Guardian 2

by Porter, Jack

I let her maneuver me how she would and turned to look at her when the gentle foamy crests touched just above my knees.

  “Tap into your crystal,” she called, moving to where her toes were just out of reach of the waves.

  It wasn’t as easy to do as in the spirit realm, but I focused my mind and let my awareness creep down to connect with the crystal’s power.

  “Got it.”

  “Now connect your magic to the surrounding water.”

  I sent my magic to my fingers and bent to graze the surface of the green-blue ocean.

  “For clarity’s sake, am I just letting my magic seep into the ocean? Or what?” I asked in confusion, pulling back my fingers and letting my blue-white crystal power hover just over my fingertips.

  Yua put her hand to her chin, as if trying to recall something. “Kind of? According to the scrolls I’ve read, it’s like holding handfuls of sand. It’s tricky, but doable in small quantities. You want to keep your magic contained to just enough ocean that you can maneuver it around with you still inside it. Does that make sense?”

  It didn’t. Not really. However, I was more of a hands-on type of student, so I said, “Yeah, sure. Let me give it a go.”

  And I let my hands drop back down to the ocean again.

  My magic swished and sloshed. I made a small dent in the water, but nothing else after several tries.

  Well, I couldn’t be expected to part the red sea on my first try, I thought. Yet at the same time, that was what I had to do, sort of. Because Megan was in danger.

  “Try going out a little farther. Past the point where you can comfortably touch the bottom. Maybe that will help you get a feel for how the ocean’s rhythm can be bent to match your own,” Yua said.

  I understood that I was on my own from this point, so I swam back out to where Megan had first disappeared. Taking a deep breath, I let myself sink into the ominous quiet. A few fish swam by, none of them bigger than a large bass.

  I hoped these weren’t shark-infested waters, but wouldn’t have been surprised if they were. This sea might be cold to me, but it was relatively tropical and was likely to attract large schools of fish, sharks included.

  Still, I tried to relax and let my magic infuse into the surrounding water, to control it in a way that would be meaningful.

  No luck. I managed a few small eddies in the water, but that was it.

  This isn’t working, damn it. Megan needs me. I don’t have time to learn a whole new skill right now!

  Frustrated, I let out one large burst of magic that pushed a solid wave of water from my body. It was only for an instant, but I was suddenly free from the water surrounding me.

  I had pushed the ocean back.

  Maybe that was what I needed to do. Maybe I could push the ocean back, in a limited way. Force a small opening, one that would reach the surface so I could breathe, no matter how deep I dove.

  Swimming back up to the surface, I took a few deep breaths before dipping back down to try again.

  Except I never got the chance. Instead, something strong caught my leg.

  If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was a sea snake, winding its body around my leg and waist.

  But this was a tentacle, and it stretched impossibly far below me.

  Whatever it was attached to was big. I mean, capsize-a-cruise-ship kind of big.

  The familiar feeling of dark energy penetrated my magical defenses before I set them up again.

  Shit. This was one of Zavier’s creatures.

  I had no more time to think. The dark-magic-coated tentacle gave a sharp yank, and I was forcefully pulled down into the deep.

  For the speed and depth at which I was now traveling, a regular human might have passed out. Not this immortal god body, though. Yet even I wasn’t immune to the pressure. My ears popped and my head felt like a hammer and nail were being driven through it.

  The bigger issue was that I still couldn’t breathe. At most I had a few minutes, and that was if I truly pushed my lungs to full capacity.

  I knew that the monster that had me would not let me win this fight easily.

  Twenty-Eight

  When I finally saw the size of the beast that had me, I was hard pressed not to gasp in sheer terror.

  It was the biggest sea creature I’d ever laid eyes on, and considering the recreational deep sea diving I’d done in my college years, that was saying something.

  There was only one name that fit a leviathan like this. I instinctively labeled it a Kraken. A monster drawn out of the nightmares of generations of sea-faring men and made real.

