The Ocean Onlooker

The Ocean Onlooker

A Story From the World of Host WCG

by Adam Ray

The fingers of the ocean whipped against the rocks. Flecks of sea salt clung to the ratty stubble of Glinnard Cole as he stood at the edge of the angry water near his seaside home. The years had eroded him more harshly than these rocks he stood on. Wisps of white hair flew in the wind and his back arched towards the water he watched, standing with what's left of his harpoon as a staff to keep himself steady. The only part of him still sharp were his eyes. His scowl over each crest of the water and bubbling froth was unblinking and focused.

“Sir,” a voice called a few feet behind him. No part of him moved to regard the stranger. Loose stones clattered around behind him as the figure wandered to the edge of the water. “Sir, do you know the way to Lutesmouth?”

“Town's two miles inland, miss,” said Glinnard, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Easiest way is over the hill, past my house there.”

There was a moment's pause. “That's your house?” the stranger asked.

“Bought it for cheap when I was your age,” said Glinnard. “Needed somewhere close to the water.”

“Don't assume my age, sir. I am much older than I look.”

For the first time in many hours, Glinnard looked away from the water. The woman stood around his height, and the sheen of her pale skin made him blink repeatedly. The wry smile at her comment lingered as ratty brown hair was tucked under a wide-brimmed hood.

“Don't look like the angler type, miss,” said Glinnard, “don't look like the type who even goes out much.”

“Well if you must know, I'm here to see an old friend. She lives around here.”

“Best not keep her waiting then,” said Glinnard, turning back to the roiling ocean. “Rude to keep folks waiting.”

“And what are you waiting for then, sir?”

A great wave crashed against the rocks. The droplets hung in the air for a moment.

“An old friend,” said Glinnard.

“Then maybe we can wait together,” said the woman, sitting on an outcrop of rock beside him. The distant squawk of sea birds filled the air as an angry wave hit once. Twice. Thrice against the rocks.

“How long will she be?” the woman asked.

“Dunno,” said Glinnard, “she's been making me wait forty years already.”

The woman groaned louder than the wave that beat beneath them. “Decades? No friend keeps you waiting minutes, let alone decades.”

“This friend is worth waiting for,” said Glinnard.

“Fine, I'll bite,” the woman said, “how'd you meet this woman.”

Glinnard smiled. He never gets sick of telling this story, but the chorus of judging moans of the people from Lutesmouth. A crashing wave brought him back to the sea air and the stranger.

“Once, I sat upon a promontory, and heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back...”

“What?” asked the woman, confusion contorting her face.

“This is how the story starts,” said Glinnard, “if you aren't interested then jog on to town.”

The woman held up her hands in surrender and let them sit neatly in her lap.

Once, I sat upon a promontory, and heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back. I was nine years old.

I'd just finished learning my letters and numbers in town, so I did what any lonely little boy would do. Splash about. Dad died on the ocean before I knew him and I had no brothers, so my life was just me, my mum, and the cats.

The water was much more calm, unlike today, and I sat on the rocks just down there. That's when I heard her. A splash way out there and I saw a dolphin jump. Not too out of the ordinary, but there was something on it. Something green and clinging to it. I thought it was something bad until I heard the singing. I rushed up the rocks and got real close and the dolphin jumped up again. The singing was louder and it hopped out again much closer to me. I got out as far as I could, and the sea was wetting my shoes. My mum wasn't happy, but I had to see. The lady on the dolphin's back was green. The color of low tide seaweed. She was leaning against a rock, looking at me with big curious eyes.

"Are you a prince?" She asked. Her voice was so small and squeaky. She sounded like a kid, not much younger than me at the time.

"Uh no, I'm too little to have a job on a ship. Couldn't be a prince."

"Oh never mind, my daddy says I can only talk to boys my age if they're princes."

She turned to swim away and I waved my hands out at her.

"Wait, don't go," I shouted, "why only princes?"

"My daddy says I have to marry one when I grow up. Then I get to be queen of the sea."

"Sounds cool," I said.

"Dunno what cool means, is that a dry folk saying?"

"Dry folk?"

"Yeah, you lot on the surface. People without flippers."

We talked for hours about the differences between us.

I'm amazed you remember that entire conversation.

Well, it's nearly the end of this part of the story, so shush. We talked until it got nearly dark, and I heard a voice shouting for me.

