Clouds Over the Sea

Chapter 15: The Abyss

The pressure of the ocean's depths seemed to press down on Elowyn's chest, a constant weight that made each breath feel like a struggle. As she and Thorn moved cautiously through the murky blackness, the silence felt suffocating. The water was cold now, colder than it had been in the coral forest, and the current, which had initially swept them deeper, seemed to ebb and flow with a dark, almost sentient rhythm.

Thorn kept his hand on her wrist, guiding her through the unseen waters, his eyes scanning the shadows, watching for any sign of danger. Every so often, he would glance up, as if searching for something above them—though what, Elowyn couldn't fathom.

She had heard stories of the Abyssal King—whispers from the older citizens of the kingdom, tales of a monstrous entity whose domain stretched through the deepest reaches of the ocean, where no light could penetrate and no human dared to venture. Now, in the chilling quiet, those stories took on a terrifying weight. The abyss around them felt alive, the very water itself full of unseen eyes.

"Elowyn," Thorn's voice was quiet but urgent, cutting through the oppressive silence, "We need to keep moving. There's a channel ahead, but if we don't reach it soon, we may be trapped here."

Elowyn nodded, her mind racing. "What exactly is the Abyssal King?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly in the stillness. "What does he do? What does he want?"

Thorn's gaze flickered to her briefly, his brow furrowing as if the question unsettled him. "The Abyssal King doesn't want anything. He's a part of the ocean itself, a ruler of the deep—an ancient being whose power is tied to the very fabric of the abyss. He's not like us. He doesn't think or feel the way we do. He just... exists."

Elowyn's heart skipped in her chest. "But why would he care if we're here?"

Thorn grimaced. "Because we don't belong here. The Abyssal King is protective of his domain. He has no patience for intruders. Those who enter the Abyss without purpose rarely leave."

A cold chill settled deeper into Elowyn's bones. She swallowed hard, trying to push down the creeping panic that was threatening to rise in her throat. "We'll make it out, won't we?"

Thorn hesitated, and the silence that followed seemed to stretch forever. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "We need to get to that channel. If we're caught by the current again, or if the Abyssal King senses us—"

A low, vibrating hum interrupted him, vibrating through the water, and Elowyn's breath hitched. The sound was so deep, so resonant, it seemed to come from the very core of the ocean itself.

"What was that?" Elowyn whispered.

Thorn's eyes narrowed. "That... was him."

Elowyn's heart pounded in her chest. She glanced around nervously, trying to pierce the thick darkness with her eyes, but all she could see was the soft, unsettling glow of deep-sea creatures—pale, ghostly figures that flitted past like shadows. Some were the size of small boats, their long, serpentine bodies slithering through the water with unsettling grace, while others were nothing but translucent flickers of light, barely visible except for their faint, eerie glow.

And then she saw them. Creatures that were not just strange, but wrong—their bodies distorted by the crushing pressure of the deep. A massive, bulbous thing, like a bloated fish with an enormous mouth and countless teeth, floated past them. Its translucent skin gleamed in the dark like a macabre lantern. Long, skeletal tentacles trailed behind it, twisting and curling with an alien grace.

"Thorn," Elowyn whispered, her voice trembling. "What are those?"

"They're creatures of the deep," Thorn answered tersely, his focus on the shadows ahead. "Some are harmless, some... not so much."