Melodramatic Fantasy Short Stories & Bias Novels

I am a mermaid from White Tide Bay, born with a tideheart scale hidden beneath my sternum. Mermaids from White Tide Bay can live among humans on two legs for as long as they choose. Only when fully submerged in seawater and willing to drop the glamour do their legs merge back into a tail. But once the tideheart scale is damaged, seawater becomes a necessity for survival. Freshwater, medicine, and ordinary IV drips can only buy time; they can never replace a return to the sea. The tideheart scale is not a mate bond. It cannot control anyone. It only awakens after a mermaid has truly fallen in love. Should the beloved betray that love, the scale turns on its bearer, pulling moisture from the blood and gnawing through flesh and bone after nightfall like countless tiny teeth. Unless the mermaid lets go of her feelings completely, the tidal decay will never stop. On the night of our wedding anniversary, I sat in the most sought-after oceanview restaurant in Greyport, brimming with anticipation, and waited for my husband, Adrian Hayes, for two full hours. He never came. But the tideheart scale on my chest suddenly began to burn. Through the glass water curtain that divided the restaurant, I saw Adrian having dinner with a woman. Cecilia Roland. His first love, the woman he'd dated for five years, the one he once claimed he had long since left behind. Adrian leaned forward and gently wiped a trace of sauce from her lip. He hadn't shown me that kind of patience in a very long time. I endured the growing burn in my chest and called him three times in a row. He declined every one. A moment later, a text came through: "Evelyn, an urgent meeting came up. Don't wait for me. I'll make it up to you next time." Everyone in Greyport knew Adrian Hayes never declined my calls. So he wasn't in a meeting. He simply didn't want me interrupting his dinner with Cecilia. The seawater felt as though it were being drained from my blood drop by drop. The scale on my chest cracked and curled at

When my sister and I were born, a prophet foretold that my sister would fall into a deep depression because I was more gifted than she was. On the day of the Fire Dragon Clan's Trial, she would throw herself into the frozen lake and never resurface. To protect her, my parents locked me in the freezing chamber on the day of the Trial. I knelt and begged them until my knees bled. My mother shoved me inside and sealed the door from the outside with a barrier. "You know your sister will die because of you, and you still insist on taking the Trial? How is that anything but trying to get her killed?" The chamber had already dropped to a hundred and twelve degrees below zero, yet I was wearing nothing but a short-sleeved shirt. I threw myself against the barrier, desperate to break out. "Mother, it's freezing in here! Please let me out!" "You're a fire dragon. A little cold can't hurt you. Who are you trying to fool?" My mother's voice was edged with impatience. "The barrier blocks your magic, but we didn't even turn on the refrigeration system. Your sister will be safe soon. Can't you think of her for once?" The sound of their wingbeats faded. My scales cracked from the cold, and blood dripped onto the floor. The barrier had sealed away my magic, and the chill quickly sank deep into my bones. I knelt on the floor as my body stiffened, inch by inch.

I was the only female in the Golden Feather Clan born with a complete, pure, and powerful beast core. The priestess prophesied that I would become Queen of All Beastfolk and bear the cub destined to unite the Twelve Clans. From that day on, every eligible male saw me as the perfect mate. But I only ever loved one person: my childhood sweetheart, Ronan. Everyone was certain I would end up with Ronan. I waited three years for him, helped him secure his place in the clan, and claimed victory after victory in battle. Instead, he cast the only bonding ring I'd ever have into the mud and crushed it under his heel. Then he fastened the silver fang necklace, a symbol of lifelong protection, around the neck of Selena, the White Deer healer. Taking her hand, he sneered at me. "You can go ahead and bond with some pus-covered Rotskin Beastmen for all I care. I still wouldn't go back to you." Just like that, I stepped down from the altar. A monster covered in festering sores crouched in the mud, cleaning my bonding ring. He couldn't speak. He didn't even bear a clan mark. Every beastfolk shrank away from him in disgust. That monster was afraid of dirtying what belonged to me. He tore the only clean strip of cloth from the lining of his cloak and carefully wiped the mud away, bit by bit. I cut my finger and let a drop of blood fall at his feet. "My name is Evelyn. "Will you bond with me?" Three years later, we crossed paths again. When Ronan realized I was pregnant, he lost his mind.