Hello! So, I want to know your thoughts on the story so far. Some of you have let me know that you think I'm moving too fast and that there's not a great connection between you and the characters. Please give me your honest thoughts. I love to know what you're thinking, even if it is constructive criticism! It's one of the ways you'll help me to improve.

I hope everyone's having a great week! :)

- Sian



"I..." Rowan stared at the hand, then at the glare on the Thalassic Mortal's face. "I'm not touching you. No offence, but I don't want to die today."

Kaerius tightened his jaw. "Kill bond, not human." Though deep down, he knew he would have killed Rowan if they didn't have a disgusting bond. Rowan had tried to kill him, after all.

Rowan scratched the back of his head. He wasn't prepared to mess with his life again. It was far too precious. "Look, I'm sorry... whatever your name is, but-"

"Bond, end," the Thalassic Mortal said, moving closer. He felt the rocks underneath his tail. The tide was starting to go back out. He was aware that he was closer to the shore than what he would like.

Rowan backed away. "I don't understand." He checked his watch. He had to leave right away if he were to make it on time to his first proper seminar. "I don't know why I see you, but I can't stay. Maybe find other fish people." Rowan turned and headed back to the sand.

"Land Mortal!" Kaerius yelled, and the human stopped stepping over seaweed.

The hairs stood up on the back of Rowan's neck. He turned and watched the creature from the corner of his eye. The sea creature's voice shuddered through Rowan like a painfully cold wind.

"Help... Please," Kaerius said. The last thing he wanted was to beg to a human. It was embarrassing for him to keep chasing one. Kaerius wanted to go west with the rest of the Thalassic Mortals. He couldn't. The bond would kill them both.

Rowan's heart ached with sudden guilt. He faced the creature properly, and he saw the desperation. "I have somewhere to be right now, but I guess I can come back at noon. If you're here, I'll try and piece together what you want. If you're not here, then I don't want to see you again. I shouldn't even be able to see you now." Rowan gripped his bag straps. He wanted a normal life. Making friends with a sea creature wasn't a good start.

"Noon?" Kaerius asked before dipping his mouth and nose underwater and inhaling the cold salty sea.

Rowan thought about how he would explain it. He pointed at the sky. "When the sun is here," he said, moving his finger up to a higher spot.

Kaerius understood. "Noon. Okay."

"Okay." Rowan stared at the Thalassic Mortal swimming backwards, watching him in return. Rowan soon ripped his eyes away and rushed back across the rocks. He felt the sea creature's gaze following him as he hurried along the sand. He didn't feel good about meeting with a Thalassic Mortal; his mother had taught him never to trust them. They hated humans, just like humans hated them.

Rowan started to get worried that his parents would find out that he was talking to one of the sea creatures. He couldn't tell his mother because she'd kill the creature, or maybe even make him do it. He couldn't tell his father because he would tell Rowan that he was incredibly stupid, and Rowan already knew that. If Rowan told his dad, his dad would tell his mum, and they'd both be disappointed in him.

Rowan yanked his water bottle from his bag. The stress of the situation made his throat dry. He also felt rather ill, and he had done ever since he woke up from three days of sleep. Maybe he was pushing himself too hard.

When the university entrance loomed in front of Rowan, he tried his best to forget about the Thalassic Mortal and act as if he lived the most mundane life in the world. It was no easy task to forget about the madness of talking with a sea creature when he was surrounded by people who didn't think they existed. Rowan still felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Students were waiting outside the class when Rowan arrived. He smiled at people who smiled back, but nobody said hello to him because he didn't have the courage to say hello either. The tutor was already in the classroom, finishing up another seminar of students and Rowan tried not to make awkward eye contact through the glass wall. All along the corridor, the rooms were visible. Rowan felt uncomfortable being in such a posh building.

"Excuse me," a voice said to Rowan's left. He turned to see a guy staring at him to get his attention. "Are you Rowan Solar?"

"Yeah," Rowan smiled.

"I'm Jack," the guy said, curling up only one side of his lips. "On Friday, we were put into groups of five for the assignment. You're in our group."

"Oh, cool, okay," Rowan said, nodding happily. "Who are the others?"

