Sacrifice Ch. 07

The others on board ignored her for the most part, and let her stand and stare. She listened with only one ear to their movements behind her.

After who knows how long, and when she could no longer see movement on the other ship, she decided it was perhaps time to give up her watch. The chill in the air worried her, if only for the baby's sake. And she was so tired.

But then something caught her attention. Something in the water, near the other ship. Or rather something about the waves...they seemed...oddly circular, as if emitting from a particular spot. She stared, leaning in and narrowing her eyes, hoping to make something out, and noticed the water seemed troubled...more than troubled. The spot she was watching seemed to burble and heave, sending out larger and larger rings.

Calliope opened her mouth to call out, but found she had no voice, nor will to move.

Instead she stared in horror and gripped the ship's rail as the strange bubbling exploded upward. Something tall and dark flew up out of the water. It shone in the moon light, massive and writhing, snake like, then came down just as quickly, smashing into the other ship.

The men around her were shouting...some in fear, some giving orders, but it was all a din of chaos in her ears and it whirled around her almost unnoticed.

She felt the scream in her throat as it lodged there, choking off her air, making her gasp just to breathe. Her legs wobbled and she gripped the rail harder, her nails biting into the smooth wood.

"Demitri..." It came out as the faintest whisper. She couldn't find air, she couldn't breathe. And then it came, in a sudden rush, filling her lungs. "Demitri!" she cried out, her eyes already burning and already half blind with tears.

Her next cry came out as a strangled gasp and she fell back from the ships edge as something even larger rose from the water before her, a broad, fringed head, with huge shining black eyes. She realized as it rose over the ship, its huge head casting a shadow over the deck, that the thing which had smashed the other ship must only be its tail.

The chaos on deck surged and she was knocked down as the men around her fled the sight...some below deck, some into the sea itself.

She lay there, staring up at it, unable to do anything else. It opened its mouth, revealing two rows of narrow teeth, each as long as a spear. Her stomach clenched and she managed a soft whimper of fear, but for that she remained silently frozen. She closed her eyes and waited.

"Shit!" Her eyes blinked open and her head turned toward the source of the curse. "That son of a bitch!" It was Phineas. He was moving toward the rail, he began shouting something in a language she didn't recognize. He didn't seem afraid...but rather...furious. He pounded the deck several times with his foot, and she realized after a moment, the boards beneath her seemed to vibrate strangely and felt almost...warm. She pulled her hands from it, then scrambled to her feet.

He seemed to notice her then. "Get back!" He shouted again, waving an arm at her. His eyes glowed. She only managed to take a step or two away when the serpentine monster struck out toward them. She screamed and stumbled and Phineas whipped back to face the creature, raising his arms and crying out in that unfamiliar language once more.

A massive wave rose up, crashing against the ship. Calliope grabbed the nearest solid thing and hung on for dear life as the water rushed over the deck.

Through the spray she could see Phineas still clinging to the rail, still shouting as another wave broke. It took her a moment to realize it, but they were moving away from the the other ship, far away and fast. They were moving away from the serpent creature as well. But it followed.

She frowned and squinted. Oh gods...it was following...and it was a second creature, there were two of them, Demitri was still in danger!

She cast about for a rope and when she found one, gripped it tight as she raised herself to her feet, and used it to pull herself a little closer to Phineas. She didn't get very far, but was close enough to see his face. Her stomach fell as the expression of fury and determination slowly slipped from his features and was replaced with shock.

She thought she heard him whisper, "It's not his..." But the rest was drowned out by the crash of another wave against the ship. This time he too stumbled back as a terrific crack rung out. She looked toward the sound just in time to see the top half of the mast break free and fly into the sea, propelled there by the serpent's whipping tail.

She cowered as the splinters of wood rained down on the deck, and cringed as another thunderous crack rung out to her left. The ship lurched, and she with it, causing the rope to be jarred from her hands. She slid across the tilting deck and slammed shoulder first into the rails, and this...this might have been fine if the ship hadn't lurched again, this time throwing her bodily into the air.

