Riley’s eyes narrowed. Her twitching fins stirred the water as she hovered. Her lips were pursed, body silent and tense. She stared evenly at the cluster before her. They were younger than her, but not by much. Three. Two girls and a boy, each sporting cocky grins, bared their fangs at her.

“Little dangerous to be swimming alone,” the one girl called out. “Especially around here. These are our hunting grounds.”

Riley was silent a moment longer as she scanned them, sizing up the biggest threat. The girl on the left, with coconut brown hair hacked short around her ears was the largest of the three. Her weight could be both an advantage and disadvantage in a fight. Her tail was a deep inky red that looked near black when she shifted it a certain way, and her fluke was thick cartilage. The boy was fidgety, smaller and wiry, Riley decided he was likely a more slippery sort, who might confuse his opponents by twisting around them. Especially with those scales. A faint yellow with flecks of color, they gleamed in the sunlight almost blindingly. But the girl on the right was who Riley focused her attention on. The one who had spoken. She had split fins, and a long torso. Scales wrapped up her sides, leaving very little torso flesh exposed. She’d be hard to hit effectively. Paired with the coat of armor, a long spiny mane travelled her spine in two strips, the webbing between thick and ridged. And she sported two pectorals on her forearms, near her elbows. They were curved to a wicked point that Riley knew from experience with her own could end a fight in moments.

Her fins twitched once more. She did not wish to fight, but she imagined she would not have much choice. These three were out for blood by the looks in their eyes. She had seen groups like this before. Adolescents paired or grouped up, patrolling a patch of ocean and causing problems for anyone trying to swim by. More than a few Mer were seriously injured, sometimes lost their lives to an unruly bunch. Riley tilted her head slightly, a gesture behind her. They had come up from behind and stopped her. “Just passing through.”

“Through our territory,” the boy snarled.

“We do not like strangers,” the larger girl added. “They tend to get hurt.”

Riley grinned. “Surely you are not so threatened by one Mer, now are you? Three against one is hardly a fair fight and yet you three behave as if cornered morays.”

“We are not threatened,” the other girl corrected. Riley suspected she might be leading this rag-tag group. “Annoyed. You are not welcome here. There are consequences.”

“That so?”

In the next moment, the girl had closed the distance and thrust her face into Riley’s. Her hazel eyes were narrowed, and her lip curled with anger. “Yeah. I would not be so relaxed about it. Maybe we will just shred your fins and be on our way. You have swum into a den of predators. So be a good little Mer and plead mercy. Maybe I will consider it. I am sure we could find a use for you.”

Riley snorted. She was never one to back from a challenge and fleeing would get her nowhere in this situation anyways. They would pursue. “You do not wish to scrabble with me, child. Trust me. This time, your prey will fight back. Perhaps more than you are prepared for,” she warned.

The younger Mer growled. She looked about fifteen. A bad age. Too arrogant, without the experience to back it up.

“How long have you been out here, you and your scrappy friends, bullying those on their own or in pairs? I bet none of them fight back too much. You probably pick and choose. Did a bad mood make you stupid today? I am surprised you would take on anyone you did not know you could beat. And trust me, even outnumbered, I can live with my odds. Turn tail. No one needs to get hurt.”

The other Mer snarled; her jaw clenched tightly with rage. “Wrong,” she hissed, jerking her head. “You are going to get hurt.”

The scene exploded then as she tacked Riley. Clenching her teeth, Riley rolled with the impact. She slipped beneath the girl and drove her shoulder into a small, exposed patch of flesh just below her ribcage, before she was face to face with the boy of the group. Her suspicions were correct, he spun round her in tight circles, and she had to squint as the light reflected against his scales.

In the brief moment of weakness, she paid the price as the third member of their party caught her round the middle and squeezed. Riley wheezed. She curled up and jabbed the tip of her tail against the girl’s stomach. Twisting violently as the grip loosened, she managed to catch the flesh of the girl’s face with one of the spiny fins on her forearms. Fighting three on one was never an easy task, and one never walked away unscathed. In the little time it took her to twist free, the boy had clamped his jaws around her shoulder. His fangs sunk deep and Riley gritted her teeth. She wrenched herself free of his grip and spun to slash him dead across the chest. His scales were softer, they parted to her sharp spines, and blood began to flow.

The boy jerked back with a whimper, moving back a few paces to nurse the injury. Riley winced and rolled her shoulder. The muscle had been torn. She could no longer count on that arm as effectively in this fight. And there were still two Mer to go. If the boy decided to stay out for good.

The larger girl growled and lunged. Riley hissed in return, showing her own fangs. She copied the boy and let her teeth find their mark in the girl’s shoulder. The girl cried out and smashed her palm against Riley’s face. The foul taste of blood filled Riley’s mouth to mix with the flavor of the other girl’s flesh. Feeling dizzy, Riley released the girl and shook her head. She had to act quickly, so she curled her fingers into a tight fist and connected with the Mer’s chin. Her head snapped back and she dropped, giving Riley just a moment to breathe. She turned to face her final opponent, breathing heavily now, and found herself face to face with the leader. Her guard had been down, she hadn’t noticed her get so close. She paid for the error. Nearly chest to chest, the other girl grinned and drove a pectoral up into Riley’s midriff. A pained gurgle left her lips as it drove home through the twisted knot of skin near her hip. She growled. “That just healed, you rotten little slug,” she wheezed, spitting out blood into the girl’s face.

