《LEUR: The Unsung Tales》Chapter 23: Into the Drink

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Matthias pulls the sloop to a halt, lowering the sails and looking out over the water. "Looks like others have been here." The party follows his line of sight, and Anna looks out the porthole window. "Gods. One fish did all this?"

The ocean surface is littered with torn, sinking boats and the shredded bodies left behind in their wake, bobbing like corks. A cry is cut short somewhere they can't see, and Amadeo surveys the scene carefully. "What is this thing? No mere beast could make such carnage."

"This beast could, can, and has. It's no animal. It's a demon, an avatar of the Dread Lord." Matthias looks over the bodies of the dead and sighs. "It always ends this way...There!" He points toward a splash of water where a body thrashes about before disappearing beneath the waves.

"Is there anybody alive out there!?" Anna calls as she exits the cabin. There's no response.

Tyrion shakes his head. "Forget it, lass. They're probably all go-"

There's a splash and a shout. Off the port side, a man clings to a piece of wreckage, waving one hand to draw their attention. "Hey! Help! Help me!"

Hope looks around. He's not far, maybe thirty feet away. She reaches down and gestures for him to come. "Quiet now!" She whispers as loudly as she can. "If you don't panic, it'll hardly notice you. Swim fast, we can pull you up."

The man shakes his head. "No! Ya gotta come get me! It killed my brother. I ain't going down like that. I ain't-"

The water surges around him. He gasps, then it goes still again. The man takes a deep breath, and Hope reaches out again. "It's alright. Just a little closer and you'll be o-"

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The water explodes around the man, his scream drowned out by a sudden crunch. The party watches something drop into the water, his headless corpse rising to the surface.

"Damn it!" Hope retracts her hand, taking a deep breath. She closes her eyes , trying to refocus on the task at hand. "This thing's slippery. We're gonna have a bad time if we're not careful." Hope looks over the side, peering into the water and shaking her head. "He already knows we're here. Only one way to do this. We're gonna have to-" The sloop shakes and rocks violently, and Tyrion slips to the floor of the deck. Amadeo groans, having hit his back against the railing. "What in the Hells was that!?" Tyrion shouts, rubbing a bump forming on his head from where he fell.

Amadeo stands upright, shaking his head. "Angry fish...Wait, where's Hope?" He leans over the railing and looks into the water. After a few seconds in which his heart pounds in his ears, Hope rises to the surface and gasps for air, spitting water out.

"Are you alright?" He reaches out a hand to pull her back onboard. "Hells no, I'm not alright! Get me outta here!" She reaches out to him in turn, but the water splashes around them and she disappears beneath the waves. "Hope!" Amadeo throws off his robe and dives in.

Anna, seeing two of her comrades disappear over the side, bursts through the cabin door and jumps in without a second thought, and Tyrion sighs. "Why'd it gave to be sharks? Couldn't have been a beached whale or a tuna..." He holds his nose and hops the railing, dropping like a rock into the ocean.

Beneath the glassy surface, the halfling looks about. Amadeo waves him over under the boat, where the wizard and Anna have a glaring Hope, blade drawn and a righteous anger in her eyes. A trail of blood flows from her leg, though the cut is not so deep as to make death imminent. In the distance, a large shape looms out of the shadows. Nearly twenty feet in length, a body built for gliding effortlessly through the water circles around them. Lifeless black eyes study the group curiously. A mouth full of teeth like razors gives it a wicked grin, a bit of flesh still caught between its gums. And just near the left eye, a scar left by some jagged object, a last act of defiance from a previous meal. The creature turns to face them, then dives down to the depths. The darkness below them soon engulfs it, and the group closes ranks to spot the beast before it strikes again.

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