by Raymond Cain
There was a strong urge to open his mouth and inhale but Flynn resisted it. He dug deeper into the mind of the leviathan and felt its hunger. He shared the joyous sensation it received from absorbing the magical energy within Seahaven’s dome. The crystal inside the aquazite-enriched barrier tasted glorious.
Flynn continued falling and he was on the verge of passing out. He shook the fogginess away and continued to sift through the leviathan’s thoughts. He urged the leviathan to turn away from the dome but the creature refused. Again and again, Flynn commanded the creature to leave but it resisted his commands. All it knew was hunger. Despite all his efforts and sacrifice, Flynn could not stop the leviathan from feeding.
On the brink of consciousness and continuing to fall, Flynn’s hunger for air gave him an idea. Instead of telling the creature to stop eating, he told it about a more powerful source of magic nearby that would taste even better. It was likely the most intense source of magic within hundreds of miles.
He told it to go after Theoric’s ship.
Flynn pushed every memory he had of Theoric’s ship into the mind of the leviathan. The monstrous creature paused, releasing its hold on the aquazite barrier. It used its powerful tail to spin around and push away from Seahaven. It swam toward the skeletal frigate, and Flynn wished he could have seen Theoric’s face when the monster set its sights on his ship.
The Dragon was slow to turn around—not surprising considering Theoric’s crew was dead—but soon it was speeding away from the leviathan. Purple electrical energy roared out from its rib cage as it picked up speed. The energy flared brighter and brighter and Flynn guessed Theoric was in the lower deck tossing every prisoner they had into the soul engine.
The Emperor Crown allowed Flynn to feel the leviathan’s desperate need to devour the vessel. The monster was willing to chase Theoric to the ends of the ocean to claim the ship if need be.
Flynn continued falling and the urge to open his mouth was unbearable. He felt a strange, tingling sensation and presumed it was a symptom of drowning. Bubbles drifted up around him and he landed in a cluster of pink, leafy plants. They were familiar, but in his oxygen-deprived state, he did not immediately recognize what they were.
The plants were mermaid’s kisses and Flynn knew they were significant somehow, but in his confused state, he did not know why. On a whim, he plucked a bubble-covered leaf from its stem and popped it into his mouth. After one bite, it filled his lungs with breathable air. He ate another leaf and had so much air inside him, he had to belch most of it out. He removed a round bubblefish clinging on a nearby plant. He pulled the transparent fish over his face and inhaled, filling his lungs with another blast of air.
Fully restored, Flynn sipped the remaining air from the bubblefish and collected handfuls of mermaid’s kisses. The leaves were rubbery and tasteless, but after a near-drowning, they were a delicacy. He shoved handfuls of leaves into his pockets.
A blue light revealed Tasker’s Searunner drifting high above. Flynn kicked off from the ground and swam toward it. The crystals in his boots glowed as he kicked his way past eels, lanternfish, and turtles that paid him little attention. Before long, he reached his brother’s ship.
Flynn’s crystal ring flashed as he neared the vessel, triggering the hatch doors to slide open. Still crammed behind the pilot’s chair, Tasker turned his head toward Flynn and his arms twitched. The eel’s paralysis seemed to be wearing off.
After settling into the pilot’s chair, Flynn closed the hatch doors. He rotated the steering globe—and the Searunner—toward Seahaven and took his brother home.
Chapter Thirty-Four
After the battle was over and his brother was safe at home, Flynn returned to the Searunner and searched for his father’s body. A trail of Azuran bodies, and the body of his father, were left behind when Theoric turned to flee. Evidently, the pirate dumped all the weight he could to speed up his escape from the leviathan.
The Azuran corpses were left for scavenging creatures but Flynn took his father’s body to his mother’s remains and buried him next to her. Piling stones onto the body was backbreaking work, especially after all the fighting he’d done that day, but it brought him a measure of peace to know they were buried together.
Theoric tossed Flynn’s Searunner overboard in his haste to escape the leviathan. After hours of searching, Flynn found it in a kelp forest. He towed it back home and left it floating in the pool room next to Tasker’s ship. Completely exhausted, Flynn went to his room and collapsed on the bed.
The next morning, Flynn sat up, causing ripples in his waterbed. His muscles complained when he moved and he summoned a water golem to fetch clothing. After donning a shirt and trousers, he left his room and headed down to the laboratory to see if Tasker was awake.
Tasker appeared to have been up for hours because he was putting the finishing touches on repairs for the broken Searunner. Crystal shards were fused together to form the hatch doors, resulting in a badly cracked window that was difficult to see through.
“Looks great,” Flynn said, unenthusiastically.
