Growing Up. 7

Menacing jade eyes glared out at the assemblage as the leviathan coiled around the huge spire of rock that any natural being would have walked on to face the throne. Though why they would walk instead of swim, he didn’t quite understand, all of the deep creatures watching swam, darting away from his smouldering gaze in case he lashed out again. Sure he couldn’t do anything to hurt his real captor, the black giant, but even restrained a single flick from his sinuous tail would easily injure any of the little fiends.

They came in all shapes and sizes, the most human were practically merfolk with long eel-like tails below the waist, but then there were humanoid blends of fish and frogs, ugly shelled and beaked monsters, six limbed lizards, bloated crocodilians strange freaks with too many fangs, and the Titan. The Titan was the oddest of all, if just by merit of being hundreds of feet tall, large enough to make the giant serpent feel small, with pitch black skin and shining white eyes, the brightest light in the dim depths of the sea.

He hurt too. Even with the wounds healed, Mikael still felt an itch from the abrasions the titans rough hands had given him, and he had been nigh helpless in his grip- little more than a serpent in the hands of a horrific zoo-keeper. Somehow the titan had stopped him melting into water, ignored his acidic slime and when Mikael had tried to absorb more sea water, it had released weird ink that stung like venom in his veins. Even despite struggling all the way, hissing and roaring for his sisters and lashing out with all his might, the titan had been as casual with him as he was with humans, dragging him down to this marine court among the scavenged ruins of sunken ships.

“So what now?” he hissed defensively, “Can I leave?”

The great featureless black head shook silently, while a flurry of cries came from the onlookers, distorted by the water.

“It’s a simpler thing than the last one, the kraken’s smarter…”

“…let it go, we’ll be safer without these fiends in our borde….”

“Make it stay, make it serve the lord of the deep…”

“It should serve Umibozu, he is the master of the sea…”

“…looks like spawn of Tiamat… but it’s gone isn’t it?”

“ENOUGH!” A high voice accompanied by a hissing roar cut them all off as one of the larger beings rose. She looked like one of the merfolk, though nastier and larger, nearly as tall as Liza, and with an ugly thicket of tendrils and worms making up her lower body. In comparison her upper body looked half normal, a lady in a tight buckled dark top with blonde hair floating around a stern face. “I shall speak over this court, if it pleases you my Lord?”

If the titan gave a sign it was imperceptible, he remained still as a statue, star-like eyes glaring down at the serpent.

“What do you want then? Why’d you catch me?!”

“Because you couldn’t escape... If you had been honest, you wouldn’t have… been captured.” The squid-woman’s voice was different now, strangled and hoarse and slow, while she remained frozen in place a little in front of the titan, her eyes closed and muscles tensed.

“What? I didn’t lie!” Mikael snapped back, surprised at how annoyed he was- he was in this mess because they thought he’d lied? “I didn’t even say anything before you attacked!”

“Your deceit falls on death ears… one of our scouts spoke with you, heard your envious lies, leviathan. You claimed to… be a Titan, a higher older Being than your station… a being that would not have been captured so easily.”

“What, so if I hadn’t said that then I wouldn’t have been caught?” He snarled at the sheer absurdity as the slime around him thickened.

“Depends… What are you?! What is your purpose?! Who…who are the others?!  Why did ships come?!”

The serpent opened his mouth for an instant before closing it again- how much of the truth was meant to be secret? He had taken the titan to be the Shadow from his dream, Loki, but just because it wasn’t didn’t mean it would understand.

“First… just… who are you?”

More gasps and shouts came from the other watching sea-folk, though the squid-woman silenced them again with a piercing howl from the other mouths, “You ….speak to Umibozu, the Lord of the Deep, current Master of the Tides and the Deep Ones, the Final Silence, the Humbler of the Surface, the Titanic Bane and the Slayer of Upstart Worms.”

Despite himself Mikael glared in response to the last part, reaching forward from his rocky perch a little bit, “I’m just Mikael Esket, I was trying to get to Kvenland, or Norway at least. I think the ships were there to stop me or catch me.”

