An old sailor rode the waves to the end

　　He didn't know his woman waited till night's end. What a beautiful sight for pain-

　　"Phaleia!" Gasping I turn around. A fuming forest guardian the size of a small stuffed animal walks on the edge of my water cove. " How many times have I told you? Do not draw attention to yourself!" The guardian had long black Hair that glowed, big brown eyes, an oval face, honey colored skin and a beautiful twig dress.

　　She is quite beautiful but now I can only focus on how annoying she is. She pointed up at me and tried to shove my tail off of the edge. "I'm trying to save you, this is not a safe place, a very violent pack lives near here. I suggest you leave before they come snooping around finding you here. They lurk around these woods". Such a fairy tale it is. She has been telling me this for years and I have not witnessed any trouble .

　　Why come to me with this garbage? I was just relaxing after a long day hunting fish. Why does this guardian always have to bug me? Sighing I grab my net full of fish right beside me and plop back into the water. I'm not here to argue. I dive into the water to continue my relaxation somewhere else.

　　I head toward the gathering.To us nymphs it's a second home. If we're not at our place under the sea. The gathering is where we usually are. I find my spot I hangout at. I prop my body on top of the reef sticking out of the ocean. I look onto the land in wonder. Is it always this beautiful?

　　Horns blare throughout the land. “Phaelia!” I wake up from my relaxed state and grab my net. I stick myself flat as a pancake on the rock. “ Psst” My friend Corey calls me over to the otherside of the rock. “ Slowly get over to me, they can see you as clear as day”. Unluckily I rested for a few hours throughout the day. It was closer to night time which doesn’t show in my favor. I don’t know what they’ll do to me if I get caught. I definitely don’t want to find out.

　　“Snap out of it, Phaelia. We need to go now.” Corey who’s normally calm starts to panic. I wish I could move but I heard Lycan’s are sensitive. They’ll be able to see me for miles If I move. So, I think of the best possible thing to do. I stay still.

　　“I can’t, the lycan’s are out first. I have to wait until they leave; they are way too alert on a day like this.” The Lycans emerge from the trees onto the sand. Sniffing away in their beast forms. They stand on their hindlegs towering over the wolves growling demands. Leading their group. Lycan’s are the leaders of the wolves.

　　My body tenses at the sight. “ Phealia, here’s some sea worth. Rub it all over you. It gets rid of your scent”. Corey throws it up to me. I try to catch it but it slips through my fingers. Thunk. My eyes go straight to the lycans. I really hope they didn’t hear that.

　　My heart stops. The whole pack halts their movement. My hand goes over my mouth in fear. The lycans sniff the air turning their head in my direction. Scowls on their faces appear. “ We need to leave now!!” Corey screams not caring if they can hear us anymore. I pick up the Sea worth and my net. I squirm my way down as fast as I can. Scraping my stomach on the rocks I plop myself in the sea ready to go.

　　I should’ve listened to the guardian. We head down to the sea floor so they can’t catch us. We were too late. A strong hand pulls my tail up. Screaming in pain I struggle as hard as I can to get out. But whoever’s got me is too strong. “ Phaelia!” Corey was so far ahead of me he couldn’t reach me to help.

　　Everything was happening so fast I didn’t realize I was on land until a lycan in skin form held onto my waist. “ We have an onlooker. I’m going to report to an elder. I’ll be back to survey your mates for the blood ritual.” The leader runs into the forest with me in tow. He’s running so fast all I see is a blur of trees.

　　He stops in front of a door. What’s strange to me is, this door is on a hill. The lycan knocks on the door. A few moments later a tall blonde woman with her claws out reveals herself. “ I need an elder for council.” She nods and sniffs his neck. “ Elder Fallen should be in the library.” The lycan’s hold tightens his grip carrying all my weight like I'm a stack of books.

　　We walk through a few rooms to a staircase. It led to long hallways. Eventually we made it to the library. It wasn't a very big room. There weren't any books in here. Instead there were scrolls. Rolled neatly in racks with labels on the bottom.

　　No one was in sight until I looked around the room. On a desk near a rack was a man writing feverishly. At first he didn't acknowledge our presence. "Sir, I seek council. I found a strange creature spying on the pack." The white haired man stopped writing and peeked at me behind his shoulder. Funny how he's called an elder. He hasn't aged past 30. That's what it seems to me anyway. Elder Fallen expressed bewilderment in his golden eyes.

　　Quickly standing up to take a good look at me. He's quite tall but isn't as bulky as the other lycans I saw on the beach. The elder was lean. He walked over to me and sniffed my neck.

　　"Were there others like her at the scene?" Elder Fallen gave me a onceover. "Not that we know of."

　　I was so relieved that they didn't catch Corey. I wanted to cry tears of joy.

　　" Do you talk?" Elder Fallen was trying to get me to answer. I didn't trust him. Obviously, I said nothing. I looked up at him with wry eyes. Fallen didn't like that. "Let's do this the easy way." His claws made an appearance. Sharp and shiny he held them up to my neck poking my throat. My blood drips on his claws. He sees this only to lick it off.

　　For a moment I could have sworn his eyes rolled in the back of his head in pleasure. What the hell? Now that he finds me tasty. He's going to eat me?

　　Scaring the hell out of me. I decided to whack the elder with my tail. The impact doesn't even move him. I awkwardly remove my tail from his face. My plan to at least hurt him a little before I die failed enormously.

　　I struggle to get out of the lycan’s hold only to flop on the ground. Realizing the floor is slick makes it easier for me to move. My tail attempts to swipe my kidnappers legs from underneath them. That doesn’t work due to the lycans dodging my attack.

　　The cut on my neck gets bigger, releasing blood I can’t afford to lose. I need water to heal. I grab this opportunity to slide along the floor away from my captors.

　　“Catch her and secure her.” The lycan follows the elder’s orders chasing after me with speed and agility. Unfortunately, I don’t have speed on my side but I can avoid the hands that are grabbing for me.

　　Hallway after hallway I find other lycans dining not fully aware of what's going on. Surprised that I’m slithering on the floor a lot of hollering and yelps come from my audience. Some of them even join the hunt. “ Please leave me alone!!!!”. Blood flows out of my neck. Huge amounts of it spills all over the floor. That doesn't deter me from fleeing for my life. My vision starts to fail. All I’m beginning to see are black dots blocking my sight. I need water.

　　As soon as I think of my need. My king shines the light down on me because I hear something like rain fall but it’s coming from a room a few doors ahead.

　　I feel swipes of hands on my tail. Thankfully my tail is slimy. They couldn’t keep it in their hold. I break down the door I hear rain fall from. Much to my surprise it wasn’t raining. There was just stuff in the room. I didn’t really know what most of it was but who cares? I can’t afford to think so deeply about something like this.

　　I hear giggling from the other side of the room where there is yet another door. I slither my way there as fast as I can. I break down the door. A woman screams bloody murder.

　　The man with her looks down at me with shock. For some reason it was raining in the corner they were in. I head for them. A clear hard surface blocks me from going in. I can’t help but panic more than I am right now, I bang on it trying to get in. The man protects the woman by moving in front of her with his body. "I need water please." Desperate for them to hear me. The people who were chasing me abruptly came into where I am.

　　"Did she hurt you?!" the red haired man who brought me here furiously yanked me to him. "Not at all. She looks like she's dying. What did you do?"