The Curse of the Selkie Heart (Cadha)

The following fictitious events take place in any reality

Selection 1

Cadha’s heart was going to burst out of her chest. She moved through the water as fast as both her flippers and water magic combined could move. She drew upon the currents, upon the tides, to get through the water faster and faster.

Never before had she needed to move this fast. Every muscle in her body ached. Her body burned for rest. Behind her a harem of Selkies chased after her. Above them, in ships, their male counters rowed. There would be no life if she stopped now. She swam, toward a reef that the boats would get lost in. Her body slipped past something sharp and it cut into her side. She couldn’t stop though. She wove through an archway of rocks, past a shark that was hunting something. It’s gaze turned toward her.

Oh no.

She grunted as she tried to move even faster. Her body was failing her. She let the tides that were turning into shore-side waves carry her body toward a beach. At least on land, she could hide better. Her scent would be harder to follow, the boats would be gone, and the sharks…

There were at least three now.

Cadha swam with the last bursts of energy as coral and rock turned to sand. She transformed in a blink, her best yet, and grabbed her seal skin. She ran with it, her side bleeding just above her hip. She pressed the seal skin to it to not leave a trail of blood.

Behind her, the boats were gone.

She slumped past a tree and took several deep breaths before she turned her head. Several selkies were on the shore, but none of them dared come further. She couldn’t figure it out; the island of Gancanaghs was south, several miles. These islands were abandoned, except for some wildlife.

One of the Selkies began walking up the shore. Cadha flipped around, her head against the tree and out of sight. She had to run.

She grabbed her skin tightly against her cut, and she started to move slowly at first, to not catch their attention.

“There!”

Cadha stood upright and ran, as fast as she could. She had to leap over logs and wind past land threats like snakes and large lizard-dragons. She got to the other side and her heart wretched in her chest: The boats were there. Waiting.

Cadha glanced back. Sounds filled the forest. She wouldn’t last.

She looked to her side. The island was small, but it was longer toward one end. On foot, she doubted she could reach the farthest end before Selkies or ships. But she was bleeding. She needed time. She ran down the length of the island, toward the farther end. The woods got thicker, and there was a slight slope. Cadha ran up the hill, her hand pressed against her side still.

She would have kept going, and maybe have been caught, but she fell, not just down but down beneath the layers of earth. Her voice pierced the air and she heard others yelling to run faster, but then the world went dark as she thunked against the ground.

When she came to, she was alone in a dark damp pit. Water lapped at her side. She’d found some sort of underground cavern, with a sinkhole that led to it. She looked up, but no one was there, save the stars.

Cadha took a few breaths. Her heart had slowed. Her skin was still beside her, crushed beneath her. She looked at her cut, which wasn’t bleeding anymore at least, though it would need to be cleaned.

For a moment, she was safe, but she had no idea how long that moment would be.

Cadha tucked her dark hair behind her face and pulled herself to sitting. The walls of the cavern were covered in little insects. They didn’t make an ideal meal, but they would have to work for the time being.

For a time, Cadha looked up toward the sky, the stars and the moon as it passed overhead, then she looked down toward the water. A Selkie could find her there, could come up through wherever the water led to and trap her. There would be no escape.

She resigned herself to the truth: She had to move, to another island, to another place. She had to get further away. If she could make it to Undine waters, past the Undine’s border, she would be safer. If she made it past the borders.

Cadha put on her seal skin and let herself become one with it. She slipped into the water and adjusted to the cold depths. She followed the dark path deeper, hopefully toward the ocean…

–

Selection 2

The island was rocky on one side, with large flat rocks that Cadha could sunbathe in. The sharks surrounding it were a problem, but they also promised other Selkies were unlikely to come looking for her there.

She sprawled out on a rock and let the sun soak into her skin. She had no idea what to do next, but she could at least get food from the sea, if she was careful. While she considered options, she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her.

Someone was watching her.

She was ready to move, to dash back into the sea, but no one tried to attack her.

Cadha said aloud, “Hello. I know you’re there.”

