Page 29 of Drenched

My steps echoed lightly as I moved deeper into the cavern. The floor was uneven, slick with moisture. A blue hole waited in the cave’s center, its surface perfectly still.. The glow from the algae reflected on its surface, making it look almost alive. I leaned over the edge, trying to see how deep it went, but the bottom was lost in darkness. Just looking at it made my stomach twist. It felt as though the water was watching me, waiting.

I backed away, my breath shaky. My foot struck something solid, and I turned to find myself face-to-face with the carvings.

They covered the walls, etched into the stone with a precision that felt impossible. The algae’s glow highlighted every detail, every jagged line and curve. Figures marched in chains, their bodies bent and broken. Some reached out toward a monstrous shape at the center, their faces twisted in worship. Others clawed at the ground, their mouths frozen in silent screams as they were dragged forward. The creature in the carvings was unmistakable. Hollow eyes stared back at me, an abyss within an abyss. Its form was serpentine, with tendrils and fins that seemed to ripple as the light reflected on it.

My fingers trembled as I touched the stone, tracing the lines of one figure’s outstretched hand. The rock was cold and damp, but the carvings seemed to radiate something darker, despair, hopelessness. This wasn’t just a cave. It was a temple. A place where people were brought, not to worship, but to be offered. Sacrificed.

My stomach twisted with realization as I stepped back. This was where they’d wanted to send me. This wasn’t just about the villagers’ rituals or their fear of the Abyss. This place had existed long before them, carved into the earth by something ancient. Sebastian was right all along.

I was so focused on the carvings that I didn’t notice it at first. The edges of the stone seemed to glow brighter. I blinked and looked up. There it was, an opening in the cave ceiling. A thin beam of sunlight streamed through, getting stronger. Sunrise.

If I could reach it, maybe I could escape.

Clinging to that thought, I moved to the wall, feeling for handholds. The rock was rough, uneven, but climbable. I grabbed the first ledge and started pulling myself up.

But just then, something yanked me back.

I hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air out of my lungs. Panic shot through me as I scrambled to my feet and looked around wildly.

Before I could react, there he was.

I stumbled back, hitting the cold stone wall. I avoided his gaze. My heart pounded in my ears. I knew who he was. The creature from the dive, the one who left the marks on my neck. The one who attacked Jonathan in my room. I couldn’t look into those black eyes, endless, empty, with no white.

Behind him, the blue hole stirred, the water swirling as if he’d just climbed out. The surface calmed, but it still felt alive, waiting.

I didn’t want to see him, but I couldn’t ignore what he was now. He stood on legs, strong, lean, covered in that same metallicsheen. Muscles shifted smoothly beneath his skin with each step. His feet and hands ended in webbed claws. My eyes dropped lower, and my face burned. He was naked, but nothing about him looked human. His body was smooth, and where a man’s genitals would be, there was only a hidden slit, keeping everything tucked away. His whole form looked built for strength and speed, like a creature perfectly made for the water.

Then I looked at his face and when his obsidian black eyes, devoid of any white, met mine, it felt like drowning all over again. His features were sharp, too perfect. Thin fins flared along his head, pulsing gently. Gills on his neck opened and closed, drawing in the damp air.

I couldn’t look away. Everything about him warned of danger. The algae’s glow traced his body, marking him as part of this place. He stepped toward me like he already knew my fear.

“You shouldn’t try to leave. The sun isn’t for you anymore.” The words weren’t spoken aloud. They echoed in my mind, pressing down until my skull throbbed.

I flinched, my back pressing harder against the wall. “How did you do that? You can get inside my mind?”

He smirked. “I can enter your mind... and other places too.” His tone held a hint of something else. Was he being suggestive? No. That couldn’t be right.

“What... what are you?” My voice shook. I hated how weak it sounded.

He tilted his head, those black eyes narrowing. “I am Rynar. I guard these waters... for the Abyss.”

He hesitated on that last word. A flicker of something I couldn’t place passed through his eyes. But that word, “Abyss“, rang in my mind. Since we stepped into this cursed village, it was all anyone spoke about.

“The Abyss,” I said. “What is it?”

The question made him bare his sharp teeth. “The Abyss is hunger. It’s the dark beneath the dark. The place where light dies and secrets decay. It’s everything the ocean swallows and hides, endless, vengeful, needy.” He paused, his voice lower. “It was born when the first shadows slipped beneath the waves, when life gasped for breath. It’s the pulse beneath the currents. The maw beneath the surface.”

His words hit me hard and instinctively my fingers dug into the stone wall,”Why does it need guarding?”

A cruel smile twisted his lips. “It doesn’t. The Abyss doesn’t need anything. It takes. It devours. It has no mercy. The ocean reflects it, carries its power and rage. The water is the line between your world and its hunger.”

He stepped closer, towering over me. “I guard that line. I stop your kind from taking what isn’t yours.” This time, he spoke the words aloud.

I knew he meant the algae.

“We didn’t steal anything. We were studying the algae, “ I need to explain but he cut me off with a low growl.

“You took. You always take. You strip the waters. You tear at secrets. You demand answers never meant for you.” A muscle in his jaw twitched.”The only reason your kind hasn’t drained theocean’s last breath is the Abyss. It shrouds the deep in darkness. It buries your greed in fear.”

---