A Word in the Breeze

Rise Above (Plunged In The Dark III)

. . . In every darkness, there is a glimmer of light showing the way. . .

He called himself Kairos, and he spoke from an impenetrable shadow. Nothing of his features could be seen, except the eerie white of his teeth when he spoke, his sharp canines glinting bright among them. It was a dim and rare light, but it was blinding to the sunless ocean floor.

"Didn't you miss me?. . ." His voice was dangerous - it seemed to imply that disagreeing with him came at the cost of having your throat cut open with a fork.

"I. . . I don't understand. . ." came a terrified voice, and he twisted his mouth to an evil grin. It shone for miles away.

"Oh, did you forget?" Kairos smiled a painfully large smile. "You came to my home on one of your little. . . Excursions. . . And I introduced you to my people. Remember that?"

There was silence for a few moments. Kairos snaked an arm around him to cover a girl's mouth, warning the younger one, Meraki, before she said something out of turn.

She'd tried to sneak up behind him to scare him.

Not Kairos. Not today.

There was a faint sound of sobbing.

"I. . . I apologise, o Dark One! Forgive me, I. . . I remember."

The smile vanished. The darkness was now perfect. But not the silence. It felt like a steady growl beginning at the back of someone's throat and then all at once a bark -

"Then return the human to the depths of the ocean!"

The child, Meraki, jumped at the sudden yelling, and Kairos dug his nails into her face. The cuts ran deep, and blood mixed with water as he relaxed his grip. She didn't dare make a sound.

He took a deep, steadying breath, then continued.

"Tonight. Or my people will have to come to the surface to get him. And none of us want that to happen. Do we? Troy?"

A shivering gasp as the man on the other end of the line composed himself. "N-no sir."

"Good."

And he disconnected.

~

It was dusk by the time Zephyr and Ash reached the edge of the cave, although they couldn't recognise it yet.

"Can you still see that stupid parrot?" Zephyr called from behind Ash. They were trudging up an incline between two steep cliffs, and the ocean roaring behind them was the last part of light water the island could see. On the other side, there was only Darkness.

They could feel nightfall soon approaching, and then what would they do? If they didn't find anything, they would have to return home. Fast.

Ash squinted.

"There! He's by that crack in the wall. He - wait. . ."

He stared at where the bird had disappeared. It wasn't a crack, was it? It was wider than that. . .

"Zeph?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I found the cave."

~

Troy wiped his tears. It was hopeless. All those dreams of wanting to defend Bulan, and he couldn't do it. That was the truth of it. He was just an observer. All he could do was watch as people were never heard from again. . .