Another shriek of rage ripped from the teen’s lips and she grabbed Riley’s shoulder to hold her still and drove her fin deeper. Riley coughed. There was not much pain; she knew she was in shock, and very much in trouble. Her vision was going fuzzy, but she lashed out with her own spines at the other girl, but she didn’t make contact. “I warned you,” the girl hissed in Riley’s face. “You should have just rolled over. We may have let you live then.”

The girl ripped her pectoral out and aimed to stab again, but the blow never came, and Riley sunk to the sand. She looked up to see another Mer grappling with her attacker.

He had her in a headlock, her arms pinned by his free arm as he pressed her gills shut and squeezed. The girl thrashed in his grasp, snarling and twisting as she tried to get free, but with her gills closed, she soon slumped into unconsciousness. Riley watched the male drop the girl, and then he was hovering over her. “Are you alright?” he asked as he pulled her up. His expression told her everything she needed to know. Glancing down, she got a good look at the torn flesh and plumes of blood flooding from it. “You need help.”

“Was fine,” Riley muttered. “Had it under control.”

“Clearly,” the boy countered. He draped her arm over his shoulder and began swimming in the direction Riley was headed. “We need to find a healer. Hopefully they can do something.” The adrenaline was beginning to fade, and now the pain was sharp in Riley’s side. She tried to help him swim but after a moment, her muscles went slack. She was losing too much blood and lost it faster when she moved.

She shook her head. “Healer cannot help. Too much damage. Need Lewis. Go that way,” she slurred, pointing along the coast.

The boy turned in the direction without questioning her choice. It was silent for a few minutes, and Riley had time to reflect on her situation. She began to wonder if her luck had finally run out. “What is your name?” the boy asked.

“Riley,” she breathed back. Talking was becoming difficult.

“Torren,” he responded. “Hang on, alright? What am I looking for?”

“Coastline. Large tunnel, like big pipe.”

“Human stuff? Why do you want to go there?”

“Have to get to Lewis. Lewis can help...maybe. He is going to be furious. Sophie…never going…let me leave…again. Got me good.” The boy’s speed picked up. She imagined he was concerned. “Do not have to help. You did enough. Did not thank.”

“You cannot swim. If I leave you now, you will bleed out. What do I do when I find this tunnel of yours?”

“Swim up it. Safe. Do not worry. No one will hurt us.”

It was a few long minutes of silence. Riley was beginning to see double. Some fuzzy part of her brain remembered that pressure was important. She pressed her free hand to the injury, gritting her teeth against the pain, and folded her gliders over it to try and staunch some of the bleeding.

Torren turned as he approached the entrance Riley had been headed towards. One powerful flick of his fin and they were inside. There was just enough room for two to swim side by side, not that Riley was much help on the swimming part. When her head broke the water, her heart sunk. The room was empty, and she questioned her ability to get up into the wheelchair, much less all the way up to the apartment. She could only hope she’d run into someone she could trust along the way.

“What now?” Torren asked as he glanced around the room. Riley could sense his nerves. She did not blame him for his unease. Mer and humans did not really have much contact for a reason.

Riley shook her head and braced her palms on the edge, hauling herself out of the water. Blood spattered everywhere and she cried out, slumping onto her side. “Need Lewis. Have to get in chair,” she muttered.

Torren growled something under his breath and pulled himself out of the water. His tail slid under the wheelchair to steady it and then he helped haul her into it. “It lets you move around on land?”

Riley nodded. “Yes. You can go. I will be alright. They will help. Thank you.”

Torren shook his head. “Stop trying to get rid of me. I will stay until you are safe. You should not have been out alone like that.” He stretched up and grabbed the back handles of the chair. “How do you move this thing?”

Riley shivered, feeling very cold. She curled her gliders tighter and grabbed the wheels with both hands. Thankfully, all the doors in the center were wheelchair accessible, so she pushed the button to open the door. Torren was helping, shoving his tail against the floor to help propel them forward. Riley knew it was dangerous. They could be seen. But she had little choice, so she pushed on to the elevator. At least the apartments were in this building.

Torren didn’t comment, but she caught sight of his widened gaze as the elevator doors slid open and she pushed herself inside. Smacking her finger against the button for the fourth floor, Riley then slumped. She really did not feel well now. “If I pass out,” she murmured. “Turn right when the doors open, go to the end of the hall. Door there.” Hopefully it is unlocked. Hopefully Sophie is home, she added to herself, but she did not vocalize those thoughts.

“Try to stay awake. You have a better chance. Put more pressure on. I will get us there,” he said. The elevator dinged loudly and then they were moving again. When they reached the door, Riley reached out and turned the handle, pushed the door open weakly.

Sophie was there, right away, her eyes narrowed with concern. They widened instantly in shock and Riley forced a small smile. The world was spinning. “Sophie…I sorry. I need…little help…please,” she forced out the last few words before her spinning vision clouded over. She heard Sophie call her name, felt herself fall from the chair, but she no longer had the energy to fight back unconsciousness.