BOUNDED

III

'Don't you think this is not normal? I contorted my face facing Zaria, swinging the bag over my shoulder. It's like father was prepared for this to happen. I watched as she hit another rock out of its place making it roll onto the pile on the floor. That's enough', I say as I pick them up.

Zaria is a more agile swimmer than I am and if we want to hurry the most logical thing is to ride on her. I get on her back holding unto her sides as we speed off, looking at the direction of my home one last time before focusing on the journey ahead. 

We've been moving for quite a while now and we're both tired, my arms are starting to feel sore from gripping her, she should have it worse but she is a hippocampus, they are built for journeys like this so it's not too bad for her. The thought of them catching up to us scares me so bad, no matter what happens I know my father will be fine but I can't say the same about me. Suddenly, my heart drops to my stomach as one thought seeps into my mind. I didn't see my mother, she wasn't there, my hands begin to tremble as I process this. I was too occupied with everything that was going on I didn't notice my mother's absence. 

'Zaria', I mutter, my voice coming out cracked. I didn't see mother at all, where was she?

'She is fine, she sent me to you' she says. Hearing that made me so relieved but I couldn't help but feel terrible at how I forgot about her, I had an argument with her that's why I went to the reef. 'She is safe with father' I say, trying to reassure myself not to worry. 

'Rey', Zaria utters. Snapping myself out of my thoughts to look at her, that was when I noticed we've stopped, my eyes grew as I took in the sight before me, 'the outer seas', I mumble under my breath. 'It's beautiful' I say taking in everything. The view was amazing, creatures of all sorts going about their business, plants and weeds of all sorts and colours, shells and rocks scattered in all the right places, rays of sunlight from the surface piercing through, lighting up the place signifying daybreak, we made it right on time, just as I predicted. 

I got off Zaria, forgetting my exhaustion as I explore, little fishes swim past me, making me giggle. I don't remember ever seeing this view on my trips with my parents. My hand brushes the plants around me as I smile widely, swimming as fast as I could between them, letting the excitement rush through my body. I've read about it so many times but being here right now made me feel surreal, the description was accurate, there were stories of monstrous creatures too lurking around, hunting prey. But I haven't seen such so far, it must be to scare us from wandering this far. I get distracted by Zaria's startled grunts, I laugh as I saw her try to get away from little turtles. 'They can't harm you Zaria', I say as I burst out laughing, 'for a creature like you, you're really a coward'. 

'We should rest before nightfall, that place looks good enough', I say as I point to an opening formed by some huge rocks, she nods her head in response. The entrance was illuminated by the rays of light, it didn't look bad as far as I could see. I take out the lantern as we make our way inside, it wasn't big nor deep, just almost good enough for us, the surface was hard and rough, barely comfortable but we'll manage. The lantern lighted the place really well, there was a colony of shrimps towards the end of the cave, they seem to still be snoozing, my stomach grumbled at the sight, I love shrimps, our little entrance didn't seem to wake them up which means they're  most likely in one of their inactive periods. 

I looked towards Zaria, guessing we were having the same thought. I move towards them, pointing my right and left index finger towards them as I move the water away from them so they could suffocate. Since they're inactive, their deaths will be painless, I twirl the water around them, this time increasing its temperature so they can boil and be soft.

They don't taste as good as back home, but they definitely still are good, I munch on them happily, shortly after, I fall asleep. I wake up to Zaria nudging me, I was laying on her, no wonder I slept easily. It was dark signifying nightfall, I was feeling pretty refreshed, I stretch my body as we head out again, this time, I decide to swim with Zaria beside me. Most of the creatures were either nowhere to be found or snoozing, we move carefully around, trying to be as silent as possible, the plants were so much larger here, so it served as something like a camouflage for us, I felt much safer moving here, we could even move during the day, I thought. 

We'd gone far at this point, my tail was beginning to hurt so I rode on Zaria's back once again, there were fewer plants in sight and the water was beginning to look bare once again. It was really dark, we could only see as far as the lantern was able to light up and so far I haven't sensed any odd presence, I should be a bit relaxed, but my senses were heightened, my gut felt like something was about to go wrong but I ignored it. 

My ears perked up as I picked something weird from behind us, I turn my head sharply but whatever it was moved pretty fast, the lantern was knocked out of my hand in an instant, darkness surrounding us as it sank. My heart was beating really fast and thankfully I had excellent eyesight so I could make out a few things.

There was no one in sight leaving me wondering what or who it was, I scramble to take out one of the glowing rocks as I move away from Zaria, moving it around so I could better see the area around us but there still was nothing in sight. I move further away as I sense the presence again coming from my right, I turn around moving away as fast as I could, considering how fast it moved before, It missed me by an inch as I caught a glimpse of it.

I was now face to face with it, massive canines staring right at me, its nose rested on its snout, gills at either sides of its neck, its body looked like it was 20 feet long. Sharp claws on all four limbs, long tail covered In sharp spikes. Its eyes were on either side of its head, looking at me menacingly as it let out a low growl before swinging its tail at me. I was too shocked at the sight of it to move, I watched as I was about to take a deadly hit, closing my eyes in response, I opened it again as I was knocked away, losing my breath. The rock I had flew out my hand as well.

Zaria had saved me, taking the hit instead, she yelped in pain as she was knocked away too. It moved towards her again, mouth wide open, ready to take a huge amount of flesh.

'ZARIA', I yell as I rush towards her, I seem to have gotten its attention as it turns my way, I stop, scared to face the creature in front of me. It rushes towards me again, I quickly pull my dagger out, prepared for it.

I swerve to the left as it launches at me dodging its attack, I swing my dagger lodging it into its flesh, It lets out a cry of agony as it moves away from me. It swims away, my dagger still stuck where I'd stabbed it.

To my surprise, it charges towards me again, I thought it'll leave or be in too much pain to attack again, Zaria moves in front of me, letting out a warning sound, her scales were protruding out of her skin, she looked ready to rip it to bits, I'm moved out the way again as she lands a bite on it taking out a huge chunk of flesh, she isn't left unscathed tho, as she receives a bite to her upper body as well.

It was enough to send it reeling away, it was losing a good amount of blood, the roars that leave its mouth were loud and scary, I rush to Zaria, hoping it's not bad.

'We need to get away from it', I say as I stroke her muzzle, she nods her head

'Get on my back', 'what, no you're hurt' I exclaim. She lets out a snort as she throws me on her before trying to speed off. It heads towards us, not looking to give up. Zaria dives down, swimming deeper.

'NO, why are you going down, it's dangerous', I yell, but she keeps on, it was getting closer and I didn't want to use my powers, the side effects kill me but if I don't do something we'll both get hurt.

'Zaria, I have a plan, go as fast as you can, I just need you to keep it occupied, don't stop', I say as I get away.

Author's note

What do you guys make of this chapter? I hope you found it interesting because I did. Do you think her father knew this would happen, I mean how else to explain all that preparation? Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. Thanks for reading my book.