[rework] Minglings - chapter 17: Dangerous waters

Jake took a deep breath of salty water as he pressed his back against the enormous underwater growth. Absently he realized it looked like a blueish alien coral. With a shiver, he angled forward and took a quick look above. A cluster of small shadows was still circling near the brightly lit surface of the sea, dozens of if not a hundred feet above him.

Dammit... Still forty left. Why don't they go chase a fish or something, he thought quickly, pulling back before they saw him.

There was no other option; he would have to keep fleeing. He tried to suppress his fear and looked around. The enormous irregular coral continued for as far as he could see, eventually disappearing into the ocean's dark depths. Even with his eyesight, which had proven to be even better in the water than on land, he couldn't penetrate that absolute darkness. Witch meant that anything could be hiding down there. A queasy feeling spread through his stomach as he realized he would have to go there.

A soft moan drew his attention back to the present, and he quickly looked to the side, worry growing. Huddled on the ground was Tergin, face twisted in pain, gingerly touching the blue scales on his right leg.

At a glance, nothing seemed wrong with it, but Jake knew better. The image of how the leg had been snapped and twisted in three different directions caused bile to rise in his throat. He wondered how much pain resistance Tergin had to hold from screaming when he twisted it back.

As he recalled the moment, he couldn't stop thinking about the Hydraci who had jumped them. He turned his gaze to the surface where the shadowy figures were still swimming and wondered if the others had made it alright.

A sudden trumpeting noise, muffled and deformed by the water, caused the shadows above him to dash in the same direction. Within moments the water above was empty.

Some kind of horn... I hope they didn't find the others, Jake thought.

He waited quietly, but the sound didn't come again, and the figures didn't return.

Safe for now, he thought as he moved to Tergin. The other didn't seem to notice him until he was almost floating right on top of him.

"Can you swim?" Jake asked, his voice a deep and muted whale-like sound.

Tergin struggled to as he looked up and slowly shook his head. "No, but we can't stay here," he said curtly before clenching his teeth.

Jake bit back a useless remark and sighed at his rotten luck. Why did he have to be stranded here with someone he barely knew? If it had been Mason, at least, he could have made some small talk. Still, Tergin was right. They couldn't stay here.

"I know. Let's see if I can drag you," Jake said, trying to sound optimistic.

Tergin just nodded, and he swam behind the other. It took a few tries, but eventually, they found a way that worked. Tergin managed to hold onto Jake's shoulder, leaving Jake with his arms free to swim.

As he propelled himself forward slowly, Jake felt the water push against the webbing between his toes. A quick look over his shoulder showed Tergins cramped face, eyes shut tightly and lips pursed. From what he could see, the other was barely hanging on, so going any faster would probably not be a good idea.

Jake swam along the coral, trying to recall where he had to go. He vaguely recalled a blue and purple reef, and he kept an eye out for it or anything else familiar. He had gotten here while fleeing for his life and recalled glimpses of the route. Tergin couldn't help either because he had been unconscious at the time.

Jake eyed the deep chasm they swam along, shuddering at the thought of what might be lurking in its depths. On his other side was the coral growth, seeming a safer option for travel with openings to hide. He knew it was just an illusion. Bolyr had told him there were many dangers within.

After swimming for almost an hour, Jake noticed a change in the scenery in front of him. The darkness receded somewhat, and small plants appeared, growing along the previously barren coral reef. The seafloor rose sharply and widened out.

Jake slowed down until he hovered in the water. Checking on Tergin showed that the wounded Kobold was barely awake. His eyes were open, staring dully ahead, and Jake saw little recognition in his eyes. He frowned as he saw Tergin shudder and clutch his wounded leg with one hand. Jake frowned and tried to get a better view without dislodging Tergin. The leg was slightly bloated, and the scales had turned dark and dull.

It's turning bad. Jake knew he couldn't do anything about it now and turned his attention to the hill. The best way to help Tergin was to get him back to the others as fast as possible.

Not far away, he finally saw something he recognized from Bolyr's explanations. High above him, a small blue and purple reef grew up, rapidly expanding before disappearing across the edge.

Finally, he thought as he tried to recall everything Bolyr had spoken about.

