Water

Wave Nine

As Eli traced his daughter, he sensed her presence growing closer, yet somehow fainter. He felt Dale swimming alongside him, keeping close, and relished the comfort. Still far above their Nest, Eli groaned inwardly at how isolated and helpless they were. But he had no choice. He had to go on.

          They explored the cavern that Leira’s tunnel led them to. It extended deep within the rock face and rose up high. Both Mer noticed the shards of light trickling through the roof of the cavern and instinctively dimmed their wristpieces to preserve their lights.

Something brushed against his tail and Eli held out his arm in time to see a small shadowy form dart behind a stone. He flicked his own mighty tail in irritation and sent several stones skipping across the sea bed. He swept his eyes once more across the expanse.

          Returning his attention to Dale, he saw his friend’s gaze fixed on a point above them, near the top of the chamber. Dale must have seen Eli’s quizzical look, because he quickly thought,
(Blood. I can smell it.) Dale moved up through the cavern, following the scent. They both saw the crevice at the same time. Eli noted that sections surrounding the crack in the wall were brushed smooth and knew Leira had scraped through it, gouging scales as she’d passed.
(We can’t fit through there.) They thought it as one and, for a moment, Eli felt defeat. A thought flickered into his mind and he fought to conceal it from Dale, knowing how risky it was.

        Dale turned to Eli. At the same moment, Eli reached for his friend’s wrist. With fumbling hands, Eli snatched the orb from Dale’s wristpiece and gathered his own. Concentrating, Eli drew upon the Source energy within the orbs. In his mind’s eye, he pictured the gap in the rock widening. Aghast, Dale watched as his friend shook with exertion.

          Drawing upon Source energy to manipulate rock required extreme focus – only the skilled Carvers could do it with ease, and even then, it took many tides of practice. And Source energy was unstable. It was a known law of nature that such tasks couldn’t be undertaken without an excess of Source energy to hand, to ensure the Mer did not run out whilst using it. Only the truly skilled could withdraw from a task once it had been set in motion. Running out of Source meant the energy would be drained instead from the Mer performing the feat. And Eli had only two small orbs.

            With a brief flicker, one of the orbs went out, leaving behind the shell that had contained it. It fell from Eli’s fingers without him noticing and Dale deftly caught it. Trembling now, Eli saw the crevice widening. Slivers of stone drifted through the water until several larger chunks broke off and swirled to the ground. A few more moments passed until he could be sure it was large enough to pass through. He tore his mind from the orb’s energy and stopped the process. Drawing a shaky breath through his gills, Eli tried to keep the relief from his next thought.
(Shall we?)

          Eli noticed Dale give a meaningful glance at the remaining orb, which was beginning to dwindle. He felt a twinge of shame at the danger he'd put them in. Eli replaced the orbs into their shell holders and fastened his onto his wrist as Dale did the same.
(I had to do it.)
(I know.)

Eli placed his hands on either side of the crevice and twisted his way in. It immediately opened into a tunnel.

He raced on.