by J. J. Egosi
“Just stay out of your own way,” Alexa said. “I’ll deal with him! Just stand back!”
Out of my own way? Michael asked himself. What does that even mean?
“Be careful. He could have stronger allies in higher places,” Julianna said.
“If slaying dinosaurs has taught me anything, it’s about sending a message to the others. And you do that by showing no mercy at all.”
Alexa dove in without any hesitation. Before the merfolk had a shred of time to respond, she chucked it across the wall with her hammer and knocked it unconscious in a puddle of its own blood.
Alexa smirked. “That was so easy, I almost feel offended that someone could think he was a challenge.”
The rest of the girls cheered, pleased to see it concede so quickly. Their celebration was cut short by yet another roar in the distance.
“I’d be prepared to feel complimented very soon,” said Michael. “Whatever that was sounded way bigger.”
Thundering footsteps approached them. Tenseness returned to the room as they looked around for the next enemy.
“Come out, coward,” Alexa said with a tremble. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“I have a feeling it isn’t afraid of you, either,” Isabella said.
The wall behind the treasure chest began to crack. The whole room went silent, as they stood there wondering what was on the other side.
Ursula’s breathing grew heavy. She felt sick in her stomach as the cracks turned into a web.
“Here it comes.”
The wall then exploded into pieces, filling the room with dust from the crashing debris. Through the dust, they saw five sets of menacing eyes. Michael took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Whatever it is, it definitely looks stronger than the last guy.”
Emerging through the smoke was an enormous creature with five shark heads. The heads roared, and the group covered their ears. The beast carried a different aura of intimidation that left Michael and the girls shaking in terror.
“I’ve never seen so many teeth in one place.” Julianna’s eyes widened.
“And they’re in the way of the treasure.” Isabella glanced at the gleaming chest under the heads.
“They want to make this more of a challenge, huh?” Alexa took a deep breath. “They’re just sharks. Nothing we can’t handle.”
“Are you sure? They’re pretty massive. And they looked starved.”
Isabella lost herself in the thousands of glistening teeth facing her. Many were stained in blood. Some still carried the bones of their previous meals.
“There are five heads and five of us. We can take it.” Alexa said.
“I hope so because I think there’s more to it where it came from,” Julianna said.
“There’s what?!”
Alexa gasped as another explosion rocked the room. Emerging from the smoke this time was a massive humanoid body revealing itself to be the connection to the five shark heads. The heads’ long serpentine necks flowed from the serpentine creature center. The beast stood at least fifty feet tall, spreading its wings and whipping its mega piranha tail to assert its dominance over those that disturbed its chamber.
“Ok, that could be a problem…”
Alexa stumbled with her mallet tightly gripped. She set herself for the fight even though her heart and breath ran faster with every moment she faced off with the creature. The beast suddenly lunged for an attack on Ursula, aiming to strike her with one of its heads.
“Watch out!” Michael dove to push a captivated Ursula out of the way and tumbled with her.
“Thanks, Michael,” Ursula replied as she caught her breath and dusting herself off.
“Don’t worry about it. Just stay focused.”
The five-headed sea monster continued its assault on the group, breaching through their defense. They skipped over its attacks as they scampered for their weapons.
“What a beast!” Julianna said, pushing its fist back.
“No kidding,” Isabella said. “I can see why the gold was left unattended. This was the perfect trap and the perfect guard.”
“But, why? We got the payment as requested, didn’t we?” Michael said.
“Such hostility appears instinctive for any denizens of the first dimension,” Ursula said coldly.
“Yeah, I suppose fighting for the right to exchange was left out of the fine print.”
The conversation nearly distracted Isabella. She reacted in time to jump out of the way of the beast’s attack by climbing across its muscular arm and landing back on the floor.
“Enough talking, you two. We have to kill it now!” Alexa said.
“Any ideas how? We know fire doesn’t work so well unless we release everything we’ve got at it at once. I don’t think that’s a viable option here since it isn’t giving us any openings,” Isabella said.
“Wait, what’s this about defeating them with fire? That sounds like it could work,” Michael said.
“In theory, it can. They can be burned at their gills. Problem is practice,” Alexa said.
“I don’t follow.”
The beast trampled in with another one of its heads. Michael and Ursula countered with their scepter and fists, respectively. Their heels slid across the marble floor from the impact. They grunted as they tried to push back from its hold.
“The more enemies, the more flames you need to knock them out. And with an enemy this big, you do the math. We’ll roast ourselves before ever laying a scratch on it.”
“You’re telling me.”
Michael manifested his might in lighting and Ursula reinforced it with shadows. The combined forces drove the beast. They freed themselves from its grip just in time beef it tempted to pounce, once more.
Isabella watched its fists leave a giant crater in the ground. “We won’t stand a chance as it is.”
“We’ll just have to slice it up, one head at a time, then,” Julianna said and then ignited her sword with shadows.
“No, don’t!” Alexa said, but she was too late. Julianna flew up to the beast with her sword pulled back. With a single swing, she cut the middle head clean off.
