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II

Five years later

Merlin didn't remember much from the Great Purge. He had been very young, only just reaching his fourth winter. Yet, he can still remember the smell of fear and the taste of his kin's blood as he breathed in the waters. The screaming persistently haunts his dreams. With each passing year, the grief and the pain becomes that bit more bearable, but there are those amongst the clan who will never forgive. It's difficult when he cannot recall much from before, he isn't always quite sure what he's lost. Maybe that, in all its entirety, is worse?

He can still picture the first time a boat crossed their lake. The girls tore it apart and drowned the men inside, if in revenge for no other reason, all harboured much hatred for humans. And all carried wounds in their hearts that wouldn't heal. Merlin might not have taken part in the act, but he did nothing to stop it, turning the other cheek and drowning out their screams with his singing.

In the years that followed it became a regular thing. No survivors meant there was no one left alive to tell of the danger living in the lake. Their collection of bones matched their hoard of stolen precious-looking objects. Of course, the girls had rules.

Individuals if thought attractive enough would be spared, but those were few and far between. It changed again when one raid was stopped short before it could begin, as one girl had spotted a small child on board. The Mer weren't complete monsters, children were innocents in this world and the human lifecycle was incredible short. With the years that had past, many probably hadn't even been born during the time of the Purge.

The boat was left to cross safely, but it meant those it carried had seen them. The rumours spread quickly evidenced by the humans visiting their lake to try their chance at catching a mermaid. It only fuelled more hate in the girls. On the shore humans were out of their reach. Hiding meant staying at the bottom of the lake and not being able to sunbathe.

With such frequent visits it soon became known that they were unable to understand human tongue. The Mer communicated in clicks and whistles, sound travels clearer underwater in these ways. Human words and pitches sounded more foreign than the calls of morning birds and, in his opinion, complete gibberish.

By the winter Merlin had finally reached eleven, the human visitors were rare. Word of people going to the lake and never returning quickly spread through the villages causing many to start using different routes to avoid their home. Not that Merlin cared, it was no scales off his tail. But there were a few whom brushed aside the lake's bad omen, their bravery got them nothing good.

In truth they had never had so much contact with humans before, even if those humans weren't alive for more than a couple of minutes. As time marched on, they learnt more and more. Their voices for one. Humans, especially the males, became entranced whenever they sang, even calling them to the water's edge to their death. The girls took their games to a whole new level when they realised they possessed such a skill.

The second was their faces, apparently humans found them very attractive. Sometimes just a shy smile or faked expression of innocent curiosity could bring them close enough. Not that he usually took part, but in boredom anything becomes a worthwhile pass time. Merlin spent most of his days sunbathing, hunting, playing with the girls, or grooming, there was always the enticement of secretly exploring the rivers he'd been forbidden to enter. Camelot's dangers were well bred into him, so generally he stayed to the less frequent visited and more obscure ones.

Occasionally, he travelled to the rivers his clan use to dwell within. They were deep and treacherous to cross without gills. Prefect for protection, or so they had thought. Now nothing remained having been swept away by the fast moving currents. Merlin scrunched his feature and snarled at passing fish.

The Great Purge held no justice, no difference between the good and the evil. Everything and anything magical was hunted down and slaughtered. Uther and his Knights wiped out entire species in their raids, and the ones lucky enough to escape the land or hide were but a hand full.

His clan, or what was left of it, had hid for years at the bottom of that lake, feeding on the freshwater fish and taking refuge in the underwater caverns. Since those dark days many scouts had ventured out of the lake and back to the rivers, sometimes travelling for weeks at ends but no other Mer were found. It was with a heavy heart, many realised they were the last. The lucky ones.

Merlin hated it. They had done no wrong and he was but a pup at the time. New to this world and already condemned to die for just existing. Yet he'd heard rumours that Uther had targeted his own people as well. Humans killing humans. As if their race wasn't confusing enough for Merlin. But he could tell many were starting to forget the long months the land had been stained with blood. Because even when humans started to visit the lake, no Knights showed up, no one came to string them up and gut them alive.

The Mer are an ancient race with long lifespans. (Merlin had heard a story once about one of his kin reaching nine hundred years in age). So forgetting past wrongs can be difficult, but for humans to have moved on so quickly seemed bizarre for lack of better term.

From pups Mer grow quickly, reaching roughly seventeen the ageing process as well as mental develop can be halted for hundreds of years. Eventually they begin to age and look after the younger generations. But that was a long way off for many Mer in the lake, it wasn't even worth thinking about.

Life seemed to settle down, days drifted into one another and the winters moved sweetly by.

That was until a large group of humans entered their lake by boats around his fifteenth winter. As soon as they were a decent way across, the attack was initiated. The girls grabbed onto the boats, folding their arms on the sides and resting their chins. It seemed this time they'd gone for the option of entrancing the men into dream like states before dragging them down to watery graves. As always Merlin stayed out of their way, he held no interest or cares for such an evil race. But when the surface lit up the night like day causing many girls swim away in screams. He was, for lack of better term, intrigued. Grabbing one of the girls by the arm as she swam past, he hissed a demand to know what had happened. She whistled a warning back that they held the sun in their hands and it hurt before continuing to the depths.