"That's my mum, I gotta go," I said. "Can I see you again?"

"Maybe," she said, "a princess is very busy, but I can come by in two days maybe."

"Okay, two days," I turned and started to run, before I realized I didn't know her name. "I'm Glinnard!"

"Nice to meet you, Glinnard of the dry folk. I'm Princess Amatheia!"



"Hmm." The strange, hooded woman leaned back from her perch on the rock. The name washed familiar over her mind. "So then what happened?"

"Well, I waited those two days and she came back,” said Glinnard. “We met on those rocks every day for seven years."

“I take it it's been quite a while since you've seen her,” asked the stranger.

Glinn's eyes drifted back out to the ocean. The sun was high but the clouds choked out all the blue, leaving the sky above the harsh mix of grey and green.

“They say it centuries or longer for rocks to really wear down from the water rushing over it,” said Glinn.

“Erosion.”

“They're wrong of course. I've been coming to this patch of rocks every day since the last time I saw her. I remember how the rocks looked the day after I turned sixteen.”

I was so excited to show her the papers I had got from Captain Arminsen. I'd made it. It should have been the best day of my life. I ran from town all the way home. I didn't even tell my mum first, just her. I found her on the rocks where we always meet and she was sitting there. Her big bold arms and wild smile were gone. She was sitting all modest. Hands on her lap. Looking out over the ocean.

“Ami, I did it, I...” I stopped myself talking any more when I saw how sad she was. “What's wrong?”

“My father is dead,” she said. She didn't look around, just looking out at the water.

“Oh. I'm sorry. I can't even imagine...” but she interrupted me.

“He was reduced to nothing by Onarch.”

“Onarch is real? I thought he was just a ghost story old sailors tell.”

“He's very real, and he's risen from the great trench.”

I scrunched the papers in my pocket and sat down next to her. I never cared how cold or slick her hands were. I took any chance to hold her hand, and she held mine back so tight that time.

“I'm queen of the sea now,” she said.

“Amatheia, Queen of the Sea,” I whispered quietly to myself. “What does this mean now?”

“The sea's kingdoms are all looking to me now,” Amatheia said. “I know what they all think of a girl under a hundred years old ruling the entire sea.”

I thought a bit about the number she said. Hundred years? She continued talking and I was happy to listen.

“The burden of the throne has fallen to me now, and I won't dishonor my father's legacy.”

She turned to look at me.

“This is the last time you'll see me.”

I shuffled back and waved my hands. “No. You can't leave. You're my friend, I... I...”

“I think I know what you're about to say, so please don't.”

“So don't go then,” I said, “stay here. With me.”

“The ocean needs me, my people need me.”

“I need you,” I said, “I...”

“Don't Glinn.” She never called me that. “Our people have a truce. Dryfolk and Merfolk don't talk. Everyone knows that. You lot only call us mermaids cause we were once maid to serve seaside lords.”

Something she said actually hurt. “You lot?” I repeated.

“I didn't...”

“No, I get it. You said you're like the sea. Swashing around not stuck to anyone. Don't let our lifelong friendship get in the way of you flowing out of here. Go then.”

I stood up and stomped up the rocks.

“I want you to know I feel how you feel, and I'll never forget you Glinnard of the Dryfolk.” I kept my back to her and the heavy splash sound of my friend Amatheia swimming out of my life.

I smeared the tears on my face away and looked at my twinkly wet fingers. Wet with sweat, tears, and the ocean. All mixed together.

I turned back and rushed to the water's edge and screamed out her name.



“So you never saw her again?” the stranger asked, head leaning in her hand. Glinnard shook his head.

“I've been coming back to this spot on and off ever since. There were some days I spent out at sea. Trawling and the like. I always kept my eye out for her or her kind, but I saw nothing. I suppose she said our kinds weren't meant to mix, and she only came up when she was a little kid 'cause she was a little kid. I'd just give anything for her to hear me say I'm sorry.”

“And to tell her you love her. Even after all these years?”

“Never married,” Glinnard said, turning to the endless ocean, “my heart was hers.”

“Well, I'll let you talk with her first when she gets here then.”

Glinnard blinked at the stranger's words and turned to her. “What? I thought you said you were meeting a friend in town...? You know Amatheia?”