“Which?”

“Catch probably. I didn’t pay much attention till they started shooting,” he hissed darkly, “Then they were too busy fighting and shouting and stuff.”

“And why would they send ships after you? Especially two after such a weak beast.”

“Humans don’t like big things and some mages want to study us and keep us locked up.”

“Us? So there are others…” even despite the blank pronunciation, there seemed to be a trace of triumph at catching the word.

He hesitated, coils loosening in the brine, “Me and three sisters but we got separated…”

“Good…  there is a connection. You are different from her… You are more honest, she claimed she was alone, but… still… What are You?”

“My sister? You caught… who is it!?” He thundered and lunged up, green eyes fixed up on the limply hanging squid-maid and Umibozu’s shining eyes behind her, “Who is it? Is she okay?!”

“What are you?”

“We’re titans, now let me see my sister! Where is she?!”

“What are you?”

“She said we were titans!”

“WHAT ARE YOU?!”

The serpent fumed in the water, glaring up at them as he fought to calm down- he didn’t want in those hands again, that wouldn’t help Hel or Liza, whichever it was. “I DON’T KNOW THEN! Liza said we were titans because… she said our mother was one, called Cymedei Cyme-“

He didn’t manage to finish the name before the ocean wrenched him from his perch. The pressure returned, pushing hard on him as he was flung around in the sudden burst of current, the world blurred and confusing as even the broken hulks of rusty ships stirred and rolled in the water. The little beings had it even worse, they were flung around like confetti before he lost sight and was whirled around further, the world a dark blur to his senses. It was like an entire storm, the sheer power too much for him to resist despite all of his strength, and he felt his heart thunder with worry- what was this? Umibozu trying to kill him? Or something else, some other titan planning to do even worse to him?!

A chasm in the seafloor appeared and he found himself hurtling down it, rocks and boulders jutting out from the edges like teeth that tore at him, sending clear slime and ichor out into the sea. Further and further still, into a tunnel, a pit in the depths of the ocean, deeper and deeper as it narrow, until…

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the current ended and he spun around in confusion. His orientation was all off, but this space was narrow, he could only really face along the tunnel due to his size, but also… there was a surface to the water not fifty feet from his snout. There was a little light too, flickering orange glow from electrical lamps, and he swam forwards curiously, tail weaving back and forth.

He burst out of the water into a cavern of sorts, a huge comfortable cave of pale stone and winding passages, the ceiling an array of dripping stalactites. A few buzzing lights hung here and there, flickering to send shadows careening across the space, while the steady drip of water from above echoed like a heartbeat. Just like in his dreams of mum.

“Titan-spawn.” He hadn’t noticed the squid woman, but she was there, still limp and breathing hard, rivulets of blood running from her lips. “Cymedei is a fool to emulate Tiamat… offspring are troublesome, but… you are her business… not ours. Take your sister and… leave my sea alone...”

“Huh? Uh... Hel, where are you? Liza? Susan?”

“Noone’s here stupid, go away!” A shrill voice squealed from a boulder.

“Cease your deceits, Titan-spawn… you must leave, your brother had the sense to be honest…” Umibozu’s mouth piece droned, retreating to the water as Mikael slithered forwards past her. He had still kept most of his size at least, he remained large enough to rear up and hit the stalactites easily, so it was a simple matter to look over the rock curiously.

The child on the other side screamed as soon as she saw the immense eel looming over her hiding spot. Mikael went flying across the cavern, hitting the opposite wall hard enough to splash into a flood of water that ran across the wall before reforming with a confused snarl.

“What was that? Who is she!?” He thundered, lashing his tail out to send boulders and lights flying.

“Your sister, another… spawn of Cymedei.”

“No she’s not, I’ve got three sisters- Liza’s a giant ice lady, Susan’s made of plants, and Hel’s a big rock monster! I don’t know that kid at all!”

