The water shimmers in the moonlight as the group of young fledgling angels and hell spawn slip from the edge of their boat and into the deep water that surrounds them.
They splash about and laugh merrily, the mentors watch from the boat as their students unwind from their final day of training before their coming of age ceremony.
"They've earned it...best batch we've had in the rack by far."
Zanzi, a demon assigned to hell's soul torture level, states as he observes three young demons splash each other and attempt to swim away when the other retaliates.
"Our fledglings have faired well this season."
Claire, a seraph angel with delicate golden wings, agrees as she watches the four young fledglings take to the water and join their demonic friends for one last adventure before they must be separated.
She sighs gently and Sagan, a female guard demon, nudges her shoulder.
"Don't ruffle your feathers, times are changing. We might end up being able to work together more often."
Another angel, Gareth, smiles as he approaches the other mentors.
"That would be a wonderful thing, no more of this foolish cycle of wars and ceasefires that never last."
The mentors share a laugh and a smile as they continue to stare out over the ocean.
The water gleams like a polished mirror, no waves disturb the surface other than those created by the movements of the group of young creatures as they play.
This area of water is always so calm and deserted, nothing seems to stray within the area often referred to as 'The Oasis'.
The group have drifted further from the boat, the demons floating on their backs and holding hands whilst the angels paddle about.
They talk about the future, their careers in heaven and hell and their hopes for the future.
They get lost in their own dreams and far beneath them, something smiles.
One young angel fledgling, a girl with silver hair and matching wings, has slowed her paddling and ended up drifting roughly four metres away from her friends.
'Perfect...'
Far below her, something pushes off from the rocks on the sea bed. It follows her movements, mimicking her pace and every fraction she moves.
It swims slowly, a predator stalking its prey with expert precision as tiny canals under scaly skin alert it to every vibration and every impulse that radiates from her form.
It's right beneath her now, hovering just below where her feet dangle limply in the warm water.
Slowly, it raises one scaly,webbed and claw-tipped hand to be level with her thin ankle.
It doesn't strike right away, hidden in the dark water and waiting for the perfect moment, it has done this many times.
She pauses all movements briefly to glance over to her friends, it makes sure they're all looking.
Within seconds it wraps the hand around her ankle, rough scales and claws cutting into soft skin and drawing the pale silver blood it has come to recognise as that of an angel.
She opens her mouth to scream as the feeling of something grabbing onto her sends her mind into overdrive, her wings fan open in a move of defence.
'Stupid child.'
Her friends can only watch in horror as she vanishes beneath the surface with a splash, wings and torso diving under in mere seconds as it drags her down into the deep.
The mentors leap into the water, Sagan dives down to pursue the poor girl but it is too fast and too well practiced at what it does.
A cloud of pale silver rises up to meet the group of students and their teachers as they plunge further down to try and save her.
The only thing they can recover are a few shredded feathers.
Heaven mourns for another dead child.
Deep in the water, it grins.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Water
خارق للطبيعة"Hollow Born, people born without a soul. Sought after by both heaven and hell. At the time of their death, they transform into a creature of either heaven or hell. The circumstances of their death often dictate this." ----- She screams within her d...
