The waves were quiet again.
Yan Shen flew low, his passage barely disturbing the surface. The blood that had stained the sea was long behind him, though the scent of salt and iron still clung to his clothes. Ahead, the island rose like a patient shadow beneath the evening sun.
He didn't look back.
But the sound of water following him told him he wasn't alone.
When he finally descended toward the volcanic shore, a ripple of displaced air broke the surface. The merman emerged, his silver-green tail cutting through the surf like a blade. He hovered near the shallows, hair clinging to his cheeks, eyes still sharp despite exhaustion.
He watched Yan Shen land on the sand.
"FLIGHT... The only people that have the ability to fly are beings on the same level as my dad" Kaelrin thought shockingly
Yan Shen waited.
For a long time, neither spoke. Only the waves filled the space between them,slow, deliberate, washing the blood from memory.
At last, he broke the silence.
"You didn't have to kill them all."
Yan Shen glanced at him. "You wanted one alive?"
His mouth tightened. "No… but you didn't even use Qi."
Yan Shen said nothing. The silence was answer enough.
The merman floated closer, cautious. He studied Yan Shen's face, searching for something, humanity, perhaps, or cruelty. Finding neither, he sighed.
"My name is Kaelrin," he said at last. "Heir to the Azure Depths Empire."
Yan Shen arched a brow faintly. "Royalty, then."
"In a sense." His tone was tired. "It doesn't matter much out here."
He turned toward the sand and drew in a breath. The air shimmered faintly around his tail as scales receded, their silver light folding into smooth skin. In seconds, his tail split and re-formed, two long, pale legs where fins had been.
Yan Shen blinked. His composure cracked enough for a low cough to escape him.
Kaelrin looked down at himself, still dripping seawater, utterly unbothered.
"Could you..." Yan Shen began, averting his eyes. " ..put something on?"
Kaelrin tilted his head, genuinely confused. "Why? Is this form… offensive?"
"Just..." Yan Shen exhaled sharply, dragging a hand across his face. "Hold on."
He reached into his space ring and withdrew a folded dark robe,plain cloth, utilitarian. He tossed it toward Kaelrin without meeting his gaze. "Here. Wear that."
Kaelrin caught it mid-air, turning it over curiously before shrugging into it. The fabric hung awkwardly on his frame, but it covered what mattered. He glanced at Yan Shen, amusement ghosting his lips.
"You land-folk are strange."
"Maybe," Yan Shen said, still looking at the horizon. "But we like to stay clothed."
Kaelrin chuckled softly. The sound was unexpectedly warm. "Noted."
They walked, one barefoot on stone, one barefoot on water, until they reached the slope of the volcano.
"You live here alone?" Kaelrin asked.
"For now."
Kaelrin's gaze followed the faint scars along Yan Shen's knuckles, the steadiness of his movements.
"You don't seem like someone who hides."
"I'm not hiding," Yan Shen said. "I'm recovering."
Kaelrin tilted his head. "From what?"
Yan Shen looked into the distant flame of sunset, the reflection hardening his eyes.
"From the world."
The answer fell between them. Kaelrin studied his expression for a moment, then nodded as if he understood more than the words alone gave.
Inside the cave, the air shifted,cooler, carried by the volcano's breath. The place was spare: smooth rock, a low table carved from basalt, faint circles of spirit stones embedded in the floor.
Kaelrin settled by a shallow pool formed from condensed steam, the robe gathered around his knees. His tail was gone; he flexed his toes like a child testing new limbs. But as he breathed in, his expression flickered.
"The air here…" He coughed once, lightly. "It's dry. Hot. My kind aren't meant for this."
Yan Shen glanced at him. "You can wait outside."
"No." Kaelrin shook his head, stubborn despite the discomfort. "You saved my life. The least I can do is endure a little dryness."
He shifted, pulling the robe tighter, but the heat clearly bothered him. His skin, accustomed to cool depths, already looked slightly flushed.
Yan Shen moved toward the cave entrance and gathered dry driftwood stacked against the wall. A few strikes of flint, simple, mundane, and a small flame caught, casting gold across the stone walls.
Kaelrin flinched, but said nothing
For a while, they listened to the ocean's heartbeat beyond the cave mouth. Then Yan Shen broke the quiet, voice low and thoughtful.
"How is the surface world?" he asked. "I've been… away."
Kaelrin's expression sharpened, grateful for the distraction from the oppressive heat. He folded one hand over the other, thinking of how to answer without breeding fear.
"It's messy," he said finally. "We hear things beneath the waves, of course. Traders and currents carry news, rumors of strife among the sects, battles over lines of power. The mainland's courts leak like sieves. The sea has kept to itself because the surface grows dangerous."
He looked up, eyes meeting Yan Shen's. "But it's more than politics. There's hunger for advantage. Old pacts break. Sects that once guarded order now harvest chaos."
Yan Shen didn't flinch. "So it's not just the sea."
"No." Kaelrin sighed, voice small. "Corruption looks the same above and below."
He let his words sit a moment. The cave seemed to hold its breath.
After a long pause, Kaelrin said quietly, "Maybe the world deserves to drown."
Yan Shen looked at him sharply, but Kaelrin only smiled, small and rueful. "I said that foolishly. I don't mean it."
He shifted again, uncomfortable. A fine sheen of sweat had formed on his brow, unnatural for a sea-born. His breathing had grown slightly labored.
"You're struggling," Yan Shen observed.
Kaelrin waved a hand weakly. "It's just the heat. Fire Qi. It's… difficult for us. Like poison, slowly. Not lethal, but—" He coughed again. "Unpleasant."
Yan Shen considered this. "Its leaking from the magma chamber below. It's Much worse there."
"I imagined." Kaelrin managed a thin smile. "And you go down there voluntarily?"
"Every day."
Kaelrin shook his head slowly. "You really aren't like anyone I've met."
Yan Shen leaned back against the stone, feeling the weight of the volcano behind him. "Then rest. Tomorrow, decide."
"And you?" Kaelrin asked. "What will you do? After you're done recovering?"
Yan Shen didn't answer at first. The firelight flickered, casting restless shadows across his face.
Then, so quietly Kaelrin almost missed it: "I'm not sure."
The admission hung in the hot, dry air.
Kaelrin nodded slowly. He understood uncertainty, so he didn't push
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Kaelrin shifted, pulling the robe tighter against a chill that wasn't there, a sea-dweller's instinctive reaction to the oppressive heat.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "For saving me. For… this."
Yan Shen didn't respond. But the fire burned steady between them, a small light in the dark night.
And somehow, despite the heat that clawed at his lungs, Kaelrin found it almost comforting.