Page 14 of Call of the Fathoms

Fortis drifted for a little while, allowing the sea to guide him toward the voice. Because the sea did want him to seek whoever was talking to him, even though it felt strange to wander into the unknown.

Darkness coiled around him, deeply intertwining with his gills, all his fins, even tangling in his hair and giving him a little tug when the currents wanted him to focus.

The voice was coming from close to Tau. The moment he hit the bottom of the abyss, where it was difficult for even him to breathe, he understood why he had been summoned here.

There was a tomb at the bottom of this crevice. It was buried beneath years of silt, dirt, and debris from the ocean, but he could see it clear as the first day it had been built. A monolith of carvings that were clearly etched by clawed hands. It was a depiction of a creature not unlike himself. But this male was not the same as the People of Water who lived today. His fingers were longer, with an extra joint. His face was significantly more animalistic, with a wider mouth that stretched nearly ear to ear. His fins were larger, and he was more massive than any male Fortis had ever seen. Larger even than Fortis himself.

His hair was limp and lank in the carving, as though he was not in water at all. As though he was on land.

But that wasn’t possible. Their people had come from the sea and had always come from the sea. But this creature’s tomb suggested something different, and Fortis wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

Humming low under his breath, he flicked his tail to circle the strange tomb. It was enormous, like a long coffin that had been wedged into the muck. But even then, it was unusual in shape and size. Someone had taken a great deal of effort to ensure that not only was this tomb beautiful, but that it would remain sealed for centuries. Perhaps even longer.

“Fortis,” the voice boomed in his mind. “You have finally come.”

“How do you know my name?” Fortis asked, circling the tomb. “How do you exist at the bottom of this sea?”

“I have been alive for centuries.” Whoever it was paused to take a long, rattling breath. “I am only now beginning to wake. This world is not how I remember it.”

“Many things have changed in the recent years.” Fortis paused before the front of the tomb, wondering if he was imagining that the eyes of the statue were nearly... glowing. “When was the last time you were awake?”

“Long ago. Before the storms. Before the... humans.”

Strange that this creature used the human word for themselves. His people had always called them achromos, or at least, that’s what Fortis thought. He feared this creature would upend all that they knew about their own people.

“Why did you call me?”

“I was awoken by the sea. The cities of these humans are causing far too much damage. The battles beneath the waves must stop.” Again, that rattling inhalation, as though the creature’s gills weren’t properly functioning. “You will start with Tau. You need help to bring the city down and I am the help that you will receive.”

“What help can you provide? Unless you wish for me to open your tomb?” Fortis moved to do just that, freezing when the next order was barked.

“No!”

“No?” he repeated, his claws scraping the edge of the coffin. “Do you not wish to be released?”

“It is not yet time for me to enter the sea again.” Another wheeze, another gasp, and then the creature continued. “I will remain here until the time is right. Go back to Tau. The woman you saw before, she is the key.”

“I don’t believe they’ll let me anywhere near the reborn again. But I will try if that is the current I must follow.”

The voice turned harsh and sharp. “Notthatwoman. The limp creature you stole has no purpose in this plan. The other woman, that is the one you must convince to help us.”

The big woman who smelled like the sea? That was who he was supposed to convince to help them? He wasn’t sure it was possible. She had hunted him as only a true warrior would. She would not be easily convinced. She was clearly loyal to her city, and those who ran it. Which only made all of this an even more difficult task.

“How?” he asked. “If you wish for me to do this, then you must help me more than just an order.”

“You are a depthstrider. Do your people no longer remember how to ask the sea for help?”

“I have asked the sea for help many times in my life, but never has it been so direct as it gives me the answers I seek.”

Another long pause, and he wondered if the creature in the tomb had given up on him. But then there was another long, odd sigh. “Ah, I see. She has grown fickle in her old age. Or perhaps she desires not to meddle as much as she used to. That is fine. I will tell you one secret and one secret alone, depthstrider. Use the woman’s memories against her. That is the way you will get her to help you.”

Her memories?

The light seemed to fade away from the tomb, and he wasn’t sure if that was because it had all been in his head, or if the creature had returned to its slumber. Whatever it was, he now had an answer to his questions.

Find the woman again. He supposed that would be easy enough to do.

Finding the city certainly wasn’t hard as he headed out and back to the monolith of the hidden human city. Now that he knew where Tau was, he wasn’t sure how his people hadn’t found it before. With the lights off, perhaps that was how theyhad remained hidden for so long. Long, billowing shields hid the city. At a distance, he never would have thought it was anything more than the usual dark dust that spun up at this depth.

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