CHAPTER 521: SHE SURE IS CRUEL!

Aliya never saw it coming. She had grossly underestimated the human wife that Ian had acquired. Most importantly, she had underestimated Shelby.

That woman, who had stolen everything from her. Aliya’a last genuine tear that was to make her eternally beautiful had somehow found its way into this bitch’s hand and she paid no price for it!

Shelby, that quiet, soft-spoken creature who had stood in the room but somehow commanded a lot of attention. Shelby just stared down at her with eyes like clear waters in a frosty and icy cave.

It was unclear whether it was because Aliya had been overwhelmed by the aftershock of those almost forgotten memories or by the rawness of her past unearthing itself. She thought maybe that was why she’d gone weak, vulnerable, and almost human.

Aliya had told herself, "She’s only human, and I crush her under my feet!"

Aliya had also ignored the hum of power that never truly faded from the room, the remnants of the tension in the air that vibrated like a held breath. She had forgotten—or perhaps conveniently buried—the moment when she had first sensed the power from Shelby and her unborn child.

That should have been the first warning.... Maybe her only warning that she was no match for the one she referred to as a ’little human.’

But no.

Aliya had overestimated herself. Again. The fact that she had attempted multiple times to take Shelby’s life and had failed should have also been another warning for her... or something that should have served as a reminder. For Shelby was not one with nine lives; she was but a human with a very vulnerable lifeline, like most humans.

Another thing that had served to boost Aliya’s recourse was, maybe, the fact that she had broken through those barriers set up by both Ian and Currey. That meant that she surpassed them!

So why would anything be different? A weak human with a slight power around her and, in Aliya’s mind, useless guardians.

It took only a moment for Aliya to know her mistake. For now, she knew! Alas.... It was too late.

There was power in that bloodline, and not just Shelby’s. Aliya felt it but never saw what it was. There was a pressure in the air. A tremble beneath her skin. Then, a membrane of a sort... like a slight resistance, that was not water nor air.

She felt as if she was moving, or being pulled, through something slick and heavy, like oil and very light silk combined. It clung to her face, to her limbs, to her very soul. There was no colour, no light, no texture — only resistance, then the sickening yield of something breaking. She couldn’t scream, nor breathe for a brief moment.

Aliya could only feel. She was trapped in silence and even forgot that she had been furious reason and had tried to attack that nobody who had messed it all up for her. To Aliya, her world had come crashing down and was shaky after she had crossed paths with Shelby.

And then— something nudged at her memory in that split nano-second. It was a flicker.

A whisper not from outside but from deep within her.

’It’s that power.... It’s the same!’

Aliya vaguely remembered... There had been tales.... Ancient tales in her childhood.

Whispers passed between younger sirens in hushed circles when the moon was high and the waters were still. Tales of a place beyond song, where no echo reached, and even the gods turned their backs. A place that only one was known to be able to create out of nothingness. A place that did not exist but could take.

There had been whispers of a very powerful merman who could conjure such places, but those tales were never verified. They had only existed in folk tales.

A cursed veil, it was, they said—a realm that did not kill but unmade. A punishment meant not for mortals, but for them.

Aliya was unsure why, in that critical moment, that tale appeared in her mind.

’....But those were just stories,’ Aliya had told herself.

’Scare-tales. Nothing real. No power like that existed.’

And yet... there she was. Her knees hit the ground. Hard. But there was no sound from her opened mouth.

She gasped....again, nothing.

Aliya opened her eyes, noting that she was not in the room anymore. The sun shone high up.... So high that it was too scorching. That nagging and foreboding feeling remained. Her hand was still outstretched, but there was no Shelby, Ian or anyone else.... She was all alone.

The world around her was wrong. It wasn’t dark, nor bright. It was flat. Grey. Lifeless. Like a canvas that had been scrubbed clean of meaning, despite the sun and the heat. All she could see was endless sand dunes... as far as she could see. There was not even a tree or anything in sight.

Her skin itched, and her limbs twitched. Before the terror of the place could sink in, she thought,

’Something’s not right.’