"I'll point them out on Friday if you turn up," Jack said and raised a brow, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I'm just gonna remind you that I can report you to the tutor if you're not pulling your weight. If you're not turning up, I'll assume that you're not doing the work correctly. Understand?"

Rowan's lips parted with shock. "Hey man, I didn't turn up because I was ill, not because I didn't want to." Rowan was flustered fast.

"Right." Jack looked down, and Rowan realised he was still barefoot and holding onto his flipflops. "I'm assuming that's an alcohol-induced illness."

"No, actually," Rowan said, quickly rubbing the sand from his toes and sliding his feet into his flipflops, feeling irritated. He wasn't prepared to be walked all over. He kept his voice gentle and said, "If I don't want to come in, I won't. I'll do the work on time and get it to the standard we need. I'm not here to fail, so you can chill out."

"Chill out? This is our first assignment-"

"That's due in November. We have months and haven't even learnt anything that we can put into it yet. So yeah, relax," Rowan said with a light chuckle, trying to keep the conversation afloat. Before he could say more to Jack, Rowan noticed that students were making their way into the classroom. He quickly removed himself from the conversation and sat on the first empty table.

Jack sat on the table behind him, and Rowan sank into his chair. Maybe making friends wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. He didn't seem like the brightest student, but that only surprised people further when Rowan aced all his A-Levels in college. University was different, but Rowan was more than capable of getting the best grades. He was born with his dad's brains and his mother stubbornness to be the best.

* * * * *

Noon arrived quickly for Rowan. He had watched the clock every five minutes for the past hour. He didn't want to meet with the Thalassic Mortal despite a big part of him churning with curiosity. It was like meeting with the devil. Every time Rowan got close enough to see the creature's gills and sharp teeth, he was close enough to lose his life.

"Rowan," a voice said as he hurried towards the stairs. Rowan stopped with a sigh, turning to see Jack hurrying after him. "We're meeting up now with the group, so-"

"Sorry Jack, but I can't," Rowan sighed, internally cringing. "I have somewhere to be. Just make a group chat on Facebook or something, then we can arrange a better time because this is too short notice for me." Rowan smoothly walked away, frowning to himself. He rejected a perfect excuse for not meeting with the sea creature. University was a million times more important, but that odd longing he felt to be close to the ocean seemed to speak for him.

Seeing the sea; the wide open space, and smelling the dense sea air, Rowan relaxed. The sky was cloudy, and the sea was a little rough, but the choppy wind was nice on Rowan's skin. He headed down the zigzag route and onto the soft golden sand.

Rowan did his best not to stare at the spot where he washed up on the shore on Thursday morning. He moved left towards the next bay, wondering if the Thalassic Mortal was waiting for him. Rowan trudged along the wet sand so he could walk faster.

The sun was behind the clouds, though he could see where the sun was in the sky, but as Rowan approached his favourite secluded spot on the rocks, the Thalassic Mortal was nowhere to be seen.

Rowan scanned the ocean carefully. He didn't see anyone, and he didn't feel like he was being watched. He decided to sit away from the edge, leaning his back against a raised part of the rocks. He crossed his legs and waited.

Rowan was a patient person, but as time went by, he started to get nervous. What if the Thalassic Mortal was planning an ambush and Rowan was going to get dragged off the rocks at any minute. The tension bubbled inside of him, and he shuffled even further away from the water.

Rowan felt a little breathless as he checked his watch. It was already 12:45. He assumed the Thalassic Mortal didn't wear a watch and would arrive soon. Rowan didn't know if it was a good thing or not. His raised heartbeat reminded him to stay very alert. Meeting with a Thalassic Mortal without weapons was the most dangerous thing Rowan had done. At least he had the antidote to the poison in his bag.

When he started to calm himself down, Rowan heard it; the sound the Thalassic Mortal makes when they move unnaturally fast underwater. It sounded like a cannon going off in the sea, shooting towards him, getting louder and louder. Rowan gripped the rock, just as something shot out of the water and landed with a thud on the rock.

