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Even in the depths of the ocean, she shone brilliant and gold and flashing in the least little bit of light that could filter down. Perhaps that was why he kept her. Perhaps that was why Keyleth was trapped in the depths, the tiny goldfish pet of the kraken. She wasn’t purely a goldfish, more mermaid than fish; bright and smart and longing to one day see the sun.
She slept in a cage made of bones, presumed under the watchful eye of her keeper.
“What have we here?” The voice was so soft she didn’t start awake, drifting slowly to consciousness because of his presence. Half-elf and dressed in dark leathers, he was handsome and only just visible in the dark shadows of the kraken’s lair.
Keyleth had never seen someone her size, not alive at least, and she shied away from him. Her heart hammered in her chest because where would she go? She was a captive, she lived in a cage.
“Shh no, hey, I didn’t mean to scare you. Look, I’m not here to hurt you. I didn’t know there was anything alive down here but the beast,” he showed his empty hands after putting a dagger away. “Can you talk? Do you understand me?”
She nodded twice, not trusting her voice lest it wake the kraken.
“I’m Vax’ildan. Do you want out of that cage?” He smiled and her heart stayed fast, watching his handsome face with wide eyes. She nodded again, eyes flicking in the direction she knew the beast was. “I know,” he followed her gaze and then reached for something at his pocket. “Just stay quiet, I’ll have this unlocked in no time.”
Keyleth watched him with the knot the kraken used to keep her there, swimming closer so she could see what he was doing. For some reason he fumbled the knot as soon as she got closer.
“Sorry. I’m not usually this bad with doors,” he said with a quick little smile. She smiled back and his hand slipped, the dagger he’d been working the knot with slicing into his hand so a cloud of blood bloomed between them. “Shit.”
Keyleth’s hands reached through the bars to grasp his hand but it was too late. Deeper in the lair the kraken shifted in its sleep, already sensing the blood, sensing the intruder.
“Quick, hide,” she said with a gesture of her head toward a dark corner. Without hesitation, Keyleth cut her hand on a sharp corner of Vax’ildan’s armor so that the cloud of blood could be hers. He gave her a quick, startled look, then swam to the bit of darkness she had indicated. Keyleth shone, red and gold and shining like a coin at the bottom of a well, fearless in the face of the kraken.
The grasping tentacles of the kraken reached through and into the mermaid’s cage, inspecting her hand and tasting her blood. It wasn’t the same as the blood in the water and it growled, intent on finding the intruder. It never saw the half-elf where he hid himself, swimming to patrol the grounds around its lair.
“You have to go before it comes back,” Keyleth said, swimming to the back of her cage where she was closest to Vax’ildan.
“Come with me,” Vax said, coming to the side of the cage and reaching through to her.
“I can’t. It will hunt you to the edges of the ocean and beyond,” she answered, but she drifted to his hands anyway.
Vax smiled and pulled his dagger to wedge into the gap between bones. Rather than attack the door to the cage, which was heavily fortified, he started to work on separating the bones just enough to allow the goldfish to slip free. Keyleth took one of his other daggers, leaning in close to pull it from his belt, and got to work doing the same.
“Come on. There. Are you ready?” Vax asked, slamming his dagger back into its sheath when the gap looked wide enough for her to fit through.
He reached through the gap, offering his hand but Keyleth gave him his dagger back rather than giving him her hand. Instead she freed herself, swimming through the space between the bones and briefly struggling when her hips were almost too wide to fit. With a push, she was out. The force of getting free pushed her into Vax, who easily caught her and grinned.
Without words they linked their hands together and swam for the surface. Keyleth heard the rage of the kraken when it found its treasure gone and she kept swimming. The water grew lighter in slow stages and Vax’ildan guided her in one direction as they swam, gently pulling on her hand. It was day on the surface and Keyleth emerged from the water, feeling the sun on her skin for the first time.
“There he is. Vax! You big dummy! Get him up and let’s-”
“Keep going, pick us up in the pass,” Vax interrupted, putting a hand to his ear so his words could carry.
Keyleth looked up and there was a ship in the sky.
“The kraken’s pissed, I don’t want to stick around longer than we absolutely have to. Let’s go.”
A ladder splashed into the water and Vax wrapped one arm around Keyleth and grabbed ahold of the ladder when it passed by with his free hand. Apparently someone above was pulling on the rope ladder because they rose above the surface, leaving the sea far below them. Keyleth wrapped her arms around the half-elf, trembling. She was free.
“What took you so- Oh.” Another half-elf was on the deck of the ship, almost identical to Vax but feminine in feature and demeanor. “Brother darling, I thought you were going to steal the kraken’s treasure.”
“I did,” Vax responded to his twin with an unrepentant grin. He was panting with the exertion of hauling a half-fish who couldn’t climb a ladder on her own, but set her down on the deck as gently as he would something precious and fragile.
Keyleth pushed her red hair back from her face, peering up at the twins and around at the ship. “Hello. I’m Keyleth. Thank you for freeing me.”