Haven't updated this one in a while:D This is posted in connection with Project PULL, set up by Bookaholic711, where you post a thousand words or more every Friday fortnight. Happy Christmas, everyone!

The Race

"Wish us luck!" Jessica yelled from the Water Sprite. I laughed- Arran was gazing steadfastly at the water, obviously resenting the fact that he had to stay in human form so close to his natural element. Antonia, who was unfurling the sail, looked up and waved at us, letting the lightweight material drop and trail into the water, sending ripples over the surface.

"Careful!" Col shouted back out to them, his voice muted by the festival atmosphere that had arisen in the last half hour. "You won't get anywhere with a wet sail!" Anneena rolled her eyes histrionically and rapidly enlisted the selkie and his companion in wringing out the sodden sail.

A younger member of the Chartmouth Chapter- a water sprite companion in his early twenties- had been coerced into being the adult supervision for their entry, and when Anneena was otherwise occupied in untangling the boat's rigging, he placed a hand on the sail and drew the water from it as easily as if he had been a sponge. The liquid harmlessly evaporating from his skin in wispy spirals of condensation. When Anneena looked again, her eyes widened in comical surprise, and she scrunched the cotton in her hands disbelievingly. The water sprite companion, noting that our eyes had settled on the antics of their boat, held a finger to his lips, and encouraged by the smile I gave him, turned the gesture into a flamboyant hand-kissing gesture. Col was good-natured about it.

"Seems like you have no end to your admirers, Miss Universal." He pulled a strand of my static black hair teasingly, and snatched his hand back in alarm.

"Ow! I thought it had stopped doing that!" he complained, rubbing his finger where my hair had shocked him. "I swear, it's almost as bad as the gorgon's!" I smoothed down the flyaway strands as best I could, pulling most of it into a dark green band that I had been wearing as a bracelet.

"Better?" I asked, running my fingers self-consciously through the loose layers that fell around my face. Before Col could reply, Rat cut in, speaking into a large, unusually fluffy microphone. The initial screech of feedback caused several people to wince and place their hands over their ears.

"Attention, all! Hescombe's first annual boat race is about to commence! Please turn off all mobile phones and keep public displays of affection to a minimum!" Several people turned around to give Rat a funny look, but their attention was soon distracted by a well-timed foghorn blast from Anneena, signaling the start of the race.

Rather than the three boats that Rat had originally predicted, almost twenty small boats were taking part in the race. We didn't single out anybody in our cheering as a huge amount of the boats belonged to Society members. Apart from Jessica, Antonia and Arran on Mrs. Clamworthy's boat, boats that had newly been christened 'Selkie', 'Fire Imp' and 'Kraken' were sailing through the calm waters. The conditions were perfect for the race; Anneena had planned it very well. The sun shone down from clear, azure skies, giving a promise of a dry day, and there was just enough wind to give the sails the power to move. They looked like oversized, colourful swans floating along the harbour, all swift lines and lightly fluttering material.

Every so often, a brisk breeze would spring up around the 'Fire Imp'- I suspected that Omar's sylph companion had something to do with it. Without thinking, I drew an arrow of wind from my quiver, and after making sure that nobody was watching, drew my bow and fired at the shadow resting on the mast of Mrs. Khalid's boat. Taken by surprise, the sylph was lifted by the wind and gently deposited into the water. Catching my triumphant expression when he turned around, Omar laughed affably and mimed that he wouldn't try to cheat again. Col looked on, surprised.

"What was that about?" he whispered curiously.

"Omar's companion was trying to help, so I just blew her off course." Col nodded in understanding and sat back down on the rug he had brought along, then motioned for me to sit beside him. I rested my head on his shoulder comfortably, half-heartedly watching the race, which, by that stage, had moved too far away for each individual boat to be recognized.

A small red-haired toddler was gazing with delight at the boats, showing a lot more enthusiasm than I was. She looked like she was around two years old, and she seemed completely entranced by the water. Her expression caught my interest- maybe she was a companion? I dived quickly into her mind, and caught a tiny glimmer of light come from deeper inside it.

Not wanting to intrude more than I needed to, I sent a silver ribbon of light towards the faint glow, searching intently for the source of the light. Before the silver band had so much as touched the blue light, I knew that she had a bond to water sprites. I withdrew from her mind quietly and told Col what I had discovered. He looked at me, and started to laugh.

"The Society won't be short of potential members as long as you're around, Connie!" His laughter was contagious, and I couldn't help but join in.

"I don't see how this is funny," I gasped, still unable to breathe from laughing.

"No, I was just thinking, this might raise some problems in our relationship. If we were going out on a real date, and you wandered off in the middle of it to ask somebody if they wanted to do an assessment!" he chuckled.

A small droplet of water fell on my outstretched hand suddenly. I looked up, frowning, and Col's laughter ended abruptly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and I brushed the water from my hand.

"Nothing. I just thought I felt-" An anguished scream prevented me from saying anything more. I leapt from the rug immediately and scanned the area quickly. I froze in shock when I saw where the scream had come from. The little girl- the companion to water sprites- was dangling over the edge of the pier.

Her small hands were gripping the stone so fiercely that her knuckles had turned white, but were gradually losing their hold. Her mother was desperately trying to grab hold of her hands, but couldn't pry them from the pier. I looked over the edge of the pier- if she fell, it would not be relatively safe water that would break her fall- the tide had come in sharply. Sharp rocks lay clustered on the ground at least ten feet below her.

Without thinking of the consequences, I leapt from the pier, shifting shape in mid-air, like Kullervo had done before me. Following Kullervo's instinct, and not my own, I settled into the form of a silver eagle that easily plucked the toddler from her perilous position and dropped her into her mother's waiting arms.

The crowded pier went completely silent, and it was only then that what I had done had sunk in. Col's eyes were wide and scared- he didn't know what to do any more than I did. I had no option but to escape as quickly as possible.

The only sound I heard before flying away was the unmistakable sharp 'click' of a camera.