And then she looked down.

Her left hand was a claw—scaled, dark, jagged at the knuckles. Her arm bent slightly too far back, like it belonged to a creature from the sea’s trenches, not the shore. She was well familiar with this part of her, so that was not the problem.

Her right side, however, remained untouched — smooth skin, human, whole.

She had been frozen mid-shift.

A form that was neither weapon nor disguise. She did not need a mirror or any reflected surface to know that she was in a horrible state.

Aliya frowned, got to her feet with difficulty, wiping her sweat with the good human arm.

She tried to change. To finish the transformation. Or revert. Anything. But nothing happened. She was stuck. Incomplete. That raging hunger came back with full force.

And then it hit her.

"There was no reflection, no water, no current—not even a scent of salt...."

This only meant one thing,

"I am nowhere close to the sea!" She screamed, but no sound was heard

Her voice — her most sacred weapon — refused to rise. Her breath moved, but no sound followed. Not even a whisper.

A siren’s worst nightmare was blooming right before her! Though the hunger for what she could not have was tearing her apart, having no access to a water body would kill her!

How could a water person survive in that strange desert, and where was that?

She stumbled forward, dragging one half-formed leg, half-human, half-monster, through the dead silence. The ground beneath her looked like soft dust, but bit into her feet like splintered coral. Each step stole more from her — her shimmer, her poise, but not her hunger.

Her beauty dimmed, and her power wilted with each step. Even her anger collapsed into hollow panic.

The sea was nowhere, and Aliya could not draw on its power. Her inherent magic did not answer. It had only survived the first few moments since she had arrived at wherever that was.

And then—a voice. It was not hers, but it echoed all around her,

"Where did that woman go?"

"To a place where she cannot hurt anyone again...." Came the reply. Aliya recognized the two voices but did not know where they were coming from. It was the boy and the human!

She listened intently and then started crawling to one direction. Her resolve was firm!

’I have to kill this human!’

All of a sudden, Aliya didn’t know why. Maybe it was instinct or fear.

But the silence was unchanging. It was a constant, eerie sound of nothing. It made her ears hurt!

Every movement burned. Her skin peeled in places, reformed in others. The sweat poured off her and stung the wounds that were forming. To make matters worse, she was not healing like she usually did!

Her form kept trying to finish the shift, but it couldn’t. She was trapped between two selves, and now even those were breaking apart. It took a lot from her and for the first time since that time when she had been betrayed, she wanted to cry. Aliya wanted any form of release.

She couldn’t breathe properly, and the pathetic thing was that she couldn’t cry, nor could she scream. She opened her mouth again, desperate. Still nothing.

Then that voice again, cool, steady, echoing from nowhere and everywhere.

"Sometimes you have to let things take their course. There is no need to dirty your hands over unworthy people. This is what it feels like to have nothing left to take."

Aliya fell, slumped face-down on the dirt. Not because she was wounded.

But because her mind could no longer hold the weight of her own silence.

And that was part of the horror. She would... COULD not die there.

But hopelessness soon formed in her mind as she could not stand the mental and physical torture. It felt like a few seconds and a whole year at the same time. Merfolks were not built to stand such conditions.

The voice she heard was right!

But at that same time, the forgotten memory clicked into place just as Aliya felt herself almost let go. Her eyes closed, and she waited for oblivion to take her, but then her mouth opened in a silent scream as she was jolted awake by an unseen force.

’That merman created those worlds through paintings.... The forbidden arts of painting a world that existed only in canvases...’

It was a place that no one came back from. Even in that moment, a single tear ran down her sand-stained cheek and onto the sand. She knew it! She could not sleep, nor rest here.... The environment was designed perfectly for her. It would kill her slowly, and she was going to feel every bit of it!

She somehow knew that it was related to Shelby, but Aliya could not figure it out.

"She got me good! Fair and square! She sure is cruel!"

She mouthed as another jolt hit her like a punch in the gut!

*********

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on Webnovel :) ~Uploaded only on webnovel by Loctovia ~