Page 24 of Whispers of the Deep
The undine made a sound like something of a hum, and when she looked back at him he gestured at the fish. Making a strange grabbing motion with his hands, she assumed he wanted her to trade the fish back to him.
“Sure bud,” she muttered, kicking it in his direction. “I’ll figure out how to get my own.”
And then, to her complete and utter shock, he didn’t swim away with it. Instead, he pulled himself halfway out of the water. And boy, he was massive. So big that outside of the water, he looked like the monster he was. Lean and long, his muscles rippled as he dragged the fish a little closer, balancing with his hip bones against the rock, before he then sliced the fish’s belly open with his claws.
She’d never guessed her life would take this weird twist. This massive creature was... cleaning the fish out for her.
He swirled the body in the water every now and then, and she could see organs and blood soaking through the waves. It made her a little nauseous to watch, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away from him.
The undine who kidnapped her was trying to... feed her?
“Right,” she muttered to herself, working on pulling the welder apart. “This is normal. Just another afternoon spent with my undine friend while he prepares dinner and I work on some lost trash that he apparently thinks is a gift. Nothing to see here at all.”
He looked at her, flicking those black eyes in her direction. She had no idea how she knew he was looking at her, but the sensation of his gaze was like a physical touch along her arms and legs.
Looking down at her suit, she set one of the welder pieces on top of a stone with the others. “Yeah, I know. I’m gonna have to figure this suit out so it can dry or it’ll rot right into my skin. There’s gotta be something in those crates to cover myself with if it survived.”
The undine finished with the fish, then laid it on the stones and slipped back into the water. Every movement was eerily and disturbingly graceful.
“Thanks,” she muttered, looking at the fish and then back at the creature, who moved like he intended to leave again.
She couldn’t let him go. Panic made her heart thunder in her chest again. She’d be alone in here. Completely and utterly alone, hundreds of feet below the surface, and what was she supposed to do? One fish wasn’t enough! What about water? Light? Energy? Heat?
“Wait!” she shouted, lunging for the water as he started to disappear.
At least he came back up at her shout. His brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
What would keep him here? Maybe communication? Obviously, he’d kidnapped her for a reason. Maybe the creature had a little crush, she had no idea. All she could think to do was tap herself on the chest three times.
“Mira,” she said, tapping again. “My name is Mira.”
He watched her, and she swore he understood what she was trying to say, before he sank into the depths. She watched his tail flick through the golden light, then disappear.
Ten
Arges
He had an achromo in a cave, and he had no idea what to do with her.
Arges had tried going back to his people. Mitéra had made it very clear that she had no intention of allowing him back unless he had figured out new, useful information about the achromos. Unfortunately, he had not. It was almost impossible to communicate with the creature in the cave.
He’d gone back once, but she’d been curled up on a disgusting wooden crate in the back. He’d not been certain what she was doing, but she didn’t stir when he popped his head up to look at her. Arges could only assume that meant she was asleep.
His people slept little, but he had observed the achromos resting often. They would sleep for hours on end, sometimes even longer than the moon was in the sky. He’d watched them for what felt like forever before realizing that they would remain in that helpless state far longer than was safe.
This one was apparently the same. He usually slept floating next to his siblings, but only a few hours at a time. His people watched out for each other while they rested, although sometimes his body could even swim while he was asleep.
the achromos, however, clearly needed more rest.
He’d frowned at her and then sank beneath the waves again. What was he supposed to do while she was catatonic? His Mitéra wouldn’t let him return to his people without information. He couldn’t talk to this achromo, even though she clearly tried to communicate with him.
Arges realized that his patience was drawing a little too thin, and he needed to get control over himself. He’d be too rough with her, and that wouldn’t help either of their situations. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had to sit and wait for her to wake.
So he did. He coiled his tail around one of the larger glowing flowers, hidden underneath its massive petals as he waited for his achromo to join the land of the living again. Perhaps he even dozed himself for a time. Just floating there, comfortable and at peace, even though he shouldn’t have been able to relax. Not around her.
Though, in this quiet space between reality and dreams, he could admit that she set his mind at ease. This strange achromo had seen him at his worst and she hadn’t even flinched. There was not an ounce of fear in this creature, and he supposed that was something honorable.
Disgusting, yes. But honorable, just the same.