For a moment time stopped, and the world turned upside down...she was breathless, suspended...and then it all crashed down on her in a flood of frigid water and sharp pain.

Her back arched and she would have cried out in pain if the water hadn't already swallowed her up. She grit her teeth and fought the shock of the icy water as her back and chest seized.

Frantic, she twisted, struggling to find the surface. She broke it with a harsh gasp, only to be sucked back again by the turbulent waters.

She struggled, kicking futilely as the currents seemed to drag her under. Above her, around her, the sea roared...the beast roared, screamed, in fury or pain, she couldn't tell...but the air rung with its cries.

She broke once more, gasping a final breath before giving over to the silent deep.

She blinked, her eyes seeing little more than watery black as she searched for something, anything to hold on to. There was nothing but murky shapes looming in greater darkness.

The darkness seemed to move before her, as if alive, as if reaching out to consume her as she drifted deeper.

The darkness shifted again, dense and close...then peeled back to reveal a huge red light in front of her...two red lights...like beacons...like eyes.

She screamed, foolishly loosing her air.

Something caught around her waist...and then she was rushing to the surface. She sucked in painful gulps of air before looking confusedly for her savior, for the rope or arms that had pulled her from the water...

There were no arms. Rather, there were scaled fingers...and claws, as thick around as a strong man's arm, and they encompassed her waist. She stared in horror and confusion until a huge head rose from the deep beside her. It was not the head of the great serpent with its shining black eyes...but it was just as terrifying... perhaps more terrifying.

She felt suddenly numb, and started stupidly up at the thing in dread and wonder.

It was like nothing she'd ever seen, but she knew from tales and myths what it was. A dragon. The red lights really were its eyes, she realized as she watched the water cascade from the silver-grey scales of its massive head. It rose from the sea slowly, emerging silently from the dark sea like some primordial god.

Two great horns, gleaming like dark copper, rose from its head...and most terrifying of all were the rows of thick fangs lining the length of its long, powerful looking jaws. As it rose higher, she could see the long, heavy neck was covered in rough looking scales and the top and sides ridged with jagged spurs of bone and dangerous looking spines which, she imagined, no doubt ran the length of its body.

Their use was demonstrated for her almost immediately as the huge, black-eyed serpent reared from the water beside them with an unearthly scream of fury. It closed its mouth over the dragon's neck, only to find the flesh unyielding, and its mouth filled with the huge spikes. The dragon reared as well, its bellow of rage easily obscuring her own screams of terror.

The great beast twisted and dug the claws of its free hand into the serpent's sides, holding it still so that it could return the favor.

The crushing jaws came down hard on the much softer flesh of the serpents throat, making the thing scream and thrash violently, wrapping its long body around its adversary as if to crush it in its coils. She cowered, waiting to be crushed herself in the grip of the claws that still held her, or else be tossed once more into the sea.

The great silver head twisted and tore away from the snake, leaving a gaping hole from which gulped great clots of gore and blood, blood that stained the dragon's mouth and scales, then tinted the water around them. The dragon made another terrible sound and shook the creatures winding body as it continued to writhe in its final spasms, refusing to the last to release it desperate hold on the great silver beast.

She found herself pulled under again as they struggled, and finally thought to fight the grip that held her...but it released her on its own and she found herself propelled upward. Determined, she swam up and away, gasping gratefully as she reached the surface.

She was exhausted but free...and the water seemed strangely calm now and rolled beneath her, buoying her up, rather than crashing in waves over her head.

She trembled and gasped, her eyes searching the water around her for some sign of what had become of the two giants, terrified that any moment she would be crushed or drown beneath their thrashing weight. But there was nothing. Nothing but the outline of the broken ship being swallowed by the sea, and the cries of men in the darkness.