More blood spilled from the speakers mouth tainting the water, but Umibozu’s voice showed no concern, “So she made five to combat Loki… foolish. Even if you were unaware, she is another sister, searching for your mother…”

“Don’t come any closer or you’ll get worse! I’m not scared!” A clump of black hair peered over the rock furtively, “You can’t hit me stupid!”

“I’m not trying to hit you, you’re the one that splattered me!”

“If I splattered you, how are you okay!?”

“I can turn into water and back, watch!” He instructed, prompting the girl to peer our further with little jade coloured eyes. He even heard a small gasp as he melted away, his entire body vanishing to clear liquid the splashed across the cavern floor. It was freeing almost to relax after the pressure of the other titan and this… this girls power. The Umibozu had to be wrong, she couldn’t be a sister, their mother hadn’t been near dad since he was born thirteen years before.

He reformed with some effort, forcing the water to flow up into the long serpentine shape again, though a little softer, without the jagged fin along his spine and a rounder muzzle. It towered up and curled, forming the sinuous webbed tail at the end and coiled up before it settled, forming the solid azure flesh and jade eyes again.

“See? Perfectly fine. You can come out.” He said, looking at the boulder again.

“Uh-huh, I’m here!” A voice giggled next to his head and he whirled around to see her.

The girl definitely wasn’t like them; she was still as small as a human child, and for the most part appeared like one in a messy jumper with short black hair around a nervous face. The main difference was the wings; there were six of them, massive grey and black speckled limbs like a pigeons, stretching out from her back, though stationary as she hovered in the air.

“Did you get surprised big scary snake?” she grinned smugly, then for an instant flashed grey and ethereal and was gone.

“I can do it better!” Her voice was behind again, and he span around only for her to disappear again and reappear above the water, her wings still held frozen in the air, “Can I go now? Big snake?”

“I think so, I got caught by them too but it says to leave, so…”

She scoffed lightly, eyes twinkling with amusement before she breathed in and folded her wings up, diving down into the water. Mikael followed an instant later, diving down into the water just behind her, “Are you sure you can swim far eno-“

He was broken off by the sea roaring and wrenching them forward. Even compared to the last time this was absurd, he scraped off of the  chasms edges so fast he almost lost form, with only the sheer force of Umibozu’s bizarre current holding him together. The walls vanished after a moment and they were careening through the ocean, wide open water on every side, but still Mikael was trapped inside the rush of water in the darkness. He couldn’t see outside for the darkness of night, couldn’t even tell what direction was what for the sheer power of the jet he was in, it could have been up or down or east or south without him noticing, and even then, he couldn’t have down anything about it.

Release only came when they met the surface, and a pillar of water exploded out to invade the sky like an inverted waterfall. Even Mikael for all his size gave a roar of surprise as he was shot up and up into the darkness, surrounded by a spray of brine, then gravity caught up and he hurtled down to smash back into the sea with a thunderous boom.

“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” the girl enjoyed being shot up rather more, whirling around faster and faster as the wind picked up and the oceans waves danced and roared. “FINALLY OUT! Out out out and up and down and round and round and over and under and round and left and right and freeeeeeeeee! Free free freee freee!”

Mikael found himself grinning too as he met the water again and absorbed a little. It was nice to be away from the Umibozu’s power, he felt in control of the water again, rearing up and then diving back beneath the waves before shooting back up out of the water.

“Ha-ha-ha, you can’t fly-y!” she taunted in a sing song voice as she appeared out of the wind, twirling head over heels as she skimmed over the water.

“But I can do thi-i-is!” He clenched his throat and squeezed, spitting a jet of water out as if from a pistol, only for the child to vanish before it hit, fading into the air. He brought his tail up as he spun, ready for her to appear behind him, and this time the great splash connected and he grinned in triumph, “Gotcha!”

“Pfff, its just stupid water! Still can’t fly you icky snake!” She stuck her tongue out as she shook her wings out, sending sparkling droplets through the air.

