Tales From The Ocean

Lightning flashed across the dark evening sky as the formidable storm grew closer.

The men with silver daggers were getting closer now, I could hear the thumps of their shoes in the clearing behind me. My only hope was to lose them in the storm ahead.

The golden sand of the beach had turned a whole shade darker as I ran across it towards the glimmering blue ocean barefoot.

The sand seemed to constantly cling on to every shred of my skin it could find, blowing into my eyes as the wind howled.

I was almost to the water now. It was a dumb decision, really, but what else could I do? Clearly, the raging ocean seemed more inviting than the men chasing me with sharp daggers.

The feel of wet sand against my feet quickly vanished as I stepped into the water. Freezing. The harsh coldness of the ocean chilled me to my bones, but I kept going.

I was trudging through the ocean with as much force as I could. The water rose to my hips, my waist, and then my chest rapidly.

My head whipped around in a panic, noticing that the men had come into the water with me. Why were they so persistent?

I turned my head back around too late, noticing the large wave rising in front of me. Before I had a chance to move, the angry wall of water crashed down on my head, submerging me as I thrashed around, trying to get my bearings.

Salty water entered my nostrils, causing a burning sensation and a piercing pain in my skull. I managed to find the surface, taking a deep breath as I emerged, noticing that the men were also just surfacing.

Their beady eyes found me, a sinister smile playing on their lips as they began swimming in my direction. I had no choice but to swim out further into the ocean, and hope against all hope that I would remain intact.

It seemed very unlikely though.

I don't know how long I had been swimming away from them. My arms were feeling heavy, and I felt as if I could no longer stay afloat, but the men just never seemed to get tired.

The sky had gotten impossibly dark as I took in strangled breaths, kicking my sore legs to stay above the water.

My eyes were burning now as I looked around me in all directions. The waves had brought me out too far in the ocean, and there was nowhere I could go. Except down.

The men were too close, and my only hope was that I could lose them underneath the water. I knew I couldn't see very well, but I was praying they couldn't either.

I took one final breath, before closing my eyes and diving into the ocean. Using all the strength left in my body, I kicked my legs, going as deep as I possibly could.

The water had never seemed to get any warmer no matter how long I was in it. But now, warmth tingled all across my body, turning into a searing heat.

I opened my eyes in surprise, noticing an enormous dark shape swimming around me in circles, almost like a shark encircling its prey.

Suddenly, it swam towards me with such speed that I screamed, realising too late that I was underwater. But I wasn't drowning.

Instead of the harsh water that I expected to be swallowing, it was air.

The creature came impossibly closer, and I could now make out the shape of it's elongated body. The stumpy end in front of me was a snout with large nostrils and two golden eyes that almost seemed to glow.

There were markings all along it's cheeks, almost as if someone had engraved the skin. The deep blue scales around it's face sprouted long golden flaps that almost looked like seaweed. And the scariest part of it all?

It was smiling.

I wasn't sure if my biggest concern right now was that the creature was smiling, or that I was breathing in the ocean.

It tilted it's head, seemingly amused by my confusion.

"What, you haven't seen a dragon before?" an unfamiliar voice in my head chimed, deep but warm and comforting at the same time. Bewildered, I stared at the dragon. It isn't everyday that you almost drown and then meet a dragon.

I didn't know dragons even existed, let alone communicated telepathically.

He sighed, and then lifted his flipper, encasing the lower half of my body within. Panicked, I began to squirm, attempting to escape his grasp, but his irritated voice entered my mind once again.

"Calm down, will you? I'm just trying to help." He soon let my body go, and my surprise escalated. The lower half of my body was covered in a similar shade of blue scales to his, and I couldn't feel my legs anymore.

They seemed to be entwined into a flat tail. It wasn't like the tails you'd expect a mermaid to have, but rather a slim, vertical like that of a shark.

My mind wasn't able to comprehend any of what was happening at the moment, but one persisting thought kept returning. What happened to the two men following me?

"Oh those humans? I drowned them," the dragon spoke nonchalantly. So now dragons can read minds?

"We could always read minds,"  it chuckled inside my mind before continuing to speak, "and before you ask why I drowned them, I'll explain it myself. You see, us sea dragons hate silver. It damages our scales, and those nasty humans were holding scrawny little silver weapons."

"You, on the other hand, we would never harm." I stared at the dragon in confusion, there was nothing special about me.

It sighed exasperatedly, "You're wearing pearls around your neck! Us sea dragons worship pearls. Haven't you noticed, ships with silver sink, but never those carrying pearls."

It offered another smile, nudging my body with it's snout before turning to swim away into the depths of the ocean. I took ahold of it's tail, swimming alonside the magnificent beast, one last thought in my mind.

Who knew dragons hated silver, but loved pearls?

Word Count: 999 words.

Author's Note

Hi :)

This is my first flash fiction, written for @Watt-Dragons competition "Steal your Dream."

I hope you all enjoyed it, and at the moment this will most likely be the end of this book. However, I felt inspired by the concept of "Tales from the Ocean" and am tempted to write more short stories within that theme.

If I do end up adding more stories in this book, I will make sure to post annoucements.

For now, thank you to anyone and everyone who has read this story and voted if they enjoyed it.

Much love,

A.