ELEMENTS: Acquiesce Read online

Thou shalt serve to protect the Kingdom of Meren.

  Thou shalt protect the Seven Seas.

  Thou shalt strive to be the best version of thyself at all times.

  Thou shalt live in harmony with thy human neighbours.

  Thou shalt protect sailors.

  Thou shalt not converse with Sirens.

  Thou shalt keep thy existence safe from harm.

  Thou shalt obey the rules.

  “Thou shalt not converse with Sirens,” whispered Cordelia, running her finger along the words as she read.

  She recalled the conversation she’d had with Lana in the cave and was curious to know more. Cordelia swapped one book for another and turned straight to the section about Sirens. She stayed up for hours, engrossed in the book.

  “Sirens are cursed monsters who lure sailors to their death. They are half bird, half woman and have the ability to transform into ordinary looking birds, but will never return to human form. Two of the most notable groups of Sirens, the Gannets and Ravens have taken up residence on the west coast of Ireland on neighbouring islands, Bishops Island and Slate Island. While the gannets are largest in size, the ravens are vicious with razor sharp claws. Despite their unusual appearance, both groups are bestowed with irresistible beauty and the singing voices of angels. Those who dare to venture to the islands are certain to meet an untimely death.” Cordelia paused and re-read part of the text, “The ability to transform into ordinary looking birds… gannets and ravens.”

  “It’s a bit late to be up reading isn’t it?”

  Nixie’s sudden appearance startled Cordelia. “I wish you wouldn’t keep doing that. Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to sneak up on people?”

  “I suppose you want me to knock the door and wait outside for you to answer?”

  “That’s what normal people do,” replied Cordelia whose eyes were still scanning the pages of the book. Then she paused, realising there wasn’t anything remotely normal about her life since the storm. She glanced at Nixie. “What do you know about Sirens?”

  “They’ve existed since ancient times, but they weren’t born that way. They were ordinary women who were given wings by Demeter, a Greek goddess, to search for her daughter Persephone when she was abducted. In return, Demeter promised to bestow great beauty upon the women and make them irresistible to men. Unfortunately, the Sirens failed in their search and were banished from Greece along with a curse to live their lives as bird women for eternity.”

  Cordelia had been listening intently. “So that’s why they’re dangerous? They’re angry with Demeter for making them live as bird women?”

  “It seems that way.”

  “Poor things,” said Cordelia.

  “I wouldn’t sympathise too much,” said Nixie. “You don’t think all the storms and shipwrecks around here are purely down to bad weather do you? They’ve a lot to answer for.”

  “You think they’re responsible?”

  “I know they are,” said Nixie. “During the winter of 1820, in the North Sea alone, there were more than two thousand shipwrecks.”

  “Two thousand?” gasped Cordelia.

  Nixie nodded. “Over twenty thousand people lost their lives that winter. People think it’s because the world is flat and they sailed off the edge in bad weather, but we know that’s not true.”

  “What do you know about my father?” asked Cordelia expectantly.

  “Your father?” questioned Nixie, nervously.

  “Yes, Flynn, did they take him?”

  “Of course, Flynn. You ask a lot of questions Cordelia. It’s late. I have to go.”

  “Go? Where could you possibly need to be at this hour? What about Flynn?”

  Nixie was already gone.

  Cordelia blew out the candles and lay in the dark while her mind worked overtime, trying to make sense of all the information, desperately wondering if the Sirens were involved with Flynn’s disappearance. Wondering why Flynn found her in such a dangerous place and how he’d managed to escape death that day. What else did Nixie know? She had to find out.

  Cordelia was awoken by the sound of Lana hammering on the door.

  “Cordelia, it’s me, are you there?”

  Cordelia wearily made her way over to the door and opened it.

  “What’s wrong, are you sick?” enquired Lana with concern.

  “No, I’m fine. What time is it?”

  “It’s after breakfast, that’s what time it is. Get your bathers on, I’ll wait outside.”

