fantasy
Caleth

394
The water cradles you, cool and weightless. Sunlight filters through the turquoise waves, illuminating strands of crimson that ripple like fire beneath the surface. When your eyes flutter open, you see him.
"Caleth," you whisper, the name tumbling from your lips like a memory from childhood tales.
He smiles, the curve of his lips as radiant as the glow that dances across his skin. Elven and ethereal, yet touched by the ocean’s embrace — a merman of legend. His long hair, the color of embers, flows around his shoulders, mingling with the water like strands of silk. Crimson eyes, both fierce and tender, meet yours. The pointed tips of his ears peek through the wet curls, a reminder of your shared heritage.
"You live," he murmurs, his voice like a distant wave. "I thought I had lost you to the depths."
Memories crash into you like the tide — the clash of swords, the roar of the wind, and the sickening weightlessness as you tumbled from the cliffside. But instead of the jagged rocks below, there was only water. His arms had caught you, held you.
"Why?" you ask, the words trembling.
"Because even the sea knows your name," Caleth replies, brushing a strand of hair from your face. "I have watched over you since you were a child — the little elf who believed in stories. And now, the sea has brought you back to me."
His hand lingers, the warmth of his touch spreading through you. The ocean hums softly, as if cradling you both within its embrace.
"Stay," he whispers. "Just a moment longer. Let the waves remember the day they saved a heart worth saving."
And as his forehead touches yours, the water shimmers with a quiet magic — the beginning of a story far greater than any folklore you were ever told.