Rowan yelped and scurried as far back as he could, letting the stone jab him in the back. The Thalassic Mortal who landed on the rock was breathing heavily and glancing around the water while shuffling away too until his back also pressed against the rock. Another Thalassic Mortal slowly emerged from the water, and Rowan held his breath.

The sea creature in the water looked old enough to be in his seventies, and he spoke to the other creature in the Thalassic Mortals tongue. It sounded like low and soft whispery words that Rowan couldn't understand.

"Him?" the elderly creature growled from the sea, and Rowan tensed every inch of his body. The Thalassic Mortal next to him, who Rowan had met that morning, stared with his big purple eyes and nodded. Rowan saw his hatred.

The creature in the sea angrily slapped his tail on the surface before hauling himself up and lunging for the human.

Rowan tried to scramble back, but there was nowhere for him to go. He lifted a bare foot to kick at the creature, but he Thalassic Mortal next to him moved in his way, hissing deeply at the other Thalassic Mortal, half in the water.

"No! Human, no kill!" He growled and flapped his tail, so his fins at the bottom hit the older creature's head and his chin crashed onto the rock.

Rowan watched in a fear that wouldn't let him move. The older Thalassic Mortal slinked back into the ocean, groaning. He said something in the Thalassic Mortal's tongue. It sounded aggressive, and the tone of a threat before the creature disappeared and didn't return.

Rowan wanted to run, but he was too scared to move in case there were more waiting for him in the ocean. "What is happening?" he whispered, tensing again when the creature on the rock turned to stare. "Please don't hurt me."

"That," Kaerius said, pointing to the water. "Uncle's father. You hurt uncle. Spear."

Rowan remembered spearing a Thalassic Mortal in the tail on the night of the hunt. "Did I kill him?" Rowan asked, and the creature shook his head to say no.

"Uncle screamed. Funny."

Rowan didn't know how to respond as his eyes traced the Thalassic Mortal, seeing one in full for the first time. Under the creature's bellybutton, his skin blended into beautiful turquoise scales that reflected the light like each scale had a clear coat of gloss over them. His tail was as long as his legs would have been if the Thalassic Mortal had legs. At the bottom, the tail thinned into two curling fins. They shimmered into a light transparent blue. The turquoise colour suited the creatures pale skin and black hair. Everything about the Thalassic Mortal was unique and pleasure for the eyes. Rowan had to draw him because his mother's drawings created monsters and the visual definition of evil.

"Why didn't you let him grab me?" Rowan asked, hearing his voice shake. His hands trembled as they clung tightly to the rock.

"Bond. You die; I die."

"Bond?"

The sea creature pointed a webbed finger at the human who gasped in terror, staring at his black nails full of poison. "Soul," he said then pointed to himself. "Soul." The Thalassic Mortal slapped his hands together. "Bond."

"My soul and your soul," Rowan mumbled, and Kaerius slapped his hands together again, making Rowan jump. "Bonded?"

"Yes!" the creature cried, but with his deep voice, it only freaked the human out more, but he didn't care. "You, me, bond...ed. Soul... Mortals. Land Mortal, sea Mortal, bond-ed."

Rowan couldn't help but watch the Thalassic Mortal's mouth. His teeth were the correct proportion as human teeth, expect the creatures were all pointy and sharp. "You're trying to say that our souls are bonded? Is that why I can see you?"

Kaerius nodded, wanting to fling seaweed into the water with relief. "You, help kill bond."

"I thought only royal Thalassic Mortals could have soulmates. They fled or died out years ago. Right?" The sea creature raised a shocked brow at Rowan's knowledge. "My parents, well, my dad knows a lot about your kind. He used to force me to study Thalassic Mortal's all the time."

The creature stared at the human's feet. They were closer to him, close enough for him to grab. "Help end bond," he said, wishing he knew more English.

"You want me to help end this alleged bond?" Rowan asked, running a hand through his blonde hair. He didn't believe that it was true. "This feels like you're tricking me."

Kaerius knew the human wouldn't be wholly convinced unless he could feel the connection, so with a tired sigh, he shot a hand close and grabbed the human's ankle, touching his warm skin, and yanking it towards the nearest rock pool. The bond had been awoken in Kaerius. If they touched again in seawater, the human would hopefully feel it too and be just as disgusted.