  In no time at all, Cordelia and Lana were making their way to the amphitheatre where Irvin Seymour was waiting to take the class for their next diving lesson.

  With her short but intense study and practise session, Cordelia was feeling much braver about diving in front of her classmates after her misfortune during the last lesson. She gazed at the white sky as students filled the stone steps. Then she turned to Lana, “Have you ever seen ravens on these rocks?”

  “On these particular rocks?”

  “Not the amphitheatre in particular, the reef. I wondered if you’d ever seen them here.”

  “I don’t think so. Come to think of it, the only ravens I know about are the Sirens on Slate Island. They seem to keep to their own territory though. For all the stories we hear, they don’t want the town folk finding out about them.”

  “Hey, we wondered if we would see you today,” said Nerissa, sitting down beside them with Masika.

  “Weren’t you hungry this morning?” asked Masika.

  “I overslept,” explained Cordelia. “Stayed up late reading about Sirens.”

  “Is that why you asked about the ravens?” asked Lana.

  “A whole flock of them flew over the rocks yesterday while I was in the water. I read they can transform into actual birds.”

  “Do you think they were Sirens?” asked Nerissa enthusiastically.

  “I don’t know,” shrugged Cordelia. “I thought you girls might shed some light on that.”

  “They usually stay away,” said Masika, “that’s the way it’s been for generations.”

  “So why change their habits now?” asked Lana. “You shouldn’t go to the rock pools alone Cordelia, we’ll come with you.”

  A high-pitched whistle from Irvin Seymour signaled that he was ready to begin the lesson and the chatter diminished immediately.

  “Before we begin today’s lesson I want to remind you about the annual diving competition to be held in June. We’re looking for the strongest divers. Needless to say each dive will be awarded points for skill and technique. In particular, points will be awarded for approach, take off, execution and entry. Today’s lesson will be an opportunity to practise the dives you’ve learned so far. May I suggest you use this time to show your classmates what you’re made of? That’s if you want to win the prize of course. The three winners will be invited to attend the annual ball at Meren Castle.”

  The students began to chatter with excitement and a strong determination rose from the pit of Cordelia’s stomach.

  “That’s not all,” he continued, “each winner will be able to choose a guest to attend the ball with them.”

  “Looks like a trip for me and you then Rafe,” said Max. “I wonder who’ll be joining us.”

  The girls hadn’t realized that Max and Rafe were sitting on the step behind them. Lana scowled at Max before turning back to Cordelia.

  “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity my whole life,” said Lana, “they’re not going to win it that easily. I couldn’t bear to be on a trip with those two.”

  “I wish there were four prizes,” said Cordelia, “then maybe the four of us could win.”

  “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year,” laughed Max.

  Cordelia took a deep breath and pretended she hadn’t heard Max’s comment.

  Half the class had already performed their best dives and cheering echoed around the amphitheatre. Cordelia watched her friends perform their dives and then it was her turn. All eyes were on Cordelia a
s she confidently made her way to the diving rock, head held high and shoulders back. Without delay, Cordelia leapt backwards into the air and performed a faultless backwards dive.

  “And that’s how it’s done,” said Lana as the class cheered and clapped.

  “Bit easy though, wasn’t it?” said Max. “She’ll need to do better than that if she wants to be on the dive team.”

  “Well done,” said Irvin Seymour, smiling with pride as he passed Cordelia her towel. Cordelia smiled at him and made her way back to her seat. As she climbed the steps of the amphiteatre she caught Rafe’s eye. He was sitting silently, arms resting on his knees, staring at her with a half smile, his eyes twinkling in the sunlight that broke through a small gap in the clouds.

  For a brief moment, Cordelia forgot that she didn’t like him. That’s until Max opened his mouth.

  “Bit basic wasn’t it? You wanna watch me, see how it’s really done.”

  The girls turned around to see Max standing proudly on the step above them, stretching his arms whilst doing leg lunges.

  “Oh please,” said Lana, rolling her eyes.

  “We don’t need to see that thank you,” said Masika.

