they could not ignore the closeness. They stopped struggling. Willow raised her head slightly to meet his deep blue eye. Their eyes locked once again, but this time there was no escaping.
Willow felt the heat rise from her body as it continued to brush against his. She hoped he would not notice. She turned her head away from him. They both became very still. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. "I am Vala."
"Vala?" she repeated.
"And you are Willow, blood of the ancient ones," Vala said.
When Vala spoke to her, it was the only thing she could hear. She could not hear the rushing of waves ripple past or the voices of the sea creatures that were always close by. His voice was soft yet strong. She felt herself melting into the rhythm of his voice. It was the voice that had often entered her dreams when she was with her land family. A voice she awaited each time she returned to sleep. He was the one that had reached out for her hand the first time she fell into the darkness of the endless waters. Yes, this was the one just outside my sight when I traveled to the water's edge.
Could he be the reason I could not pick a mate on land? Is he the one I will choose to be my mate? Her thoughts were so loud. She briefly forgot this was the language of her new world and her thoughts could be heard. He bowed his head, and then she realized he had heard every word. Now she was even more embarrassed. She wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment; she couldn't look up at him, knowing he'd heard it all. She closed her eyes and pictured herself in the safety of her cave, hiding beneath her seaweed, away from anyone knowing what had just happened.
Before she had even finished her thoughts, she opened her eyes, and indeed she was in her cave. She rushed to pull the seaweed up around her. I will never come out from under my blanket of seaweed. I will stay here forever.
She heard a whisper so faint she almost could not make out what it was saying. "No, you will come out, and all will be as it is meant to be." She could not identify the voice, but it was reassuring. But how could she face the young man again? Yet every time she thought of him, her body became alive with warmth.
She needed to talk to her mother, since Morven was nowhere to be found and frequently avoided answering any questions she had anyway. Willow sat up at the edge of her cave, closed her eyes, and called out to her mother in their private way. She sat there for what seemed forever, but there was no answer from her mother. Then she felt a comforting arm around her shoulder. She opened her eyes, and there sat Morven.
"Your mother has sent me. These are questions that she cannot answer for you. Your mother has known since your birth you were predestined to return to the sea, but she put it far back in her mind, for she did not want to face losing you. She knows now that this is your home. She will never lose you, but now you must learn the ways of the water people.
"You have chosen wisely. Vala has always known he was chosen for you, so do not feel embarrassed. When the time is right, you two will join. But for now, there is much for you to do to prepare yourself for the place you will hold for our worlds. There is no hurry, and Vala will be by your side."
Willow could not speak, yet she felt relieved to hear those words from Morven. But of course, this only added another question. "Be by my side for what?" she asked.
Morven looked at her and smiled. "Someday, you will replace me. You will be the bridge between the water and the land people. You are the promise once made so long ago, even before the woman on the land was given a child. Did you not feel the bond when you asked to take nourishment from the shell? Have you not spoken the language of the ancient Delfin, Llyr? Have you not traveled beyond time? How do you think this is possible, if it was not already in your blood?" Morven asked.
Willow stood silent. She knew all this was true. She had yearned for the waters since she was old enough to first touch the water's edge with her feet. Her dreams had been flooded with the visions of what lay beneath the waves of the endless waters; the magical creatures that now glided alongside of her had until then been only in her dreams. She even remembered the vision of Vala, yet not quite knowing who he was or why he had surfaced so many times as she slept. Her dreams were not dreams, but visions of the world she was meant to live in.
Willow sensed a great responsibility she would soon embark on that would change the way she looked at all the adventures and encounters that crossed her path from that point on. She knew from that moment on, she must stay focused on the teachings of the sea kingdom and its clans. She reached up and clasped the pearl shell Ellura had given her nights before the festival on land. She felt its true meaning for the first time. She could feel the pulse of the entire shell clan beat in her hand as she held it tightly. She ran her hands up the silver strands that held the shell and could feel the wisdom of Ellura and the ancient ones rush through her core being. It was now a part of who she was to become. It was the first gift that sealed the bond with her new family. She was forever a part of this new world. There was no turning back now. She had chosen to leave behind all thoughts of ever returning to the land and her family. She would always hold them dear to her heart, but she knew she had a great responsibility there beneath the endless waters. She truly had become a part of the sea.
18
The waters churned beneath the sea, and the sands swirled with great intensity, blinding the entire Sea Kingdom. Even the Giant Shell Kingdom remained still on the floor of the sea as the sands continued to thrash from side to side, tossing anything and anyone in their path against the coral forest. The water people remained in their caves, hovering as far back as possible to avoid the sting of the churning sands.
Willow knew it was too dangerous to venture out into the swirling waters, but her yearning to sit with Morven with no interruptions and search her words for more of the secrets of who and what would be facing her in the future was about to overpower her fear of the danger outside her cave. She had delved into some of the most terrifying parts of the open waters and faced the menacing beast of the sea and survived, yet it was only with the help of her brothers of the Delfin Clan. Without them, she would have succumbed to his mighty jaws and been lost to the water people forever. Who then would fulfill the promise made so long ago?
She was to be the bridge between the worlds of the land and water people. She would someday hold great responsibility; she would encompass all the wisdom of the woman of the water, Ellura, and that of the ancients, along with that of her great-great-grandmother, Morven. Morven was the Goddess of the Sea, and she would pass to Willow all her knowledge and the memories of all the ancient ones when the time was upon her.
Willow wondered how she would be able to learn all the secrets in such a short time. Morven and Ellura assured her she would. That was all she needed to know; it would be so. Yet the very thought of unknown secrets challenged Willow's patience every minute. Questions raced through her, never giving her a moment of peace. How much longer can this storm continue? Would it be so hard to just imagine myself beside Morven? Would she mind if I came unannounced? Would it be safe to travel under such conditions? Suddenly, she heard a piercing and unwavering voice call out to her. "Silence."
Willow had not learned to turn her thoughts inward yet, so when she became anxious or impatient, it was heard throughout the coral forest. Her thoughts carried through the waters with the same passion of a giant wave crashing onto the shore. Since she had bridged the communication barrier with many of the clans and could now speak to them in their language, her voice translated and also traveled to them as well. Would she learn to calm her inner thoughts to make them hers alone? She laid her head on her bed of seaweed from the exhaustion of the thoughts that ran rapidly through her mind. And then, finally, she drifted off to sleep.
Her dreams were often visions of things not yet seen or voiced, even with Ellura or Morven. Some were of such beauty and calmness that she would awaken with a renewed peace that permeated through her, relaxing her mind completely. Willow wondered if these were dreams or if they were visions of what she would soon experien
ce. She hoped they were visions.
Then there were the dreams of terror that frightened her so much, she awoke with her body rigid, tense, and afraid. Could such things be in her future too? How would she escape from them? How would she bring forth the wisdom of the ancients to survive the frightful episodes about to happen?
Willow was awakened by the gentle touch of Ellura's hair brushing against her arm as she lay there on her bed of soft seaweed. It eased her restless mind, for she knew that touch so well. It was Ellura's hair that Willow had first set her eyes on beneath the endless waters and felt against her skin as she sat at the water's edge in what seemed so many years ago. Her long, illuminating silver hair glowed as it swirled in the waters. Ellura was soft-spoken and gentle, yet her impact on the entire Sea Kingdom was held in high regard. She was the woman of the water.
"What troubles you, Willow?" Ellura asked. Willow told her of her frequent visions, those of beauty that brought her peace and delight and those that terrified her and took her breath away. Ellura told her these were true in the sea world. There were dangers, yes, that not only threatened her but all who traveled in the open waters. Ellura told her she