Tasker ran his fingers through his greasy black hair. “It’s functional. When you harvest enough crystal to replace the hatch doors, I will do so. Think of it as motivation.”
Flynn collected the Emperor Crown, the pouch of soul gems he took from Theoric, and a hammer from one of the worktables. He brought the items to his ship and winced as the hatch doors scraped open.
Flynn placed the crown, hammer, and crystals behind the pilot’s chair. He climbed inside and donned a breathing helm. “You coming?” he asked, looking at Tasker.
Tasker nodded. Glittering crystal dust covered Tasker’s hands and he wiped them off on a rag before climbing into the other Searunner. Both ships submerged and Flynn was the first one into the tunnel. The stone slab at the end rolled away as he approached, and both ships plunged into the ocean.
Visibility through the cracked window was terrible. Peering between the cracks made it difficult to avoid sea creatures and he collided with a nearly-transparent jellyfish. After the previous day’s battle, thousands of dead creatures littered the ocean floor and there was a feeding frenzy around the city. In some ways, Flynn was grateful for the cracked window; he did not want a clear view of all those predators fighting over the carcasses.
Tasker caught up to him and the two Searunners flew over forests, coral reefs, and farms. The battle had torn up much of the glowing landscape, leaving darkened areas where plants once stood. Bones littered the ground and the soil was stained in blood. Restoring the farms would be no easy task.
In time, the miles-long Abyss stretched out before them and Flynn sailed over the edge without hesitation. Looking back through the hull, he noticed Tasker slowing down as he approached the fissure. After a lengthy pause, Tasker proceeded over the edge and increased his speed to catch up to Flynn.
The two Searunners entered the mountain range beyond the Abyss. The bases of the seamounts glowed purple from the plants that flourished there and a blanket of mist obscured their slopes. There were sharks and other predators in the area, but not as many as before. With the Safe Zone boundary gone, many of the dangerous creatures migrated closer to Seahaven.
Flynn struggled to see through his cracked window but he eventually found the mountain containing the ancient tomb. He parked his Searunner by the round steel door and gathered the items stored behind the seat. As his hatch doors scraped open, Tasker’s Searunner set down next to him.
The aquazite orb in the door remained dim but the red crystal orb shined brighter as Flynn came near. Without speaking a word, Tasker swam up and pressed the blue orb. Flynn was about to inform Tasker that the blue orb doesn’t work until he heard a c-chnk sound. The scraping sound of steel against stone assaulted their ears and the door slid open. Flynn looked at his hand curiously, remembering how the blue orb did nothing when he touched it earlier. Perhaps there was some truth to Theoric’s claims about Flynn being Gifted with crimsonite.
They pushed
through the waterproof barrier and entered the stone hallway on the other side. Flynn led his brother to the carved images on the wall. “Here’s the drawings I was telling you about.”
Tasker studied the carvings with wide-eyed fascination. “These are incredible. It would appear crimsonite was used as frequently in this city as aquazite is in Seahaven.”
That caught Flynn’s attention. “Really?” He studied the pictures with renewed fascination. Tiny bits of red colored glass dotted each construction, representing crimsonite. He wondered what powers the magical mineral had. If he could get his hands on some raw crimsonite, perhaps he could bond with a weapon after all.
“These must have been carved centuries ago,” Tasker added. “They might even be older than Seahaven itself. I’ll have to come back and do some chalk rubbings.”
Flynn waited patiently for his brother to finish studying the images. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat repeatedly until Tasker took the hint. After prying himself away from the carvings, Tasker walked with Flynn to the vault room at the end of the hall.
The vault doors were open and Flynn placed the Emperor Crown on one of the eight pedestals. He raised the hammer and paused, offering his brother a questioning glance. Tasker nodded for him to continue and Flynn smashed one of the aquazite jewels on the crown. The crystal shattered and a flash of blue light flared outward. He smashed the next jewel, a red one, and flames burst from it, scorching Flynn’s eyebrows and burning the hair off his forearms.
Flynn shook his hands and felt his face to get an idea of how much facial hair he lost. “You can smash the red ones if you like,” he offered, politely.
Tasker snorted. “A generous offer,” he replied with a grin, “But it is one I must regrettably decline.”
Flynn kept his head back as far as possible as he smashed the remaining red gems, and sweat beaded on his brow from the heat they created. He smashed the blue ones next, releasing bursts of blue light with each hit. Before long, the crown was reduced to a circlet of hammered gold.
Flynn placed the crown on his head and concentrated. It felt ordinary and he had no awareness of other creatures. He shook his head at his brother, indicating it no longer had any powers. Part of him wanted to keep the crown—with the enchantment broken it should harm no one ever again—but he didn’t feel it was theirs to keep. He placed the crown in the vault and slammed it shut.