  “You love it,” smirked Rafe.

  Max winked at the girls and made his way down to the diving rock, high fiving his classmates as he went. He then performed a perfect inward dive. Again the class cheered and Max danced his way back to his seat, shaking hands with Rafe on the way who hugged him tight and slapped him on the back.

  “Bet you can’t do that can you Cordelia?”

  Cordelia ignored Max. Her eyes were involuntarily fixed on Rafe’s chiseled features. There was no clowning around from Rafe, no jibes, no showing off to his classmates. He simply walked to the rock, his toned body perfectly poised and then completed an impressive twisting dive. The crowd gasped before standing and cheering with delight.

  “Bravo!” exclaimed Irvin Seymour, shaking Rafe’s hand with both of his as he emerged from the water.

  “Thank you Sir,” said Rafe whilst simultaneously executing a killer smile.

  He turned and caught Cordelia’s eye whilst still holding that smile - a smile that made Cordelia’s stomach flip. A feeling surged through her body that she’d never felt before. Flustered, she looked down at her hands that were resting in her lap.

  “Don’t worry Cordelia, if you keep practising you’ll be able to do one of those fancy twist dives in no time,” said Lana.

  Masika and Nerissa nodded in eager agreement.

  The students continued to practise their diving techniques, most becoming more adventurous with each turn. Lana, Rafe and Max were all strong divers and moved on to somersaults before class was over. They were well beyond the abilities of their classmates when it came to diving, but that was to be expected given their backgrounds. Cordelia watched carefully, observing every twist and turn, locking every move in her memory.

  By the time lessons finished that day, the sun was low in the sky and dusk was on the horizon. Cordelia, Lana, Nerissa and Masika walked along the cliff top with their towels and bathers and made their way to the rock pools. The sea was relatively calm and the tide was out. Her three friends looked around anxiously, checking that no one was about. When they reached the second pool, the girls changed into their bathers and stood on the edge of the rock looking down at their reflections, the sea breeze whipping their hair across their faces.

  “It’s not so windy down here,” said Cordelia. She had moved down to a lower ledge, her feet submerged in the crystal clear water, the Irish moss caressing her toes.

  “Come on!” she called. “It’s grand!”

  The girls hesitated, still unsure of this new territory and wary of prying eyes.

  “You go first,” suggested Lana. “We’ll watch from here.”

  Cordelia slowly walked into the water, stepping onto lower ledges, one by one until she was neck deep in water. She floated on her back and smiled at her friends. “It’s beautiful in here, you’ve got to come in.”

  Lana took one more glance around then dived straight in from the high black rock. “We’re here to practise diving, right?” she said to Cordelia, wiping salt water from her face.

  “Right,” said Cordelia. “You want me to dive from all the way up there?”

  “All the way up there?” retorted Lana. “That’s nothing. That’s where we’ll be diving from in the competition,” she divulged, pointing to the cliff face.

  The part Lana pointed to was not as high as some areas, but still, it was high enough. Higher than anything Cordelia had ever jumped off before.

  “It’s fine,” said Lana. “We climb part way down to that ledge. It’s just deep water below.”

  “Out the way!” called Nerissa before she and Masika dived into the pool.

  Cordelia swam to the edge, staring at the cliff face as she climbed out of the pool. It looked menacing in the fading light. Cordelia shook any negative thoughts from her mind and climbed up to the black rock. Leaning back from the edge, with her hands pressed on the rock behind her, Cordelia inhaled deeply the fresh Atlantic air. She peered down to the water below. Her friends were sitting on the edge of the pool watching. If she could just get over the height then mastering the dives would be no problem at all, she was certain of it. She stepped forward, closed her eyes and dived straight in.

  Cordelia emerged from the water laughing. “That was amazing! I have to do it again!”

  The four girls spent the next hour or so practising their dives, perfecting their twists and turns and teaching Cordelia how to do somersaults. A thunderous sound, disguised by the waves breaking on the reef bounded around the rocks as they hurled themselves over and over again from the black rock, their strong bodies crashing through the ice cold water below. They’d been having so much fun that they hadn’t noticed the tide coming in. Water flowed in quickly between the rocks, cutting them off from the mainland.

