Abyssal Reverie

Chapter 10: Dark Signs

"And where we met, there must have been dark signs . Omens in your skies."

The smoke billowing around Vessel grew more prominent, the motion of his hands twisting and contorting as the creature screamed in agony. He stood, soaking wet, in the center of the ship. Calypso perched just beside him, watching as the monster thrashed under the weight of its undoing.

"Now, now, Guardian. You didn't think it would be that easy. Did you?" Vessel spoke as he cocked his head to the side. The Guardian bellowed back a response, anger dripping from the sound leaving its throat.

My sides barked in agony, the blood dripping down my arm slowing but not stopping. The sides of my vision were blurry, with dark shapes surrounding the edges. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest; catching my breath was getting increasingly more difficult as I rolled onto my side. I heard more commotion behind me, whipping my head just in time to watch Vessel command dark, gnarly branches to grip the Guardian on either side, causing the creature to throw its head back and let out an ear-shattering roar.

"Seeelaah." It spoke to me again, this time louder than it had been. "Stop him, Selah." The screeching is going up an octave. I could feel the tug at my heart to stand, to rip his concentration away from the Guardian as it writhed under his magic. "He's hurting us, Selah." I could have sworn my mother's voice beckoning me at that moment. She continued to screech, the noises unbearable.

"Vessel..." I tried to speak above the crash of the ocean, the waves drowning out my plea. The pounding in my head was almost too much. "VESSEL!" I screamed. I pushed against my ears, needing it to stop. For the sound to dissipate into nothing. Tears welled in the corners of my eyes as I pressed harder and harder.

His head snapped to me, water dripping from the revealing sections of his beautifully pale skin. The Guardian swung at him with the gnarled claws from her left hand, catching his side. The branches squeezed tighter around her, the air escaping her lungs in a violent hiss. She kept kicking and clawing at him.

"SELAHH." She continued to speak into my mind, the edges of reality and the creature blurring. "He's killing us. You don't want him to kill us."

"Selah, Selah get up!" Simon wrapped my arm with a thick cloth to stop the bleeding. I was so tired; the adrenaline once coursing through my body was now nothing but pain. Simon wrapped his arms around me, trying to steady me, the pool of my blood swishing violently under my feet. I was so weak. One moment, it was Simon to my left; the next, it was III. They carried all my weight as they pushed past the creature still surrounded by Vessel's magic. They were moving quickly, avoiding any contact with the creature. It let out another hiss, struggling towards me.

"She is NOT yours, Vessel." Its voice was angry, the gravely undertone prevalent in every syllable spoken.

"So, does that make her yours?" He twisted his hands, closing his fingers to his palms, causing the branches to move the Guardian closer to him. "She is not anyone's." My heart thrashed against the inside of my ribs; I could feel the thunderous beats as the world faded around me. He tightened his hand again, the creature screaming at the top of its lungs. Vessel reached behind it, calling the scythe it once carried to his other hand. It flew through the air, the dark cloud swirling around Vessel, slowing its accent to him. He palmed the long handle, his body still dripping wet. "One's sins against sleep will be punished according to the severity of their actions." The smirk that spread across his face was sickening. "This infraction will require the heaviest of punishments." He brought the scythe high above his head, twisting the creature closer to him with the other. "I commend your Soul to Sleep."

His following motions were almost too fast for me to comprehend what he was doing. He severed her wings with a swipe of the scythe down the Guardian's back. They fell to the deck with a loud thud. Black blood squirted in quick bursts out of her back. The roar that left her mouth caused my stomach to churn. I watched as she struggled against the force of the branches surrounding her.