The Sea God's Pact

My breath came in heavy gasps as I ran down the crowded beach. Each step felt like the ground was moving beneath my feet, as the ocean waves washed the sand out from under me. I nearly fell several times, but managed to stop myself from hitting the sand. The beach was covered with people in lawn chairs and sprawled on towels, all waiting to see the lunar eclipse. The eclipse that I wished desperately wouldn’t happen, for when the last beams of moonlight disappeared so would his life. I just couldn’t let that happen.


I must have looked drunk the way I slipped in the sand as I made the turn onto the dock. It seemed like miles lay between me and the other end where I could just make out his silhouette against the fading moonlight. The eclipse was starting, I had to go faster! Fear clinched my heart with a grip that sent cold slivers down my spine. I could not let this happen! There would be no point in life if I lost him again!


Picking up the pace, I ran as fast as my short legs would allow. If only I’d been more into sports, then maybe I wouldn’t already have a stitch in my side and pain in my legs. The run could only have taken a few minutes but the time felt as if it had stretched into hours. As I drew near the end of the dock I saw him gasp in pain then fall over.


“NO!” My scream was shrill and it caused his head to turn towards me. I could see tears in his eyes as he accepted his fate, a fate that I could never give into. Reaching his side, I was suddenly at a loss of what to do. The whole run hear I had been foolishly thinking that if I could just reach him in time everything would be fine. But my being here was not going to stop his death.


“Lek!” I could barely speak through the sobs that were now uncontrollable. “What can I do? I don’t want to lose you!” His big hand reached up to touch my face, gently wiping the tears from my eyes.


“There is nothing you can do.” The sound of his voice only made my heart ache more for I knew that in a few seconds I would never get to hear it again. “Andean, you’ve known from the start that the pact I made with the god would not allow us to remain together. This is the price for the few days I spent in your loving gaze and I gladly pay it. For the time spent with you was worth even more to me.” Weakly he pulled me into his arms and we shared a kiss for the last time. “I have always loved you Andean, and always will.” As he spoke those words the last breath of life went out of him and his body fell, empty, upon the wooden planks of the dock. Before my eyes he turned from flesh to water and rejoined the ocean where he would forever be lost to me.


For a second I could do nothing but stare in horror. Not even breath would come to me. He was gone. The one person I loved more than life itself was gone. Finally the pain hit me like a sledge hammer and I fell upon the dock, a great mess of tears and anguished cries.


“NO!” I screamed out into the now dark sky. “It’s not fair! He gave up everything just to be with me and now he has to give his life as well, all this just for loving me, a human!” I didn’t think about what I was doing. Didn’t think about if the god could hear me or not. To my tormented mind there was only one thing that mattered. I had to get Lek back.
“If you’re so into deals then I have a better one! Take me instead! My life for his! You hate humans! This would be the perfect chance to teach us a lesson! My soul would be your slave for eternity and Lek could return to your ocean realm a once more loyal citizen! Please! You know you would prefer if I was the one to die!” My screams echoed through the night, loud enough that I was sure even those on the beach could hear me.


“That is a tempting offer.” Came a rumbling reply from somewhere deep in the water. “But I’m afraid your sort would ruin everything I’ve taught my children to believe.” As he spoke, a great whirl pool opened in the dark waters and from it a stream of multi colored lights rose to take the shape of a man, floating in the air.


This was not at all what I thought the sea god would look like but I didn’t have time to think on it. I had to save the man I loved.


“Then name your price! Anything you want from me I will give to have him back!”


“You could not possibly have anything that I could want. But you do show something that I thought never to see in a human being, selflessness. Lek was right after all. He told me it was there but, before now, I had no reason to believe him. Such a marvel must not go unmarked, and I can’t take payment for the pact when he proved me wrong. That is why I am restoring his life and giving it to you. Andean, you are probably the only human I have ever met whom I would trust with one of my children.”


I stood in complete astonishment at such a grand compliment. I was pleading for Lek’s life but I never thought the sea god would actually hear me. The colorful lights that made the shape of the god swooped down one massive hand to touch the dock where my beloved had laid. With that touch a burst of bright sparks flew into the air to explode like fireworks, lighting the darkened sky. I shielded my eyes from the brightness as the sea god’s image faded back into the water. I could hear, even from this distance, the awes of the people gathered on the beach as they watched the magic exploding in the air.


When the brightness faded, I uncovered my eyes and there he was. The moon had slipped out from its hiding place and was casting its silvery glow down on us. I could barely see Lek for the tears of joy that streamed down my face. As we embraced for what felt like the first time, my heart seemed to be filled with such happiness that it could barely contain it. In that moment I knew that Lek and I would never again be apart.

1151 words