The Morrigan

It was the night of the highest tide, where the cool grass of the Carrough Faire met with the icy seas of the Laithe Bay.

The night when the waxing moon silhouetted the three ships of Erised from the small seaside town.

The trade winds filled tired sails and ruffled the blonde haired sailors aboard, eager for their homes.

It was on this night that Ada snuck out of the warmth of her bed, to spy on the coming of the three ships in the bay, guided by the illume of the lighthouse.

She squinted in the dark, and looked out into the vast expanse of sea that opened before her.

At the black jagged rocks and at the silvery ocean like a living thing, rushing and swelling.

Ada ran down the grassy knoll and hiked up her skirts, wading in the freezing waters like a child.

Oh such defiance! She giggled to herself, if her bethroted could see her now!

She trailed a hand over the waters surface and delighted in the tiny plankton that lighted up like a million stars underwater.

She was only nineteen, but to be married in a month to the only man she had ever loved...or ever truly loved her.

She shivered slightly. She let her skirts drop and soak in the salty sea, letting the chilling ebb of the tides lap at her thighs.

She brushed a lock of her raven hair from her face and turned around to see the first lights of the waking town behind her.

And thats when she caught sight of her....

She lay, the creature, bear breasted and pale on the stretch of beach before her, half hidden by the rocks.

The moons white light coated her already pale skin with a sheen that made her look almost ivory, and her cascade of pale, pale hair draped languidly at her sides.

Ada gaped and held wrung her hands together. Oh my. She thought to herself. What in the world...

Ada rushed to the womans aid, thinking of her in trouble, shipwrecked perhaps, for she looked a sight without a stitch of clothing on.

But as she drew closer, Ada realized what she was and the beauty and mystery that befell her mortal eyes made her sink to her knees.

"Oh my almighty lord." She whispered softly, unable to tear her eyes away.

The creatures skin was as pale as new fallen snow and tiny veins webbed an intricate design on her temples like thin cobwebs, unnoticeable till shed shift and a waft of moonlight caught directly on her skin.

She was for a second like a building drawn on paper with all the latchworks and crossbeams showing the details of their design.

Like a map of rivers, and channels connecting into forks and turns, an unimaginable road leading on through forever...

And those eyes, the eyes that opened slowly and stared at Ada with the intensity of a flickering flame...so blue...without an iris, just a round globe of pale pale blue, it looked as though if she blinked, water would pour from her eyes and down her cheeks.

But they didnt and there was only a slight rippling on the surface, like a drop of water touching an expanse of sea.

Her hair cascades down her back like a spray of white water, soft curling tendrils woven together in parts with weed sand abalone, sand in her scalp and algae tinting her locks with a soft green hue.

Ada was mesmerized, lost in her beauty and slowly bent to touch the maidens skin.

Ada touched the maidens skin and an icy chill shot through her arm. One feeling overwhelmed her and it was cold...

The intense cold of a winters night, a cold of damp clothes and bare floors, of steel pressed against bare skin, of a mountain stream rushing through bare fingers...

All she wanted was to run home to where it was warm. But it felt as if she would never be warm again, and she wished to curl up in a ball and let it take her then and there. She started to cry, mournfully, her teeth chattering and her whole body shivering uncontrollably.

The sea maidens liquid eyes gazed at her, and it seemed like she could see right into her soul. She rose slowly, and Ada saw in amazement that it was a tail that supported her, a long curling tail of the most beautiful silver...shimmering like jewels in the night.

The sea maiden beckoned Ada to her feet, and placing a clammy hand on Adas shoulder, bent her face towards hers.

Ada could smell the sea strongly now, in the sea maidens skin, in her hair, not like fish, but like salt and water and rocks, it made her think of an endless deep, of a vast expanse of blue and of sinking into icy waters.

She heard the roar of the sea in the distance, and the wind rocking the buoys making them clang and echo.

Just when she thought the sadness and despair would finally take her, that the cold and the wet and the chill would claim her soul, the sea maiden pressed her lips to hers and a warmth unlike anything she had ever experienced flowed through her body.

She opened her mouth and the heat poured in like fire, tasting of salt and briney winds, a gale roared in her ears and she clung to the sea maiden, knowing that if she let go she would surely faint from the blissfulness of the moment.

Malachy stood dumbfounded at the sight of his future bride in the arms of a maiden, caught in a passionate kiss, her fingers digging into the maidens transluscent skin, glowing like the moon on a cloudy night.

He had followed Ada to see where she was off to, happy to watch her frolick in the sea like a child, even before their marriage.

He was going to keep watch on his bethroted, but he didnt think..he didnt know...

He tried to choke back a scream as he watched the sea maidens silver tail, scaled like a mackarel and glittering with wetness, snake around his loves body, wrapping around her legs and waist, till its massive fin spread like a fan over her breasts.

He heard Adas whimpers and saw her press her body closer to this...this...creature, wanting, needing whatever it was giving her.

Tears streamed down his face till he could take it no more, he raised his pitchfork above his head and ran down the rocks with a scream. But in a flash of silver and white, the maiden plunged back into the blackened sea, into the torrent of waves and white water, past the black rocks of the bay, into the freezing waters.

He caught his love just as she fell to the ground, her eyes glazed and gazing out into the endless horizon of the sea, her mouth open and moist with a glittering wet. He carried her limp body back to his wagon, his eyes clouded with tears, his throat hurting and burning till he forgot the cold and the winds whipping at his coat.

The screams woke him in the night, a bloodcurdling scream of misery and agony. He scrambled off the cot Adas mother had set for him by the hearth and run to her door. Adas parents were already there, their faces white with fright, they opened the door and were overwhelmed by the cold that came from inside.

The window in the small room facing the sea was thrown wide open, the curtains whipped frantically to and fro by the tempest outside, letting in the scent of the sea and the call of the waves.

Ada was sitting up on the bed, her sheets in disarray beside her. The buttons of her shirt were open, exposing her pale throat and the tops of her breasts. Her eyes were locked at the sea that howled out the open window. She moaned like a lost soul, hands raking at her hair, eyes wide and feral, legs thrashing white against the blue of her nightdress.

Adas mother rushed to close the windows, locking them securely while aideans father stooped to light the candle beside her bed that held no flame. ''Cold!'' Aidean screamed, ''So cold!''

Her teeth were chattering and her fingers where like ice when Malachy grabbed her hand. They brought her blankets and covered her in shirts and brought her closer to the fire. Yet still she screamed of the cold till her mother broke down in tears and her father ordered Malachy to fetch the priest.

''Surely its a doctor she needs sir.'' Malachy said putting on his coat. ''Cant you see my daughter is in need of the spirit boy? I dont need a doctor to tell me my daughter may be dying!'' Adas father bellowed, his face a sheen of red in the dim firelight.