“Nicely done!” Isabella chanted.
“I’m afraid it’s not as nice as you think,” Ursula said.
What do you mean?”
“That’s what I mean.”
Ursula pointed to the beast. Its head quickly grew back. Michael and the girls watched in astonishment as her work was so easily undone.
“No way,” Julianna muttered.
The beast responded with a wave of teeth raining from its wings, heading toward Julianna at full speed.
Julianna just barely dodged the berating assault, using her shadows to reflect much of it. She looked back up at the fully-healed beast, shocked and confused.
“What the hell just happened?”
“I was trying to tell you. Multi-headed creatures have the ability to grow back their missing heads, as long as there is one full head remaining,” Alexa said.
“Also, many of these creatures have powers that trigger upon losing heads,” Ursula said.
“The ultimate defense,” Julianna said with a tremble. “At least we know now that our weapons can work down here.”
“That doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here. Without a strategy, we’re no match for this thing,” Ursula said.
“Sure as hell works for me. Is everyone in agreement?” Michael asked.
“No way, Michael. I’m not leaving here without my treasure.”
She stormed forth and exerted her entire force in the swing of her hammer which she slammed onto one of the beast’s heads. It roared as it slid back and nearly fell over.
“Wasn’t it you who just said”—
“Cutting it down to size will work against you, but there’s no rule regarding simply bludgeoning them to death. Stand back!”
“But, Alexa!” Michael shouted.
“We didn’t come this far just to fucking quit! I’m getting what we
came here for.”
“She’s lost it,” Julianna said.
“Then again, I suppose we’d do the same if we had a relic like hers,” Isabella said.
Alexa returned to battle with her hammer ready to swing. The five-headed shark lunged forward, set to go blow-for-blow with Alexa and return the bruising she had just inflicted on it.
“Step aside!”
Alexa charged toward the beast and slammed her hammer across its chest. The beast roared, attempting to counter with its piraña tail but she didn’t give it the opportunity. She struck again, this time, with an attack powered with a cloud of thickening shadows.
The beast was growing helpless fast. Each of its attacks fell to the wayside of Alexa’s shadows and hammer. The others anxiously watched as she continued to strike the beast until it could fight no longer.
“Time to finish this.”
She spun her hammer so fast, shadows began to form a typhoon. After a while, she stopped in place, grinned, and slammed it onto the beast’s stomach, hurling it across the chamber.
Michael and the girls couldn’t believe what they just witnessed.
“She cursed that beast by herself. Unholy shit,” Julianna said.
Alexa smiled and panted as she glanced at the comatose beast laying under rubble in the corner. The combat had drawn the last of her strength. She dusted herself off and held her head high as she walked toward the treasure chest. She opened it and found exactly what she was looking for.
“There’s my money!” she said with excitement.
“There it is,” Michael said.
She’d done it. All on her own. He and the others looked at one another, overcome with elation. They began to hop in celebration and listed what they would spend their rewards on.
“Come help me carry this, guys.”
“You’ve got it!” Michael said.
The four of them walked over to the chest and surrounded it to lift. Before any of them could grab a hold of the chest, the ceiling caved in.
They shielded themselves from the falling debris and screamed in panic.
“What just happened to the ceiling? How did it just fall like this?” Michael asked.
“Not sure, but I don’t think we want to find out what’s responsible for doing this,” Isabella said.
They froze when an ominous groan reverberated above them. It was a sound unlike anything they had ever heard.
They looked up toward the hole on the roof of the chamber and found a giant humanoid squid looking down at them with a single eye. Its orange skin glistened in the dim light. It had a narrow build and wings, and its gaze cast a green glow.
“Unholy shit!” Julianna shouted.
Michael and the girls were paralyzed with fear. Distracted by the creature’s hypnotic gaze, they didn’t release the shark beast had awoken.
“I hear footsteps. What the hell is that?”
Ursula turned around and gasped, seeing the shark beast crush the marble beneath its feet as it stormed toward them.
“Everyone watch out!”
Julianna couldn’t move quickly enough. The beast struck her on the back, leaving a gash that had her screaming in agony.
“Julianna, no!”
Michael ran toward her as she laid there on the floor. Be before he could reach her, the squid grabbed him and lifted him out of the chamber. The hungover still dampened his ability to fight back or focus on anything other than its gaping eye.
“Oh, no. He’s falling under its psychic hold,” Ursula spoke with a tremble.
“You let him go right this instant!” Isabella shouted.
Before she could come to his defense with a shadow attack, she was also stricken by the shark beast’s claws.
“Isabella!”
Alexa fell shortly after from an even stronger blow. A deep sinking of teeth across her side.
The shark beast took a massive bite out of both of them. They screamed in excoriating pain as blood and entrails poured out from their bodies onto the floor.
Ursula’s watched the attack in absolute horror.
These monsters are not like the ones we faced before. They’re much bigger and more powerful. But, can they be what I think they are? Ursula thought. Could those deities of Blackwater really exist? There’s no way!
