From the Depths

Henry appeared exhausted, they had spent quite some time making their way up the cliff. Ren’s legs could bearly hold his weight and the steep steps had posed a problem. He had to practically be dragged up the rough carved staircase.

Ren, much to his dismay, had been instructed to keep quiet and not wander off. However, that proved harder than it had first sounded. Everything around him was new and fascinating, he was simply amazed by every little thing. He was like a child in a playground, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut or stop wandering off whenever Henry stopped to check the path ahead was clear.

His antics had resulted in Henry having to hold his hand for most of the way to her room. Ren wiggled his nose making a face, he didn’t like the feel of this human’s hand on his. But he also didn’t blame the human for taking such a precaution.

“I don’t like it either, but somebody is not making this easy for me!” Henry hissed in a hushed tone as they rounded a corner.

The stone walls in the castle were different to his cave, for one thing, they were dry and dull in colour, and they didn’t glisten and shine with the water’s reflection. He taped a red coloured brick. It appeared to be some sort of building block, the humans had used a type of aggregate in between each stone to build walls.

Henry yanked Ren away from the wall and forced the Siren to keep moving. Kirea’s room was closer than his, he wanted nothing more to get the merman dressed, but given the amount of difficulty it had been to get this far, he couldn’t risk it.

Finally, they appeared to reach Kirea’s room, it was closer to the edge of the castle than Ren had thought. Better for him, though it had been a long and wobbly walk to begin with. He was walking normally now, able to maneuver the new legs easier than he thought in such a short time.

“Stay in here with her, do not leave the room. I’ll be back with some clothes for you, okay?” Henry hissed, clearly he was upset.

Ren nodded and was soon left alone in the room. Though the slight, soft breathing sounds coming from the soft-looking rectangle meant that he wasn’t alone. He smiled, she was simply adorable. Approaching the side of the furniture he knelt beside her sleeping form. A soft glow could faintly be seen beneath the bundles of fabric she was wrapped up in. Her hand clutching his precious gift to her, his heart soared at the mere sight of her.

He leaned forward his hand reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. “Kirea, I’ve come to see you this time.” His voice was soft and soothing. He wanted to let her sleep, but for what he needed to do he would need her awake, or else she would wake in a panic mid-way through.

The door flung open from behind him and Henry came charging in, clothing in hand. The human gasped dropping the fabric out of sheer shock, his hands flying to his eyes to cover them.

Confused Ren tilted his head looking up at him from his position on the floor.

“G-Good god Ren, you can’t sit like that with nothing on your backside!” Henry’s face was growing slightly red he noticed.

Ren was crouched down and leaned forward, his bare buttocks showing for all the world to see.

“You did not react like that in the cavern.” Ren was confused, but still, he righted himself and took on a more straight posture.

“You caught me off guard is all.” Henry kicked over the fabric that was now on the floor. “Put that on.” He walked over to Kirea and inspected her. He gently pulled the covers up over her shoulders and sighed. “She’s sleeping soundly, good.”

“I will need to wake her to give her some of my essence,” Ren stated.

Henry’s head snapped to him, a glare in his eyes. “You let her rest, stay with her until she wakes then you can do what you need to.”

“You are not staying?” Ren asked concerned and in a slight panic. The Human was actually willing to leave him alone with her, that was unexpected. But more than that he was worried they would be followed.

Henry shook his head. “I can’t, I have rounds to make. I will be back before dawn to help you down the cliff.” He paused for a moment. “I’m trusting you to look after her.” He finally added. “I would like nothing more than to stay. If she has another fit...” He trialled off. "I'm on guard duty tonight, need to make sure no one comes into the castle."

That set Ren at ease. He may not be in the same room but he would be watching for intruders. Ren stood looking Henry in the eyes. He took the Knight’s hand in his and squeezed gently. “I truly don’t know if this will cure her, if anything it will just extend her life, I am not trained.”

Henry appeared to saden. “Something is better than nothing.” Retrieving his hand he turned to leave.

With his hand resting on the door turned his head to look back. “Best put some clothes on, she gets flustered around you as it is.”

Picking up the fabric that Henry had brought he nodded in agreement as Henry left. Once the door was closed he threw the material to the ground and rolled his eyes. The human had no clue what needed to be done, but first, first he needed to wake her.

Stripping off the material that was called a shirt, the night air felt much better against his smooth skin than the fabric. Why the humans wore them he didn’t know, they were restrictive and irritating. His body produced enough heat that the material was useless in this chill air.

