If I die here –
Your name will be the last word I say
Niall swam against the current in frantic strokes, looking for Sean. He remembered the bodies of the demon-crocodiles trapped in the dam-like reeds not far from where they crossed – maybe Sean was trapped there too? It was worth a try.
It didn’t take long for him to manoeuvre his body towards the dam. Niall was of the water, born to navigate it, and his powers were strong. The murky water made it difficult to see, but as Niall approached, he could make out the faintest flash of colour, the same colour as Sean’s clothes. And there he was, among the debris and brambles and floating branches – Sean, trapped inside the dam, his limbs secured to it with interwoven reeds. He was twitching, desperately trying to free himself, his cheeks puffed out in his attempt to store oxygen. Suddenly, Niall saw something out the corner of his eye – a dark-green arm ridged with minuscule tassels that flowed like seaweed – and then it was gone. Something was there, a Surari – but Niall couldn’t do anything about it. Sean had to be taken above water soon or he would drown.
Niall threw himself on the dam, trying to free Sean’s limbs. He gathered at once that the dam couldn’t be a natural barrier. It had been woven, made by hands. It was a nest. Or a trap. The realisation filled him with dread. He’d seen the hand that had made the barrier, and that hand belonged to something that was still swimming around him, something that would not let go of its prey so easily.
“Sean!” called Niall, breathing water like air.
Sean’s limbs were flailing as he desperately tried to free himself, his face purple. He felt like his lungs were bursting. He needed to breathe. He needed air . . .
Niall was nearly there. He could nearly touch Sean’s hand . . . but powerful fingers wrapped themselves around his ankles, pulling and pulling, trying to drag him away from Sean. Niall bent his body backwards – he was as agile as a seal – and his eyes met the creature’s. Finally he could see it. It looked very similar to a Merman, but its scaly skin was dark green and not blue, its gills faintly throbbing at the sides of its face. Its eyes were yellow with slit pupils, and there were too many teeth to fit in its mouth – pointed, thin, needle-like. Weeds were dangling from its arms and legs like ripped clothes, and little black creatures had made a home on its chest, attached to it like leeches or growing larvae. All of a sudden, he realised that a sickening smell had spread in the water around them, and he felt himself gag. Niall took a deep watery breath and kicked his legs towards the creature as hard as he could – the demon had to let go.
He did a somersault in the water, and his eyes met Sean, who was still trying to free himself. Only then did he notice that a trickle of blood was leaking off his friend and colouring the water around them. Niall knew that there was no point in trying to free Sean there and then, the mer-creature would have stopped him again. He had to destroy it first. He took hold of his dagger and lunged at it, stabbing its arms and hands and chest, green blood leaking from the wounds.
The demon howled, an eerie sound that travelled underwater to the ears of those on shore, and threw itself at Niall, grabbing blindly with its bleeding arms extended and trying to claw at his face. Niall tasted his own blood but felt no pain. It had been all too quick. Rage burnt inside him, and terror. How long can a man survive without air? How long will Sean last before his heart gives in?
Sean wanted to call out, but he couldn’t. His lungs were exploding, stars dancing at the edge of his vision. The reeds were like chains, and he couldn’t free himself. He was suffocating. He desperately tried to keep his mouth closed until his instinct got the best of him, and finally he gasped for air. But there was no air, only water that filled his mouth and his throat and his lungs. He jerked for a few seconds – darkness was all around him, every bit of his body and mind screaming in panic. I’m dying. Who’s going to look after Sarah? was his last conscious thought. And then his body was still.
The demon, bleeding and weakened but animated by its survival instinct, grabbed Niall’s arm and shook it violently. Niall’s dagger went floating away with the current. The mer-creature wrapped its slippery hands around Niall’s neck. With enormous effort, and the Surari’s grip tightening around his throat, Niall pulled upwards, upwards, carrying the demon with him.
On his way up Niall grabbed Sean’s hand and held on to him, trying to take him to the surface. At first, Sean didn’t budge, and Niall’s upwards arc was interrupted with a jerk – but he wouldn’t let go. The Surari’s hands were unyielding around his neck, and he was slowly suffocating. He couldn’t take any more. He sank a knee into its chest, and propelled it away in a cloud of green blood.
He hadn’t let go of Sean. He tugged harder, now with both hands, but it wasn’t enough. He pulled and ripped reeds, ignoring the cuts in his hands and how the water was coloured red around him, until finally Sean’s body shifted slightly, and then some more. Niall swam towards the surface, his left hand tight around Sean’s wrist, his right hand propelling them – and this time Sean’s body followed.
As they emerged from the water Niall managed to scream, “Take him onshore!” before strong, cruel arms pulled him down again. Niall caught a glimpse of a pair of male arms clad in a white shirt – Alvise? – drag Sean away.
He’d done it. Sean would survive.
Niall prepared himself to fight. Winter, he called silently.
It all happened very fast. The mer-creature was now in front of him, hands poised to strangle, teeth ready to bite. And then it stopped, and shuddered, and its eyes went wide in shock and horror. Its unconscious body began to float upwards.
Niall stared, not quite believing what had just happened, and then he felt something brush his leg. The dark, toothy shape of a demon-crocodile swam around him. He was filled with blind terror, and his instinct kicked in, leading him upwards and towards the shore faster than he’d ever swum, where friendly arms waited to pull him to safety. As he was pulled onshore, he felt a red-hot pain coming from his legs. The skin on his shins had been shredded, but it was too late for the demon-crocodiles. Niall would not be their next meal.
“Sean,” was the first thing he said as he breathed air again.