by Eric Vall
“Sounds like Rana.” Carmedy giggled, and I smiled in response.
“Our city has always been protected by the great dome,” Miren continued. "We are able to live within it without worry of running out of air or suffering from exposure. Not only that, it protects us from the sea titan.”
“I see,” Morrigan said as she glanced back at the city that grew smaller as we sped away from it.
“This is as far as we’ll take you,” Miren said, and the seahorses came to an abrupt halt. Several yards away from us was an immense cliff, just as the water deity had described, and its base was a gaping hole that I presumed was the entrance.
One by one, we piled out of the cart, Miren and his men bid us farewell, and the four of us treaded water as we gazed upon the dungeon. I had expected it to be dark, not just because most dungeons were, but because it was at the bottom of the vast body of water. There was, however, an emerald glow coming from within the underwater cavern.
Carmedy cocked her head to one side. “I wonder what that weird green light is?”
“Only one way to find out,” I said as I began to swim into the mouth of the cave.
“Wait till Rana hears about this.” Carmedy giggled as we entered the glowing cave. “She won’t believe it.”
Annalíse chuckled. “Given the things that we’ve seen, I think she will. She’ll probably say it’s just another day in the lives of the dungeon conquerors.”
The cavern’s entrance was extremely wide, so wide that the four of us were able to swim beside each other and still have plenty of room. As we swam deeper into the watery passageway, the odd green light grew brighter. Stranger than that light was the utter desolation. There had been countless water beasts on the way to the dungeon, but the closer we’d gotten, the less I’d seen. Now, there weren’t any at all. The absence of wildlife only served to add to the air of foreboding. Was this sea titan truly such a great disturbance that even fish wouldn’t go anywhere near it?
We continued to venture through the passageway, and as we swam on, the passageway began to slant upward. I squinted my eyes as I paddled up through the cave, the further I went the more blinding the green light became. With a final stroke, my hands were met with cool air. As I lifted my head from the water, I blinked my eyes quickly as I adjusted to the brightness. The passageway had led us to a vast, partially submerged chamber of the cavern. I motioned for the others to follow me and swam toward a rocky ledge. Upon reaching it, I grabbed hold of the edge and hoisted myself from the water. A quick glance around revealed that the green light that we’d seen had come from a glowing green mossy substance that coated the walls.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Annalíse said as she pulled herself onto the rock-solid ground beside me. “How is it that the city, this dungeon, and everything else here are underwater, but now, all of a sudden, we’re in a cave that’s only partially filled with water?”
“One word,” Carmedy said with a twisted grin as she lifted herself out of the water.
“Don’t say it,” Annalíse groaned.
“Magic!” The cat spread her fingers dramatically and giggled.
“She’s right actually,” I said as I helped Morrigan out of the water. “That is the only plausible explanation.
“See?” Carmedy grinned and playfully stuck out her tongue as we all removed our helmets.
I took a moment to look around at the vast cavern that we had found ourselves in. We stood at one end of the cave with a wall at our backs, and the rest of the cave stretched out so far that I couldn’t quite see where it stopped. The perimeter of the cavern had thick rocky ledges every so often, one of which we currently stood upon. In the center was the immense body of water that we had emerged from, and this too stretched several leagues.
“So, this sea titan is supposed to be somewhere in this cave,” Annalíse said as she scanned the water. “I don’t see anything.”
“Neither do I,” Morrigan said as her dark eyes roamed the cavern.
“Maybe it’s hiding.” Carmedy shrugged.
“I don’t think that--” I started to say but stopped myself when Carmedy’s green eyes suddenly grew wide with sheer terror, and her face turned pale. I turned to follow her fearful gaze when a thunderous roar struck the air and echoed throughout the cavern. The water bubbled and churned violently as waves began to form. As they grew, they crashed onto the surrounding rocky surfaces. Then the waters parted to reveal the doom that awaited us. A pair of enormous sinister black eyes slowly rose from the water followed by a gigantic scaly head.