  “Grab your things,” said Cordelia. “We’ll wade across.”

  The four friends climbed out of the water. Their belongings were gone. Confused, the girls began to search.

  “Hey!” shouted Masika.

  Rafe and Max were hurriedly scampering across the rocks with their clothes and towels.

  “Come back!” shouted Nerissa.

  “They must have heard us talking at the amphitheater this morning,” said Lana.

  “If you want your clothes you’ll have to come and get them!” shouted Max.

  The girls chased after them as fast as they could, wading through the water beneath a twilight sky, the sea following close behind them. Rafe and Max were almost off the rocks when Lana stopped in her tracks.

  “What is it?” asked Nerissa.

  “Don’t you hear it?”

  The girls turned to see a flock of ravens heading straight for them. The sight was apocalyptic. There were hundreds of them. Rafe and Max darted up the grassy bank to seek shelter in a stone hut at the peat bog, the only solid structure they could reach in time. While they peered out from the relative safety of the hut, the girls were caught up in the chaos raging outside. The birds swooped low over the reef, pecking at the girls’ hair as they flew past.

  “That’s crazy!” exclaimed Max.

  “We have to help them,” said Rafe.

  “What are you going to do? Shoo them away?”

  Rafe shot Max a disapproving look and went outside. He stood on the edge of the grassy bank, looking out to sea while Max dithered in the doorway. The tide was coming in fast but not fast enough. He stood unwavering as the daylight faded into darkness. In the pale moonlight he summoned the waves that came crashing over the rocks in a frenzy. Masika slipped and gashed her leg but there was no time to hang about. The ravens were relentless. It seemed they would never stop.

  “Swim!” shouted Lana.

  The girls flung themselves into the waves, swimming below the surface, between the weeds and the rocks of the Duggerna Reef and out into the open sea.

  SIX<
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  ENCOUNTERS

  The boys raced across the cliff top to the lighthouse where they waited anxiously in the small cove for the girls to return.

  “What was that?” asked Max, perplexed.

  “I don’t know,” replied Rafe who was sitting on an upturned rowing boat, “but it didn’t look accidental to me.”

  “You don’t think it was Zamira do you?” asked Max.

  “I hope not but what other explanation could there be?”

  Max scuffed at the ground with his boot.

  “Make yourself useful,” said Rafe, “go and fetch some towels.”

  Max rolled his eyes and skulked off into the lighthouse.

  Rafe sat in silence in the eerie darkness, with only the sound of the waves and the tapping of his fingers on the wooden boat for company. Unable to sit any longer, he paced back and forth along the water’s edge wondering whether to swim out to sea. He removed his boots and shirt, then all of a sudden a silvery light appeared in the water. It moved swiftly towards the shore. It was Nixie; she’d been guiding Cordelia and her friends through the ebony water. The girls carried Masika out of the sea and placed her gently on the sand. In the light of Nixie’s glow, the students could see the blood streaming from the gash on Masika’s leg.

  “Here, tie this around it,” said Rafe, passing his shirt to Lana.

  Lana locked eyes with Rafe. “Thanks,” she said, taking the shirt from him.

  “I think she’s going to need more than a shirt,” said Nerissa, holding her sister’s hand.

  “We need Amatheia.”

  “Amatheia?” asked Cordelia.

  “The school nurse,” replied Lana.

  “Where will I find her?” asked Cordelia.

  “I’ll show you,” offered Rafe, pulling his boots on.

  Cordelia hesitated briefly, taken aback by Rafe’s offer of help but cautiously accepted. “Lead the way.”

  The pair walked up the slipway towards the lighthouse, Rafe in front and Cordelia following closely behind, her eyes wandering across his broad, muscular shoulders. They saw Max coming out of a side door, arms laden with towels. Rafe took one and handed it to Cordelia.