Dark waters

Three years later

The pressure of the water held him tight as he slowly sunk head first.
When the last bubbles left him, it got silent. He knew he kept sinking from the water moving around him while the dark below seemed to grow.

Something white glimmered it the darkness underneath.
Tan smiled and did a wave with his body to move a bit faster.

It got darker the further he went.
The white glimmered again and Valkyra showed up near the rocky bottom. She slowly moved on the spot, hovering above the seafloor.
She pointed at something to the left of her.
Tan started to swim and soon reached the cave she had been pointing at.

Another mermaid with copper hair showed up in the wide opening. His young half-sister gave him a smile, before she turned back in to the cave.
Tan followed her to the large curled up skeleton on the cave floor. The body of the sea serpent had fallen into a nest of crystals.
Tan got the small bags off his belt and handed one to Vala.
Valkyra soon joined them. She started to pry the crystals off the floor, while Vala picked the ones she had plucked earlier and put them in the bag.
With the help of the mermaids, he soon had plenty of crystals.
He tied the bags to his belt and left the cave.

Valkyra and Vala followed him while he slowly ascended to the surface.
The shadow of the Legacy was the size of his hand above him when a resonant sound swept through the water like a vibration.
Scanning the deep darkness in front of him, he heard another haunting howl, but it seemed to come from another direction.
He couldn’t see anything, but he knew they had company.

Valkyra showed up in front of him. She cupped his face and kissed his forehead. She and Vala then pushed him upwards to send him to the surface faster. In the corner of his eye, he could see them take off towards land like glimmering streaks of silver and copper.

Tan looked up and saw the underbelly of the large world-carrier.
He smiled when he saw the face looking over the gunwale. Cole simply couldn’t help himself. He just had to stare at the water until Tan came back.

Tan broke the surface and took a deep breath. He had not been near the limit of how long he could hold his breath, but in monster infested waters it would be stupid to push his luck.
He grabbed the ladder hanging over the gunwale and climbed up.

Cole stood ready with a sheet to wrap around Tan as soon as he stepped down on the deck.
“Did everything go well? You were gone for a while.”
Tan smiled and rubbed his hair with the sheet.
“It went fine, and I wasn’t gone for that long.”
“You shouldn’t be doing this when you’re pregnant.”
“I’m barely showing.”
“Still. It’s risky.”
Tan pulled the sheet down to smile at Cole.
“It went fine. Mom and Vala were there, and it’s not the first time I went diving for crystals.”
“First time pregnant”, Cole muttered and rubbed Tan’s back with the sheet.

They were interrupted when Triston came over.
“Found what you were searching for?”
Tan nodded.
“Yeah. But we have company.”
Cole’s hands stopped moving.
Tan ignored him and stayed focused on Triston.
“You saw something?”
“No. But I heard it. Sounded like a three-back.”
Triston nodded.
“Right. I’ll send a signal to dad.”

When Triston walked off, Tan met Cole’s nervous gaze.
“Three-back? Isn’t that one of the larger monsters?”
“Sort of. They are as large as whip-tails, but shorter. Quite heavy, but not as big as death-jaws.”
Cole looked anxious.
“Don’t worry. Triston and dad are experienced. They have killed plenty of monsters.”
Cole didn’t seem too convinced, but he didn’t dispute. He had agreed to tag along without any objections, but Tan suspected it was more about making sure Tan was safe rather than an interest in hunting monsters.

Tan ran up to the poop-deck as soon as he had changed to dry clothes. He found Triston by the wheel and a handful of crew members standing aft, looking down at the transom.
Cole joined him next to Triston, nervously glancing at the crew behind them.
Tan followed Triston’s gaze to the Borealis.
“He’s in position”, Triston mumbled before turning to his crew, “Drop it!” he ordered.
The men unhooked the bait.
There was a rustle of chains when the large chunk of meat fell in to the water. The chains kept rustling for a bit until it got silent.
Both ships were moving full speed, but the Borealis were closer to shore, following at a distance.