  The Kraken had hundreds of deep blue, gray, and purple tentacles of different lengths. These were not like the colors of a betta fish, which were beautiful and graceful in the water. More like the face of the newly dead or a nasty bruise that was just about to turn green.

  Two huge, deep set, sickly yellow eyes with the pupil slitted horizontally stared at me with menace and too little intelligence to be reasoned with.

  Its massive body was pliable and puffed up every few seconds before deflating again.

  But what drew my attention more than anything else was that it had Megan trapped in one of its tentacles.

  I could just see a few wisps of her red hair as she disappeared into the throng of dangling calamari limbs. It was dragging her further back, out of my sight.

  I flung my arm back behind me to grab my sword, only to find it wasn’t there.

  Shit. I was still naked from our morning activities. Megan and I had just gone for a swim, with no inkling that anything untoward might have been about to happen.

  I snarled in frustration, flailing around uselessly, knowing that I could fight this thing without my sword, but I’d have to put in real effort to do more than dent the misty darkness swarming around it.

  And I was running out of air.

  In growing desperation, I pushed my magic outward, creating a six inch gap around my body from the waist up.

  I let the bubble sit a minute and then took a cautious sip.

  Air. Thank fucking Kain.

  But it would quickly run out unless there was a way to filter more in. Only one, maybe two breaths. So, I tried to send a few tendrils of whirlpool water up toward the surface so it could filter back down to my bubble.

  Several more limbs wrapped themselves around my other leg, my chest, my neck. All of them tightened painfully even as I continued to squirm.

  Not good, I thought.

  It was all I could do to unleash my magic in a single, big blast of blue-white light.

  My magic smashed into the creature’s body like an oversized cannon ball, scattering Zavier’s darkness and stunning the monster. It hesitated, its grip weakening around me. Instantly, I reformed my air bubble (it had broken down at the monster’s touch), took a breath, and pushed the whirlpool hard and fast.

  It broke the surface as the darkness was reforming back over the Kraken.

  Making sure I kept my ocean manipulation in place so that I could breathe the sweet air slipping through it, I pushed the darkness back again and began to physically tear at the tentacles holding me with my bare hands.

  It didn’t budge. I may as well have been trying to move a mountain. In fact, it only seemed to make it angry. The tentacle around my chest and leg became crushing. And I swore I heard something snap within me.

  All at once, bright orange light rained down from above, lighting up the ocean and instantly cooking all the fish in its path.

  Yua.

  I couldn’t see her, but from the torrent of fireballs that bombarded the ocean around us, I knew it had to be her. Was she trying to hit the Kraken? At this depth?

  Something told me that the depth wasn’t an issue. Impossible as it might have seemed, the fire she conjured was able to make it down all this way. Was it magically enhanced? Or just terrifyingly powerful?

  Either way, it almost seemed like she was missing on purpose. Maybe she was just trying to get my attention?

  How
did she even know where I was?

  That was when I heard the faintest sound of my name. It came down the swirling tunnel of air that I’d created. Obviously Yua was trying to use it, sort of like cans on a string, to communicate with me, but it was much less efficient. I couldn’t make out more than a few half-words.

  At the end, however, she said something that sounded familiar. Sword.

  My stomach sank. “Oh fuck!” I shouted, panicking as I twisted and turned, hoping to get the tiniest glint of metal before it sank farther down to the ocean floor. If I missed it, my weapon would be lost forever.

  Another fireball.

  There! I thought, spotting the sword as it dropped like a stone a few feet above my head.

  It was just close enough. If I stretched. I mean, really, stretched. I could grab it.

  Battering the overgrown squid’s hold on my ribcage wasn’t working, so I finally decided to try a different tactic. Leaning over, I opened my mouth wide and took the biggest chunk I could with my teeth.

  It tasted awful. Like cold, slimy rubber slicking over my tongue. I wanted to puke. But it worked. The appendage around my chest loosened enough for me to reach out.

