Cresting Tide (7 page)

Peter felt the shove and his eyes grew wide as the other sea elf attacked. He tried to back away toward the safety of the shore when he was shoved but he did not move fast enough. The angry sea elf thrust his trident forward and it slipped between his lover's arm and body before the sharp tipped prongs of the weapon grazed his skin. He could do nothing but cry out in pain. Peter felt the warm hot liquid that was his blood and the sting of the sea's salt penetrate the wound as it seeped through the fingers he now clasped to his side.

Cuke was too slow. He heard his lover's cry of pain and took only a moment to pray to the sea gods that it was not a mortal injury before his fury overcame him. His arm trapped his sibling's trident against his body and he thrust forward with his own weapon, while at the same time pushing his lover toward the shore with his free hand.

"No!" Cuke yelled in his sibling's face as his trident was deflected by a muscular arm and his sibling slammed into him.

"He will not betray us!" Likal pulled hard on his trident even as he tried to get closer to the human his sibling protected. "Don't be foolish, you will destroy us all!"

Peter watched in shock and pain as his lover counter attacked and grappled with the larger elf in an effort to keep the enraged creature away from him. He could do nothing but grasp his side in pain and back toward the shore. Peter desperately wanted to help his lover but did not see how he could do so. He watched in horror as they continued to battle and attempt to spear one another on the end of their deadly weapons. The chirps and whistles that Peter knew were his lover's language no longer reached his ears as he stood in the ankle deep water of the surf. Both elves fought in the sea and Peter felt helpless to assist his lover. One moment they were on the surface and the next they had disappeared beneath the waves. Peter waited with trepidation for another glimpse of them.

Panic set in when Peter noticed the water where he had last seen his lover turn a murky brownish color and it was not until he felt the sting of the sloshing sea upon his own open wounds that he realized he had run back into the surf. Peter stood, fear taking his breath and heart breaking in his chest as he watched the marred spot on the blue-green sea and waited.

Cuke broke the surface after ensuring his sibling was not going to return and attack him again. He had wounded his sibling but not before it was made clear that he had to return home at once. As he drifted on the incoming tide, his gaze locked onto that of his human love and he knew he had no choice but to return home and face his parents; the elders too, more than likely. But he could not leave without ensuring his human would survive and return.

Cuke floated closer and saw that his man still grasped his side. Bright red rivulets of blood ran down his pale skin into the sea but the wound did not look deadly. He sent a silent prayer of thanks to Poseidon.

Peter's eyes remained on his lover as the sea elf came closer and when he finally stopped, Peter rapidly closed the distance between them.
Pain be damned!

"I must leave," Cuke said in a strained voice. "I do not wish to go but if I do not, more of my siblings will be sent to fetch me. I'll return as soon as I can." Cuke promised as he cupped his human's face before he lowered his lips to his lover's wounded side. A few quick swipes of his tongue started the healing process.

Peter could hear the notes of sadness in the clicks and whistles of his lover's speech or at least he thought that was what he was hearing as he leaned into the touch. A tear fell from his eye and he didn't even flinch when one clawed finger bent to intercept what Peter was sure to be the first of many.

Cuke watched as his human's pale blue eyes leaked water and he brought the finger that caught that small drop to his lips. The droplet was salty when he brought it to his lips but less so than the sea and for a moment Cuke thought it amazing that his human held part of the sea within him.

"I will return," Cuke promised once more before turning quickly and diving into the surf.

"Don't leave me," Peter whispered as he stared at the sea where his elf disappeared and his tears fell like rain.

It took five days of steady, fast travel before Cuke swam along the coral reef that bordered his elfin city home. The various shades of pink and purple that decorated the reef at the top of the sea cliff usually brought him joy; today they only brought him pain and longing. They reminded him of the sunsets he shared with his human lover. He tried to calculate how long he had been gone but aside from knowing how long he traveled, he really did not know. It must have been some time if his parents sent Likal after him. The days with his human seemed to blur together in his mind and the only thing he knew for sure was that their time together was not enough.

Cuke had never traveled so far from home before and he knew that Likal had to have been sent to fetch him after only a few days absence. He also knew that even though he had wounded his sibling and Likal yielded to him, the older, stronger elf would still beat him home to report to their parents. As Cuke swam down the side of the reef into the city proper, his chest hurt. The dull pain in his chest had steadily grown worse until he could feel the pain physically when he tried to soothe his aching heart.

Cuke pushed thoughts of his aching body and heartbreak away as he entered his family home and prepared to face his parents. His eyes did not take in the beautiful coral formations that made up their dwelling nor the many intricate pieces of elvin art within as he entered the main hall.

Aside from his parents, several of his siblings were present listening to Likal's tale of discovery. Gasps of disbelief and horror reached his ears as he approached and he could even hear a few angry mutterings from his older siblings. His siblings parted when he approached his parents and Cuke had already decided on his course of action. Hopefully, his parents would believe the wandering had come early for him and it would be his excuse to return to his human.

"Does Likal speak true, Cuke?" his father asked calmly.

"I do not know what Likal has reported, sire, so I do not know." Cuke knew it was not the best way to start this conversation but Poseidon only knew what Likal had told his parents and siblings.

"This is not a game, Cuke," his father's voice remained calm but when he looked to his mother's face, he could see anger there. "Have you revealed yourself to the humans?"

