Poison Seas

The boy spotted the girl peeking through the coral. “What is it, Pelnie?”

“It’s a triton. What’s it doing here? Alone?”

“Let me look.” He tried to peer through the coral himself. Both knew better than to let themselves be seen. Tritons ate Alqar.

“Longdrifter, you’re too pushy! I was here first.”

“Sorry.” The boy turned and sat, sulking for just a moment. Then he was up trying to peer over Pelnie’s shoulder.

The triton seemed satisfied with his position. He stabbed his trident into the ocean sand and unfurled the white flag attached it its butt. The water was shallow here.

“It’s the symbol for parley,” Longdrifter whispered.

Pelnie, named for a beautiful sea flower, elbowed her companion in the ribs. She was rewarded by a grunt of pain which made her turn. If Longdrifter lost he air in his lungs, he’d lose buoyancy and have the walk back to the island, miles away. The boy doubled over in agony and sank to the ocean sand behind the coral. Pelnie moved toward him to see if he needed help.

Suddenly Longdrifter shot past the girl to the view gap. “Fooled you! You moved.”

Pelnie stomped the sand, sending up little swirls. She grabbed Longdrifter’s belt and yanked. The boy had a firm grip on the coral and was stronger.

She tried a different tactic. “You should go tell the elders he is here.”

“Tell them what? There’s a triton in the far reef lagoon with a parley banner? Who is it? What does it want? Are there others to trap us? Pelnie, I’m going to talk to it first, before I tell the elders. You know Orange Rock; go scout it and make sure no tritons are around it. I’ll have it meet the elders there.”

“That’s a good idea! There’s a lot of open sand around Orange Rock. And we won’t be in trouble for being this far out.”

“Yes. I can just see me saying to old Crabby, ‘There’s a triton at Far Reef who wants to talk.’ ‘And what were you doing there alone?’” Longdrifter imitated Crabby’s voice well enough that Pelnie laughed. “’But, Crabby, sir, I wasn’t alone! Pelnie was with me.’ ‘Pelnie! Longdrifter, how could you risk her life for a tryst? First we’ll castrate you, then beat you senseless—’ ‘But, sir, we weren’t trysting. We were studying the corals to find out why some of them are dying, and how we could help them.’ ‘And after we’ve castrated and beaten you, we’ll drop you in Bottomless Rift. You were what?’ ‘Studying the corals, trying to learn.’ ‘You troublemaker! Always asking what and why and how!’”

They were interrupted by a loud voice. “Alqar? Are you Alqar?”

“Go, Pelnie. Stay low. Orange Rock.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

Longdrifter lifted his head above the reef. The triton was looking straight at him. “I am Longdrifter of the Alqar. Who are you? Why are you here? Keep your hands where I can see them. I can outswim you, outfight you, and outthink you.” Wrong on all three counts, Longdrifter told himself. The triton’s flipper feet that made him awkward at walking made him a powerful swimmer. Tritons were half again as tall as Alqar, twice as heavy and strong. And their culture was ancient and wise, well advanced of the Alqar. This was no doubt because of the constant predation the sea elves suffered.

“I am the Triton Oskial Evtral. I am old and counted wise among my kind. You are but a child among yours. Go, tell your elders I mean no harm but great good to both peoples. I seek their wisdom on a problem that faces all of us. The sea is being poisoned. It will be destroyed if we can’t figure out how, why, and find a way to stop it.”

“Wow. Sounds exciting. I’ll tell the elders and bring back word of where and when they will meet with you.”

Longdrifter swam quickly toward the island, at times surfacing and looking back. He thought he was the best swimmer among all fifty Alqar, just as he thought himself best at everything else. He had no idea how insufferable he was. To him it was simply acknowledging the obvious. It just wasn’t obvious to anyone else. Blissful in youthful ignorance, full of the importance of his message, Longdrifter covered the nauts to the grotto where the elders held court, keeping each other company.

The youth slowed as he approached. To him the elders were senile and seemed to take pleasure solely in denying pleasure to the young. They were said to be very wise, but they got grouchy whenever Longdrifter wanted to learn some of their wisdom.

By the time Longdrifter entered he grotto, all his exuberance was gone. It was replaced by cold sobriety. He swam through the rocks guarding the entrance, through the tunnel and into the sanctum sanctorum.

The grotto was a cave inside a rocky outlier of the main island. It was roughly circular and in a pinch could hold all fifty Alqar. The ceiling was domed, with enough fissures to allow air to circulate in and out. Phosphorescent moss provided a simulation of daylight. Longdrifter’s head burst from the churning mouth of the tunnel and broke the surface. He began breathing air.

Four heads turned at the intrusion. Longdrifter catalogued the male elders of the Alqar: Rememberer, the eldest, who could recall nothing but how much better behaved the young were in his day; Strong Swimmer, who had to be helped into and out of the grotto; Coral, who was so idle he’d gotten fat, something unheard of among the sea elves; and Crabby, who still had most of his faculties and was the actual leader and policy maker. And a child-hating grouch, Longdrifter added to his list. But that applied to all four.

