The Dominant Species
25

“What did you do today?” Giselle asked.

It was April.

“A lot of things, but mainly I had more sea kelp imported.”

Merpeople ate sea kelp.

“How often do you have to do that?” Giselle wanted to know.

“Once a month. I have to make sure everyone has enough sea kelp to eat. I have to make sure it’s imported at the right time every month.”

“You did a great job as queen,” Giselle praised me.

I agreed and I thought I could continue doing a good job for the rest of my life. I had made many decisions that benefited my people. I made sure that everyone in the kingdom received food on a regular basis and guaranteed jobs for everyone. I also put more soldiers out on the streets to keep everyone safe. I didn’t know if I was going to pass the test that would determine whether or not I’d be a good queen, but I still could. I told Giselle everything I’d been doing except for the stuff that I had to keep between myself and my advisors.

“Do people still give you a hard time about being a tomboy?” I asked. “Sometimes, but I think I know how to handle it.”

“How?”

“Like you said, I ignore the people, whose opinions I don’t care about.” “And the people, whose opinions you do care about?” I asked, interested. “They usually don’t mind the way I am.”

“And if someone did?”

“Sometimes I’m forced to humor that person, even though I have no intention of changing.”

“I think that would be necessary sometimes.”

“And sometimes I can convince them that there is nothing wrong with the way I am.” “Good for you.”

The next day, Caleb cast the spell again. Merpeople and humans looked for the creatures.

My heart was pounding!

I was ready with the spells!

We chased the creatures all day.

We hunted them down one by one.

We would look until we found one, then after a long fight one of us would eliminate it. It would take at least an hour for us to replace one of the creatures because there were so few of them now.

Every time we found them it was because they attacked us.

They could tell from their sense of smell that we were the same people they’ve fought before.

The first time one of them attacked everyone screamed and ran away!

I cast a spell to make everyone run faster.

Once we were a safe distance away, we used our spells to fight the creature.

Eventually, Alastair killed it.

We were all somewhat relieved.

Merpeople went from one person to the next to heal whoever had been injured. There were still other creatures that we had to replace.

We looked all day.

We were starting to get tired and hungry from chasing them for almost twenty-four hours. Caleb managed to get some of his soldiers to spy on the creatures where they lived and they found out that there had only been five left. We eliminated four. That’s why no one wanted to go home yet. We were so exhausted and frustrated from a chase that had lasted for several months that we just wanted to eliminate the creatures once and for all.

I was relieved.

But I was still on edge.

We had yet another creature to replace.

We kept looking for it.

I had eliminated one creature myself.

So had Giselle and Alastair and a human woman. But everyone had fought them.

Since there was only one creature left, it had taken us a while to replace it. We were all tired, disheveled and dirty. I had started to consider telling everyone that we should look for the last creature some other time when we were fresh.

But then it attacked! I gasped.

Everyone screamed.

No matter how many times we hunted the creatures they were still dangerous and terrifying.

Everything was happening fast.

Everyone was scared.

Several times someone got hurt and someone else had to heal them. I healed people too.

The creature kept going randomly from one person to the next and attacking us. Everyone did everything they could to get out of the way.

It didn’t manage to kill anyone because everyone it attacked used magic to fight it off.

And even the people it didn’t attack were casting spells on it.

The creatures were so strong that it probably wasn’t worried we would hurt it.

And it didn’t understand the concept of magic.

It injured several people.

Giselle and a merman stopped to heal them.

Then, it attacked me!

I cast a spell to make the creature slip.

Alastair was casting a healing spell on a human man as fast as he could so he could come help me. But there were a lot of other people to heal.

I made sand fly in the creature’s eyes.

It snarled and shook its head to get the sand out of its eyes.

But that gave me a few seconds of safety.

We’d been chasing the creatures for almost twenty-four hours. The deadline of the spell Caleb had cast to make us human was getting closer.

I wouldn’t be able to run if my legs turned into a tail!

I was panicking because I was trying to figure out what to do before the deadline.

I was so tired and frustrated I almost cried.

I was not thinking clearly from having chased the creatures for twenty-four hours. The creature ran at me!

It was fast.

My heart stopped.

I was sweating.

I thought the spell I had been practicing might work. It was supposed to change the physical nature of anything I cast it on.

If I’d been thinking clearly in a calmer setting I wouldn’t have thought that was a good idea, considering it had never worked before.

But I didn’t have time to think, so I decided to cast the spell.

No one else had been able to cast a spell this powerful before. It was the feeling that I was worthless that made me want to prove I wasn’t. The fact that I never gave up on myself was what made me practice until I was powerful enough.

I waved my hand and cast the spell! My mind went numb.

I stared to see if it was working. The creature stopped running. Maybe the spell did work.

The creature looked confused for a minute.

It looked around at the humans and merpeople and didn’t seem to be interested in us.

I didn’t let it out of my sight.

My whole body was still numb with fear.

I wanted to be ready, in case it attacked again.

And I wanted to see if my spell had worked.

I was ready with other spells, in case it didn’t.

Everyone was staring at the creature, looking confused.

They probably couldn’t understand why it wasn’t attacking me anymore.

The creature ran in the direction of the desert. I knew it wouldn’t be bothering anyone anymore.

Alastair and Giselle ran toward me and hugged me. I was so relieved I almost collapsed.

No one had died!

We had finally eliminated the creatures.

Some people sat down.

Some leaned their hands on their knees.

Some checked on any loved ones who were with them.

Others hugged.

I knew the humans would celebrate later with the rest of their people, but everyone was still dealing with the tension and the terror we had experienced today to celebrate now.

Caleb walked from one person to the next, asking them if they were okay. He had asked half of the people who were there, so I asked the other half. Luckily, anyone who had gotten hurt had been healed by a merperson.

“What did you do to the creature?” Alastair asked me.

“My spell changed its nature,” I responded, shakily.

“I’ve never heard of a spell that could do that,” Giselle said, frowning.

“I’d been practicing that spell for years in secret,” I explained.

“How did you change the creature’s nature?” Alastair asked.

“At first, the creature couldn’t be around the desert. Now, it’s digestive system works differently and it can only eat sand.”

“It’s not going to want to eat humans anymore,” Giselle realized.

“Exactly,” I confirmed. “It’s not a threat anymore. Once it’s dead, the species would be extinct.”

I turned back into a mermaid.