"To a human, yes," Cuke answered truthfully and heard several of his siblings gasp.

"Out!" his mother yelled and Cuke felt the swirling disturbance of the water around him as his siblings scattered. He would have fled as well if he did not have to remain and face his mother's wrath.

"How dare you? One or hundreds, it matters not!" His mother hissed at him, "You risk thousands of years of our existence for what? A child's curiosity?" She shook in her rage and barely calmed when his father placed a hand upon her arm.

"We should never have allowed your interest in the land dwellers to grow so large," his father's voice was the calm eye of his mother's storm. "This is as much our fault as it is your own."

"How long were you with this human? How much damage have you caused our people?" His mother's questions were still angry and attacking him like a ravenous shark. "You should have let Likal do his duty and kill the land walker!"

"I do not know how long I was there." Cuke raised a hand unconsciously to rub his aching chest. "But I have not endangered our people. My human could not even speak to me so our secrets are safe."

"Your human?!?" His mother's voice was shrill and her eyes narrowed as she watched his hand moving in small circles upon his chest.

"So, that is true as well," his father's calmness once more broke through the storm.

"You have mated! With a human!" His mother's outrage was almost more than Cuke could bare and for a brief moment he thought she might attack him as Likal had. "How could you do such a thing?" she demanded harshly.

Before Cuke could reply, his father spoke, "You are hurting are you not, Cuke?" His father indicated the hand that Cuke just now realized was rubbing his aching chest.

"Oh gods no…" his mother whispered in horror and she stared at Cuke as if she'd never seen him before.

Cuke did not know how his father knew he was in pain just by watching him rub his chest and he was not sure why his mother's rage had turned to dread.

"The signs are already there, my love. Look at our child without the anger clouding your sight," his father gently chided his mother and Cuke looked from one to the other with confusion.

"Too young. Not possible," his mother whispered almost as if speaking to herself.

"Apparently not and apparently so." His father put an arm around his mother and pulled her close.

"It will be an abomination." His mother sounded as heart broken as Cuke felt but he still had no idea of that which they spoke.

"You will return to the human until it is time," his father told him and Cuke could not believe his ears.
They were going to let him return!
Joy flooded through him before his mind registered what his father had said.

"Time, father?" Cuke asked hesitantly almost afraid that he might change his mind and this was too good to be true. He wanted nothing more than to race back to his human's side but he still did not know what brought about the change in his parents behavior.

"You are with child, Cuke," his father's calm voice drifted to him. "And you must remain with your human mate until it comes or you will wither. You have seen this with those who have lost their mates before the birth of the child."

Cuke's mind spun out of control like a whirlpool.
A child!
Where he felt joy before about being allowed to return to his human, he had no name for the greater emotion he was now feeling. Everything about his aching chest seemed to fall into place. It was not just his heartache he felt but his body changing so he could nurse the babe after it came. His hand drifted from his hurting chest to his belly where he knew the new life resided. It would not be long before proof of that life would be visible but by then he should be back with his love.

"My child," his father's voice broke through his excitement. "This babe may not survive. Never before has our kind mated with the land dwellers. Our worlds are too different for such a thing." Panic began to replace the joy Cuke was feeling as his father continued to speak. "If the child can survive in our world, you may return with it but be prepared Cuke, the child may be destine to walk the land… if it even survives." There was a note of sadness or was that pity Cuke heard in his father's voice?

"Go my child. Return to your human," his father dismissed him. It did not escape his notice that his mother remained silent and had refused to look at him again.

Cuke pushed thoughts of his parents from his mind as the thrill of returning to his human coursed through him. He could not swim fast enough as he left his city behind.

~~~~**~~~~

Chapter Eight

Peter spent his days sitting upon the coal colored sands staring forlornly out to sea. He tried to distract himself by walking the coastline or swimming in the cove, but his mind feared he would miss the return of his sea elf if he was not where the elf was used to seeing him. For the first three days, Peter expected his elf to return. By the fourth day, his expectation turned to worry that his elf was not coming back. Thoughts of other elves attacking his elf ran wild through his mind. Visions of brown murky sea water surrounding the injured elf haunted him or worse, his elf being killed by any one of the dangers that the sea hid beneath its waves.

Peter's heart leapt with joy and relief on the sixth day as he awoke to the familiar chirp and whistles that made up his elf's language. As he rushed into the surf, expecting to see his elf, his joy turned quickly to disappointment when his gaze settled not upon his elf but instead a pod of dolphin. Even his surprise at the pod swimming into the chest deep water, almost close enough to touch, could not replace the sudden swelling of sadness that filled him. Peter tried to enjoy the playful antics of the pod, but before long he returned to his spot on the beach to resume his vigil.

The days passed and Peter's loneliness grew until he felt numb. He ate and drank when required by his body. The only routine he maintained was to light his fire at night as if it was a beacon calling to his elf and counting the ever growing days without his sea elf. Absently, he stuck another palm frond, point up, into the sand. The small green tips stood in neat rows like soldiers standing at attention. Eleven days. Eleven pointy little tips. One more day will give him an even four rows of frond soldiers.

Strangely, the thought of finding a way off the remote island never crossed Peter's mind. He had no desire to return to his family and the life they wished to impose on him. Even if his sea elf never returned, Peter wanted to be nowhere else but on the blackened sands of this beach. Peter's nights were full of dreams of his sea elf and his days were full of memories they had created in the short time they had together.