With uncharacteristic patience, due to the gravity of his message, Longdrifter waited for the elders to address him. This was protocol. He’d been punished for ignoring it more than once. Eventually Crabby spoke.

“If it isn’t the child who wants to swim the deep waters where the merfolk hunt and tritons lay in wait to slay! What is it this time, brat? More unanswerable questions?”

“Revered and esteemed elders, the triton Offkey Evtroll asks parley with you on a matter of extreme importance. It says our dead coral reefs were poisoned, and that his people were suffering even more than we are. It wishes to meet with you at Orange Rock at your earliest convenience. What shall I tell it?”

“Why Orange Rock? Did it have a parley banner? Give us details!”

“My companions and I were playing in the sand when it approached. When we noticed, it planted its trident in the sea bed and unfurled a parley banner. I swam out to meet it because I speak triton better than the other children. It told me its name and asked for your wisdom on a problem that affects the whole ocean. I told it I would bring your reply. Orange Rock would be a hard place to set an ambush, but I sent my companions there to scout and secure it. Will you meet the triton?”

“That is not the right question,” Rememberer said.

“I am sorry, esteemed elder Rememberer. What should I have asked?”

“You should have asked what message we would like brought back to the triton.”

“What message would you esteemed elders wish brought back to the triton?”

Being elders, the four were slow to answer. Rememberer, looking on the young Alqar, was thinking to himself: This one is so bright, so active, has so much to offer his people. So much potential! When is he going to grow up? What will it take to give him some emotional maturity? How can we get him to think beyond himself? Strong Swimmer was thinking: What an impertinent brat! He’s a mere child, two or three years short of coming of age, yet he thinks he should be making an elder’s decision? Someone needs to take him down a few notches. In my younger days I could have done it, but now I’m old and crippled. But none of the other children or adults will challenge Longdrifter. Our whole race has deteriorated. Coral was thinking: Longdrifter—isn’t this the boy who keeps trying to swim out to deep water whenever we forbid it? The one who runs along the island shores and dives from its cliffs? I don’t want to go to Orange Rock. I don’t want to go anywhere. I want something to eat. Did the boy bring me anything? Crabby was thinking: This upstart wants to replace me! He may not know it yet, but he does. I will fight him for my status and win. I may be old, but I’m not over the rainbow. I can handle this one. I can beat or destroy him. Maybe this triton and his poison seas killing the coral is the way to do it.

The elders looked at each other, then back at Longdrifter. Crabby spoke. “We will meet the triton at Orange Rock at sunset. You will escort it there, if it isn’t already at that place. We will hear its words. You will tell it so. Leave now.”

Longdrifter didn’t wait to be told twice.

As the daylight began to fade Longdrifter and Oskial Evtral swam slowly up to the great orange-colored rock sticking up out of the sand. Many Alqar surrounded it, some even sitting atop it. The rest, all armed, stood around nearby. The elders were among those on the rock, seven with the addition of three women elders: Anemone, Sparkle and Foamdancer. Longdrifter felt full of the importance of the occasion. He and the triton stopped at a respectful distance.

Crabby spoke. “Longdrifter, you haven’t been eaten.”

“You sound disappointed, respected elder Crabby.”

“You are dismissed. Swim forward, Triton. We would hear your words. Introduce yourself and your errand.”

Longdrifter had to leave. Children weren’t allowed at such solemn gatherings. The youth already knew the gist of Evtral’s dilemma from an afternoon of conversation. What the youth couldn’t guess was what the elders would decide.

Drifting through the seaweed Longdrifter thought about the triton’s proposal. On the face of it, it seemed ridiculous. The triton wanted to gather the wisest people from sea elves, tritons and merfolk to a conference to study the poisoning of the sea and what could be done about it. The tritons assured all who came of safe passage and safe return. As if merfolk could stop hunting Alqar or triton stop devouring them. It reeked of a trap, a cheap way to bag several Alqar, the wisest and best of them so the others would be weaker, stupider and easier to harvest. Plus, the victims were expected to take themselves to the fattening and slaughter.

But still—coral reefs were drying, Longdrifter reminded himself. Without them the reefs would erode in the stormy season’s waves and winds. The island would soon follow. Fishes and sea plants would also die, leaving the sea elves little to live on. The Alqar had as much to lose as the merfolk or tritons. They had as much to benefit from finding a cure. Who was to say that the wisdom of their elders might find a way where merfolk and tritons could not?

By degrees Longdrifter’s heart wavered between hope and fear, curiosity and worry. In the end curiosity own out. He had to know what the elders would decide. The old triton was a persuasive talker. Who—if anyone—would go? Longdrifter hoped it would be Crabby. He checked his position and found he’d drifted around and was approaching Orange Rock from the island side. He snatched at a large drift of seaweed, hoping it would over his approach. Maybe he could eavesdrop on the deliberations.