She looked back and watched and waited. A man moved just around a tree, still tucked near the edge of the woods, his hand over his eyes. He was slender with soft browns and blonde in his hair. “Hello. Welcome to Big Rock Island.”

“You can come out,” Cadha said.

“I can’t,” he replied. “I’m not safe to be around.”

Cadha’s eyes widened. She’d crossed into Undine land, yet here was a Gancanagh? How had he survived?

Cadha’s whole body prepared for the curse, but nothing happened because his eyes were covered. She’d never been taught that growing up. She thought being in the presence of a Gancanagh was a death sentence.

It was likely best he stay away from her, though.

“Do you live here alone?” Cadha asked.

“Yes.” He ducked away, and then came out with fabric over his eyes. He used his hands for balance and made his way to her. “What brings you to Big Rock Island?”

“A storm. I need somewhere to rest.” If he couldn’t see her, he also couldn’t see the wound on her side. It had become a bigger problem with all of the strain, but she’d made it outside of Selkie territory.

The Gancanagh sat beside her, on the rock. “Do you have food and shelter?”

“No, and no.” She would have to figure that out later. She glanced at the waters, infested with sharks and rays. Maybe the island was a breeding ground.

“How did you get here?” Cadha asked.

“I came by boat. Deliberately.”

That makes both of us.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“About nine years.”

“That must be lonely…” She had to be sure he was alone, that he wouldn’t sell her out.

Then again, the Gancanagh were sentenced to exile on their own island. Cadha knew the conditions were dismal for them, but there was no way to change it because no one wanted to change it. Most of the Selkies hated the Gancanagh.

This one didn’t seem awful. Maybe blood loss and desperation were clouding her judgement, or maybe the curse had already taken hold.

“I wasn’t given to a life at the monastery and I’m not safe for others,” the Gancanagh said. He picked up a pebble and tossed it into the air.

“Does anyone know you’re here?” Cadha shook her head. “That’s personal.” She didn’t want to share her own reasons for choosing the Undine’s sea over her own. “I’m Cadha,” she introduced. “A Selkie, if you didn’t know.”

“I’m Birger, a Gancanagh.”

“How large is your island?” she asked. If they were going to share it, they would have to establish territories. For the time being, Cadha couldn’t make another swim.

“It’s about twelve square miles.”

“Is it always so…sharky?”

“I lay bait,” Birger said.

It explained everything: how to be safe in Undine land? Sharks. Lots of sharks.

“They make excellent meals,” Birger added. “It’s not usually so…womany.”

She laughed. “Maybe because intelligent Selkies won’t come near sharks.”

“That was the idea. Why did you?”

Cadha looked down at her side. “I may have to stay until they calm. I was…there was a big storm. And…”

She was on an island surrounded by sharks with one other being. Lying would get her as far as honesty.

“I was being hunted,” Cadha confessed. “I knew I couldn’t stay in Selkie waters any longer. This was the first island I felt safe stopping at, once I got passed the border.”

“If you stay, you’ll likely be safe but I’ll have to wear the blindfold.”

Cadha studied him. He was willing to do it, it seemed. Not enthusiastically, but willingly-ly. “A few days?” Cadha compromised in her head. That had to belong enough to heal. “I won’t stay longer than necessary.”

“You’re welcome to everything I have,” Birger offered. “All I ask is that you leave my blindfold in place and not mention that you met anyone here.”

“I would never return hospitality with betrayal,” Cadha said. “You’ve been kind, generous.”

Cadha had met one other Gancanagh, one with a talisman, but he wasn’t anything like Birger. He wasn’t as generous as Birger.

“Tell me about anything?” Cadha asked. She leaned back, and let herself bake in the sun again.

Birger leaned back too, somehow attuned to her movements even though he couldn’t see her. “I should ask you to tell me,” he said. “I’m sure you have more experience than I do.”

Cadha laughed. She had too much experience.

“I could tell you what happened,” she offered, tentatively.

Birger mumbled a hmm, interested. One of his eyebrows rose too.

“It began with my brother,” Cadha said. “He bore a Gancanagh son, and so he was killed.”