  I caught the sword between the tips of my first finger and thumb. I clamped that grip down as firmly as I could, my broken ribs screaming in pain and my air bubble barely holding on.

  It was worth it though. I could have kissed Yua in that moment, because once I pulled the sword close to my chest, I felt whole again.

  Sending a surge of crystal magic through the sword’s blade, I cut through the kraken’s wiggling limbs like a knife through soft butter.

  I didn’t think it could let out a cry of pain, but judging by how fast the other tentacles let me go, I was sure I’d hurt it enough to give it a few doubts.

  I wasn’t sure if I expected the limbs to grow back or for the creature to let out a mighty roar and charge me. But in no scenario did I imagine the kraken would turn tail and flee. Yet that’s exactly what happened.

  I gave pursuit, testing out the limits of how much ocean I could control at one time. I was faster than I would have been if I’d stuck to just swimming with no magical help, but I was not as swift as the multi-tentacled monster.

  It quickly pulled ahead of me.

  “Come back, you cowardly bastard! Where’s your backbone? You should be ashamed!” I yelled, wishing I had a good-sized rock and a sling to stun the creature.

  I knew that if I wanted to pick up my speed, I’d have to drop the air bubble I’d created for myself. But to my way of thinking, there wasn’t any real choice.

  That thing still had Megan in its tentacular grip.

  So I took a deep breath of air and broke my connection to the surface. Cold water rushed in to slap against my cheeks, filter up my nose, and sting my eyes.

  But I kept my sights set on the kraken.

  Transferring the power that had been keeping me breathing, I pooled it around myself and leaned forward.

  I took off like a torpedo in the water.

  Soon, I caught back up. Sword in hand, I punctured the kraken’s huge, leathery body. The skin was tougher than I thought, but at the speed I’d been going, it didn’t matter.

  My blue-white crystal magic pulsed powerfully enough to dispel every inch of Zavier’s darkness. Black ink poured out of the wound I had made to cloud the surrounding water.

  In seconds, the tentacles stopped flailing in pain and the whole gigantic body went limp.

  I realized my error at that moment. Dead as a doornail, the kraken quietly slipped away into the darkness—with Megan still in its grasp.

  Oh, fuck no.

  I swam down after it, trying to extend my magic toward the creature to give it some buoyancy, but the quickly graying monster was just too big and I’d spent a good majority of that magic already.

  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to grab Megan and get to the surface before I passed out.

  But I had to, because even though Megan could breathe underwater, she wouldn’t be able to do so with thirteen tons of squid crushing her on the sea bottom.

  Maybe she’d die instantly, I didn’t know, but I would not hang around and watch.

  The pressure increased uncomfortably the further I went down. Damn it, why was the creature sinking so fast?

  Obsidian ink poured out of the kraken’s wound. It got into my eyes and blocked my already dark vision.

  As the kraken was dropping, its tentacles floated up, nearly entangling me. I was almost there. So close I could just see the healthy pink skin of Megan’s arm in the glow of my crystal light.

  Before I could get her out, though, this nightmare took another turn. Three dark shadows descended from different sides and dove toward the kraken as if it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

  I turned a little, aiming glowing magic to see what was eating my kill.

  Mm hmm, nope. Fuck this shit.

  Two great whites and one hammerhead shark shook the guardian like a bowl full of jelly as they ripped and swallowed and ripped again.

  My crystal magic kept them toward the far end of the beast, but when another larger shark showed up, the smaller ones scooted closer to me to give it some room.

  Scrambling, I used my magic to speed me up until I was in among the tentacles, feeling them gnarl themselves around me. I led with slashing strokes to cut away bits of flesh, until finally, I caught Megan’s hand in my own.

  I yanked her free and pulled us out of the mass of tentacles. Then I watched as more and more sharks showed up to accompany the kraken’s descent to the sea floor.

  With the remains of my magic, I propelled both of us upward. I knew that the bends were a genuine possibility for me, sure to set in quickly after I hit the surface. But I figured I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

  Perhaps I could survive the bends. But clacking out where I was?

