Dark Waters Rising

Rumble

Without hesitation, Valentine clapped his hands, creating a pocket that sucked the unsuspecting prince into an unbreathable space. It wasn't as large as he'd hoped. He experienced some difficulty holding the space open since there was no way to easily drag air down into the tunnels from the surface. It was essentially creating a vacuum that fought to pull all of the water back into its proper place. He couldn't hold it for long, but it at least gave him enough time to scoop the egg into his arms and dart down the same tunnel he'd come from. 

He had a head start, but it soon became evident that he did not have the advantage. Valentine had been away from the sea for years, meaning he was slow in comparison to his brother, who had never left it. 

He could hear the other councilmen following behind, desperate to get the egg back, but they were older and slower still. 

As Merrick came close to Valentine's tail, the pirate started sloppily opening more pockets, hoping it would slow his brother down. What he wasn't expecting was for one to open too close to the ceiling, felling a few chunks of rock as it collapsed. That gave Valentine a dangerously stupid idea, one he was desperate enough to try in that moment. 

Twisting quickly, he dropped his trident and extended his right palm to guide a rush of turbulent current past him and toward Merrick. The force created more space between them, pushing Merrick back while propelling Valentine forward. Then, before the crowned prince could recover, Valentine concentrated all of his efforts on creating a large vacuum at the top of the tunnels. 

A part of him hoped he'd pushed the prince far enough back for him to be safe from the collapse, but another part of him was very aware that he had no control over a caving in tunnel. His brother might very well be crushed by this little stunt. Hells, Valentine might be crushed too, but he had no other choice. 

All at once, the vacuum popped. Water and rock hammered to fill the space faster than the blink of an eye. The act of it jerked Valentine closer as well and with an enormous rumble, the ceiling started to collapse. Valentine turned and fought to get out of the way. 

As he darted through the passageway, avoiding falling rocks as best as he could, he failed to notice the trident soaring toward him. He twisted to miss a rock, just as it would've caught him, and instead of a full blow, it seared a decently deep gash along his ribs. 

"Seven Hells," Valentine hissed in pain, but didn't have time to deal with it. He glanced back briefly just in time to catch a glimpse of his brother through the falling debris before the tunnels collapsed completely on top of the man. Valentine swore again. He quickly picked up Merrick's trident as he passed it to replace his own before using the water to rocket himself further down the tunnel and away from the chaos he'd created.

When he was finally swimming through stable ground again, Valentine took a moment to breathe and tried not to dwell on how he actually had killed his own brother this time as he examined the egg for any damages. Thankfully, the little creature hadn't been injured. 

He knew that if he did survive this day, he'd be a wreck afterward. Even if Merrick had been an asshole to him for all his life, he'd still been his brother. And now he was dead directly because of Valentine's actions. Gods, he was an awful person. 

"Dear Goddess above," Valentine looked up, despite there being only rock to greet him, "If I survive this day, I promise never to kill anyone ever again. And by some miracle should my mate survive too, I promise to make him the happiest man in the world."

Steeling himself, Valentine peered down the tunnel again. The dim lighting from the bioluminescent plants didn't allow him to see that far, but if his memory served him right, he was still on the correct path. That in itself seemed to be a miracle, since in his haste he had passed several other veins of the cavernous network which would surely be unreachable from his current position now. 

Counting himself lucky, Valentine decided to move on, knowing the more time he wasted, the more lives were at stake. 

----+------+----

"Ambrose!" Wesley cried out in pain and panic as he felt a bone snap in his hand. It was too much. The crushing grip of the Kraken was breaking his hand. He couldn't hold the ships by himself much longer. 

Ambrose deflected another attack from the woman, barely glancing back at his son before he was consumed by the fight again. 

Wesley cried out again as something else popped, spouting fire throughout his whole arm. Tears were streaming down his face. Every throb worsened the pain in his hand, and the unrelenting grip from the sea beast only got stronger the longer the fight went on. 

"Dad!" he cried. "I can't hold it!"

Ambrose sent out a blast that knocked out both Isadora and the burly siren before returning to Wesley's side.

Before he could do anything to help another snap caused Wesley to yell, jerk, and drop one of the shells. Instantly a sound like a roaring typhoon sliced through the hull of the ship

Ambrose harshly gripped a fistful of Wesley's jacket, hauling him to his feet and dragging him to the stairs. As the ship jolted, nearly sending them sprawling on the ground, Wesley was thankful for that grip since it kept him upright. 

Wesley stopped briefly to throw up because of the pain, but Ambrose was adamant on keeping him moving as they ascended toward the deck. 

Even as the Queen Adelaide trembled under her assault, Wesley kept his focus on the last shell in his hand, representing the Blight of the Sea. 

"Abandon ship!" Ambrose hollered as they reached the main deck. The Kraken's tentacles were wrapped tightly around the Queen Adelaide's midsection, crushing her with an ever tightening grip. Already the ship was listing heavily, and her twin masts were nearly touching at the tops due to the damage from the sea creature strangling her. 

Ambrose dragged Wesley to the taffrail, stealing his saber momentarily to slice a pair of ropes that may allow them to swing to the Blight of the Sea. 

"My hand," Wesley said weakly, holding the broken appendage close to his chest. 

"Give me the shell," Ambrose said. "We'll have to go one handed."

"Wesley!"

The merchant's head turned to see Castor, blood streaked from his hairline, staring at him pleadingly from where he hovered over Roman's unconscious form. 

"There's no time," Ambrose said hurriedly. "We have to go before she founders and drags us down with her."

He was right. The more time they waited, the lower the Queen Adelaide sank and the less chance they had of making it all the way to the Blight of the Sea when they swung. 

"Keep the ship safe," Wesley said. "I'll meet you over there."

And with that, he dropped down from the taffrail and moved to aid his friend. 

----+------+----

A/N

What do you think's going to happen next?

If you were a form of severe weather (tornado, thunderstorm, blizzard, sandstorm, etc.) what would you be?

Happy Thursday,
-Mora Montgomery