S. Welles - To Ocean's End

Jessie lunged between Mido and the nereids. She imagined herself screaming at all of them. All of you stop! The last one she made eye contact with listened. The other three shoved her aside and assaulted Mido. Jessie staggered but caught her balance, then told the one that stopped to go back home. It slinked off, bringing some relief. Mido let out a cry of pain.

He was swinging his fist at two of them while the third bit his sword arm. The nereids cackled and swiped at his legs as if they were toying with him, and made him fall. Jessie telepathically commanded the biter to leave. It removed its teeth and joined its departing comrade. Mido fought off the other two with fist and sword. Jessie charged in and threw off one, then executed a five-punch combo to the other. It flopped lifelessly on top of Mido. He pushed it off and sat upright, wincing. His forearm was bleeding from a semi-circle of bite marks, as was his shoulder.

Jessie commanded the last one to leave, then helped Mido to his feet. His face was all scratched up. Her heart wrenched at the accumulation of injuries. “I’m so sorry, Mido.”

He took one of her hands and kissed it. “What went wrong? Only one of them stopped.”

The sight of one stopping and the others pushing her aside replayed in her head. “I’m not sure. Only one seemed to hear me, but they all should’ve. This has never been a problem before.”

“Amphitrite must be damping your powers or something. I think we need a new plan.” He inspected the bites on his arm.

“Run and hide?”

“Maybe. Let’s not give up too quick.” He wiped blood on his pants, then tugged her into motion and they headed inland, passing one flattened building after another. The bulk of the monsters had already worked deeper inland.

Very few bodies littered the ground, which gave Jessie hope. At the same time, it felt like she was walking through Paphos all over again, but with fires still burning, fewer corpses lying around, and the attackers still present and causing destruction. Among the attackers were water serpents. What if…? “Mido, I have a terrible idea.”

“Might be better than no idea at this rate.”

“I need you to protect me again.”

“I will.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

They wended their way into a loosely packed neighborhood. Jessie pulled up by a pile of concrete with gurneys and other medical equipment sticking out. They must be looking at a hospital. Jessie’s heart wrenched at the thought of so many innocent patients and doctors who must’ve died. Tears welled in her eyes. She blocked out the sight and the cries of pain reaching out from the debris. Other stable people were already digging them out.

“We should help them,” Mido said.

“Not yet.” They took cover next to a building with its first floor still standing. No sooner had she braced a hand against the wall, they heard a deep, throaty hiss overhead.

A water serpent.

The monster opened its mouth and lunged towards them, and next thing Jessie knew she was lying facedown in the dirt with Mido on top of her, a hand holding her head down. She winced as Mido grunted and his body jolted as debris fell on top of and around them. The jolts passed onto her through him, making her body ache. The serpent’s nose speared the ground right in front of their heads, dousing them with foul breath, and then the sky brightened as the monster lifted its head back in the air.

Jessie held still in case the thing might attack at the slightest movement. The seconds ticked by, and then the sound of something huge slithering around grew fainter. She struggled to get up but Mido and whatever had fallen on top of them was pinning her down. She patted his arm. “Mido, get up. We need to move.” He let out a groan. Jessie froze and her heart jumped into her throat and lodged itself there. “Mido?”

“I’m alive,” he whispered. “Can’t move.”

Jessie struggled and squirmed, and clawed at the dirt. She was pinned from the chest down by Mido and—she looked over his shoulder—half a wall. She dug her fingers into the churned-up dirt and pulled as hard as she could. After a few seconds of straining, she finally budged. She readjusted her handhold and pulled again, bringing her waist even with Mido’s chest. He groaned, making her heart race with mounting panic. She heaved her body one more time, freeing her legs, and turned around. She took in a sharp breath.

Mido remained lying facedown, a metal rod sticking out of his right shoulder with a chunk of cement still attached to it. She automatically reached for it, then remembered the wound would start gushing if she pulled it out. Instead, she moved to the cracked slabs pinning his legs, and tried to bodily lift them. She managed to heave one off, but had to use a two-by-four to lever off the other. Mido remained inert the whole time. “Stay with me, Mido.”

“I am,” he whispered. “I think both my legs are broken.”

Jessie wanted to roll him onto his back but feared causing more injuries. She lay with the side of her face in the dirt in front of his, then held Mido’s face and gently lifted it. His eyes were glazed over. “Stay with me,” she said in a thick voice. He put a hand over hers, tried to raise his head a little more, then passed out. “Mido?” He didn’t stir, so she patted his cheek. Her voice rose an octave as she called his name again. He still didn’t stir. “Mido!” Her eyes blurred with tears and she began to hyperventilate. This couldn’t have just happened. He’d been more or less fine a moment ago, but now he was—

Jessie wiped her eyes and checked for a pulse. She couldn’t afford to jump to such morbid conclusions so fast. She wanted to scream and give in to hysteria, but she couldn’t help him if she lost it. She felt a pulse in his wrist, then slipped a hand under his chest. His heart pounded out a steady rhythm. The beating brought her breathing under control, yet tears still kept coming. She held his hand and pushed away dirt so he’d have plenty of air to breathe, then fought to bring her emotions under control. If more monsters returned, she had to be collected enough to protect the both of them. She… the sight of his glazed-over eyes… her heart wrenched again. She squeezed his limp hand and forced herself to take deep breaths.

Rumbling in the distance snapped her to out of being able to worry. She flinched at the sound, then wiped her eyes and looked up. Another water serpent loomed over a pile of rubble a block away. Jessie flung her mind out to it without hesitation. Stop what you’re doing and listen to me!

The serpent paused in its attack on a building, then turned around. No words came from it but Jessie knew she had its full attention. It slithered down the road towards her, head low and bobbing side to side. The sight was frightening but she knew she wasn’t about to be attacked. She could feel curiosity coming from it. It wanted to know what her bidding was. It sent her a picture of the destruction it just caused and sent her an emotion of questioning. It stopped with its massive head mere feet above her, head bowed, black watery eyes on her.

Go find others attacking the town and stop them from killing more people and destroying Newport. She pictured the destruction and sent waves of sadness, then pictures of corpses coupled with anger, and finally envisioned the serpent killing the other monsters and a sense of gratification. Now go!

The serpent turned around and slithered down the road. A dozen nereids bounded out of a ruined building. The serpent dived on them, jaws wide, and killed them with strike after strike. Blood dripped from its mouth. A second water serpent slithered into the fray and the commanded serpent attacked the newcomer. The two began biting and coiling around each other, entering death rolls and flattening the town further. Jessie’s heart sank lower.