Chapter 9 - First Child

Marzena freezes in her pose, realizing the line she's crossed. She swallows hard, biting back the tears rising in her dark irises. "Yes," she confirms, "I em." Marzena blinks back tears threatening to fall. Her heart begins to pound in her chest, and she feels torn at the actions she's placed. Marzena licks her lips, then there's a growl echoing through the cave.

Dariol was aroused by her teeth nipping at the delicate bottom lip, wanting to taste her again. He forced reason to control himself, but lust clouded his vision. The dark pine mass wraps around Marzena's small ankle and yanks her into the water. She falls in the ten meter drop, rushing to reach the surface when Dariol slams her on the sand bed. The last bit of air she had is forced from her lungs by the velocity his tail gathered. Instead of seeing remorse on Dariol's face, she spots a smirk. Fear rises against her spine as she scrounges for a breath of air, but because of the creature in front of her, she's paralyzed.

Dariol slithers towards his prey, toying with the female like she just did with him. He grabs ahold of her ankle, jerking her in between his torso and the sand bed, foricing what's left in her lungs out of her body. His prey has barely lost her consciousness when he decides to tease her with the brush of his lips. "I'm not the fool I once was, mei swai." Dariol whispers. Her eyes flutter softly against her cheeks, and just as she slips into the darkness, Dariol connects his lips with hers, blowing oxygen into her system. At the air advancing into her lungs, his prey comes back to life and Dariol smirks against her lips. Marzena is the one to weakly cross her arms behind his neck. He pushes off the sand bed, using the force of his strength to cannon them towards the surface.

Marzena kisses the siren back, enjoying the precious moments within his arms. When Dariol's mouth leaves hers, she gasps for air while he gently settles her onto the rocky terrain. She coughs up water, shivering from the air hitting her wet clothes. Her large, bright green eyes beckon Dariol to hold her as she quivered, but the merman only retracts from the female. Marzena sniffles a moment, regulating her breathing. It had been a while she went for a swim with the mer, and she knew how temperamental he is; she can only estimate her first born was just the same as Dariol.

The mer leans over her frame, casting a shadow of his head from the moonlight. She coughs again, and her heart begins to slow into a steady rhythm. "In three moons, you will meet Vera..." and he dives back into the pool of blue water. He never resurfaces, and leaves Marzena without so much as a goodbye.

Just as the last visit, is her only thought after Dariol's gone.

Marzena nurses her head and combs through her messy, wet tresses. It had been a very long time since she had last dipped into the pool, and she's never looked back. After finding her child born with a tail instead of two little legs, Marzena was petrified. With no mate and no one to claim the father's spot, she turned to the only creature who would know what to do. By then, Marzena had realized her child could shift, but not into a furry, ferocious beast. To know that the first child she ever bore was well and alive, it was a miracle in disguise.

Marzena smiles to herself with glee. "Vera." Her voice echoes off the stone walls.

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I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to save me.

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*add some character development for the merlings.