Several leagues away, an enormous, monstrous beast emerged from the water.
Chapter 17
“By the gods,” Annalíse breathed as we beheld the great monster before us. The sea titan continued to rise from the tempestuous waves until its gargantuan body was in full view.
The hideous thing roared and reared back its massive ugly head. The sea creature was easily three times the size of the ship that had taken us to Valasara. In fact, the Sarpedon would have easily fit in its horrible razor-like jaws. Its skin was a sickly greyish-green hue, and it blinked its soulless black eyes as each of its ten tentacles thrashed at the water. Each strike created another enormous wave which only added to the already tumultuous conditions. Water rolled down the creature’s skin as it rose from the churning waves.
“Is that the… the…?” Carmedy gulped, unable to finish her statement.
“Yes, it is a sea titan,” Morrigan said blankly as she narrowed her eyes at the humongous beast. “If memory serves me correctly, they rule the seas, or so they seem to believe.”
“I just remembered, I think I read something in a book a few years ago, that they had gone extinct,” Carmedy said with her mouth agape.
“Well, this one looks very much alive, Carmedy,” Annalíse said once she had regained her composure. “We can’t just stand here staring at it. We have to slay it so that we can conquer this dungeon.”
“Annalíse is right,” I tried to shout over the sea titan’s bellows and the relentlessly crashing waves. Another large wave came careening toward us, collided into a nearby wall, and poured water over our heads. “We need a plan.”
“What do you want us to do?” Annalíse asked, and I realized that the lessons she had learned had stuck with her, as before she would never be so quick to ask for my guidance.
“Why don’t you tell us what you think the best plan of action is?” I said to the swordswoman, and she bit her lip and looked at the sea titan as it thrashed its great tentacles against the water.
“I won’t be much help defeating that creature,” the female warrior finally said, “but you, Morrigan and Carmedy can deal with it, I’m sure.”
“Me?” Carmedy gulped. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t think I’ll be much help against that thing.” The cat shivered as she gaped at the mighty tentacled monster.
“You’ll be of more help than you think,” Annalíse said with a quick nod. “Trust me on this.”
“If you s-say so,” Carmedy stammered, her eyes still fixated on the sea beast.
Annalíse had made a wise decision. The swordswoman was skilled in many arenas, but unfortunately, her talents wouldn’t be of use against the sea titan. The tentacled beast was several leagues away, and we’d have to fight it from long range before it got too close.
Just then, the sea titan let out another deafening roar that seemed to shake the cavern to its very core. Carmedy shrieked in terror as the creature began to swim toward us at an alarming speed. Even with the immense size of the cavern, I guessed that it wouldn’t take more than five minutes for the sea titan to reach us. We had to act quickly.
“I’m not so sure about this,” Carmedy yelled as she covered her ears. “Are you sure you don’t want to take my place, Annalíse?”
“Sorry, Carmedy,” the freckled woman shouted back. “We need you for this plan.”
“And what is that plan?” Morrigan called back with an arched eyebrow.
�
�You and Master are going to use death projection,” Annalíse said to the white-haired elf.
“Are you certain that you wish me to do this?” Morrigan raised an eyebrow. “I have never used that technique on such a large target. Will a soul exorcism not suffice?”
I shook my head. “No, Annalíse is correct in her choice. Performing a soul exorcism on something that big would either drain you to the point that you would either collapse or even kill you,” I said darkly. “Death projection is the best way. There are few beings in existence that could perform a soul exorcism of that stature and live through it, myself being one of them. There have been novices, even proficients that have foolishly tried, and their bodies were ripped apart by the very magic that they wielded due to the strain.”
Though I was sure that Annalíse was unaware of the implications that I had spoken of, so far she had strategized wisely all the same.
“Understood,” Morrigan said nonchalantly, but I could tell from the look in her dark eyes that my words had frightened her a bit.
