Page 101 of An Invocation of Monsters

She betrayed her fear in ways she didn’t even know.

There were dangerous things in the deeps, but I was the god of this lake. While she was with me, she would come to no harm.

I kept my grip on her tightly, suctioning onto her skin.

Down here, the darkness was absolute. The stars ceased to exist. The world above was a distant dream.

This was another world entirely, and I knew she felt it when her heart began to race again, with excitement rather than terror.

Down, down, down.

I murmured into her head, leading her into crushing blackness.

Soon, you will see. This is my world, Elle. My domain.

She swam willingly, fighting against the pressure of the depths. My lights flickered over her pale skin, turning her into one of the creatures that lived down here.

And when she had her first face-to-face encounter with one, she nearly recoiled, her pulse spiking into panic.

An eel slithered from the rocks on the bottom of the lake, its body flashing electric blue warnings. It rose to face Elle, showing a mouthful of glassine needle-teeth, but I flicked at the creature.

A current carried it from her, driving the animal back into its rocks.

Elle smiled at me, her pulse steadying again. The eel had been larger than she was.

We had further to go. Elle gasped in amazement at a school of tiny fish, each no larger than her fingernail with a star-shaped fan of fins, glittering in vivid colors. A few jellyfish caught her attention, but I kept her far from their stinging tentacles.

She looked about in bewildered amazement at the animals that resembled nothing found on her Earth.

And when we reached the first gate of my home, she stopped, treading water as she took it all in.

Her mouth fell open, gray eyes glittering with the flash of my tentacles. The bioluminescence of the waves covered the ruins, making the arches and pillars shimmer like ghostly mirages.

Welcome to my home. I squeezed her hand. A thousand years ago, this was a city of the Klee.

I watched as she reached out to touch a crushed pillar. The algae flared brightly under her fingers.

Now I am the only one who remains. I slept, standing guard over the sacred ruins, until I was called from my slumber.

Elle looked back at me, hair obscuring her face. She pushed it aside, drifting down to land on the soft carpet of sand.

The inquisitiveness in her expression was obvious to anyone with eyes. I strode through the gates, a tentacle keeping her roped to me.

They say a Klee princess built this palace. It was meant to be a refuge, a haven from the Elder Gods and their eternal conflicts. Now the name is forgotten to history.

Elle gestured at me.

Even I have forgotten. I was young when this water was abandoned, but one had to remain behind. The other Klee moved on, leaving me to sleep until it was time to awaken and become the guardian.

She glanced at me, patting my shoulder, and I decided to trust. I released her.

Elle looked surprised at first, then tentatively swam towards a crumbling ruin. I watched with pleasure as she swam into what was once a home, emerging through a window.

She seemed fascinated by the architecture of my kind. It was smooth, organic, stone worked to mimic water.

I supposed to a human it might seem chaotic, but then, I found the hard, sharp lines of their architecture to be displeasing.

Elle traced the outline of a carving eroded by water. It was just barely visible; a relief of a Klee prince, in his younger form.

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