Next, Flynn took Theoric’s pouch of crystals and placed one of the gems on a pedestal. He had no idea what the spirits inside were experiencing in their glassy prisons, but he knew one thing about them—they were trapped. It was time to set them free.
Each crystal had a black mist swirling beneath its surface. Flynn smashed the first one with his hammer, shattering it into hundreds of tiny shards. A flash of purple energy was released and a thick white mist rose from the crystal remains.
The mist was formless at first, but it coalesced into a human shape with distinct features. It was the spirit of Arthur Graymantle, the Gifted boy that the compass pointed at in the Sorcery Academy. The boy’s ghostly spirit smiled and nodded in gratitude. A moment later, the wispy essence dispersed and drifted away.
Flynn and Tasker stared at each other in wide-eyed disbelief. The boy’s spirit interacted with them! If one spirit could interact with them, the others surely could as well. That meant they would be able to communicate with their parents one last time, albeit in a brief and limited way.
Flynn and Tasker stared at each other with identical expressions of wide-eyed excitement. The two of them scrutinized the remaining jewels, searching for any indication of which ones contained their parents’ souls. After much scrutiny, they both agreed that two of the jewels had a certain sense of connection to them that was absent in the others.
One by one, Flynn smashed the jewels that did not contain his parents’ souls. The first one contained Tanner’s spirit, and the weapon master gave him a respectful nod before drifting away. Most of the others were wizards he did not recognize, and they each smiled or bowed in gratitude for being set free.
The last two crystals contained his parents’ spirits and Flynn placed both crystals on one pedestal. He stared at them with reverence. Tasker stood next to him and his body looked tense; he had never seen his brother wound so tight.
Tasker’s brown eyes were brimming in anticipation. “Do you think you can you smash them both in one hit?”
Flynn nodded, and he placed the jewels next to each other. He took one nervous, shaky breath as he lined up his swing. The hammer smashed both gems, creating a bright flash of purple light. Two misty figures emerged from the shards, and Flynn’s eyes filled with tears as they took shape.
Galyn and Malya Arcturus stood before them.
They were as white as ghosts but Galyn and Malya looked very much alive. Galyn no longer had the vacant look of a man under someone else’s control, and Malya had the heartfelt look of a loving mother looking at her children. She held out her hand and Flynn reached for it, but his fingers passed through hers without resistance. Even so, he felt something. It wasn’t tangible; it was a feeling. He felt her love for him.
The ghostly forms did not disappear right away like the others did. Flynn could tell his parents were holding onto the moment as long as they could and he was grateful beyond words for their effort. He burned a picture of them into his mind and he knew he would remember their smiling faces for the rest of his life.
Galyn and Malya mouthed the words I love you and Flynn and Tasker said it back. Their parents opened their arms for a hug and the four of them joined in a warm embrace. Flynn closed his eyes and felt pure joy as he held onto his parents one final time. Although he could not feel them physically, he felt their love in a manner just as tangible.
Flynn’s heart soared during that precious moment and when he opened his eyes, he found himself alone with Tasker. The last wisps of their parents’ ghostly forms drifted away, leaving him and his brother hugging each other. When Tasker opened his eyes, he jumped back as though he was embracing a sea slug.
Flynn laughed. Hugging his brother felt awkward and if it was awkward for him, it must have been horrifying for Tasker.
“Shall we go home?” Tasker asked.
Flynn nodded, and the two of them headed back to their Searunners.
“Just so you know,” Tasker said. “I’ll be replacing those mining golems with better ones that will do most of the work for you. That should give you more time for. . .other pursuits.”
Flynn thought about the ancient underground city pictured on the walls. “Thanks, Tasker, there is some exploring I’d like to do.”
Tasker nodded.
“But for right now,” Flynn said, fishing a ring out of his pocket that bore the inscription of the Citadel on it. “There’s a certain tavern I need to get kicked out of.”
The End
From the Author
Thank you for reading this, the first book in the Seacret Depths trilogy. If you enjoyed it, please keep an eye out for Deepstone, the next in the trilogy.
Whether you liked my work or not, I’d love to hear what you think, so please leave a review. It will help me improve the things you didn’t like, and give you more of the things you did. And if you’d like to hear about new releases, join my newsletter.
Special thanks to my mom, Cris, and my daughter, Clara, for inspiring me and helping me bring this book to life.
Contact Information
Website: www.raymondcain.com
Twitter: @Captraymondcain
Facebook: Raymond Cain
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
From the Author