Chapter 2: Chapter 1

Nanno

 

Life in the green was quiet.

The Silver River made its way through the enchanted forest, like a shimmering, beautiful but unpredictable snake. At night, the trees and plants lit up and willow-o-wisps lured travelers deep inside the forest.

Fairies played between the leaves, looking for sweet fruits. Goblins hid in the undergrowth and fantastic, wondrous animals roamed the forest. The wind told of the laughter of the nymphs and sylphs. Timeless beings.

Deep in the river lived the sirens. The beautiful inhabitants of the water could live up to four hundred years. And aged accordingly very slowly, from a certain point. Their town was hidden in a cave that could only be reached by water. The city shone silver, light blue, and white like mother-of-pearl. It was illuminated by luminous crystals and was surrounded by ice and flowering plants. Sirens were playful and dangerous people. They were hunters who occasionally lured lost hikers into the water for fun. Humans never left the water again. They ended up as a meal or drowned.

Nanno, the youngest son of his parents, was swimming through the river, picking seaweed and algae to dry both. The sirens ate the algae, and they made baskets and mats from the seaweed. With his silver and blue shimmering tail fin, he moved quickly through the cold water. Nanno was a good swimmer and collecting the seaweed was his first job. The sixteen-year-old felt like a grown-up. A few days ago he had moved into his first own apartment.

He was particularly proud of this. Even if his parents had actually thrown him out when they had caught him in bed with a pretty mermaid 'playing explorer'. Unfortunately, the mermaid had announced shortly afterward that he was a bad 'explorer', and that she would therefore not be interested in further expeditions. The young lady's name was Linnea and she was a childhood friend. Nanno had long been in love with the girl with the lilac tail fin, but her words had offended his pride.

"Nanno!", his best friend swam to him. William grinned. His brown hair was decorated with conch shells. William was a year older than Nanno and had green eyes and an equally green fishtail. That was normal. The eye color was always exactly the same as the color of the caudal fin, or at least it came close to the color of the scales.

Nanno had pale ice-blue eyes, while his scales were silver and shimmered blue.

"Is there anything new?", he asked his friend.

"Something new? The sylphs tell that willow-o-wisps met a group of humans yesterday! Humans are wandering through our green now!"

"Really?" Nanno grinned happily. "Do you think they're coming to the river?"

"I don't know." William grabbed some algae and pulled on it. "Maybe? If they get thirsty?" He winked at Nanno.

"I would like that. I have never seen a human being! Or eaten one…"

"I have. Seen. Not eaten. Some time ago, a few elves and humans came through the forest. But they were far away. It was impossible to lure them to the water!" William bit into one of the algae and smiled.

"Hm... I ask Ehlin!" Nanno handed William his collected seaweed and algae. "Will you hand that in? Hand it in for me, please? Thank you!" Without waiting for his friend's answer, Nanno swam away quickly.

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Ehlin, another friend, belonged to the sylphs. Sexless air spirits were often found at the edge of the river. Sylphs were beautiful beings. But also very shy. If they wanted to, they disappeared without a trace in their element.

"Ehlin!" Nanno appeared on the surface and called for his friend. He looked around and swam to the shore. There he sat down in the grass and watched as his tail fin gave way to two thin legs. Grinning, Nanno wiggled his toes. Then he waited. Ehlin was usually found here between the yellow flowering reed.

"Hello, Nanno." A ghostly creature with pink skin, gray eyes, and floating gray hair appeared before him. Blue lines flourished over the skin of the Sylphe. Light, almost transparent fabric floated around the body of the delicate creature. A strange but noble-looking dress.

"Ehlin! Is it true? Are there humans here? William told me about it!"

Ehlin giggled softly. The voice of the Sylphe echoed somewhat. Nanno's friend sat down with him. "A few nymphs talked about it, yes. I didn't see any."

"So, there are humans here?" Nanno tugged at a few pearls that adorned his arms. "Do you think we can lure them into the water?"

"Why? Are you hungry?" Ehlin grimaced. "You know, I don't believe in games like that. When humans show up here, I hide in the air. Until they are gone again. Fairies are probably playing their jokes with them... Or they provide them with food. With fairies, you never know..."

"I'm not hungry, no. But... William talked about luring them into the water. Honestly, I don't know what I do when I see a human... Frighten them?"

"Certainly not. You sirens never leave it at that!", grumbled Ehlin. "And I'm not going to help you with that, even if we're friends."

Nanno nodded. "That’s fine..." Do people taste good? If not, I will just play with them.

A few branches cracked. Ehlin immediately disappeared as if they had never been there and Nanno jumped back into the water to seek shelter in the reeds. So much to scare humans...

Nanno sighed and looked carefully through the reeds.

Voices could be heard. Someone argued.

Were these the humans? Or just a few nymphs? Tree nymphs? Or water nymphs? They often met by the river to dance or sing, or whatever came to their minds.

 

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