Chapter 26

T here was nothing but water. Air bubbled from my lungs as I swam for the surface, stretching my neck as far as it'd reach. I closed in on the ripples of light reflecting the waves above. My lungs burned, begging for relief I couldn't give them.

Just as my cheeks hit the bright, cool air, weeds slithered around my ankles, pulling me back down through the depths. I clawed at my feet, trying to break free. The slimy green binds only tightened. A rush of bubbles escaped with the screams pouring from me. The surface grew fainter and fainter as I plunged into the deep green darkness.

A behemoth creature prowled toward me at the rocky bottom. Its large fins curled as it glided with predatory stealth across the sand. Shimmering fins of velvet purple and black glinted as its long eel-like body curled around me. I needed to act fast before my bones were crushed and the soul inside me was squeezed out.

I kicked at the monster's tightening grip. The scales across its long, winding body pierced my skin. The murky water around me became clouded with brown tendrils of blood.

I needed to fight, to slip out of its hold. My lungs now blazed for air, but the only way out was down. I pushed my arms up above me and sank beneath its coiled body. A fog of disturbed sediment skewed my vision as I struggled to swim across the bottom, tendrils of my hair skimming its pale underbelly.

Something glinted beneath the sand. As I reached for it, the creature jerked its head in my direction. Horns of armor-like skin rushed toward me in a blur. Just as I pulled the rusted halberd from its murky grave, the gargantuan eel struck its fangs into my side.

Agony seared up my abdomen as the eel ripped through flesh, cracking open my rib cage and piercing my organs. Desperately, I swung the spike into its fleshy temple. The creature shrieked and shriveled. Its writhing and wriggling sent shockwaves across my face.

I propelled myself upward, vision tunneling with every stroke. The trail of blood behind me dispersed into the oily blackness beneath. The eel, with ragged strokes of its fins, nipped at my feet as I rose higher and higher.

Finally, gasping for frantic breaths, I breached the surface. The waves stretched across the horizon, no land in sight. Struggling to see the creature I'd left below, I took a deep breath and plunged back under. Suspended in the water column, its soft underbelly rose toward me. As it grew closer, its fins and scales faded away, leaving the form of a man behind. I noticed his golden flowing locks. His bright amber eyes were now a pale yellow. Long, powerful limbs hung spinelessly below him.

I shrieked. Through the clouded, brown water, I saw Aryx, the rusted halberd embedded into the flesh of his lifeless, mutilated face .