He held onto me and wouldn’t let go, kicking his legs so we floated there, somewhere beneath the surface of a limitless ocean on an alien world.
I took a little more oxygen from him and finally, he let go. He ran a thumb over my mouth and smiled at me.
He was gorgeous even down here, I realized. And all fear and all panic fled my body. I was calm and at ease.
We would get to the surface. He would make sure of it.
He nodded up, at our waterworld ceiling.
I kicked and swam toward that bright shimmering ball of light and glanced back, making sure he was following me. I wouldn’t put it past the fool man to give me every drop of oxygen he possessed.
He was there, right beside me, winding his body the way professional swimmers did, looking more like a dolphin than a humanoid creature.
I burst through the surface and gasped a huge lungful of sweet oxygen. I leaned back and wiped the water from my eyes.
“We can’t stay here,” Nighteko said. “We have to get to shore.”
And with that, he began to swim away.
There was no way I could swim. I was exhausted. I decided to tread water for a while and get my breath back. Just how dangerous could it be?
Nighteko paused and turned back to check on me. “Come on!”
“I can’t!” I panted. “I need to recover!”
“There are some dangerous animals in the water. If we don’t get out soon, we’re going to be something’s lunch.”
I groaned and moved my aching muscles, willing them to get me to shore. My legs lacked coordination and my arms couldn’t complete the movement I needed.
“Work damn you!” I ordered.
I forced my muscles to move. They protested but I didn’t care. It was better to swim in water than in the belly juices of some alien creature.
My muscles burned and I gritted my teeth against the pain. My lungs wheezed around every breath but I kept going. I reached Nighteko and, knowing I would sink if I came to a stop, I kept on going.
He swam alongside me. One kick of his legs and swipe of his arms equated to two of mine.
With each overarm crawl of my right arm, I thought I saw something. A fin. Several of them, forming a V formation like a flock of birds. And behind it, a reverse-V of another set of fins.
“Uh… Nighteko?” I said, timing my words to coincide with each crawl. “There are… some fins… coming… this way.”
Nighteko moved forward to peer at the creature. “Those aren’t fins. Swim faster!”
Swim faster? He was lucky I was swimming at all!
They sure looked like fins to me… Until the reverse-V formation leaped out of the sea and arched over to snap on top of the first formation. He was right. They weren’t fins.
They were teeth in the jaws of a giant beast.
And it was heading straight for us.
Crap!
My heart thumped so hard and fast it sounded like a drumroll.
And then it doubled.
Across the way, another giant creature snapped its jaws shut like the first.
It doesn’t matter about them, I told myself.
I have to focus on my performance. A man can outrun a horse if he applies the right strategy…
But these things aren’t horses. They’re… I had no idea. Demons sent from the furnace of hell.
I glanced ahead at the shore. It raced up, drawing closer and closer…
But would we reach it soon enough?
“Shit!” Nighteko said.
“What?” I said.
“We’re not going to make it! Dive!”
Dive?
“Dive!” he repeated.
He raised both arms above the surface and shifted his body weight so he dived beneath the surface.
I performed the same motion and followed him beneath the waves. The water stung my eyes but I didn’t care. I peered around for Nighteko but saw him nowhere.
Something grabbed my arm and I expelled precious oxygen.
It was Nighteko.
He wrapped my arms around his neck and then kicked, taking us deeper into the darkness. The pressure built up on my ears before he straightened up and swam forward.
I cast around, looking for the creatures chasing us.
Where are they?
It was terrifying to think they were out there… Somewhere. Unseen. Unheard…
Desperate to consume our flesh.
Then, I saw it.
Five yards to the right. Now it was underwater, I could see how big it really was. Blue whales had nothing on this thing. It had deep grooves along its body like the scars of a fire victim. It had no eyes so far as I could tell, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t see us.
It headed right for us.
I grabbed Nighteko’s hair and yanked, pointing down. We need to head deeper, I was trying to tell him.
He changed direction and took us deeper.
The creature passed no more than a yard above my head. It displaced the water, sending a rolling underwater wave, knocking us off course.
Nighteko kept on swimming and I marveled at how he could hold his breath, swim, and carry me all at the same time.
The guy was a god.
He worked his muscles hard as he began to rise back up again. We breached the surface. I was surprised to find we were on the beach.
“Run!” Nighteko gasped.
“But we’re out of the water,” I said.
“Run!”
We took off up the beach, heading directly away from the shoreline. I had no idea why we were running. The creature was stuck in the water. I hadn’t noticed any legs earlier. I glanced over my shoulder.
Oh.
The creature threw itself bodily from the water, beaching itself. It brought its huge jaws around and snapped at us. I could have leaped forward, hoping the extra inches would give me the distance I needed, but I didn’t. I just kept on running.
There was an enormous crash as the creature’s jaws slammed shut, like banging the door on an empty steel container.
I didn’t stop, didn’t look back, not until Nighteko slumped to the sand on his hands and knees.
The powerful Titan was exhausted.
I rolled onto my back and perched on my elbows as my body fought to replenish its oxygen