The titanic monster that had captured her was gone...as was the serpent...

She took a deep breath and ducked her head beneath the waves, squinting into the dark salt water. There...away, and below...a mass of darkness, long, though not serpentine, its body thickening in the middle, with powerful limbs...clawed she knew. It tapered to a thick tail which thrashed, appearing and disappearing in the shadows of the deep. It gripped something, something longer and thinner than itself, their bodies twisting violently together...and another, a third...

Calliope shuddered and felt her lungs burn for want of air.

She pulled back, taking several more deep breathes. When she looked again, she could see nothing. As hard as she tried and as long as she gazed, all she saw was darkness.

She gave up, coming back for air, and rubbing and saltwater from her eyes. She nearly drowned herself with another scream of fright as she looked up to find the massive head of the silvery-grey beast hovering over her, maybe a dozen feet away. She would have drowned in the half-faint which followed if something beneath her hadn't kept her above the surface. A dazed glance to her side revealed the tips of claws and she guessed she was in its hand once more.

If she wasn't so completely exhausted, she might have thrown up out of sheer terror. Certainly a wave of hot, dizzying nausea came over her as she gaped up at the terrible sight.

But she didn't even have the energy to try begging for her life, even if it mattered, and certainly none at all to try to escape. She stared up at the monster with a numbing, dull certainty that it would be the last thing she ever saw.

She felt hot wetness on her checks which had nothing to do with sea water and wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if somehow that gesture could protect the precious thing within from its fate.

That thought gave her one final, if futile, burst of energy. "Please..." she whispered, then coughed to clear her raw throat. "Please...let me go. Don't kill me..." She called out, babbling stupidly. "Please I...It'd do you no good to keep me, I'm not worth anything, and...I...I'm sure I don't taste very good...please just let me go, please!" She fell silent, her jaw working to speak words her mind couldn't produce. It stared back silently.

Why was he staring at her? Why wasn't she already dead? What in all the circles of Hades was going on?!?

The claws closed around her and she whimpered and clenched her eyes shut.

But still, she was alive. Inexplicably still alive. Her eyes fluttered slowly open and she realized they were moving and had approached the ship...the remains of the ship. There was a figure...sitting cross legged on a floating bit of...something.

She squinted and realized it was Phineas.

She frowned when she saw that not only was he not frightened of the thing approaching him, he looked down right relieved.

She stared and gaped. He smiled. "I thought it might have been Triton at first, and thought to control them and turn the things away...but it wasn't him. It was someone else. They were already being compelled and I couldn't compete with it without preparation. I'll be honest, it felt a lot like Callea...but there's no way to be sure. I was sure there was something 'Hecate' like about that magic though. Not that this is very helpful."

She frowned thinking he was speaking to her, and was not sure what to say since he said it all so casually, as if there wasn't a massive creature bobbing in front of him with a mouth full of crushing fangs and hands full of claws. That is until the creature spoke and she understood it was to him that Phineas had spoken, not her.

It also startled the life out of her. Not that any but her could hear her frightened squeak over the booming sound of its voice.

It didn't seem to be speaking loudly, but it was so giant a creature that every word was a thunderous growl. "I guessed as much. Normally they would have scattered when I arrived, or when I told them to go. When they attacked instead...." he snorted. "They're simple creatures, but not that foolish." He seemed to stretch his long heck, rising higher out of the sea, creating little waves which lapped about the edge of the makeshift raft with even his slightest movements.

She blinked up at the beast in amazement, a new thought occurring to her. Hadn't Phineas said something about the "Favorites" being dragons? Perhaps this was simply another brother of Thelios...and a rather imposing one at that.

That was a rather happy thought actually. She dearly hoped it was so.

The beast finally released her, setting her down carefully next to Phineas on what seemed to be a remnant portion of the battered ship. She couldn't help but shudder as she spilled from his scaled fingers, watching as those glittering, sword length claws passed just inches from her skin.