“She's the friend I'm in the area to see. I haven't seen her since she was born. Those decades ago. Her father just beamed.”

“But, you're younger than her. Younger than me.”

“I told you not to assume my age,” the stranger said through a smile. Glinnard stared at the glinting, sharp teeth that seemed to grow in her grin. He stumbled back. A puddle of water clapped under him as he fell to his back.

“Vampire!” Glinnard shouted, pointing his stick at her.

“Not as powerful as I once was. Being lowest of the firstborn means I have some growing to do. Through practicing magic and feasting on mortals.”

The stranger began to slowly drift forward. She seemed to glide as her legs barely moved beneath her cloak. Pale arms stretched forward and her jet black nails sharpened on her fingertips as she began to reach down for the aged man. The searing pain shot through Glinnard's chest as the vampire lifted him. His toes scraped at the rocks below as the stranger's pale skin shone in the grey of the day and white skin behind her.

A column of water smacked the vampire.

Glinnard dropped to the stones. The sea water stung as he panted. His fingers dug into his ribs as he eased himself up. The ocean he had stared at every day was utterly changed. The figure of his youth was sitting in a twisting coil of water.

“You will not hurt my friend, Annabella,” said Amatheia. Her voice rumbled in every drop of water around them.

The vampire knelt, with one hand in the mud. Her hood was down and the yellow of her eyes shone wildly with the grey sky and white skin behind her.

“He's your pet human, Amatheia,” Annabella sneered. Her voice wheezed through her fangs. “He means nothing to you.”

“He means everything to me,” said Amatheia. “I've watched him from beneath the waves my entire life. Nexallis has kept him safe on the ocean and made sure his nets are full of a harvest and the storms are always kind to his journeys. And the day his ship was set to sink, my kin and I bore him and his men to safety.”

“It was you...” Glinnard said. He coughed on his words, feeling the blinding pain deep in his ribs.

“Glinnard Cole has believed in me and looked for me for all our lives, and it's the greatest tragedy of the ocean. You will not hurt him, vampire. Why are you here at the borders of my kingdom?”

Annabella sighed. She stood and flicked her hood up again. The teeth receded into her gums.

“If you must know, I'm here because of the dragon.”

“Meridius lives quietly in his mountain peak,” said Amatheia, “he's fire and brimstone, but he sits on his treasure and scares the people living on the slopes and dwarves mining inside, but that's all he does. You should know that by now.”

“He's in a rage,” said Annabella, “he's sent his dog of war, Constanti, out to find something, and to destroy everything in her wake, and the Gathlorian beasts are getting aggravated.”

“That's no concern of mine.”

“He's looking for Nebulus,” said Annabella.

Glinnard rose to his feet. The stick dug a hole in the earth as he leaned nearly all his weight on it. The pale green skin of the woman he had not seen in decades became wrapped in thought from the vampire's words. Pain shot through him with every breath, but he couldn't stop looking at her.

Amatheia reclined in her perch made of whirling water. She drifted down to the shore. The whirls of water stayed beneath her. She reclined as it moved her along the path.

“We have a tall mountain to climb,” said Amatheia. The vampire held her arm out to the road she was just walking.

“Ama...” Glinnard winced on his words as he reached out.

“Hush, my love,” Amatheia said, reaching out and resting her hand on his ratty stubble. “The currents keep you safe.”

Her magic knitted his wounds together and he took a deep breath, filled with brine and peace.

“We have so much to talk about when I return. You've waited too long for me, but I beg you to wait a little longer, and be the perfect sentry here on the border between our two worlds.”

“Did you really see me looking out for you?” Glinn asked.

“As often as I could. I told the nobles of the Pearl Court to honor you, the Ocean Onlooker, and the devotion you have to me and my world.”

“I just wanted to see you again, nothing special.”

“Everything and everyone is special in this world, you just have to remember that, and not let the tide wash it away. Wait for me but a little longer, my love.”

“An eternity,” said Glinnard.

Amatheia turned to the vampire and drifted along. The two strange figures drifted along the road, with the peaks of Jinhra mountain ahead in the distance.

“We need to pass through the Gathlor Wildlands on our way,” said Annabella.

“To find the everlasting youth,” Amatheia agreed.

Their conversation continued in the distance, as Glinnard took his watch over the ocean.