“I would if I had wings! You don’t even know to flap those.”

“I don’t need to, I can fly-y-y-y!” she declared, wrapping the massive limbs around her to demonstrate, “You’re a really bad sea snake you know, the other ones were scarier, they didn’t talk at all.”

“Well I’m not a sea snake, I’m a… titan spawn thing if that’s what Umibozu called it. I used to be human anyway, until ten days ago.”

“Huh, me too,” she muttered, and frowned, “How old are you?”

“Thirteen. My name’s Mikael.”

“Pfff-hahaha, you’re thirteen! I’m older, I’m nineteen!” she grinned, hugging her wings tight around her.

“Nah, no way, are you nineteen.”

“Yes I am!”

“Are not.”

“Are too!”

“Yes you probably are two,” He gave a reptilian smirk as she pouted and flapped her wings out.

“Fine, I’m nine, but don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.”

He glanced around the dark empty sea before nodding, “Alright, what’s your name anyway? I told you mine.”

“I’m Gabriel!” She answered proudly, stretching her wings out to their fullest extent as the wind swirled around her, “Or, well, my big name’s Gabriella but it’s too long for people to use all the time so I like to be called Gabriel, it’s prettier.”

“Okay then Gabby.”

“No, I’m Gabriel, you can’t call me Gabby stupid!”

“Why not Gabby? You talk a lot,” He chuckled throatily, “Gabby Gabby with the gift of the gab.”

“No, you can’t call me that, only my mummy calls me Gabby!” Gabriella whined, “If you call me that I’ll call you Mickey!”

“Sure, I don’t mind that. My sisters call me that… though, I dunno where they are, do you think you can fly and have a look around?”

“No, I’m going to find my mummy, not your sisters!”

“If you’ve got to go to Kvenland, we’re going there too, my sisters can help you find her,” he promised quietly, watching her. Gabriella did look a little like Hel had when she was younger, and she was about as powerful as they were, looking for her mother in Kvenland, just like if she was…

“Uh, do you know how to get to Kvenland?”

“I think so…” he glanced up, watching the silvery moon for a second. It moved westwards, right? So turning around and around meant north-north-east, like Susan had said, was… “About this way?”

“You’re not very smart for a thirteen year old.” She commented with a sigh, “I’ll fly around and see what I find, but… uh, don’t go underwater, I want to find you if I need too…”

“Hmm? Are you scared of the sea people?”

“No, not scared of them, they can’t even touch me!” Gabriella snapped back, and snapped her wings wide again as she soared off, higher and higher and further with every passing second. Mikael watched after her for a second, his mind still numb and wandering, then he went back to swimming on his chosen bearing. The moon arced overhead as he paddled, out of sight while the sky began to lighten before him. The girl passed by a few times, appearing for a few moments to watch to tease his lack of flight, then she’d fade or glide off again in some other direction.

He didn’t mind anyway, the sea was rather empty save for fearful fish, there were no boats or ships again, though it was no stretch of the imagination to think Umibozu had sunk any that would come near. The images of the night flickered through his mind again, men and sailors dragged down into the depths by the sea-folk, ships creaking as the kraken’s grip tightened, and the thunder of gunfire as bullets passed through his form. Liza would be mad if she knew, he wasn’t supposed to fight people, he was well strong enough to crush a man with his tail alone. He’d broken bones probably, ramming into people, his slime burning their skin, drawing out screams of agony…  Better she didn’t know. No one needed to know he’d got a giant squid mixed up with Susan.

*  *  *  *  *

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Gabby groaned, sitting on his skull.

“Yeah, it was north north east. The sunset’s meant to be on the left.” He grunted back irritably, staying low as he swept through the water, long powerful body slithering left and right.

“It’s not tho- that sides left?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Course, I’m older than you are, and I’m the one doing the work.”

“But we’ve been swimming forever! What if we end up in Australia because you don’t know left and right?” she whined petulantly, the wind stirring the waves higher and rougher.

