer out of the water, white faced and gasping for breath. Shayla looked at me in alarm, but nothing was going to dissuade me from my fanatic mission.

Kimo strode up, “Look at you, all fired up!”

Since Gabe was out of commission, and I’d never driven a jet ski, Kimo decided to take turns towing me and Matt, letting Matt drive for him. He attached a rope to the back of the ski and handed it to me, telling me to hold on. I flung myself into the water, holding on with one hand, adjusting to the jerky ride behind the loud, smelly engine. He towed me through the turbulent white water until we reached the swells of the outer reef. There were only a couple of other people resting in the water when Kimo dropped me off, telling me to wait. I sat up on the board and watched him power away, shivering with anticipation.

“Why is she so happy?” a voice in my head whispered. I spun around, but there was no-one nearby. The other tow team took off to chase after a huge swell, leaving me alone.

“She wants to ride the waves,” came the reply in the same voice.

This was no figment of my imagination. I squeezed my eyes shut to focus and said aloud, “Sisters? Are you here?”

Now the voices were loud and clear, “She can talk! She is the one!”

“Who are you?” I cried, “Where are you?”

All at once two identical mermaid heads rose from the deep blue water, startling me. They were like mirror images of each other, and I realized that they must be twins. Their skin was warm golden brown, glowing like honey with light shining through it. They had the most unusual silvery white hair, so shimmering and mirror like it reflected the blue sky and water surrounding us. They looked at me in wonder, their bright, inquisitive eyes a pale shade of lavender.

I was momentarily stunned, and then returned their smiles, charmed by two of the most amazing looking creatures I’d ever laid eyes on. They were exquisite, reminding me of exotic tropical flowers. It was like stumbling upon a type of orchid you’d never seen before, but found to be so amazing in form and coloration that you were surprised it truly existed. They were bizarre and otherworldly, but almost unbearably beautiful to look at.

“Marina!”

“H-How do you know my name?” I sputtered.

“We know you from the council.”

They seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see them. I’d put the memories of that underwater council behind me. It was terrible; my forced transformation– the first awful time when I didn’t quite grasp what was happening to me. I tried to recall seeing them there, but the blurry memory of that terrible day was as vague as the details of a bad dream.

“What are you doing here?” one of them asked.

“I’m going wave riding,” I explained, looking around for other surfers, “What are your names?”

They introduced themselves as Noelani and Leilani, and I watched in fascination as they touched my surfboard tentatively, giggling with excitement, cocoa skin shimmering in the bright sunshine. They splashed and twirled all around me like ripples of bright tumbling water. It was as if their excitement was simply too much to bear, and they had to dance. I wished that Ethan were here to see this, I thought.

The roar of the Jet Ski announced Kimo’s return, and they were gone.

“Ladies first?” Kimo grinned like a madman, dropping Matt off next to me and circling around for me to grab the tow rope. I nodded, still a little dazed by my encounter with the Hawaiian mermaids. We moved out into position, waiting until a promising swell built up beneath us. Kimo signaled for me to get ready and we took off in rapid pursuit of the giant bump of water that seemed to rise and rise without end.

I focused, my chest trembling with the power of the force I could feel moving beneath me. It rose to engulf me, and I could feel the energy like a breeze blowing straight through my body. Kimo crested the massive wave just as it began to take shape, and sped down the face of it. I dropped the tow line and started to