Mutante: Chapter 12
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
Short chapter today so I don’t leave you guys with a cliffhanger all weekend 😉
After eating, they repacked their supplies and Rosie mentally modified the rhyme to get them to the blue siren-plant. At least they didn’t have to search through the forest for all these ingredients. She’d never seen a blue siren-plant and if there were any other choice, she would much prefer never to get within hearing distance of one, but needs must. She visualized the path stretching away from them towards what she guessed a blue siren-plant would look like, then recited her rhyme.
The path began warping into existence but then wavered, remaining mirage-like instead of solidifying. Rosie bit her lip. Maybe it was picking up on how little she wanted to actually find the plant?
“Grant us passage that is safe
through this dark and gloomy place.
To a blue siren-plant we go,
through all the currents, high or low.
Take us on the way that’s true
through the realm that’s deep and blue;
allow no dangers, vast or small,
to reach us on this path at all,” she said fervently.
Thomas frowned. “Miss Rose, perhaps you need a better visual. Repeat after me: Mirror, mirror, on this seahorse, show me which is the wisest course. The blue siren-plant I seek, let me first take a peek.”
Rosie blinked at him, but obediently repeated the rhyme. Thomas’s face vanished and a haze of mist filled the mirror. Before long, it cleared, and a blue siren-plant appeared, its tentacles lashing, the seed pods hanging low to the ground, and an occasional pump of bright yellow shooting out of the few virulent green flowers.
The sick feeling in her stomach intensified.
As they watched, the tentacles shot out, grabbing hold of an otter and dragging it back to the plant’s mouth. The otter went willingly. Did it see an attractive otter the same way that merpeople saw their own kind? Or perhaps a juicy crab?
She shuddered, averting her eyes and turning her attention to the base of the plant. Thank all the deities that Waterdancer was apparently immune to the plant’s wiles! They never would have escaped otherwise.
A shower of flesh drifted down the sides of the plant, and several crabs scuttled over, apparently sharing in the plant’s meal.
No. She didn’t have to do this. It would be suicide! Even with the breathers, how would they keep from being trapped by tentacles that were thicker around than a porpoise and strong enough to destroy even the strongest merman? Robert’s sword was sharp, but there were so many tentacles! He couldn’t hack them all off!
“Are you all right, Rosie? You look a bit pale,” Robert said, touching her lightly on the arm.
Rosie shook her head. “This is—this is crazy! We can’t get a seed pod! Not without getting killed. And if we’re dead, we can’t make the potion anyway. It’s hopeless.”
Thomas’s face re-appeared in the mirror. “It is only hopeless if you believe it to be.”
“And think of the adventure!” Robert said, throwing his arms wide.
Rose’s hands curled into fists. “The adventure?” she demanded, her voice cracking.
He nodded. “It’s the sort of thing bards will sing about for years if we succeed.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Besides, adventure gets the blood pumping—don’t you enjoy that? The moment when you don’t know exactly how it will turn out and you decide to go for it anyway—and your decision makes all the difference. It’s such a heady feeling!”
Rosie shook her head. “Maybe for you! I’d rather stop risking my life, thank you very much. It’s not something I’ve ever enjoyed.”
“Well, I suppose it’s up to you, but you’re the one who’s determined to save your grandmother. If you have to do something, you might as well enjoy it.”
Rosie opened her mouth to retort and then closed it. Robert’s words made a little too much sense. Maybe she couldn’t exactly enjoy the quest, but . . . she did want to save her grandmother. She had to save her grandmother. If she did nothing, everyone would suffer for her mistakes, including Grandma. Maybe she couldn’t save Grandma from the curse, but she could save her from Aunt Rina’s latest scheme. And that meant getting a blue siren-plant seed. She squared her shoulders even as her tail fluttered. “Can I see the plant again, Thomas?”
He nodded and repeated the rhyme for her to use.
As the siren-plant appeared, Rosie studied it. Maybe they couldn’t survive a direct attack, but perhaps they didn’t have to come at the plant directly. “Thomas, can you see what we’re seeing?”
“Yes, Miss Rose.”
“Then let’s figure out how to do this as safely as possible.”
“But—” Robert began to protest.
She glared at him. “You don’t have to make things harder on yourself just to prove you can do them. After all, what will happen to your family if you die on this ‘glorious quest’?”
Robert paled and then shook himself and pasted on a charming smile. “I’ll protect you, fair maiden. There is no need to fear.”
Rosie’s glare intensified. “There is a difference between being brave and being foolhardy. You appear to have lost sight of that. We don’t have to take foolish risks when going after the seeds.”
“Oh, well, um, of course,” Robert said, beginning to check the straps on Waterdancer’s saddle.
“Now, fighting that thing head-on looks like a death sentence. How else can we get the seed?” She squinted at the mirror. “Can you make the base of the plant bigger, Thomas?”
The image shifted obediently.
“What if it’s like the fan-tail plant?” she murmured.
“Pardon?” Robert said.
She turned to him. “What if it’s like the fan-tail plant?” She gestured at the mirror. “You told me that sometimes it’s safer to go for a plant at its base. Those tentacles are attacking anything that comes at the plant through the water, but the crabs are walking right up to the plant.”
Robert leaned forward, studying the picture. “Hmm. And you think the plant wouldn’t be able to differentiate between you and a crab?”
“Not if we pulled ourselves along the seafloor. And look! There!” She pointed excitedly. “The crabs are all moving in the same way. Forward for a minute and then pause for half that time and then forward again for the same length, over and over. There’s a pattern! They must be signaling the plant somehow that it’s them!”
“Huh.” Robert’s eyes darted from one crab to the next. “Siren-plants supposedly recognize prey from the vibrations in the water. Maybe by holding still, the crabs create a sort of welcome message?”
“Exactly!”
“And if we match that pattern—”
“The plant won’t attack us,” Rosie finished. They beamed at each other. “See,” she said, “there is a smart way to approach this problem. You don’t have to do it the hard way.”
“Fine. You might be right. We won’t know until we actually try it.”
Rosie nodded. It was a chance—which was more than they would have if they threw themselves into the problem head-on.
“I believe Miss Rose has the right of it. Certainly, it would be safer to make the attempt rather than swimming right up to the plant.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?” Robert said.
“The path,” Thomas pointed out. “And for you to attach the fan-tail leaves around your gills.”
“Er, right,” Robert said. He looked over at Rosie. “So, what do you think? Can you move the path to the siren-plant?”
Rosie nodded and firmly recited the rhyme she had come up with. The path snapped into place more quickly than it had all day. She then tied a fan-tail leaf over her gills and helped Robert secure one around his own gills. Her jaw tightened. It might not be the safest thing to do, but she too refused to let Rina win. She gestured to the path in front of them. “Shall we?”
A/N: I don’t know about you guys, but I need reminded to look for the smart way to do things all the time! I’m much more prone to just try harder instead of pausing to figure out how to try smarter.
If you notice something that can be strengthened or if you’d like to beta, please let me know!
See you on Tuesday!