“You’ve not been swimming, and it’s only been a couple days,” Mikael huffed, sending up a spurt of bubbles from his nostrils to drift past her as he tried to hide his own discomfort. That made over three days since he’d seen even Hel, and longer since the others without any sign of them, since he’d seen anything more than empty ocean. It was chilling, the isolation, all his life he’d been surrounded by his family, and now he found himself longing for them. Even Liza’s controlling lectures seemed like good times when she wasn’t around, maybe she’d know about Gabby.

“A couple of days is a long time! I could’ve found my mummy by now if I hadn’t kept coming back to you!”

“Or found Australia. How did you even get caught by Umibozu if you were flying?”

“I saw a…uh, never mind. Can’t you swim faster?”

“A little,” He upped his pace, sending up sprays of water from his thrashing tail and adjusted to face a little more eastward, “If you’re bored you could play eye spy…”

“No, me first! I spy… hang on… um…” she paused as the sarcasm sank in and he felt a small punch on his slick head, “That’s not funny, you got my hopes up!”

“Fine then, go see if you can see anything and I’ll guess.”

“Course I will!” she squeaked and he felt the tiny weight leave as she vanished. Somehow he’d gotten used to her antics easily, being the only source of company on the vast sea. Her powers were impressive too, the wind seemed to be at her beck and call as long as she was in the sky, and while her physical form had little strength that didn’t mean her power couldn’t slow him down if she wanted.

“I spy with my little eye something beginning with B!” Gabby reappeared shrilly.

“Boat?”

“YOU’RE HORRIBLE!”

“Not my fault you made it so obvi- there’s an actual boat?” he raised his head up to see her, a ball of feathers curled up in mid-air.

“Uh-huh, little one with a sail… do you think I could blow it and make them go faster?” She uncurled immediately with a grin.

“Ah… or, you could ask them what way land and Norway and Kvenland is?”

Gabby hesitated, “Can’t you?”

“I’m a big scary sea snake remember? You can just pretend to be a normal winged girl if you flap your wings, and I’ll come underwater if you’re scared.”

“No, not scared, this way.” The child stirred her wings and darted across the water, while the leviathan dove to just beneath the surface, trusting his natural sheen to hide him among the waves.

The yacht was even smaller than expected, a pale white vessel bobbing forlornly over the waves, maybe just double the size of his skull. The people on it were heavily bumfled up in jackets and waterproofs, mainly gathered around the back chattering, though their serenity vanished as a six winged girl materialized out of thin air before their very eyes. Even underwater Mikael could hear one woman shriek particularly loudly as Gabby hovered over the water, her wings still stationary. But then the scream died down, she went a little closer and he saw a couple of the sailors lean out curiously, their words too low to make out.

Then after a moment Gabby flew off again and he followed discretely, passing beneath the boat with barely a ripple and continuing on till it was out of sight and the girl buzzed over his head like a fly.

“Well, what did they say?” he asked as he surfaced again.

“A lot of stuff I didn’t understand, only one lady spoke English and she said she liked my wings and called me an angel!” the girl swooped past gleefully.

He snorted, “Don’t be daft, angels have dove wings not pigeon wings.”

“You’re just jealous cos you’re a big icky Mickey snake.”

“Am not. What about Kvenland? Did they have any directions?”

“Yup, if we keep going this way for a bit more, then we’ll get to land!” Gabby laughed in a sing song voice, pointing ahead, “But ...uh… not Kvenland, she said Norway.”

“That’s good, Susan said Kvenland’s in Norway,” he remembered, suddenly thankful his sister had drilled it into him. “Come on, we can get to land!”

“I’ll race you!” she yelled back as she vanished, and he grinned and dove into the waves, paddling as quickly as he could. The news of land and the competition set an even greater urgency to his mission, and so he moved faster than before, sending up wakes and foam and tearing apart waves with his passing. Yet even at that speed hours slid by, the sun set at his back, bringing the biting cold of night and the tide turned before he glimpsed distant lights on the horizon.