If he followed it up, he would arrive at an underwater world filled with corals, fish, and hidden dangers. There, he would need to pass through a mazelike reef, dodging all monsters and Hydraci until he arrived at the other side. Hopefully, he and Tergin wouldn't get jumped again. At that point, Tergin had better be able to tell him where to go because Bolyr had only said they would be passed the difficult bit, without explaining where to go then.

If I get that far, he thought.

Something moved in the corner of his eye, and he looked up. Blue energy specs came rushing his way, and through rising panic, he focused. After a moment, he managed to relax his mana-muscle, as he had started calling it, and the energy stopped, hovering, seemingly lost for a moment before dispersing.

He looked around, scanning for any monsters that might have seen the movement. The last thing he wanted was to get chased again.

The quiet and still darkness around him remained as before, and he

silently thanked Tergin for his chatty nature. Without the other's stories, he wouldn't have learned he could do that.

Relieved, he began half swimming, half dragging himself and Tergin up the hill towards the colorful reef.

What had taken seconds on the way down took minutes now, mainly because he froze at every sound and perceived movement. The slope became steeper the higher he got until he was swimming straight up along a wall of the purplish reef. Yellow plants hung down from the top, and he began spotting small fish that swam in and out of it.

He carefully looked over the edge when he reached the top of the reef.

Orange, gold, and purple tendril-like plants rose dozens of feet up. They waved around as if grasping for the abundance of sunlight above the waves. Surrounding their thin roots was a massive maze of coral reefs, white and yellow, interspaced with large black boulders. It reminded him of the documentaries he had seen on the National Geographic streaming channel about the coral reefs that used to exist on earth.

Shaking himself, he looked at the moving shadows and shapes flitting around. Massive fish and small sea snakes were hunting smaller fish and crabs, which in turn hunted even smaller fish. Light from above shone on everything except for one area. There a slow-moving shadow massive covered a large swath of the reef.

Jake looked up and clenched his teeth to stop gasping.

Above the reef, close to the surface of the water, was something that vaguely resembled a giant sea turtle. It was split in half, and a muscular green tongue moved around between the edges of its shield. A grey and silver fish swam after another, mouth gaping wide. The turtle banked left, and its tongue shot forward, stretching an insane distance before wrapping around the grey fish. There was barely any struggle as it was dragged back and out of sight while the shield's edges clamped together like hardened lips.

Jake shivered as he watched the massive turtle thing swim off along the reef while chewing. As far as he could see, there weren't any Hydraci, and after a moment, he began swimming, dragging Tergin with him. Dodging between the different corals, he made as little movement as possible while staying far, far away from the monstrous turtles.

A glance behind showed that Tergin seemed semi-conscious, his hand mechanically holding onto Jake's shoulder. Getting worried, Jake sped up. He needed to find a safe place for Tergin to rest.

Time passed slowly as he swam across the reef, constantly vigilant. Halfway through and starting to feel hopeful, he spotted a group of dots close to the surface speeding his way.

Of course they show up, Jake thought as he searched for a spot to hide.

Colorful fish were everywhere, dodging in and out of the holes in the coral. A fish the size of a dolphin rushed into a hole, moments later exiting from another one a bit to the side. He would fit in there!

Jake propelled himself forward rapidly, ignoring the possible damage to Terging's leg. He barely made it into the cavern before a group of twenty or so Hydraci arrived above his previous location.

A quick scan of the dark cave showed it was empty and had three exits. Turning back, Jake hovered in the shadow of the entrance. The Hydraci moved in quick bursts, looking around every time they stopped. When they continued on, his heart stopped pounding as he realized they hadn't spotted him. A minute or two later, they disappeared out of view.

"This sucks..." Jake whispered, cursing himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

Luckily the soft sounds only echoed throughout the cave, and the Hydraci didn't come rushing back. With a sigh of relief, Jake turned around and froze. Two blue vertical pupils the size of baseballs stared unblinkingly at him from a few feet away.

Jake didn't dare move, hanging in the entrance as he stared at the thing hanging in through the other opening. It resembled a mix between a hammerhead shark and a dragon and was at least the size of a great white. Dark blue scales covered the part of its head that he could see, softly reflecting the light. Its elongated hammer-shaped head was attached to a neck corded with heavy muscles. As it drifted a bit further in due to the current, Jake caught a glimpse of a sinewy lizard-like body with two rudimentary wings folded close to it.