"There are lands near here, to the east. Take her to shore and wait. There are more coming, I can hear them. I suspect in the mean time Callea is using this as cover to escape. If I return to find her gone I will have my answer."

Calliope let out a deep sigh of relief. He was...he was helping them, he was on their side. Perhaps Thelios had gone for help. Thank heavens for that!

Phineas nodded. "I'll watch her, I know about where we are, so it shouldn't be hard to find safety."

The big head cocked. "Good. And don't let anything happen to her or Callea and Triton will be the least of your worries." He added in a deep growl and with a terrifyingly descriptive flash of claws. The same claws that had previously been wrapped around her. The thought caused a second, much stronger shiver to run up her spine and left the rest of her trembling.

Phineas only smiled tiredly. "I know. I won't."

Calliope frowned and looked between the looming monster and Phineas, feeling rather confused and more than a little uncomfortable. That feeling was exacerbated when the head tilted in her direction, looking down at her over his long scaled, snout. He still dripped water, and the scales shone like dark silver in the moon light.

He stared at her, long and hard, his fiery eyes pinning her to the spot, draining her of will and breath until she felt she would simply melt away beneath their weight. When he spoke it was in a low, almost soft rumble. Like distant thunder. "And woman...don't lie. It doesn't become you. It never has."

Those words...that stare...she sucked her breath in hard. He reared back slowly, his head tipping on an odd angle, as if eying her askance.

She gaped and watched as the massive, horned head turned away, casting a final glance in their direction, and as those red...glowing...eyes...disappeared...

The creature slipped into the darkness as the black waters closed over him, swallowing him and leaving no trace but the gentle lapping of disturbed waters over the edge of their makeshift raft.

She came back to herself as if suddenly shaken awake and her mind reeled. "No!" She gasped, looking in shock at Phineas.

He cocked a brow in her general direction. "No, what?"

She continued to gape and pointed at the place where the dragon had slipped back into the water. "Th-th-that wasn't..." she shook her head and scrambled to her knees, tipping her face over the edge of the staring into the water. Nothing stared back. "It can't be." She whispered.

She felt a cautious hand grope for her shoulder, pulling her away from the edge. "Calliope?" She turned to him and looked into his frowning, milky blue eyes. "Don't worry. He'll be alright. They really are only a distraction to him. They can't do any real damage, as I'm sure you must have seen. Not to him, not like that anyway. As long as he keeps to the seas he's in no real danger. Just like I said before."

"No danger." She repeated softly, looking away over the night black waters. "He's Thelios, isn't he?" Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears. Distant.

"Ah." She looked back to him. There was understanding in his tone, "You didn't know. Bit of a shock I guess." He added gesturing to the still waters. She nodded, forgetting he couldn't see the movement, and looked out around them, noticing that they were no longer floating among the wreckage or the clinging bodies strewn over it it...in fact they were moving away from it at a fairly quick pace.

"How are we moving?" She wondered out loud.

"I'm moving us."

"Oh." She stared at the open waters. She was having trouble holding onto her thoughts. She was also feeling strangely numb again. Perhaps it was just the cold. She was soaked through.

"Calliope, are you going to be ok?"

"I...I'm...I'm just cold, but I'll be fine." She finally answered, knowing full well that wasn't what he was asking.

She turned away, back toward the dark, empty waters.

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Dear Readers,

I'm not sure if I've offered you anything that can make up for the long wait with this chapter, but I hope it was at least somewhat entertaining and satisfying for you.

It's an unfortunate fact that my work keeps me rather busy and unable to give this story the time or energy it needs, but nonetheless I figure something is better than nothing, and late better than never.

This was written for all of you who have waited so patiently and who have been so supportive.

It's also written for those who would like to string me up by my ears, but have yet remained to read more.

While I have mixed feelings about the work, I can only hope that you, at least, are pleased with it, whichever camp you're from.

Yours very sincerely,

Uncle P.