A-to-Z Challenge: “M” is for “Maelekanai & Mermai”

For the A-to-Z Challenge 2016, I am blogging info on my current work-in-progress, a YA fantasy/adventure mini-series tentatively titled “The Other World”.

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I’ve already spoken about a few of the other intelligent races who are present in the land of The Other World. Today I’m going to add two more to that list.

First we have the Maelekanai, who are the first non-human race that our protagonist encounters in her travels. They are humanoid in basic body shape, but that is where the similarities to humans end, for the Maelekanai are descended from feline creatures. Their bodies are, on average, smaller than humans’, and are very lean and lithe. They have long, thin, tails, pointed ears that stretch around their heads and allow them to hear in almost 360 degrees, and their powerful claws help them to climb to great heights. They are most comfortable in the trees, which is where you will find most of their villages. One such village – comprised mainly of refugees – built itself up near the settling place of Jacob Ravenson and his father, which is why Jacob and Kaima became close as they grew up together. If you look at the history of the Maelekanai you will find that of all the other races theirs was likely the closest to humans, but as a result they were also one of the first ones persecuted after the royal city was attacked. Because of this the majority of Maelekanai have traveled as far away from humans as possible and kept to themselves for years, just trying their best to be left alone.

The Mermai, as their name might suggest, are a race of people descended from sea creatures. Like the Maelekanai they have a roughly humanoid shape to their bodies, but there are very few other similarities. They are a very small people, almost appearing as children to a full-grown adult human because they are otherwise proportional. Their facial features are vague, though their eyes are large and full of character, and their hands and feet are webbed, making them very powerful swimmers. Their bodies are covered in scales that glimmer beautiful colors in the sunlight, and the females have long plaits of silvery-aqua hair that shine like the ocean at midday, but there are many who have never experienced their beauty because they are not able to leave the sea for long periods of time and thus tend to simply stay near their homes. For this reason the Mermai were never particularly close with any of the other races, although they’ve always been peaceful and amicable. That changed after the attack of the royal city when sailors began to hunt them, seemingly for nothing more than sport. Since then the Mermai have used the help of Eden’s magic to sequester themselves away, hidden from the outside world and practically forgotten.

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I hope you’re enjoying the A-to-Z Challenge and my little snippets of ‘The Other World’! If you’re interested in what else I’ve written, please be sure to check out ‘Nowhere to Hide‘, available on Amazon in both hard copy and e-book versions!