A spear burst through the weeds, narrowly missing the youth’s hand. He grasped at it and let it wielder pull him from his concealment. A mass of tangled kelp fronds trailed him, entangling his legs. Deepfisher helped him free himself and said, “Longdrifter, we were just sent to look for you. Come with me.”

Deepfisher, an older adult, led the youth around to face the elders.

“Longdrifter,” Crabby said, “Make yourself ready. At dawn you go with the triton.”

“I’m part of the delegation?”

“You are the delegation. You’re bright, curious, worried about the corals, swim well,” Crabby was unaware of the dig at his fellow elder, “and … you’re expendable if it’s a trap. Be here and ready to leave when the sun rises.”

“I want a weapon.”

“Don’t be silly. Children aren’t allowed weapons.”

“A delegation to our enemies is not a child’s mission. The merfolk and tritons are both bigger than me. I need an equalizer, something I can use to make them keep their word. Or I won’t go.”

“Will you go if we give you a weapon?”

“Yes, and I will do all Alqar proud.”

“We will have a weapon for you when you leave in the morning.”

“Thank you, esteemed elder.”

Alqar needed some land food to stay healthy. These roots and fruit grew on the island, seldom tended but frequently harvested. Most Alqar spent time every day on land, playing in the surf, weaving plant fibers for harnesses and bags, sorting shells or diving from the cliffs at one end of the island. They had deep water below them. Longdrifter went ashore himself, after getting a sack and a harness to hang it from. It was dark, the misty haze gathering in the light of all but the brightest stars.

Longdrifter wandered for some time, checking crops for ripeness, breathing in the cool, fresh air. He bade farewell to his favorite haunts: the long sandy beach where the boys used to r ace until Longdrifter could beat them all, the fresh water spring with its cresses and flowers, the groves of red fruit and yellow fruit, the berry bushes and root stalks. A delegation of young elves found him at the spring, resting and drinking after filling his bag with provisions. All but Pelnie were several years younger and admired Longdrifter. The boys, Bluefish, Shell, Splasher and Driftwood, all wanted to be like their hero. The girls, Pelnie, Watercress, Goldhair, Seahorse and Pearl, had more complex desires. They clustered about the delegate to the convention, wanting to touch him, to share his notoriety and abilities, his feelings.

Only Pelnie, senior among them, spoke. “It’s late, Longdrifter. You should be resting. You’ll have a long swim in the morning, longer than any of us will ever experience.”

“That’s not true,” Longdrifter said. “All of you, each of you, any of you could go farther and do more and better than I. You’re younger, so you have a head start and more time. What I’m doing is important, sure, but there are lots of other things just as important, like raising children, finding islands the merfolk don’t hunt around, and ways to defend ourselves against them and tritons when they come raiding, finding a way to store knowledge so we can pass it to future generations and not forget it.”

“Rockshaper does that with the pictures he makes in the cave walls.”

“But you have to know the story first. The picture will remind you, but it won’t teach you what happened. The tritons know so much more than we do, they have to have a way to preserve knowledge and teach it to each other. I’m going to learn their secret if I can.”

“You sound like a grown-up,” Bluefish complained.

“Maybe I am trying to grow up too fast,” Longdrifter said, tousling Bluefish’s hair. “Maybe I’m just scared.”

Seahorse said, “You aren’t afraid of anything!”

“I’m scared of being killed.” There, Longdrifter thought. It’s out in the open now. Silence followed.

“Never happen,” Bluefish insisted. He was next-oldest among the boys. “Crabby would enjoy it too much.”

“I agree,” Pelnie added, putting her hands on Longdrifter’s shoulders. If anyone could visit the tritons and return to tell about it, it’s you. And I desperately want you to come back.”

“I need a weapon, something I can hide on myself that will let me fight mermen and tritons and win.”

“We know,” Pelnie said. “We brought you a shell knife and a stone knife. You can hide them in your harness or under your loin cloth and Crabby will never know.”

“Thank you,” Longdrifter said. “I love you. All of you.” There, that was in the open now, too.

“Get in the water. Sleep,” Pelnie instructed. “We’ll wake you before dawn so you can get to Orange Rock in time.”

“I’ll sleep here, in the air. I have everything I need to take, and it’s comfortable in the long grass. Thank you, thank you, everybody. But please still wake me early so I can get to orange Rock anyway.”

Crabby made a show of presenting Longdrifter with a worthless spear, carrying on to all the Alqar present what a great trust this showed in the most promising youth of the tribe. That last line was for Evtral.

Longdrifter made a great show of gratitude, and closed by saying, “And thank you most of all for making me a ceremonial adult two years early.”

“What?!?”

“Children are not entrusted with real weapons,” Longdrifter quoted from their law. “It’s all right. This is a serious, important event. I’m not treating it as child’s play. I am treating it as adult work. I will do the Alqar proud. Thank you again.”

Crabby was speechless with rage at how he had been duped. Oskial Evtral and Longdrifter used the opportunity to escape, swimming strongly toward the rising sun.