In my mind, I could see a thick black sludge laid across the rocks. I stiffened. It was a curse. Not just some natural thing that had made the water stop flowing. Now, I just needed to see if I could fix it.
I pushed past it, refusing to let the darkness of the curse overtake me. It was a strange feeling, like moving with my mind through quicksand. Or trying to work out a problem that sent goosebumps blossoming across my skin every time I drew closer to the solution. At times I felt entirely stuck, but I gritted my teeth and kept pushing forward, Henry’s face in the back of my thoughts.
It didn’t matter that I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I had to figure out a solution, and quick.
When I broke through to the other side of the thing that had to be the curse, images assaulted me, one after another in rapid succession. I could see the connection the sirens had to the land and the waters here, and I could see how it had become twisted and deformed under their abuse. I could see how much they had taken and used without ever wondering if they should pay it back. They fished too much; they used the natural resources that had been provided to them like they were infinite, when in fact they were waning faster than any of us could imagine. It made my stomach clench and bile rise up the back of my throat.
Staggering backward, I faced the crowd of sirens, my brother, and my friends. “It was your greed and cruelty that stopped the waters.”
They gasped, some looking offended.
Part of me wondered if it was smart to tell them the truth, but I couldn’t seem to stop the words. “You must stop prioritizing money and other riches over your ancestral waters.” To my shock, power filled my voice, weighing on the crowded sirens. They knelt as I spoke, almost like the power in my voice was too much for them to resist. The offense on some of their faces faded to wonder. “If you give a blood oath to restore the waters, to stop overfishing and polluting the waters, and to give back to the waters, I will let the sacred water flow loose again.”
The siren queen stepped toward me, though her head was ever so slightly bowed. Her opinion of me had certainly changed in the last couple of minutes. “We will do whatever is needed.”
The light of the moon glinted off the metal they had been brandishing at us not more than a few minutes ago, and I knew what needed to be done, even though I didn’t know why. “Use those daggers,” I commanded. “Give your blood to the stones. The sacrifice that needs to be made is from you, all of you, no one else.” Every siren stood and without speaking formed a series of lines. Each one sliced their palm and pressed their hands to the sacred stones around the empty pool area as they approached, giving their blood as an oath.
I closed my eyes. I could actually feel the way the land responded to their blood. It rippled out into the forest and up the mountains to the source of their water. There was a moment, just a few short seconds, that I wasn’t sure if it would work, where the mountain seemed reluctant to release the sacred waters that it had been guarding for so long. After a very long minute with nothing happening, I could sense the sirens behind me wondering if they’d been tricked. They were starting to think this had all been a ploy to buy myself time and were getting upset.
“You can do it,” Deva called, her voice ringing out as clear as a bell in the stillness.
“We believe in you,” Beth added, her voice filled with hope.
“I’m trying to help!” That was Carol. Almost at the same time as her words reached my ears, I felt her magic flow over me, giving me strength as I tried to pull the waters down from the mountain that was so far away. A second later, I felt the chill of the cool mountain air rush over my skin making me break out in goosebumps.
And then I felt the first water droplet against my skin. I lifted my face upward to search the top of the waterfall for any signs of the water the sirens so desperately needed.
Then another droplet fell, and another, and another. I squinted in the darkness but could see well enough by the light of the moon to watch the first few drops of water fall off the edge of the cliff face. Some of the sirens must have seen it too, because whispers started up behind me. When I saw that the drops were increasing in size and frequency, I knew I had to move. “Move,” I called. “Hurry!”
I ran to the side, grabbing Henry’s arm and yanking him with me as I moved.
Enough of the sirens must have realized that we had been successful because no one tried to prevent us from leaving the stones or the circle of sirens.
The siren queen led the way and all of the crowd rushed forward, standing at the base of the waterfall. I knew I shouldn't have been surprised by the sudden flow of water, but when it came roaring over the edge I couldn't help but gasp. It fell on the sirens below like they were standing under the oncoming tide. They began to dance and sing, frolicking in their ancestral waters as the rocky area filled with water for a moment before it overflowed into the ocean.
Fortunately, when I'd scurried out of the way, dragging Henry with me, my