Approaching Kirea’s sleeping form he gently pulled back the covers, the action stirred her a little but not enough to wake her. He knelt with one knee on the object she was resting on, surprised at how soft and bouncy it felt beneath him. Though his curiosity was piqued, he could explore the objects in the room later, she came first.

“Kirea...” He reached forward again, his hands caressing the sides of her face. “Beautiful, it’s time to wake up.”

She made a sound like a small groan in protest, the reaction was music to his ears. He loved the sound of her voice. His thumb rubbed gently along her bottom lip as he licked his own, he could still taste her. It had been selfish of him to trap her under water but he couldn’t resist the chance. He had wanted to know what she tasted like, wanted all of her.

Her eyes fluttered open, her hooded gaze meeting his. She didn’t appear shocked or surprised to see him. She simply smiled happily, melting his heart.

“Ren” She whispered.

“Hi.” He responded. “I want to help you.”

She answered with a soft giggle. Her head lulled to the side as her hand reached up to frame his that was around her face. She leaned into his touch, she was still half asleep he realized, would it be safe enough to proceed like this? He didn’t have a lot of time before the dawn would come.

“The clothing... I need to remove it.” He told her.

He watched her bite her bottom lip before nodding gently in his grasp. What a peculiar reaction, she was normally so defensive around him when it came to him touching her. She'd even stopped him the last time.

He removed one of his hands to slowly dip it under the pulled-back covers, pushing them aside completely. Her nightgown was already at her waist, probably from tossing and turning in her sleep. His hand found the edge of the material, she helped by lifting her backside up as he slid the fabric up and over her head.

His eyes followed the fabric as it exposed her bare skin to him. Siren’s were as he was, bare and on display. However, he’d never seen her this raw, this unguarded. She was utterly breathtaking, no siren compared to her naked form. As much as he wanted to touch and taste her, he held back. He was going to help her, not himself, no matter how inviting her body was or how much he wanted to devour her.

“Kirea, I’m going to embrace you.” He told her as he moved, now kneeling completely on the bed. With her slight nod, he moved again, he laid down beside her, their faces mere inches apart as they turned to face each other, resting on their sides beside one another.

Her hands found their way to his chest, her fingers lingering over his pecks as she smiled up at him. Her hands felt amazing on his skin, the contrast to the chill in the night air and the warmth of her touch surprised him. When they were in the waters their bodies took on the temperature of the liquid. These sensations were entirely new to him, with each second he waited in the hopes that he wouldn’t frighten her, he fought the urge to explore further.

Focus! He slid his hand under and around her, gently pulling her closer, her own hands traced an invisible line up his chest to rest around his neck as their skin met. His forehead rested comfortably against hers as he closed down his eyes. Taking a deep breath he relaxed into her, which was a lot harder than he expected, her soft curves were pleading with him on a different level.

Reaching within himself he called on the light that dwelled within, the very essence that fueled him and his abilities. Bundling up a small portion, he wasn’t entirely sure how much a human body could house, he used the connection from their skin contact to transfer a small portion of his being into her, he didn’t know any other way, direct contact was easiest for him. This was his very life force that he was channelling to her. She needed it more than he.

She gasped aching her back into him. He ground his teeth trying to stay focused as his body reacted unexpectedly to the sudden movement. His closed eyes twitched as he tried his best to focus on the light he was envisioning leaving his body and entering hers. He worked to circulate it through her body in the hopes of healing her.

His head twitched to the side as he was able to feel what was wrong with her vessel, it was badly damaged internally, and a lot of the tissue was already scarred or completely decayed and dead. It was as he feared, he couldn’t heal her completely he didn’t have the know-how. He would only be able to extend her life by maybe... a few weeks. But as Henry had said, something was better than nothing.

The other option was binding her to him... But he didn't know the ritual, he'd be guessing at it, and that could be far worse of an outcome if he wasn't careful. Even if he did manage to pull it odd that would mean she would die when he did. And the King’s plan made that an unlikely option.

They couldn’t run, or rather he couldn’t, they would always be at risk of being found by the sirens. The cavern by the sea was locked and hidden, the sirens already knew he was there, but they were unable to get in. It had been his selfish wish to have Kirea visit him at night as they didn’t want to be discovered by humans and stayed far away, hidden out to sea.

It was risky enough for him to be here like this, if any of them had spotted him leaving the cavern, he’d be dead this very night. But in truth, if he could help her, he didn’t mind. His life was hers and hers alone, he’d give it all to her in a heartbeat.