She studied the creatures. They do look like the creatures I saw on the walls and they took them all out so fast. It must be because of those eyes. Could they possess the psychic powers I heard about? Are they infused with the orichalcum, somehow?
Ursula looked around for an exit. A place for her to escape with the others. The beasts blocked all exits, and their eyes were now set on her.
Psychic or not, it doesn’t matter. I need to get the fuck out of here and rescue my friends.
The beasts attacked her with heads, fists, and tentacles. With her magic as a shield, she avoided their every attack. She panted heavily as she rushed for the first opening she could find.
She ran the last several feet and safely made it through the exit. The running and panic had drained a lot of her strength so she stopped to catch her breath.
After a moment of rest, she noticed a silhouette casting over her.
That’s strange. An eclipse under water?
She slowly looked back up and fear bolted through her. Before her now was a third monstrosity: a double-headed sea serpent towering over the castle. One of its heads had two distinct sets of jaws on top of one another. The other head had a circular jaw and no eyes.
Another deity. But, why are they all here? What do they want?
The serpent cocked back and attacked Ursula with a burst of water from its head with two jaws. Ursula quickly blocked it with her fists enchanted by many layers of shadows. Then, its other head spread the area in mist, shrouding the area with its presence.
What’s going on? And why is it so cold, all of a sudden?
She soon felt her body freeze up as she faintly saw the monster through the mist.
The serpent’s second mouth breathes ice…
She struggled to maintain her ground under the freezing touch, and the mist left her nearly incapable of seeing the monster she knew was there.
These are the gods the cultists worshipped. There’s no doubt about it.
Desperation faced her, each way she turned. Her allies were all incapacitated by the triad of black water deities.
I have to lay waste to them fast.
The ice around her began to spread across the floor, reaching toward her and locking her in place.
Shit, it’s got me!
She attempted to break the ice with her shadows, but it was no use. The casing was too thick and her vision couldn’t hone in properly. Soon, the ice reached around her ankles and began spreading up to her legs.
This is bad. Really bad. Everyone’s been taken out by the other two and I think I might be next.
The other two monsters began to close in on her as they made their way to the castle entrance. Ursula looked at her now incapacitated friends across the floor and took a deep breath.
Alright, this is it. I either crush these Blackwater deities or die trying!
Chapter 8
Call Of The Trident
T
he trident…
Ursula thought back to her experience in Atlantis. She remembered hearing about a mysterious relic used as an idol in the Atlanteans’ sacred shrine.
“Where do you think it came from?” she remembered a woman asking another.
“It must have been a gift from the gods,” she heard.
She remembered seeing vague images of a three-pronged weapon glowing from the waters above. It gleamed down on the people of Atlantis as they chanted with joy. The image flashed in total darkness: a crimson nightmare of merfolk turning into ravenous monsters--
“What’s this? I didn’t see this before!” she asked herself.
--and of blood splattering and minds being drained, not by a gift, but by a curse that helped forge the city’s fall.
Ursula snapped back from her memories and the touch of ice rose to her waist.
Could the trident be the key to all this? Was it the true source of Atlantis’s fall? If so, how does the orichalcum play into this?
The screams of her friends, echoing loud like those of the merfolk that fell long ago, cut her thoughts short.
I have no idea what to do with this information. Damn it! I can’t even move!
The ice reached up to her neck as she tried flailing amidst the casing to break free when she noticed something shining from between the teeth of the serpent.
Is… that it? It can’t be.
The ice began to cover her head, consuming her whole, as she gazed upon the fading glimmer between the beast’s teeth.
Why do I always have this feeling of being so helpless and trapped?
The last of the glow began to dissipate. Everything was turning dark and cold.
“I can’t falter. Not now.” She gritted her teeth. “Trident or not, this isn’t over! I refuse to give in like this!”
Ursula’s forceful screams of rage shook the ice and it began to crack then shattered across the floor. She stood there, staring menacingly at the serpent. A newfound zeal coursed through her and she was ready to finish what she and the others came here for.
“Ursula,” Alexa weakly said as she reached out her hand. She whimpered as she tried to pick her face from the ground.
“I’m not the weakling I once was. I’ll prove it by changing the course of this battle and pulling a victory from the jaws of defeat.” Ursula pointed at the serpent.
Alexa smiled proudly. “Always so persistent.”
One after the other, Michael and the girls regained consciousness. They watched as Ursula flew toward the lower mouth of the serpent, reaching for its teeth.
“Whoa. How is she flying underwater?” Isabella asked.
“She’s using her shadows to guide her. That’s insane.” Julianna said. She couldn’t believe the sight as thick dark clouds propelled her forward at such speeds. “She’ll wipe herself out if she exerts all that energy.”
“Ursula, stop! Whatever you’re thinking, this isn’t going to work!” Michael said, struggling to stand.
I need to know what I saw. Ursula thought as she approached the snarling jaws. If it’s true, then the tides of this battle could changes.
