Chimera

Chapter Seventeen: Lance

"No. Never. We're not giving up," Lance said, hands clenching into tight fists.

"What're we gonna do, then? Where can we go?" Alana asked, her eyes shining with tears. Jaylin and Camila looked up at him.

"Anywhere. But we're never, ever giving up on our home. We can always walk along this huge salt lake and find another river that empties into it. But whatever we do, we're not stopping," he said, raising his head and setting his jaw. Like everyone else, he was disappointed. But he was determined, and he wouldn't give up for anything. Their families were counting on it.

The others looked at him. Their mouths didn't break into smiles, but slowly, ever so slowly, a glimmer of hope shone through in their eyes, though maybe it was just the gleam of the tears.

"You're right," said Camila, "I'm not giving up that easily."

"Great," Lance beamed, hitching up his satchel, "then let's go."

Everyone was in a foul mood to begin with. Even Goldenstroke was annoyed, although he didn't know exactly why and didn't understand their problem. Still, he sensed the anger and loss through their body language and behaviour, and it made him whine and whimper, his feathers ruffled and his tail between his legs. It seemed as if his dazzling feathers lost some of their luster. They trudged along the sand, eyes glued to their feet.

But soon, the incessant crashing of the waves and the refreshing sea mist alleviated the irritation. It was hard to have a bad mood in this place of joyously rolling foam, even despite the lack of fresh water.

Lance thought his reasoning was logical: if they had followed a river to the salt lake, there must be other rivers that lead out from it. Maybe every river lead to this huge lake? It was an amusing thought, that every freshwater stream led to a huge saltwater lake, though he knew that it was probably impossible. Whatever the case was, he had to keep moving.

The sand scrunched beneath his toes as he walked forward. Along the tide-line, the gray rocks were splashed with the yellow, aquamarine and salmon pink of strange mosses and lichens. Lance could see the pastel violet of mussel beds, drenched by the translucent blue of the ocean. Through the water, tangles of kelp drifted in the current, moving to reveal starfish covered in membranes of gel, tiny crystalline fish that darted away in an instant, and a mutated sea otter that used six legs to propel itself forward. Then the kelp swept back, concealing the hidden world once again. Lance smiled. He wonder what other secrets could be down there, among the... kelp?

The kelp. It was gone. In an instant it had vanished. Lance gasped as pieces of the underwater plant floated to the surface. They had been ripped into shreds. A flurry of bubbles obscured his view of the seafloor.

"What was th-" he began, but he was silenced as something huge broke the surface, water streaming from its body.

It's a mutant, thought Lance.

"It's a mutant!" Jaylin exclaimed, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

The creature was large and long, with broad aquatic wings that reminded Lance of photos he had seen of extinct animals called manta rays. Despite this similarity, its face had the appearance of a nudibranch sea slug, covered in gel, with eyes like gleaming black circles. There were dozens of rose pink tubules on its head, like a forest of sea anemones. Its back was a shade of ultramarine, but its underside was white, with a beige tint. Spiny, fish-like spikes ran along its long tail, which ended in a whip-thin end and was bedecked with two blade-like appendages.

Goldenstroke growled, claws at the ready, as the aquatic creature opened its maw wide. Lance had expected a circular, toothless mouth, the kind used for scavenging in the muck of the sea floor. Instead, strings of thick saliva fell from serrated shark's teeth. A guttural growl bubbled up from deep in its throat and plumes of steam flew from its nostrils, as the sea anemones atop its head quivered and pulsed, soft white rings blooming on the lush pink surface.