The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 280: Sleeping roots in the sea

I got up and took the basket of cubs from Damar so he could examine the rock properly. My little munchkins were asleep.

Ah, and I wondered why they hadn’t presented me for their hourly milk.

They looked so cute, not knowing how great a detective their mama was being.

It was good that they were asleep. They should sleep a bit more, and if they wake up, I hope they don’t try to suck me dry.

It seems Damar has a way with the cubs because they always fall asleep in his care. Unlike the other two who made a mess of the cave just watching over the sleeping cubs.

I knew I could count on Damar.

Suddenly, the water near the edge of the rocks bubbled. It wasn’t a gentle bubble like a fish coming up for air. It was a violent, heavy churn.

I gripped the basket of cubs tighter as Damar moved in front of me, his body shifting slightly, ready to swing with his tail at a second’s notice.

And then, a head broke the surface.

It wasn’t a beautiful mermaid with a K-pop voice like I was expecting. It was a male mer-folk, but he looked terrible.

His skin, which I imagined should be bright and scaly, was a dull, sickly gray. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he was struggling to keep his head above the water.

He reached a webbed hand toward the rock, his claws scraping against the stone.

"Help..." he gasped. His voice wasn’t melodic at all. It sounded like he had swallowed a bag of sand. "The... the bitter dust... we can’t... breathe..."

"Robin! Is this one of them?" I shouted over the sound of the splashing.

Robin ran forward, his face pale. "Yes! That is Jael! He’s one of the guards!"

Jael tried to pull himself up, but his arms gave out and he started to slip back into the waves.

"Damar, help him!" I yelled, my heart jumping into my throat as the merman’s hand slipped.

But Damar didn’t move. He stood like a statue between me and the water, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Ari, wait."

"What are you doing? He’s drowning!"

"Is he?" Damar’s voice was like ice. "Does a fish drown?"

Ah, good question.

"What if he is planning to pull me into the water while I help him? I said it before, they lure prey. This could be a trick. He looks sick, but a predator can fake a wound to get a killing strike."

I froze. The heat of my panic hit a wall of cold reality. Damar was right. I was being the ’clumsy human’ again, jumping into things because my heart hurt, without thinking about the teeth under the water.

What if this wasn’t Garrow’s poison? What if the mer-folk had actually joined hands with Garrow and turned on the sheep, and this was just a way to get a bigger prize—like a King’s mate and her cubs?

I had to be open to all possibilities because one mistake could be fatal. Though I’d like to believe a hundred-year relationship couldn’t be that fragile.

I looked back at the merman. He was barely bobbing now, his gray face slipping under the surface, bubbles rising from his mouth. If it was a trap, he was one hell of an actor. But if it wasn’t... he was probably dying.

I pursed my lips.

"Robin," I called out, not taking my eyes off the water. "Does he look like he’s faking?"

Robin was trembling but not hard. He was implying frightened of what had become of one of their friends.

"No! No, Jael is a good soul! He’s always the first to splash water at our lamb! He’s dying, I know it!"

I looked at Damar. "We can’t let him die just because we’re suspicious so... let’s proceed with caution. Don’t go all the way in. Use your tail or a branch. If he tries to pull you under, you rip his arm off. Is that fine?"

Damar didn’t look happy, but he saw I wasn’t going to back down. He didn’t dive into the water to save the drowning fish, instead, he moved to the very edge of the rough stone and shifted just enough to let his thick snake tail wrap around the merman’s body, hauling him out of the water in one violent jerk.

Damar moved him onto the flat part of the rock, keeping his distance, his claws out.

The merman—Jael—didn’t spring up to attack. He just flopped there like a landed fish, gasping and choking. Up close, he looked even worse. A thick, brownish slime was oozing from the slits on the side of his neck.

"It’s... it’s the dust..." Jael wheezed, his webbed fingers scratching at the stone. He wasn’t even looking at us; his eyes were rolling back into his head.

I crept forward, staying behind Damar. I saw the brown particles now. They were everywhere in the water trapped in his scales. It really did look like someone had dumped a bucket of crushed, bitter weeds all over him.

"It’s not a trap," I whispered, feeling a mix of relief and fresh anger. "Look at his gills, Damar. He can’t breathe."

Damar sniffed the air, his nose wrinkling at the bitter scent. Finally, his tension eased just a fraction. "It is the ’Sleep-Root’."

"Garrow is such a coward." I hissed. But of course, I expected no less from a badger like him.

"They dumped it... from the high cliffs," Jael managed to say, his voice cracking. "Every tide... brings more. All the mer folks... Including the nursery... they won’t wake up."

I looked up at the high, rough cliffs. If Garrow’s men were up there right now, they could see us. We were sitting ducks on these rocks. But since there wasn’t any reaction, I guessed they weren’t there at the moment.

Could they be the same group of traitors we dealt with that were rounding up the sheep tribe?

But to think they would go this far. He was suffocating an entire race. It was cruel in a way that made the hyenas’ clubs look like toys. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Just how big is the West Way for Garrow to be so greedy? I couldn’t stand it.

"Robin! We need fresh water!" I said and the sheep scurried away, heading for the nearest lake that wasn’t connected to the sea.