The World Beneath The Waves Ch. 01

Finally, they all raised their spears in unison and, though he could not see it properly, he imagined that their expressions would be nothing less than cold and calculating, and then one spoke, the male in the middle.

"F'gnyar shrask gh'etar s'a?" his voice was deep and seemed to echo around the chamber. Richard looked to the others... nothing. Slowly he raised his free hand, taking care to point his weapon away.

"Uh... look... I don't know what's going on here but I mean you no harm... ", elocution and diplomacy was never his strong point...

They all seemed to stop and look to each other slightly, as if somewhat confused, then he spoke the alien phrase again this time much louder.

"Um... listen," he stammered, unease gripping tigher with each passing second, "I'm uh... really sorry if I'm tresspassing in your home or anything but... I... I'm afraid I don't quite know how I got here and... I'd really like to get home so... if you like, I'll just be on my way and... "

His rambling was stopped dead by a loud bellow from the leading male that made his blood run cold, he looked to the others and nodded, they raised their spears once again and began a slow advance.

Fight of flight suddenly took a rush within him, a combination of natural instinct and his brief three years army training took hold as he instinctively raised his weapon, sights trained for the middle target. It seemed to work, they stopped a moment, as if assessing the weapon he was wielding, not out of nervousness, more of caution.

He was almost ended as he noticed, just in time, the leading Mer's ceasing his flash assessment of his opponent and lunging forward, spear poised to strike. His finger reflexively squeezed the trigger, his own cry of both fear and instinct. The spear slid wide of it's mark as the Mer holding it recoiled as the harpoon skewered through his shoulder, a thick, purple wisp of blood staining the water around it.

The others seemed taken aback by the sudden display that played out before them, nevertheless, they all to quickly regained their composure and pressed onward. One of the female came to his right and attempted an overhead blow, that he found himself able to parry with the harpoon gun, though she quickly rebounded and took another strike to his flank which he was barely able to guard, the blade catching and nicking the side of his suit. Though wound appeared superficial, it had nevertheless drawn blood, the red now mixing with the thin cloud of purple as he moved to take his opportunity.

He spun around and grabbed the haft of her spear, pulling her towards him and landing a solid blow to her navel which caused her to double up and sink toward the floor as she attempted to recover.

Sensing the impending attack of the other four spears he instinctively kicked upwards as he attempted to gain some distance in order to reload his weapon. Such a notion was cut short however, as one of the males and the other female appeared to have wisened up to the fact that he would not lay down willingly and accept his dispatchment.

He saw one nod to the other and reached for his bootknife as he sensed the impending pincer attack.

"Jason, you're a fucking diamond... " he kicked backward as they attacked, the male's spear coming into contact with the harpoon gun with a great force, bringing a groan of exasperation from Richard as he felt it damage the firing mechanism, it would no longer be of any use now except as perhaps a rudimentary club...

He had no time to lament his loss as he felt the oncoming blow from the female as she surged forward. He brought the sizeable knife to bear, the blade scaping against the spearhead with a shrill metallic squeal as blade passed blade. He sprang forward in a counter attack as he brought his blade to bear, aiming to score a good hit upon her body.

She appeared to anticipate such a move however, leaning backwards just out of reach of the blade, but not quite enough for him to score a clancing blow upon her upper arm, causing another wisp of purple to seep from the wound and into the water, a saddening cry of pain accompanying it.

He made to double back as the male made to strike again, kicking back much harder than he meant to. The male seemed to notice his mistake and drove his spear round to bring the haft to a might collision with his torso, sending him flying back into the wall, a metallic clang and hissing suddenly permeating the air as fatal realization struck him harder than any blow could have.

He looked at his gauge, to find that it was all but completely empty as the last few bubbles of precious oxygen seemed around him in the water. He attempted to hold his breath, but it would do him no good as he soon found himself sinking to the floor, unable to breathe through the mask that was now all but useless to him.

There he sat, conciousness slipping away from him as the burning in his lungs intensified. This was it, all this way, only to have his discovery, his dream taken from him, though at least there was some pride in the fact that he had put up a fight... couldn't really ask any more than that.

He looked up as his vision grew foggy, barely able to make out the vague shapes of his opponents now looming over him. One of them, knelt before him upon her tail, her hands glowing a faint pink as he felt her lift his mask upon him, placing both of her hands upon his cheeks. The last thing he would feel before darkness claimed him once again would be the soft pressure of a pair of lips upon his forehead.

~ To be continued.