S. Welles - To Ocean's End

I charged the nearest monsters. They parted for me like a school of sardines fleeing from a shark. Once I reached the wall, I turned around and charged through them again. They’d filled the empty space between me and the water. I leapt out over the water and cannonballed in, then let myself sink until my body lost momentum. I called a ton of water to me and rocketed myself up into the air. The opening rapidly drew closer as it felt like I was riding an elevator. The monsters watched my escape attempt, stupefied, but then some of the ones still above me leapt off their perch and latched onto me. They knocked me sideways and off my column of water. I angled it back under me and willed it to keep lifting me, along with my excess baggage. My head ached with the mental strain and my ascent slowed, then several more latched on and I couldn’t maintain concentration anymore. We free-fell and splashed back into the pool.

They dragged me down while I let the pounding in my head subside. I used water to launch myself back onto shore once more, then sat against the wall and caught my breath. The nereids and naiads gathered around and above me, close enough for me to punch them. They snickered and babbled away, trying to goad me into fighting them with little pushes and pawing at me.

“We know who you want,” one creature at my feet said. “No Rhode for you. Demon pet can’t have her, so play with us!”

Another up high said, “Can’t have her!” a second shouted from up high, and then they all started chanting that.

I clenched my jaw, a scream lodged in my throat. Rhode was the woman that had won my heart so long ago. They taunted me with this truth every time, but it never got any less painful or enraging to hear. I wanted to prove them wrong just as badly as I wanted my curse lifted, but I was powerless to change the former. God, how I wished she could save me from this predicament.

Cackling, they latched onto my legs and tried to drag me back in, but I dug my fingers into nooks of a jutting rock and they couldn’t budge me. Dozens more swarmed in and claws pricked at my fingers and wrists. With their sheer numbers, they took away my advantage, prying my hands loose. They began dragging me back to the water. I clawed for purchase but their slimy hands held my limbs hostage. My boots touched the water. I had absolutely no advantage in this place, unless I sacrificed my humanity and gave them what they all wanted.

“ Stop! ”

They froze, holding me in place with the water soaking my ankles. I resisted the urge to struggle free. I really didn’t want more water in my lungs.

“What do you want?” a nereid in front of me said.

“You win,” I said humbly. “Let me go.”

“Demon?” Others echoed the leader’s question.

I lowered my gaze and nodded. My heart sank.

“No more tricks?”

“No more tricks,” I said. Bile rose in my throat. Throwing around water was one thing. Turning into a monster? Ugh.

They let me go and backed away a little. They were going to have to back up a lot more if they didn’t want to get squashed, but there was no way I’d courtesy them with that warning. Squish as many as the buggers I could.

I removed my trench coat, held it out at arm’s length for all of them to see, and dropped it at my feet, then sat down and took my boots off, one at a time.

One nereid said, “Demon pet said no more tricks.”

I glared in the direction of the voice. “It hurts to outgrow what I’m wearing. Now shut up and wait a minute.” Dozens of them cackled. I set my boots on top of my coat. Socks weren’t a big deal to keep on but I removed them as well since they were sopping wet. I took off my belt and added it to the small pile, then looked up again. They began chanting “demon.”

I wondered if I could tap into demon strength real quick, just long enough to wash away enough monsters to clear a path to the opening. I’d accidentally dipped into demon strength back in Revivre and managed to fight off transforming. Maybe I could do it again…

No tricks? My ass.

I got to my feet, closed my eyes, and concentrated on the water as I held out my hands. They chanted louder and faster. I sucked in a deep breath and bent my knees, then surged upright and flung my hands over my head as I filled the cavern with a huge jet of water. I hosed off the shore and the wall near me. The chanting broke into screams and cries. I scored a line up the wall, sending dozens of monsters splashing into the churning pool. Once I felt my skin start to tingle, I let go of the water and hustled up the wall.

I clawed and scrambled my way up, thankful for the network of handholds. My skin crawled not only with my body trying to undergo transformation, but also with hundreds of eyes watching me climb. When my hands and arms turned a greyish-blue, I paused, closed my eyes, and fought against transforming. I pressed my forehead to the wall and put my handholds in death grips and willed myself to stay human. I was halfway up. I was almost free. I just needed a moment to—

A bunch of claws ripped my hands away and flung me off the wall. I sucked in a deep breath right before I hit water, then gave up my fight against transforming. That trick had been the only thing I hadn’t tried before. More hands clasped my limbs as my clothes started feeling tight against my body. They spun and tugged and pushed and twisted me in every which direction. I continued to grow, and once I ripped through my clothes, the monsters darted away. I silently bid my humanity farewell. Fins and dorsal sail sprouted out of my body. I developed webbed hands and feet, a tail, and a tough hide, and then exploded to full size. My skin stopped tingling and I turned the cenote into one big firehose. I jetted up and out of the pool and through the opening before any of them could react. The last thing I saw was the pitch black opening, and then I was free. I became aware of the lockdown contain under my human back. I smelled metal, rust, saltwater and musty air. And my skin was tingling.

I didn’t bother resisting. I sat up and frantically undid the buttons to my trench coat and shrugged out of it, then winced as I unlaced my boots. They were squeezing my feet. I kicked one off while removing the belt pinching my expanding waist, then had to use both hands to pry off the other. Lying back down, I closed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, then let my body explode to full demon size in the waking world. My feet slammed against the wall and I slid along the floor until I was done. To my relief, I didn’t bang my head, and my dorsal sail was collapsable like that of a marlin. I lay there and caught my breath.

There went another set of clothes…

My sensitive hearing picked up a soft pair of footsteps approaching the container door. There was a polite knock, followed by Rammus’s voice. “Captain?”

“I’m back.”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

“How long was I gone?”

“The sun just went down on your last night of lockdown, so eight days. Your voice sounds like you’ve transformed again.”

“I have,” I said unhappily. “How’s the crew holding up?”

“We’re all alive. Really beat up but alive. We’re tied down in Alexandria, but I can round up the crew and throw the lines if you want me to. We’re all supplied up and ready to go Dakar.”

“No. I… just take it easy for the night. No one ever complains about us being late. Just go tell them I’m back and to get some rest.”

“Are you alright, Captain? You sound pretty shaken up.”

I fell silent. My mind was cycling through my nightmare escape. I wasn’t quite back into reality yet. I considered answering the question before ignoring it. “Go rest. We’ll have a crew meeting in the morning after I see how injured you all are.”