Land!

It was hard to see in the night, marked only by starlight, the crashing of waves on the shore and the orange lights of houses and streets on some sea-side town. A few boats and ships were anchored in the small marina, but even so he kept going until he felt his belly meet the cold rocky sea bed and his neck rose up amid the rolling waves, up into the cool night air not a few hundred metres upwind from the port.

“Slow poke.” Gabby appeared on her usual perch on his nose, grinning cockily.

“I was going easy.”

“Liar, liar!”

“Says the nineteen year old angel,” he flicked his fins and yawned, breathing in the crisp air, as he squirmed further onto the solid land, “We made it over the sea. Made it onto land!”

“But it took ages.”

“It’s a big sea.”

“Still gotta find Mu- uh, my mummy.”

“In Kvenland. And my sisters.” Somehow the urgency was gone for the moment. They’d made it this far.

“Maybe they left you behind cos you’re so icky.” She scowled and shook some slime from her feet, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to sleep,” He muttered, curling his massive tail up over the rocky beach before jamming it into some dirt and scraping a furrow.

“Huh? What about me?”

“You’re a big girl, you can stay up if you want,” Mikael repeated the motion a couple of times, digging the trench a little deeper.

“No, but what about Mummy? You said you wanted to get to Kvenland fast, you did, you can’t stop!”

“I just swam across an ocean for the first time in my life, and I want to see if there’s any sign of my sisters when its bright, then I’ll keep swimming. Okay Gabby?”

“It’s Gabriella,” she pouted and folded her arms, “Come on! Stop joking, you can sleep at Kvenland! You’re not allowed to stop! Mickey, Mickey, come on! Nearly there! Mo-o-o-o-ove!”

“It’s just a little break to rest, I’ve not had a break since I got caught by Umibozu!”

“You’re a water thing, you were in the sea, that counts!”

“No it doesn’t, you get tired floating and flying in the sky!”

“I don’t get tired floating!”

“Yeah you do!”

“I don’t!”

“Then why’d you sit on my nose the entire way instead of just flying?” He grinned triumphantly, “Cos you’re lazy!”

“Am not!” Gabby squealed, her face red while the wind whistled furiously

“Are too!”

“I’m not lazy, you’re the one being lazy, big stupid snake!”

“You are so or you’d have just flown all the way yourself!”

“No, I was going slow cos you’re a big slow stupid snake!”  She howled and glared at him, “FINE! If you don’t want to swim tonight then FINE!”

The howling wind vanished to nothing in an instant as she dissipated, the pigeon-like wings fading away to clear night air. Mikael beamed at the emptiness for a second, triumphant despite the girl’s strop. He was well used to those anyway, Susan tended to have a strop at least every couple of days when she’d vanish off to the park, while Liza’s were such that it was better to evacuate the flat rather than be caught in her seething lectures. Hel was more likely to just sit on him or something if she was in a bad mood, real outbursts required too much energy for her to bother. He sighed nostalgically and bent his neck towards the trench that should serve as the bed for his essence for the night, surrounded by hard safe land to stop the sea leeching or carrying him off.

Something slammed into him and he felt himself go flying, entire body lifting and rolling through the air. Then claws grabbed him, giant talons tore great gouges through his neck to spray stinging ichor everywhere, and he twisted and  squirmed in response. His slick hide spun, earning deeper scratches from the claws trying to tighten and cling, but he was too big, too heavy and he toppled down to smash into the seawater with a thunderous crash.

Mikael snarled and spun around, what was it now?! He could barely spin around and resurface amid debris to snarl at the foe, slime burning over his healed skin before the wind snatched at him once more with terrible talons hooked around his jaws. He tugged back, jetting acid and snapping at the fumbling avian claws.

“COME ON! STOP SQUIRMING STUPID, WHY ARE YOU SO HEAVY!?” The beast screeched, a gigantic eagle like monster with a long scaled and barbed tail flicking furiously,  and six grey misty wings that seemed to stretch across the sky. Every flap sent out surges of wind like a hurricane, sending the seas waves up high in to the air, the clouds whirling overhead and threatened to  tug him from the writhing ocean.

