Talina noticed the spattering of red where the droltine had endured Gladriel’s training.
The water started to swirl around Talina and she knew it was almost too late; her power wanted to be released; Gladriel must be stopped. The water heated as it formed turrets.
Slowly her mother turned back toward her and noticed the energy surrounding them.
Talina! What are you doing? You must control yourself; you are weak.
Talina barely registered the insult. She was reveling in the flow of power, the confidence that she was the baddest thing in the water and that she could end Gladriel’s reign of terror. The blackness was descending over her vision again, but she registered Gladriel’s fear. Her mother trembled and dropped the tethered droltine, holding both hands up in a pleading gesture.
I promise I will let her go and never do this again. Just stop this.
A smirk crossed Talina’s face; Gladriel knew she was about to become the victim; she was practically begging for Talina’s mercy. It was time to give some of the torture back.
That last thought was enough to shock a semblance of control into Talina’s system. She paused on the brink of sending out a devastating wave of power.
No, she refused to be like her mother, abusing the powers granted to her.
Instead of attacking Gladriel, she sent a powerful force through the water that blasted apart the mesh cage.
If I ever catch you doing this again, Gladriel, I swear I will not stop at disintegrating the mesh.
Talina turned then and left the area. She needed to get away from her mother before the anger brimmed over. She needed some hard swimming to calm down.
Her power needed release, and she’d never be able to control it if she couldn’t work off this pent-up energy.
As she swam she decided not to tell Raror what had occurred. It would only create drama for him, and she hoped that was the last time Gladriel would commit such cruelty. Her fear of Talina’s powers might just keep her in line.
The next morning Talina and Raror sat with their legs hanging off the side of her top-level balcony. Eighteen pontoons had been separated from the collective to head for the Isle. It would take them seven days powered by wind and seahorses to reach the land. Earon’s quadrant was the second largest behind the Baroons; blue-hairs were top of the food chain.
Talina rested her face on the railing. She stared out into the half-sun lighting a pink sky.
“You know, despite the fact Gladriel is probably going to have me sacrificed, I’m really excited to see the Isle.”
Raror glanced at his sister. He’d always thought she looked like a mystical creature. The differences that marked her as weak among Spurns seemed beautiful to him. The thin lines of hair covering the ridges above her eyes and the flicked-out strands along her eyelids framed her brown eyes perfectly. Most Spurns had eyes that ranged from gold to marmalade, but always in the yellow tone, which made Talina’s unique.
The black flecks through her hair, which she was so clever at hiding, transformed her emerald locks to that of the brightest polished stone. She was taller than almost everyone on Spurn. Only Ladre, the Baroon’s leader, topped her height, though Talina was leaner and less muscular. But more than all of this it was the innate goodness that shone from her; she was not like the rest of them, operating in the animalistic environment of eat or be eaten. She had imparted much of her gentle qualities onto Raror, and he believed himself to be a better Spurn for it.
“Don’t you worry, little sister.” He patted her warm arm. “Remember? I will never let Mother hurt you.”
Talina nodded and Raror turned back to gaze at the sea. A long time ago he had made the promise – to protect her from all of those that aimed to harm.
And on Spurn, that was everyone.
Talina really enjoyed the journey, she didn’t see Gladriel once, and there was nothing more calming than the great expanses of the ocean. They were due to make land the next morning, and she wondered if she would get any rest that night.
This was the most exciting thing to occur in her nineteen-year lifetime. She’d never seen land that formed above the water.
Then she noticed the moons were already at full sky. It was later than she thought. She left her balcony.
Generally, Spurns required exactly five hours of closed-eye respite, whether above or below the water, but Talina functioned better on six or more. She opened her pod; it was half-full of water, a calming level for her. Shedding her white mesh covering, she stepped in. Lying back and closing her eyes, she allowed the pontoon’s rhythmic movement and water in her pod to calm her energized thoughts. Surprisingly, she had no trouble drifting off.
The next morning the Earons gathered together.
“Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?” Talina held Raror’s arm as she bounced in excitement, a euphoric emotion that she rarely felt.