Seconds ticked by, and the creature didn't move. Hoping he wasn't making a massive mistake, Jake began backing up slowly. He tried his best not to make any sudden movements or loud noises.

The creature seemed undisturbed and just looked at him, cocking its head sideways just like his parent's old german shepherd used to do.

When Jake pulled Tergin the last bit out of the cave, the creature blinked at him. Then it pulled its head back and lazily swam away, disappearing into the maze.

That didn't just happen, Jake thought as he felt his tension slowly drop.

He looked at Tergin, but the wounded Kobold had finally passed out. Jake resisted the incredible urge to shake the other awake and ask for an explanation. Instead, he tiredly shook his head and wished he could curl up and sleep somewhere.

No time for the wicked, he thought, quoting one of Mason's lines and continuing his journey through the reef. This time he decided to stay further from the top as he wound his way through the sometimes narrow corridors of the mazelike area. He occasionally popped up to see if he was heading in the right direction.

What he estimated was an hour later, he noticed that the colors began fading. Shadows stretched and darkened as the upcoming night began encroaching quickly.

Shit, Jake thought as he felt his friend, the always present panic cropping up again. He didn't have a lot of time left. If they were caught out here after dark, he had no idea where they could safely hide. The caves seemed the prime place for predators to search for a meal. He sped up, his fear propelling him forward when his common sense prevailed, and he slowed down again. This was useless. There were still hours of travel ahead of them, and it would be dark soon.

As he hung beside a round piece of reef, curving away, the soft noises surrounding him began to fade until only the soft surging of the sea remained. Within moments it became dark, and Jake huddled against the side of the reef. Though he could see in the dark, it didn't take away the fear. A dim orange glow came, increasing in strength, and he looked up in surprise. The light came from small growths covering some of the reef's lower parts.

A loud roaring tore through the silence, rippling with an almost tantalizing sensation through the water.

Jake jerked, pulling Tergin closer as he looked and searched in the gloomy surroundings for whatever monster had made it. Another roar came. It seemed to come from the direction he was heading in. As his heart rate spiked, he decided he wasn't going to try and stay here. He would just find a way around!

Within seconds he saw that the only way around meant doubling back. That or he had to swim over the coral.

Steeling his nerves, he looked at the path ahead. The roars continued but weren't closing in.

I'll just go ahead a little, then take the first route around, Jake thought as he tried to convince himself it wasn't a suicidal, stupid idea.

As he slowly swam forward, towing the unconscious Tergin along, he suddenly wondered why he wasn't dead tired.

A large shadow hurtled his way, and he barely managed to dodge to the side. In a muddled, shadowy swirl, he saw the dragon-like creature from hurled passed him, bleeding profusely. It slammed into a coral wall a few feet away.

A low, feral roar came from up ahead it, and Jake saw a shadow approach. Instinctively he lowered himself to the ground while backing up against the coral. There was a tiny gap to his side, and Jake shoved Tergin's unmoving body inside, hopefully out of sight. Then he crouched down and tried to make himself as small as possible.

The shadow closed in, and his first thought was that there was more than one. Then a flat snakehead attached to a thin neck floated into focus, quickly followed by another, then another. Within a second, five heads, each dark gray, the size of a shovel blade and attached to thin gray necks, moved forward. The necks were attached to a body like a sea lion covered in dark green and purple scales. Fleshy extremities, like four still forming paws, flapped close to its belly, propelling it forward.

Jake involuntarily held his breath as he stared at the heads, slit-like mouths filled with crooked yellow teeth and pupilless black eyes.

Hydra, he thought, knowledge from movies, images, and games making his worry grow even more.

The Hydra inspected its surroundings, then rushed forward. Three of its heads focused on their prey while the other two looked around. Jake felt his lungs scream for air, but he didn't dare breathe when one seemed to look straight at him. The eyes focused on something to his side, then the gaze moved away, and the head turned away.

