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“Mert, you must leave,” cried his friend.

“Why?” asked the merman.

“The villagers are coming to capture you. They mean to harm you as well,” said Warcul.

“I don’t understand. Have I done something wrong?” asked Mert.

Warcul explained that the villagers blamed him for the lack of fish they had been catching.

“That’s foolish. I have not eaten anymore than usual. The problem is the new nets use kithreed. The kithreed’s smell drives away the fish,” explained Mert.

“Yes, I have noticed the strange order of the nets. I smell it when I haul them back to the village,” remarked Warcul.

Warcul heard the approaching mob and became frightened.

“I beg you, Mert, you must escape,” cried Warcul.

“Don’t get yourself in a tizzy. I’ll use the secret tunnel and hide in the mountain lakes,” answered Mert.

“When things calm down, I’ll come get you,” said his friend.

The merman slipped under the water moments before the angry mob crested the hill. After hours of casting their nets to no avail, the villagers left the lake furious.

“The old ways work for a reason. New does not make it better,” muttered Warcul.

The villagers returned day after day, catching neither fish nor beast. “Could the lake be dead?” asked one of the elders.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get away to see you sooner,” Warcul said when he met Mert.

“All that matters is you are here now,” said the merman.

Warcul told the merman that the villagers had given up trying to catch him. “They believe an evil spell has killed you and the fish,” said Warcul.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go home,” Mert said.

“What will you do if they come for you?” asked his friend.

“I must speak with Jacob the elder. He will not fear me as the younger ones do,” Mert explained.

So it came to pass that the merman met the human. After the villagers mended their old nets, they learned that the lake was, in fact, alive and well.

“Let us not forget that our arrogance almost cost us our livelihood. We owe a debt to the merman and his wisdom,” Jacob pronounced to the joyful fisherman.

The mood turned somber. Many realized how close the village came to starvation.

“From this day onward, we will honor the old ways and those who still practice them,” Jacob proclaimed.

Warcul still visits Mert every week. Once a year, Warcul pulled a cart carrying a stone likeness of Mert for the solstice celebration.

Mert thinks it’s all silliness, but as Warcul puts it, “I’d rather haul a stone figure than a stuffed one.”

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