“I know that you’re worried that you don’t have the strength for this task, but I have faith in you,” I said to the pale elf reassuringly. “You’ve practiced this countless times, and I’ll be here right beside you.”
Morrigan gave me the faintest of smiles and nodded.
“What about me?” Carmedy chimed in. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to mix up something that will create a big enough explosion to cause that sea titan some damage,” Annalíse said to the green-eyed cat. “Do you have anything like that?” Carmedy bit her lip as she quickly glanced at the scaly monster and then looked down for a moment at the bundles of chemicals that were tied to the belt around her waist.
“Uh, y-yeah I think so,” the feline stammered. “How am I going to use it, though? There’s no way I can throw anything far enough to hit that thing, andwe can’t just wait till it gets close enough.”
“Yes you can,” I said. “Remember, you have your new slingshot.”
“Oh yeah,” Carmedy said thoughtfully as she removed the golden weapon from her belt. “But I’ve never used it before, is now the best time to--”
“Remember that this slingshot will ensure that your aim is always true,” Morrigan said.
Carmedy nodded, still nervous. “Alright.”
“Good, we’re going to hit and hit it hard.” Annalíse pounded her fist into her hand as she turned to Morrigan. “We’ll need Macha’s help too.”
“How can he be of use to you?” the tattooed elf asked. She quickly glanced at the sea titan that was rapidly approaching. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Once Carmedy mixes up her concoction, Macha can fly it over the sea titan’s head and drop it.” Annalíse gestured to the raven on Morrigan’s shoulders. “Will she do it?”
“She would be happy to oblige,” Morrigan said, and Macha bobbed her head as though in agreement.
“Excellent.” Annalíse nodded. “Carmedy, you go ahead and get started, Master, you and Morrigan can go ahead before the titan gets too much closer,” the swordswoman shouted as great waves collided with the rocks around us sending torrents of water raining down on our heads and bodies.
I nodded to Annalíse and motioned for Morrigan to follow me to the end of the rocky ledge.
“Oh, uh, okay,” Carmedy called out nervously as she knelt down to get to work. She untied some bundles from her belt, mumbled something to herself, and got to work mixing her various chemicals and substances.
I could have taken care of the monstrous sea beast myself, but I figured this was the perfect training opportunity for my minions. They had been forced to think and act quickly. I’d be ready to take over the situation should the need arise, but I was confident that they could rise to the challenge. Annalíse was already doing well, her plan was quite solid. Even though Morrigan and I were going to work together to use death projection against our tentacled foe, I wasn’t going to use my full strength, at least not yet. I would let her do the bulk of the work and only assist as needed.
“Alright, tell me what you see,” I said to the elf once we reached the rock’s edge. My request was a reminder of my teachings to her, but to me, it was a remembrance of our first night together. A dark smile curled on my lips as we faced the sea titan directly. It was time to see just how much my minion had learned.
Morrigan narrowed her eyes at the gruesome monster that tore through the dark waves toward us. It bellowed and gnashed its teeth at the air as it approached. The elf, however, stood calmly and sized up the creature.
“We cannot know for certain its precise measurements as its body is partially submerged. However, I approximate it to be one-thousand feet wide and two-thousand long. It approaches us at roughly one league per minute.”
“Good.” I nodded. “Let’s begin.” Morrigan had come a long way with her death projection training. It was crucial to make estimates that were as accurate as possible in relation to the target’s measurements, and her calculations were precisely what I had ascertained.
Both the elf and I raised a hand to the air toward the sea titan. The whites of Morrigan’s eyes began to turn black. Then the red mage markings on her skin began to glow and pulsate intensely.
“We’re each going to take a tentacle from one side,” I instructed.
Morrigan said nothing, but I knew that she understood.
“Ready, now!” I shouted to the elf.
At the same time, we began to close our grips in the air. The sea titan lurched to a halt and bellowed in protest as two of its humongous tentacles began to disintegrate into grey ash from their tips to their roots in its body. The beast roared in pain, but despite that, it began to swim toward us once more, eager to snuff the cause of its suffering.