“GET OFF GABBY, WHEN YOU’D EVEN LEARN TO SHAPESHIFT!?” Mikael roared back, more furious that confused at her appearance- couldn’t the kid let him sleep?! He bore fangs and wrenched back out of the way as her talons parted his flesh like butter. Even so the wind was hard enough to resist on its own, he had to keep drawing in water just to stop himself being moved, and even then the sea hummed with her will.

“COME ON! WE’RE GOING TO KVENLA-“ She shrieked as his fangs bit into her leg, wings flapping as lightning flashed through her silvery feathers. Mikael hissed in pain as the energy spiked through him and released her leg to try and duck back into the water, only for talons to rip into his arched back once more, as well as her furious jagged beak struggling to clamp down on his thick body. Gigantic wings beat, stirring the gale even more as he twisted and writhed, struggling to sink back beneath waves. His neck was gripped too tight to bite at her, but still, maybe if he used his tail and…

He was yanked from the water like a worm as soon as he tried, his anchor lost against the birds brute determination and they shot up skywards, higher and higher as he waved his tail and burned at her false flesh, every wound on either of them vanishing within moments. The storm howled as lightning flashed and the sea roared beneath, the waves battering off of the shore with the force of cannonfire as they struggled.

He whipped his massive tail around, smashing through her body and forcing her to vanish, only for the talons to tear into him again even before he finished falling. He had the weight there though, enough to drag her down with sheer mass, coils turning fluid and wrapping around her feathers as they hit the sea. He had the power there, he drew all the water in, surrounding her, walling her form in from the rest of the sky and heavens. The titan spawn struggled against it all, but she was cut off here, lacking for air while he pushed in and in, breaking her form down to nothing but thin air, a giant bubble beneath the waves, surrounded by azure coils.

“I WIN! NOW CALM DOWN AND LET ME SLEEP!”

She was the girl when she appeared in the centre of the bubble, red faced and tearful, “NO! YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO KVENLAND!”

“I AM! Just want to sleep on land first, if you’re so eager, go yourself!”

“NO, YOU’RE COMING!”  Gabby squealed as the air crackled and whirled around her, faster and faster, her wings beating for once and hair blowing like a halo, “LET ME GO MICKEY!”

“So you can attack me again!?”

“You made it a fight stupid! I was trying to CARRY YOU, YOU’VE GOT TO COME!” the tension grew greater and greater, pushing and tugging and buzzing and crackling around her before suddenly bursting with a surge of light and agony that arched through his body. Mikael screamed as the lightning ran through him, dimly aware of the girl growing, feathers and wings expanding as her talons reached and grabbed his dwindling form. No, he snarled and squirmed, sending out acid to bite at her as he absorbed the sea again, swelling up with power to resist her pull to the surface, if he could just keep her down here he could subdue her again, in a smaller bubble, and calm her dow-

More lightning arched out through her feathers and talons ad he roared as their struggle continued, his coils looping up and around her again and again as she pecked and grappled with him, sending ichor, and bubbles out into the sea. She kept trying to drag him, shocking him as she tugged him up and up, until his head was above the thunderous waves again, playing a monstrous tug o’ war between her wings and his muscles, though with him as the rope. Fair enough, he decided and suddenly released, instead springing forward with all his strength to ram into her. Gabby didn’t expect it, she was caught by her own wind and his strength and hurtled backwards before she thought to dissipate and he smashed into hard earth and stone with a gigantic crash.

Dust and broken stone flew everywhere, clinging to his slimy healing skin as he circled around with a snarl, ready to find her, get her ba-

His body halted there somehow, locked in place by a horrible cold power that he didn’t recognize for a moment. A shaking voice from behind answered that the situation was even worse than he’d feared.

“Mickey-what-the-hell-are-you-doing!?”