As Merlin drew closer, he watched as above the surface lit up with light and more girls fled. After a few minutes he was the only one floating in the waters under the two boats. The rest had left in fear. Something was off, the humans smelt different to those he had seen before and the water tingled with power. It jumped across his skin and felt really, really good. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Merlin breached the surface. Close enough, but at a distance that he wouldn't get in their way.

Quickly one pointed at him yelling, "There's another" - whatever that meant. He dipped back down only keeping his eyes above the water. Fascinated he watched as one man suddenly held part of the sun in his hand and directed the light at him. Yet the moment he did Merlin felt his skin tingle again, and the next moment the light disappeared from the man's hand. There was a gasp across the crowded boats of humans. Though Merlin wasn't quite sure what just happened, after all it was the man whom wielded the light.

A silence fell over them and that's when the young Mer noticed a young child amongst the weather-worn cloaks. His blue eyes were focused solely on Merlin, something akin to awe and wonder breathed in their brilliant colour. But this was becoming redundant. If the man wasn't going to summon the light again than staying here was a waste of time. He drove back down, confused by the shouts and calls coming from the boats above as he swam away.

Two days later, and he's lounging around in the shallows. Grooming his tail with pieces of river-weed, washed into the lake from the currents upstream. When a small boat carrying two adults and a child barely caught his attention. Already the girls were swarming, curious to see why they just stopped on the middle of their lake. He could sense the adults fear as their hands itched to reach for the ores and paddle back to dry land. But every time they tried, the child would shake his head.

The girls wouldn't attack, but they didn't stop them from nestling on the sides and allowing the child to admire their scales. From the smell, it was without dispute the travellers from before. But the man with the parts of the sun in his hand wasn't one accompanying the small boy. Merlin watched on with faint interest, the humans seemed to be searching the waters for something. A trinket perhaps? Maybe they dropped it when crossing the other day, which wasn't that uncommon if the girls decided to have a little fun and rock the boats. They had plenty of treasures below on the lake's bed.

After a couple of hours they returned, leaving the boat by the water's edge. Strange but the young Mer thought very little of their carelessness. If the girls decided to rip it apart during the night it would be the human's fault.

Truly it wasn't till they returned the next night after that Merlin felt he should investigate. He approached from below the boat. The girls whispered between themselves taking turns to touch the boy's skin and feel his hair. They had fetishes for cute things.

With their clan's tails all being the same colours, namely deep oranges blended with yellows, he wasn't at all distinctive. But for some reason, above the boy's eyes seemed to track his movements. As he surfaced the boy moved to the other side of the boat to be nearer to him. The small wooden frame rocked on the waters and he could practically smells the fear from the two human adults. Not that he could blame them, if they fell in the girls would surely tear them apart. But the boy was different, he didn't smell scared at all, only determined. He leant over the side of the boat, reaching one hand out towards the Mer. Merlin hissed on instinct and the boy immediately withdrew his arm, looking upset. Yet instead of giving up, the boy tried a different approach and muttered a few words. The sun burnt on his fingertips and Merlin's eyes widen in surprise.

"Careful Mordred." One seemed to say in a warning tone. It was the sort his mother used when she saw him heading in the direction of the river opening.

Despite this the boy continued without faltering, he allowed the light to dance in the air. Merlin drew closer with caution. By now many of the girls had backed away, remembering their encounter with the peculiarity days before.

'It's okay.' A young voice echoed in his mind, 'we would cause you no harm.'

Merlin frowned because he wasn't scared in the first place. Just awfully aware of what cruelty humans were capable of. He moved within touching distance of the boy, but this time the boy just allowed Merlin to watch fascinated at the light in his hands. Maybe he spent longer than he realised looking the pieces of sun because the skin on his back was almost completely dry. And as if the boy understood his intention of returning to the darkness below, he reached out for the Mer. Merlin offered a feral snarl this time, dripping back into the water as not to further damage himself. It happened quickly, the boy almost jumped out of the boat to reach Merlin's head. A cool sensation rippled over his skin, intensifying with each passing moment and making him feel very, very sleepy. The young Mer almost forgot to beat his tail to keep him upright.

"What are you doing?" One adult seemed to demand.

"A calming spell," the young voice replied.

"And what else?" He endeavoured.

"I'm looking through his memories."

Merlin remained immobile, leaning his head to rest on the side boat. All too relaxed to even bother hissing as the adults approached. He felt fingers card through his hair and something stroking his cheek. The tingling sensation sparked across his body again and Merlin found he had no control as his lips released a low purr.

Then he felt a tug and quickly water rushed through his hair. One of the girls had pulled him back down, he shook his head trying to clear his hazy mindset, and allowed himself to be led by the girl as she guided him further below. The boy didn't return, not within one week, not even four.

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