“Carmedy, how’s it going back there?” I shouted over my shoulder. I kept my voice calm, I didn’t want to cause Carmedy to make any miscalculations. I didn’t understand her modern chemicals and substances, but even so, I knew that an incorrect measurement could result in catastrophe.
The small cat muttered to herself as she worked. “Roots of belladonna, a bit of nitric acid…” I could only take that as an answer as I refocused on the approaching titan. “Again, Morrigan!”
The she-elf nodded grimly as, with supreme focus, we expanded our death projection to the next two tentacles. Once more, our combined dark power reduced the extremities to gray ash, but still, the titanic beast pushed onward. Truly, I could see why these monsters once ruled the seas with such unyielding might.
Not that it would save the creature in the end.
“And that should do it!” the cat said triumphantly.
I turned then to see the mixture Carmedy had in her mixing bowl began to turn green. She picked up two little glass orbs with corks in their tops, removed the stoppers, and then poured the goopy green contents of the bowl into each of the balls. Once she had restoppered them, the dark-haired woman held up the spheres and smiled with satisfaction at her work. Carmedy then carefully placed each orb inside of a small sack, and she tied to the tops with string.
What Carmedy had crafted wasn’t at all large, especially in comparison to the sea titan. However, I had no doubt that what the feline alchemist had whipped up would be enough to stop the beast in its tracks. She really was a miracle worker when it came to chemicals and medicine, and I knew that just because Carmedy’s pouches of mixtures were small, that didn’t make them any less deadly.
“Here we go,” the green-eyed cat said proudly as she approached Morrigan and me. Carmedy’s courage always seemed to return when she did what she did best. “Two Carmedy explosive specials, prepped and ready to go!”
“Good.” I nodded and once again focused my attention on the sea titan. Though it was wounded, it still had great speed and would be on us soon.
“Morrigan, have Macha fly one of the bundles over,” Annalíse instructed the elf.
The white-haired elf said nothing, but her winged pet immediately leapt from
her shoulders and flapped down to grasp one of Carmedy’s pouches of chemicals in its talons.
“There’s just one thing.” Carmedy held up her hand quickly. Fea flapped in place with the bundle in her clutches as though she were waiting for the cat’s explanation.
“It’s not just an explosive,” Carmedy said quickly. “It’s an extremely potent poison too, atropa belladonna to be exact, otherwise known as deadly nightshade and--”
“Carmedy, we don’t have time for an in-depth explanation right now,” Annalíse interrupted her.
“Right, sorry.” Carmedy winced. “Um, the short version is I added poison to the mix, the effects will be most, well, effective if the mixture is digested. Meaning, Macha will have to drop this into the sea titan’s mouth. Not only will this method be more efficient, but the explosion will also be more or less contained.”
“Will that be a problem for Macha?” Annalíse glanced at Morrigan and her winged companion.
The elf stayed silent but shook her head.
“Alright then,” the princess said firmly. “Wait until you take out two more tentacles, then send Macha over.”
The tattooed elf nodded once to show that she understood, but her eyes were still fixed ahead in supreme focus on her magic.
“Now, just like before. And, squeeze!” I shouted to the white-haired woman.
Morrigan and I tightened our grips once more and attacked the ferocious monster with our flesh-eating dark magic. Nothing, not even a creature such as this could escape death projection. The great sea beast bellowed and ground to a halt in the violently churning waters as two more of its tentacles started to disappear into grey dust. The swirling particles scattered into the air before they rained down into the water.
“Send them now!” Annalíse shouted, and Macha took to the air without hesitation with Carmedy’s lethal bundle in tow.
Annalíse’s plan was superb. I knew that she wanted the next phase of her plan to be put into play while the sea titan was temporarily distracted by its pain. It would be easier for the raven to do its job if the tentacled behemoth was in one place rather than speeding toward us.