The topic was buried as they continued to prepare the raft for their impending battle. Slightly uneased, Lucifer and Boros boarded the raft. Both thinking that their parents had gone insane.

Thalgar jumped down into the water and began to push the floating vessel out on the open sea. Once out, the offshore winds took over and they got carried far from land. Lucifer felt a creeping fear from each wave that pushed them away. Something it hadn’t felt in a long time…

“Aruuu”, it cried while it went over to William so that it could sling itself up against his leg. Only there did it feel safe.

William felt just as insecure as Lucifer. He had always thought of their hunt as dubious. But that stupid man-beast wouldn’t let it go! Even going as far as to not mention the long absence of their prey… Just how obsessed must one be to continuously work toward a goal that is suddenly missing?... It was a question he didn’t dare answer…

At the first sight of a deep shadow, Thalgar whispered, “Get a hook-thingy and prepare yourself…”. William picked up a harpoon. The rope that kept it attached to the raft, dangled uselessly beneath his arm. The arm got raised and then… *Swoosh*, the long object was sent flying toward the obscure target.

His aim was true but the figure didn’t surface. Instead, it went down into the depths, tipping the raft somewhat askew. Thalgar stared at the shadow and with a strong throw, he sent his harpoon flying as well. They waited for what felt like a decade before the creature decided to nudge back. From having its nose tipped, the raft suddenly shifted weight. With its front now being raised on top of a bulge of water.

The bulge expanded itself until an overwhelmingly huge tail rose up above them. Everything beneath it was drenched in black and multiple drops of water before it mercilessly came crashing down on their platform.

For the first time in his life, William experienced what it was like to make a silent scream.

The raft was shattered into thousands of splinters, and suddenly they were all lost at sea as their hard-earned harpoons fell to the bottom of it... Panic arose and their hope dissipated. While they all tried to get used to the freezing waters, the beast finally revealed its true visage.

To William’s horror, the creature that popped up didn’t resemble a cute whale at all as he had innocently imagined it to be, but rather a cross between a four-finned dolphin and a psychotic shark the size of a plane. It opened up its big gape and then it came hurtling toward them with the intention of gobbling them up in one serving!

William swam with his heart in his throat.

The second he reached Lucifer, he picked up the struggling creature to let it ride on his back before he continued his struggle toward land. The frightening giant quickly shifted its direction from William and Lucifer, who were way ahead, over to the biggest meal it could get: Boros.

Although Boros had been up against many powerful creatures before, its struggle to keep afloat ate at its courage. Dejected and exposed, Boros was just about to get skewered by the sea monster’s teeth, when Thalgar decided to insert himself between its massive jaws. Unlike the others who had long lost hope of winning the fight, Thalgar was unfazed by the dark odds.

He kept its mouth open as his muscles screamed for rest. But as long as he didn’t have to tap into forbidden reserves, he could keep up the fight.

Boros took the opportunity to flee while Thalgar got dragged down by their target.

In the deep depths, he managed to slip out of its trap and onto its slippery head. There he tried to punch his way into its brains, but the heavy liquid around him only allowed for open sores to appear. The great beast began to understand who it was dealing with. Thus it sought refuge further down... Thalgar followed along, even though his ears and lungs were about to explode.

Since things wouldn’t go his way, he begrudgingly dug out one of its enormous eyes. His fist was ready to deliver yet another attack when the ancient sea-dweller had had enough. Like an eel, it slipped away into the dimmest of oceanic floors. Leaving behind it a rather frustrated Thalgar and a trail of transparent blood.

On the shore was William, gasping for his life. He knew since long ago that he had bitten off more than he could chew. But sometimes one has to face the consequences before they realize the mistake that they made.

He was sure that once Thalgar resurfaced from the nightmare that he would agree to never hunt something so crazy again. But of course, it didn’t play out like that. Thalgar did come back alive and with bleeding shoulders from his jaw-breaking intervention, but to him, the hunt was far from over.

As soon as his body exited the salty froth he made his way toward the nearest forest with the objective of building another raft.

William helplessly watched him march away. Ashamed at himself for being so quick to abandon the cause, but then again furious that Thalgar would pursue it. With or without him...

“Thalgar!”, he shouted after the fearless warrior.

The man turned around on the spot, now ready to listen, “Are you out to build yet another raft?... But why?... You saw it, right? I was helpless out there and so too was Boros and Lucifer… Just please… Give up on it… It was never meant to be toppled by creatures like us……….. Alternatively, we should head south and find another-”.

“It shall die...”, Thalgar gloomily stated as he interrupted William, “-And it shall be by my hands”, he added with white-knuckled fists before he left the others.

WinterFairy

If you are reading this? Thanks! I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your interest in this story. That's all. ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