The Disjointed Tales Of Renryre Island

27-2: All Aboard [continued]

The hammer suddenly grew heavier, and it dragged Tailfin beneath the surface. Below, it shone a soft white glow from the head, lighting his path as it pulled him down.

The tailsharks began thrashing all around him, their pace quickening until hundreds of the sharks were circling rapidly, creating a vortex in the ocean, their skin shining in the light of the hammer.

Down and down he was dragged, the pressure mounting as he reached unknown depths, accompanied only by the frenzied sharks and the darkness surrounding them. Still the hammer pulled, and still he sank.

His strength waned, with the water pressing so hard against him he felt as though his body would collapse and be crushed into a hundred pieces, small enough to be snacks for the anchovies to enjoy. Still the hammer dragged him down; still the tailsharks thrashed around him, guiding him to the depths.

Finally the hammer struck ground, and he turned himself over and put his feet in the soft sand. Even the glow of the hammer was barely enough to pierce the darkness of the water at that depth. The shadows of tailsharks danced around him, until suddenly they ceased their circling.

A gap opened in the wall of sharks, and a shape waded gradually through. It looked something like a person, two arms and two legs, walking along the ocean floor. Tailfin strained to see the creature approaching, but the sand had been churned up by the sharks, and the dim light was not enough to see anything more than the dim outline of the figure.

It came closer to him, slowly drifting through the water. Tailfin realised all the sharks had stopped moving. They were watching as the figure approached.

An arm reached forward tentatively, hesitated, then touched Tailfin, gently feeling his face, his cheeks, his nose, his chin. The apparition retracted its arm, and remained still for a long moment. All of a sudden, the sharks began thrashing again, and the figure vanished in the chaos.

A powerful vortex formed quickly, spinning Tailfin, and sucking him into the torrent, pulling him away from the sea bed. Up, up he raced, beyond his control. Soon he burst through the surface, a few feet away from the ship.

"You alright, Tailfin?" yelled Madrik.

Tailfin glanced around him. The sharks had quietened down, though they were still circling him. He searched for any sign of the figure he'd seen at the bottom, but there was nothing there.

"Yes," he shouted back. "I'm okay."

"Dammit," said Madrik. "I thought maybe the tailsharks had actually eaten you this time."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Madrik," he laughed, "just throw me a bloody rope."

They pulled him up on deck, and gave him less than half a moment to recover from the dive.

"Well?"

Tailfin shook his head. It wasn't a 'no', but it wasn't a 'yes'. In fact, he didn't know what the hell it was.

"I saw... something."

"You saw Him," said Discreet.

Tailfin looked around, helpless once more.

"Perhaps, but still no mainland. Now what?"

The ship suddenly lurched forward as if taken by the breeze, but the sails remained slack, unperturbed by any wind. The crew ran to the bow, trying to see where they were going. The sharks were still circling, a larger circle now, all the way around the ship, which continued to gain speed, churning the water with huge waves carved in its wake.

"Where are we going?" yelled a sailor.

"To the mainland!" yelled another.

Kyrnrie eyed Tailfin as if to ask him if it were true, but Tailfin could only shake his head in return, knowing nothing more than anyone else.