Fragile Skins

Chapter five: Blackout

The next morning Kai and Sachiel were awoken to a large bang from outside. Kai jolted awake, "What the fuck was that!"
Sachiel sat up sleepily, "I don't know." He said before quickly swimming out of the door shouting for MěiLóng. Kai darted out after him and swam up the tall ceiling to the door, he ripped it open in a panic and looked around the town. A large crater, presumably from a bomb, was about 80 feet away from the house. The water began filling with a weird smoke that Kai choked on as it filled his mouth. Fires had spread to nearby buildings including MěiLóng's house, he could Sachiel screaming something illegible from the echo-y bottom of the hole. Humans in black dive suits darted through the streets after merfolk who were swimming for their lives. Sachiel and MěiLóng emerged from the hole fleeing from the fire. The dragon spread its long body out from the house, when the humans saw this they swam for him. People griped onto him and started ripping at his scales with sharp knifes. MěiLóng cried out in a loud voice that echoed through the water.
"Stop it!" Sachiel yelled as he swam up to one of the people attacking MěiLóng and tried to rip them off. The human grabbed him by the wrist and threw him away. Kai grabbed Sachiel's hand and tried to pull him away from the dragon. Sachiel resisted, trying to pull away and go back to his friend. Kai grasped harder and Sachiel was unable to escape. The humans ripped scale after scale away from MěiLóng's body, when they were satisfied they darted away and in a large black submarine which had been previously hidden behind a house. The submarine swam far out of sight before resurfacing. Kai turned his attention back to MěiLóng who had been stabbed multiple times under where his scales were removed. Dark red blood began replacing the smokey black in the water. Sachiel finally broke out of Kai's grip and darted to the dragon laying on the sandy ground.
"MěiLóng! MěiLóng!" He screamed. He coughed loudly, choking on the blood in the water. Kai swam after him, trying not to breath in the blood. Sachiel and MěiLóng had vanished entirely out of Kai vision. He looked around frantically.
"Sachiel?" He called out, it was no use. Then he heard a cry, there was a merfolk laying in the sand, many of the scales on their green tale were missing along with part of their dorsal fin. "Excuse me? Do you need help?" Kai called out to the mermaid while slowly approaching them.
"No! Stay away!" They yelled in a shrill voice. Kai could then see the mermaid was carrying a small bundle, a baby. They started frantically crawling away with one arm along the sand.
"No I'm not going to hurt you!"
"Go away!" Kai decided the mermaid would not accept his help and stopped trying. He turning around and faintly saw a large claw belonging to MěiLóng through the dark water. Swimming over he could see the dragon lay lifeless and Sachiel clung to his head crying.
"Sach!" Kai yelled and swam over to him. He hugged Sachiel from behind and attempted to pull the boy away from MěiLóng's lifeless body.
"No! No!" Sachiel yelled, not letting go of his friend's body. Kai dropped to his knees behind Sachiel.
"I'm so sorry, Sach, but there's nothing we can do." Kai said trying to comfort him as he continued to hug him from behind.
"I-I know." Sachiel said weakly.
"Why did this happen? What were those people doing?"
"I don't know."
"Well we're gonna find out!" Kai said with determination.
"R-really?" Sachiel asked as he finally let go of MěiLóng's head. He turned around to face Kai and their noses brushed lightly. Kai blushed and backed up a bit letting his arms fall away from Sachiel's torso. "Why would we do that?"
"Because you always have to avenge a fallen friend, that's what my dad used to tell me when I was little!" Kai announced proudly.
"But...How?"
"I don't know." The small village had been completely destroyed, so the boys started swimming off in the direction the black submarine went. There seemed to be no trace of it and they swam for miles without seeing anything interesting.
"I think we should rest a while, Sach!" Kai yelled out a few meters behind Sachiel.
"What no way. I want to find that sub." Sachiel yelled back. Kai was taken aback by his sudden determination as a few hours ago he was complaining about his fins aching.
"Sachiel it's been awhile we should get some sleep." Sachiel sighed.
"Fine." The boys lay on a thick layer of sand that covered the ocean floor for as far as either of them could see. Sachiel found it hard to sleep, visions of MěiLóng's lifeless body flashed before him whenever he closed his eyes. It was a long night.