  I would end up sharing the same fate of that sea beast below me.

  My heart pumping so hard I thought it would burst, I tried to form the protection bubble around me, but I was getting too light-headed to focus. The surface was so close, but not close enough.

  Dark spots crowded the edge of my vision.

  I wasn’t going to make it.

  My progress slowed to a stop as my magic ran out and my lungs slipped out the last puff of air it had been holding. My hold on Megan loosened and my vision pulsed completely dark with the timing of my heartbeats.

  A few more seconds was all I needed.

  Suddenly Megan’s arms came to life. She grasped me with a strength I hadn’t known she possessed, and she pumped her mighty tail behind us.

  We rose the last few inches.

  Oxygen flowed into my expanding lungs, even though every breath I took was like fire to my system.

  At least the pain is keeping me conscious, I thought wryly.

  “What’s wrong with him?” someone demanded. I looked up to find Yua’s scaled face shimmering close enough to mine that I thought she might kiss me. Powerful black wings pumped to keep her airborne.

  “I wouldn’t turn down a sloppy wet one right now,” my voice sounded slurred and incoherent to my ears.

  Megan’s voice replied, quavering with panic, “I don’t know. I can’t remember anything. I was swimming and saw something in the distance that—well—I don’t know what it was, but it seemed important. Then something hit me in the back of the head. I called out to Dexter, and that’s the last thing I remember until just now. Yua, he’s blacking out. I think he’s hurt. Not sure how it happened, but I’m bleeding on my side too. He’s too heavy for me right now, can you…”

  And that’s all I heard before my luck ran out and my vision went dark.

  Twenty-Nine

  Thankfully, the bends never showed their ugly face. Perhaps my godly form was proof against them.

  Either way, my unconsciousness was short-lived, and by the time Megan had dragged me back to the island, the world was already starting to return to rights.

&nbs
p; We hauled ourselves out onto the sand, back with our supplies, my sword in easy reach, and rested for a while. I even used my golden mist to begin healing my ribs.

  “I can’t believe a monster that size needs to use sneak attacks,” Megan fumed for the third time. “I didn’t have a chance.”

  I smiled.

  “My little mermaid. You do know there will be other challenges to face, right? Like, every day we seem to be finding new ways to get into life-or-death altercations.”

  Her sour mood broke at the pet name, and her cheeks darkened as a pretty blush spread across her face.

  “I guess, but this just felt personal. You know? Like I should have been the one to—,” Megan paused, a sudden look of shock coming over her. “Oh, Dexter. I remember what I saw,” she exclaimed. “Before I passed out, I saw it!”

  “Saw what?” I asked.

  “The city, Dexter. I saw the city you described. The city where the other goddesses are being kept.”

  Yua and I both stared at the red-haired woman. My voice was almost level as I asked, “Okay, Megan, tell me what you know.”

  “The monster came up on me pretty fast, but I swam a mile from where we were before it caught up. In the distance, maybe another half mile or so, I saw it. Like a huge dome, with ruined buildings beneath it. But that’s when I passed out.”

  Pressing my lips together. “Well, it looks like we have to go back down there. Much as I am not looking forward to another dive with those sharks.”

  Megan’s freckles seemed to grow darker as her skin paled. “What sharks?”

  Whoops. “Uh. It wasn’t too bad. I mean, compared to the kraken, how bad could it be? I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  The red-haired woman looked at me with an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

  But it was Yua who spoke next. “Sharks or not, the sunken city and the other goddesses aren’t going anywhere. And I think we’ve had about enough adventure for one day. So how about we eat, rest, and give you both a chance to heal properly before you go hunting for them, yes?”

  * * *

  We spent a pleasant night on the beach, and in the morning, Megan and I got ready. This time, I made sure to wear my pants (fighting monsters with my dick hanging out wasn’t really my favorite pastime), and hung my sword in its usual place at my back.