At the edge of the world, I hesitate, not because I’m afraid of going to them, but because I’m afraid of failing them. One hundred-foot walls of water crash into the biggest ocean in existence.
For a moment, I give in to that fear, I acknowledge it, I feel it.
How can I find them? How can I save them?
I shove all those doubts and fears aside and dive through the opening without letting myself think another thought. Nothing matters but them. If I live, it will be empty.
If I die, then I will wait for them on the other side.
I hit the water hard and immediately sketch out a rune that transforms my body again. My legs fuse together, and a long and powerful tail forms. Gills open up on my neck, and I cautiously open my mouth and breathe.
The water is icy and feels empty, barren, but I know it’s not. Creatures will hunt me, following at a distance or zipping out of my way. I have a long way to go on my search. This is one of the hardest parts.
Traversing an ocean that I can’t see.
Every single instinct, every lesson, everything that ever helped me survive is what I call on now.
I dive deeper, heading into the oppressive darkness and the heavy weight of the ocean’s pressure. I can sense almost better in the water than I can on land, feeling the water currents as they press against me, letting me know something is lurking nearby, but nothing comes close.
The ocean seems to be depthless. I continue to swim down until I think I’ve travelled far enough, only then do I angle myself slightly.
The deeper it gets, the more menacing it becomes.
Eventually, I touch the rock floor of the ocean, but I’m so far down that it feels harder to swim. I’m scared.
This is what alone feels like. I could be lost down here for months or years, and it would just be me and my unraveling mind.
I travel until time means nothing, until I start to feel something in the ocean, something that shouldn’t be there.
I swim faster, chasing that thing that shouldn’t exist.
It gets more intense, louder, the currents try to push me away, but I fight against them.
With careful and meticulous slowness, I traverse an underwater mountain.
As I reach the other side, I hear Leviathan.
He roars and lashes out. His form exploding in my mind, teal green and alive, leaving trails of sparkles as he rises to attack.
What is he attacking?
“Attack!” Deux snarls.
My Sirens attack. I can just make out their outlines.
“No,” I whisper, horrified.
“Kill him.”
Rage fills me, and I thrust hard, swimming like an arrow, darting through the ocean, intercepting Lirin as he slashes downwith a massive staff made of magic and water. He reels back in surprise.
“No!” I shout at him. “No, what are you doing?”
Lirin makes a devastated sound. “Mei, go. Run.”
I feel the rest of the shiver stutter and stall as they realise I’m here. My magic is still fighting Lirin, holding his weapon at bay, preventing the blow that will attack our alpha.
Leviathan shifts, a massive, endless knot of dragon as he turns towards me.
