Splatter

8. The Candidate 4347

The cave was dark and wet, the walls streaming with runoff from the downpour. It was no warmer inside its shelter than being outside in the jungle. Though Dean had gathered firewood, there was nothing dry enough to light up, even if he had had any matches. He was too tired to stand, so a damp rock became a perch for him to sit on, though he felt more like collapsing. Dean had done everything he had been taught by his mother, so he knew he would make it through the night. Some tropical island this turned out to be.

The hair on the back of his neck raised as the bubbling brook at the back of the cave began to overspill. Dean looked over at the murky depths and took a step back when a hand reached out to grasp the rocky edge of the pool. The glow of the limestone stacks hanging from the ceiling showed Dean the outline of a muscular torso and strong limbs. There was a flash of silver in the water that quickly dissipated. The creature who emerged was quite naked, his hand raised and holding a pointed blade. The dark shape moved with panther like grace, till a flash of lightning revealed a composed face and lethal eyes.

Novak stood up from the pool, the blade Dean had seen him use so aptly, pointed towards Dean's heart.

* * *
THREE DAY EARLIER
* * *

The island was a decommissioned resort and the press was going to be using drones to cover the competition. This event was in a completely different league in comparison to the swim race qualifier. The logistics of this round of the competition were complex . Only the candidates and embassy staff were allowed on site, Dean couldn't even bring Sam. The only familiar faces Dean saw running the show were Kelly and Jack from the Embassy who took care of handling the group of humans. Jack didn't do much except for hanging around the candidates and chatting to Charlie and Kevin who were a little closer to him in age. Kelly was constantly on her phone. They were picked up by hire cars and then taken to the Embassy, where Hannah thanked them for their participation in an impersonal televised meeting. Then it was a shuttle bus to the seawall, which was arranged to be opened for a few minutes outside of the regular intake. They met with the Mer candidates on the beach.  Dean caught himself looking at Novak who stood afar beside Crowley, his hands behind his back as Hannah spoke in his ear. Dean rolled his eyes, if Hannah was the princess, way to go at not showing any favouritism. Crowley leered at Dean and gave him a wink, while Gadreel greeted Dean with a curt nod.

Novak, Gadreel and Crowley stood together as a motley trio. Kevin, Charlie and Dean gathered loosely in a group. There were four others, two Mer and two humans. The older Mer was Balthazar and the younger was Samandriel. The humans were Eileen an adventurer and Meg an athlete.

"There have been some changes," Hannah said to the ten candidates lined up along the tide line. "There are three new entrants who will be joining the survival round on the island."

Dean was startled to see three fins breaking from the surface of the ocean, nearing the beach at phenomenal speeds. The three Mer who emerged in a great show of splashing were different to any Dean had ever met. The first was an elderly male, with a hangdog face and fleshly mouth, his hair hung grey and bedraggled down his back. Hannah introduced him as Metatron, a representative of Naomi. Whoever that was. The second was a shorter male with a wide grin and laughing eyes named Gabriel who apparently did not belong to any clan. The last was an impressively tall Mer with obsidian dark eyes known as Raphael who was the champion for Michael. Dean counted thirteen candidates in total including himself. The newcomers didn't shift into their terrestrial forms, rather they stayed submerged in the waves from the waist down. Neither Metatron nor Raphael acknowledged the other candidates, though Gabriel waved at Balthazar, the Mer who had progressed through the swimming round.

"They are from the lower levels," Charlie said out of the corner of her mouth.

"That supposed to mean something to me?"