the coral and seaweed. The creature was too big to follow her. She felt safe but weakened. She rested for a while among the seaweed until she felt strong enough to continue on. She wanted to get back to her cave and curl up in her own seaweed, where she knew she was safe. She was exhausted but needed to find her way back before the darkness fell over the waters.
Slowly, she ventured out of the protection of the coral. She saw no signs of the creature that had driven her into hiding. She cautiously glided back out into the open waters, hoping to find the path she had traveled during the migration. Still weakened but determined to continue on, she glided through the waters, unaware of anything but the thought of returning.
Suddenly, the giant creature returned. Willow froze once again, but this time there was no place to go, and she had no strength left to flee his mighty jaws. Had she come into the new world only to leave it this way? Did Morven not say she was there to fulfill a promise? Was this it—to be sacrificed to this creature of the endless waters? If so,why?
There was nothing more for her to do. Fear encompassed her, yet she was helpless. Though he was fierce and would overpower her in moments, she stood strong. Her whole existence flashed before her. Then she thought, I will never be able to choose a mate and have a family like my mother. I will never know the secrets Ellura told me I would learn of my new world.
Though she was filled with fear and wanted to close her eyes and hide, she held her gaze on the mighty creature. He opened his powerful jaws. She could feel the warmth of his breath about to inhale her, and she knew this was the end.
Just as he was about to snatch her up, she closed her eyes for a moment. She heard a crashing sound. Expecting it to be the creature crashing down on her, she opened her eyes. It was not the creature attacking her but many from the Delfin Clan pounding their mighty noses into the side of the creature again and again. Blood gushed from his side as he struggled to break away from the Delfins. They were relentless in their pursuit and continued to hammer away at him until his shattered, lifeless body drifted off, a flow of blood trailing him.
Willow was shaken beyond control at that point. She was weak and overtaken by what she had witnessed. The gentle Delfin Clan had destroyed a creature twice their size. How had they known where to find her? Out of the shadows of the dark waters emerged someone she knew. It was her friend, the ancient one of the Delfin Clan, Llyr. But to the rest of the sea kingdom he was known as the God of the Sea.
He drew near to her, and they spoke in the language only they could understand—the language of the ancients of land and the endless waters. Willow knew she was safe then. She held onto Llyr's fin as the two of them glided through the waters with the ease of light through a beam. In what seemed to be moments, they were at the gateway of her coral forest and her new family, the water people. She released his fin, turned, and bowed to him. He bowed to her and slowly vanished into the dark water.
Ellura and Morven were there at the gateway and escorted her to her cave. She curled up in her seaweed, barely able to move a muscle. She could barely keep her eyes open. Morven leaned down and stroked her hair, then said, "We have much to talk about. But for now, sleep, my little one, sleep."
17
The morning came quickly. Willow thought she had just laid her head on the soft seaweed in her cave, and yet she could hear the sounds of the sea creatures calling to one another. She could feel the waters ripple past her from the movements of her water people darting in and out of the coral forest as they did each morning.
She slowly raised her head from her seaweed bed and turned just enough to catch a glimpse of the sunlight streaming down through the coral forest. That meant it was well into the day and she had indeed slept late. She scurried to pull herself together and glide off the ledge of her cave. It reminded her of the days when she was on land and had overslept and would jump out of her sleeping loft to greet the day.
Willow wondered what her land family was doing. Would they be sitting down at the table for the morning meal that had been simmering in the pot over the embers all evening? Or maybe they would be gathering herbs and vegetables for her mother to prepare for the evening meal. Would her sisters be helping her mother salt the fish her father and brother had brought in from their abundant catch—the one she had participated in, the one she wanted to tell her mother about?
Though she missed them often, she was embracing this new world as her own with each new day. It was as if she had always been there, and her home on land ever so slowly crept to the back of her mind. She longed to share with her mother all that had happened, but frequently was lost in the moments that swirled around her each day. It seemed a lifetime of knowledge flooded her every thought. It was as though those new thoughts were being woven through the very core of who she was and always had been.
Suddenly, she could hear the whisper of Ellura calling to her to awaken and join her and Morven at the gateway of light. Without thinking of how she would find it, she glided off the ledge of the cave for a moment and then imagined herself there. In an instant, she was alongside of Ellura and Morven at the gateway, at the vortex of light that had carried them once before, swirling them upward to the surface of the endless waters.
She quietly waited for Ellura and Morven to speak. She wondered, Why are we here? Have I made such a terrible mistake wandering off from the group that I must leave my new home?
Ellura turn and spoke in the language of the water people. "Did you see how quickly you returned to this spot when your mind was clear and focused? This is the way the ancient ones who adapted to this world survived. They learned the power to move through this world the way you learned to travel here in an instant. You must always remember this, for your journey is just beginning, and there is still much for you to do and learn."
Willow started to ask her more, but then Ellura and Morven were gone. They had vanished in an instant, leaving her alone at the gateway of the vortex of light. She hovered there for a moment, and then the meaning of what Ellura said became clear. She felt herself back in the safety of the coral forest, and there she was. She glanced around, looking for Morven and Ellura, and within a blink, they appeared by her side. Morven reached out for Willow's hand and said, "Well done, little one, well done."
Ellura spoke to Morven in the ancient language. "She has shown remarkable insight, and so quickly."
Ellura whispered to Morven, "She arrived before we did. How was that possible?"
Morven whispered back, "She is truly blood of the ancient ones and daughter to all the kingdoms and clans of the sea. She will serve our world well!" Morven and Ellura glided off into the coral forest, whispering to one another. Willow appeared not to hear them, but she did.
Then Willow was distracted; she heard the voice of Llyr communicating with her in the language only she understood. They spoke together as though they had done so all her life. They spoke as a daughter would speak to her father. She felt safe when she heard his call in the distance. She knew his voice above all others in the Delfin Clan. Llyr did not appear often, but Willow always felt him near. She knew that if she needed him, she could call out to him, and he would come. He was her protector and guide in the open waters, and that gave her great comfort. They said their good-byes for now.
Willow gathered with the other water people in the center of the coral forest, expecting to see Morven, but Morven and Ellura had vanished again. There was so much she wanted to know. Her questions mounted each day. She felt the answer was always just beyond her reach. She wanted to sit with Morven for as long as it would take for her to reveal all the secrets. She was like a child wanting to know the whys now, instead of waiting for each question to be answered in its own time.
As Willow's impatience mounted to the point she felt she would burst from anticipation, she noticed someone following her within the coral forest, just outside her vision. She quickly turned to try to catch a glimpse of who it was. Each time she turned, she saw no one, yet she knew someone was there. She moved further into the t
hickness of the coral, thinking she would not be noticed and could then turn to catch whoever was following her. She quickly slipped behind a mighty coral tree of bright reds and oranges that resembled a patch quilt, with the sunlight peering through the openings between its branches and bouncing off the ripples of water flowing through them. It was so bright, it was almost blinding. She did not hear any movement in the water for a moment, and then she felt a wave brush past her. She held still for what seemed a long time. She thought whoever it was must be gone.
Willow darted out from behind the coral tree. As she turned to head back to the center of activity, she was suddenly face to face with the young boy whom she had seen only from a distance. She froze, and so did he. Neither one moved or spoke. She was embarrassed, but not as much as he was. Each of them struggled to get past the other through the seaweed, only making their awkwardness more apparent as they both darted in the same direction.
Willow's long, golden hair began to tangle around the both of them. As it did, it gathered seaweed from the coral and incorporated it into the web that began to encircle both of them. The more they struggled, the tighter it got. Soon their bodies were touching, and