Jake carefully drew in a breath as he watched the Hydra stare at its prey. The hammerhead dragon shook its head, blood dripping from gashes all along its slender frame. Its eyes were half-closed, and its harsh breathing was the loudest thing around. Almost the same length as the Hydra, it looked to be only half its weight, and Jake had the feeling it was at a disadvantage even if not so heavily wounded.

As he looked at the thing, he felt a sudden pang of pity for it. It was obviously not some mindless beast, or it would have attacked him in the cave. The Hydra rushed forward, its multiple heads spreading out and snapping at the hammerhead dragon, and Jake pushed back the feeling. He was in no position to help. Ever so slowly, his hands moved down to the small ditch where he had put Tergin.

A sharp hiss caused him to jerk his head up, and his heart skipped a beat. One of the Hydra's heads was looking straight at him. It had its mouth open and breathed in his direction. The water in front of the black maw became hazy as if it was heating up quickly, and Jake swallowed and froze. The Hydra kept its single head on him, though.

Jake hoped the hammerhead would provide him with a distraction and slowly turned his head back to the main fight and immediately realized it was hopeless.

The Hydra was using two of its heads to attack the cornered hammerhead, blocking any escape route with the others while mauling the hammerhead's flank.

The hammerhead let out a long and pained whine as it snapped at one of the heads. The Hydra instantly pulled back that head and attacked with another. More and more of the heads joined in until only the one staring at Jake wasn't ripping the Dragon to shreds.

The hammerhead dragon was still struggling, desperately trying to ward off the attacks, but holes and gashes covered most of its neck and flank by now, and Jake saw its movements had turned sluggish.

Jake swallowed and looked around. He had to get out of here. He would be next if he were still here when the Hydra finished.

He looked in the direction the two combatants had come from and wondered if he should make a break for it. Then he remembered Tergin and looked down at the still form. A horrible idea crossed his mind for a moment. He would be much faster, maybe fast enough, if he didn't have to drag the wounded Kobold along.

The idea vanished as he remembered that without Tergin, he would have died that morning. The rugged Kobold had pushed him out of the way just when a giant crab monster pounced at him. It had cost Tergin his leg.

Feeling hopeless, Jake looked at the two monsters. Both were at least three times his size and armed with razor-sharp teeth. And what did he have? Nails that probably wouldn't pierce their skin and some unreliable magic he had no control over. Looking around for a weapon of some kind, the only thing he found were rocks. Deciding anything was better than nothing, he swam to a rock the size of a basketball, ignoring the dangerous hiss from the Hydra.

Right away, he noticed how light it was, and he tried tossing it up. It slowly drifted up and then back to his hand, and he was about to drop it in disgust.

A soft cry distracted him, and he looked at the two fighting monsters. In a stroke of ridiculous luck, the hammerhead had managed to get its jaws around one of the Hydra's necks. It was now using the last of its flagging strength in a futile attempt to gnaw it off, leaving itself even more defenseless. Smelling victory, the Hydra ignored the head that was stuck and used all of its remaining ones to try and finish the fight as fast as possible.

Feeling the tension rise, Jake lost any cool he had left and began panicking. He needed to do something! Grasping at straws, he looked at the rock in his hand, trying to focus the weird energy on it. When nothing happened, he tried focusing on the muscle in his abdomen. It didn't react, and he felt his panic grow. Suddenly there was a soft contraction in his stomach, then another. Praying for a way to get out, Jake put his entire focus on the muscle, ignoring anything going on, and it began contracting faster. It felt like a piston, thudding steadily, but nothing was happening, not that he had any idea what should happen.

A cry, loud and drenched in pain, ripped his attention away and back to the fight. A massive wave of blood was discoloring the water, drifting from the hammerhead that was released its grip. The blood expanded like a thinning cloud and, within moments, reached Jake.

Coppery and hot, the blood touched Jake's tongue, and his mana-muscle went crazy. It shuddered once before contracting explosively. Then it began pulsating, the speed so much faster than before Jake could barely discern the individual contractions. A burning heat surged through his veins. Any sense of control he still had moments ago was lost, and a haze of red formed across his vision. His thoughts, clear though fearful before, muddled over as a burning rage took hold of him. Driven by only instincts now, Jake opened his mouth and let out a deep, primal roar. Then he blacked out.