Aurora opened her eyes wide. After sitting up and trying to move around the evening before, she had collapsed on the beach in a heap. Now, the rays of the morning sun woke her, and she willed herself to rise. Every part of her ached from trying to swim and then being deprived of oxygen as she was tossed about unconscious in the waves. When the Empress finally managed to sit up, she took stock of her situation.

She was alone on the beach with the ice barrier towering behind her. It was cold, but beneath the Guardian's cloak, Aurora was protected from the chill. Devrim! She had no idea where Devrim was. The last time that she had seen him was when they were washed out of the boat by the merfolk's tidal wave. What could have happened to him? Had he drowned? Was he freezing somewhere? She needed to find him.

Struggling against her body, Aurora rose to her feet. 'This is how a toddler learning to walk must feel,' she thought as she took an awkward step. It was like her body had forgotten how to move. With a little practice, she was finally moving smoothly in the desired direction. 'Whew!' The Empress sighed in relief. Reaching into the cloak, Aurora pulled out some dried jerky and ate it quickly. The nourishment felt good. She found a small spring of water that flowed from the ice barrier into the lake and took a drink. The icy cold water revived her, and Aurora was ready to begin her search for Devrim.

The Empress pulled up her hood over her head. Although it was unlikely anyone would recognize her, any magical creature that saw her would have trouble telling that she was human if they could not see her face. There was also no way of knowing if that magical creature would be friendly toward humans or not. Which brought her to her next problem. Should she call out for Devrim? Her sound would carry farther than she could see, but it might also attract unwanted attention. She decided against it.

It turned out she should not have worried. The part of the barrier where she was was the highest part and few creatures chose it as their crossing spot. It was probably the reason that the merfolk had sent her to this remote part. As Aurora walked, she spotted a small switchback trail up the mountainous ice. 'I will keep that in mind for once I find Devrim,' she thought. Taking a trail would be far easier than trying to climb the sheer wall.

The shore was rocky, but the small stones along the water's edge were unlike anything she had seen. They were brightly colored and shiny like precious gems beneath the earth. She bent down to inspect a ruby red stone when something bobbing in the water caught her eye. "The boat!" Aurora ran with all her strength and caught the small rowboat in the waist-deep water. She hauled it to shore.

Her heart sank as she looked inside. Although her sachel and Devrim's backpack were safely inside, her friend was not. The moment of hope was crushed, and Aurora allowed tears to stream down her face. She gathered the belongings and stowed most of the items in the cloak. "Go home," she told the boat. The Empress needed to continue her journey on land, so she had no more use for the watercraft. The boat shivered and slid back into the water. It floated, riderless, toward the opposite shore of the lake.

"Aurora?" A voice called out weakly.

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(Eighteen hours earlier)

The roaring tidal wave swept Devrim from the boat. He was a decent swimmer thanks to some recent training courses he had completed with the Royal troops. This wave was enchanted, though, and a watery hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him under. He was still feeling the effects of the mermaid's spell, and the panic of the water surrounding him nearly crushed his spirit. Nearly. The thought of Aurora came to his mind, and for her sake he pushed himself back above the water.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As the darkness of the mermaids cleared, Devrim could see the shore was far closer than he expected. And he was coming toward the shore at an alarming speed. He flipped on his back and spread out his arms, trying to create as much drag as possible. It wasn't much, but with less of his body in the water as he floated, the magical water had less pull on him. The coming crash was inevitable, and Devrim relaxed to wait for just the right moment.

"Five, four, three, two, one.." Devrim plunged his feet in the thigh-deep water and began to run. His gamble paid off; the wave came on shore just a moment behind him. It knocked him to the ground with a pummeling force, but he did not experience the bone crunching crash that would have otherwise occurred. He lay on the beach exhausted but alive as the evening turned to night.

The night was bitter cold for Devrim. His coat was wet, and he did not have the energy to gather wood to make a fire. Not that there was any wood to make a fire, only beautiful small stones and the ice barrier. Only the thought of finding Aurora kept him from giving in to the dark frozen night. The grey-eyed man finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

Devrim felt something tug at his hair. Morning had dawned, and his eyes felt frozen shut. He cleared his vision and looked to where he had felt the tug. A turtle with the head and tail of a snake sat staring at him with a brown tuft of hair sticking out of its mouth. Had Devrim not been upset with the creature, he might have been afraid. "Stop that!" He cried as he sat up stiffly.

The creature looked surprised and then disappointed. It spit out the hair—the brown strands were inedible anyway—and ambled down the beach before slipping into the water. Devrim tried to stand. The lack of food, bitter cold and exertion from the day before made Devrim's attempt at walking look like a newborn foal. When he finally steadied himself, he was nearly out of energy. The lack of water was the worst part. He tried drinking from the lake, but something about the water made him wretch and empty his stomach.

Devrim walked a short distance to the ice barrier and scraped off ice chips with his sword. The ice melted in his mouth, and the effect was pleasant but not enough. And the amount of work it had taken to get the ice meant that he would be here all day and still not be satisfied. He was famished. Aside from the turtle-snake, he had seen no other animals on the beach. Devrim had no food. All of his dried meat was with his backpack or Aurora.

The Emperor walked down the beach. He couldn't say why he had chosen the direction that he had, but he marched onward in hopes of finding the Empress or at least a clue to her whereabouts. By the time that the sun was high in the air, Devrim collapsed in a heap from exhaustion. His awkward position and plain brown clothing made him appear to be little more than a large stone among the beautiful ones. Devrim was unsure how long he lay there. Just when he was going to drift off again, he heard a voice tell him gently to "Go home." Home? Home was with Aurora. The voice sounded just like her. Surely he was hearing things!

Devrim lifted his head. A short distance down the beach a figure in a dark cloak was watching a rowboat sail off across the lake. His heart clenched. "Aurora?" He called.

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Aurora heard her name. Even in its weakened state, she knew the voice instantly. She turned around and scanned the beach frantically. Finally her eyes stopped on a strange looking brown rock with her friend's face. "Devrim!" she cried, relieved. The Empress ran to Devrim as he tried to stand. She could see he was weak, and he collapsed helplessly into her arms. Aurora sat down and laid Devrim's head in her lap.

"You are ok!" Devrim said through his cracked lips.

"I'm fine," Aurora assured him, "but you aren't." The Empress pulled out a water-skin from the pack. She pressed it to the boy's mouth and forced him to drink. The cool liquid soothed Devrim's parched throat and he relaxed in her arms. "Don't fall asleep just yet." The Empress warned. "You need to eat something once you've finished drinking." She sounded like a mother scolding her child, but it comforted Devrim. He took a dried piece of meat that Aurora offered him.

"I am supposed to be taking care of you," Devrim tried to argue. "It's my job to protect you." He tried to sit up but the girl stopped him.

"You have saved my life countless times. It's my turn, whether you like it or not." Aurora smiled at him.

Devrim laid his head back into her lap. "You said to 'go home'."

"What?" Aurora was confused.

"I heard you a moment ago. You said to go home."

"I was talking to the boat," she said, realizing that she sounded ridiculous.

"No, you were talking to me. And guess what? I found home. You are my home." Devrim smiled up at her and she blushed.

"You are just tired. Rest now, sweet boy."

Having said his peace, Devrim complied and closed his eyes, happy to be back home.