Page 1 of Tides of Time

ONE

Jaws snappedmere inches from Ariana’s face.

With a graceful roll, she maneuvered her powerful tail fin and flipped over, narrowly avoiding the sharp jaws of the angry Tiger Shark as it circled back for another aggressive attack. The deep blue sea churned with tension and fear as the two predators engaged in a thrilling dance of survival. Each movement was calculated and precise, every beat of their powerful fins a testament to their strength and agility. The saltwater thrashed around them, creating a frenzy that matched the intensity of their clash. It was a battle between two fierce creatures, each determined to emerge victorious from this deadly underwater encounter.

“Throw the damn javelin!” Tanessa, one of the oldest in the pod, screamed at Ariana.

She’d forgotten the stick was in her hands.

She was not a hunter.

This was not her role in the pod.

She taught, not tortured.

“Damn it, Ariana, now!” Tanessa snarled, her voice dripping with urgency and frustration.

Tanessa burst through the water like a sleek predator, her body moving with unnatural speed. In one fluid motion, she snatched the weapon from Ariana’s fingers, her determination overriding any hesitation. The cold, murky water swirled around them, adding an eerie element to the tense scene. Beads of sweat glistened on Tanessa's brow as she focused on her task at hand. Despite the chaos, her movements were calculated and precise.

Blood filled the water like a crimson paint, as the sharp tip of the javelin pierced through the shark's eye and potentially its brain. The creature's body contorted into a curled "c" shape as it started to descend into the depths of the sea. Its powerful fins fluttered weakly, adding a sense of finality to its defeat.

The smallest ripple of the vast ocean water pushed toward Ariana as the now-dead shark’s body began its descent.

The very same descent she would have made had she drowned.

Had she not been saved.

Ariana watched helplessly as the finned beast spiraled until it landed squarely in the net that several mermaids had been holding open below it. The four mermaids strained and grunted as they fought to keep their grip on the net, the weight of the massive shark threatening to pull them under. Despite her own failure to react and kill the tiger shark, their unwavering strength ensured the success of the hunt.

“We have to eat, damn it. Stop acting like there’s plenty of options that can feed the whole pod,” Tanessa’s tail fin knocked against Ariana’s arm as she moved by. “Not all of us live on kelp.”

Ariana ignored the taunt. She wasn’t the only one in her pod to eat meat as infrequently as possible.

It was also not something new that she adapted to after receiving her gift. been the same before she’d found her life beneath the waves. Before Poseidon had found her. Well, it was not the Greek God, but Galene, the mermaid who began it all.

The siren she owed her life to.

Then why do you feel so miserable now? Why are you suddenly so closed off to the men and women who’ve been your life for nearly a century?

Mermaids didn’t die of old age - not that she’d ever heard. That’s because they were, in essence, already dead. Eventually they passed away, or simply ceased being, she hadn’t witnessed it during her time with the pod.

Plus, they weren’t mermaids - not really. Not the beautiful creatures who stared in so many of Ariana’s bedtimes stories as a young girl. No, they were ruthless, fueled by vengeance and death.

Ariana may find fault in killing, but it didn’t mean she didn’t partake when necessary.

Just one second after she took her first breath underwater the need to kill pulsing within her veins.

The sea god's gift and curse surged through her veins, compelling her to hunt and destroy. Every nerve in her body tingled with an insatiable urge to kill. She had been thrown into the seas, gifted with this power, but also cursed with its relentless pull. The salty tang of the ocean filled her senses, mixing with the metallic taste of bloodlust on her tongue. With each passing moment underwater, the desire to take a life grew stronger, like a wave crashing against the shore. This was her fate, to be consumed by the sea and all its savagery.

His seas.

Everyone in the pod knew the tale of Galene’s transformation and what followed. The race of sirens who spent countless decades luring men to their deaths, the same way they’d discarded women to drown centuries ago. Everyone on land merely knew tales of mermaids.

Centuries ago, Ariana had not been alive, but she held no disbelief in the tales the eldest sirens told. Tales that spurred their kind on, watching plenty inhale the deepest, saltiest water into their lungs until their eyes bulged and their breaths ceased.

Even Galena didn’t know what the mighty god saw in her, only that she had been given the greatest gift and curse. In exchange for her life, Galene and the sea god worked to churn the waters of the boat she’d been cast from. All on board had perished, many looking Galena in the eye and dying believing she was the cursed witch they thought her to be when they thew her over.

Only the lucky ones were given the gift of life underneath the waves.

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