Dominant Species
Issue #11
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter 13
Underwater World
Derrick feels a hand on his head as he starts to wake up. He
squints his eyes and sees the face of a pretty woman looking at him. "Where am
I?" he says as he struggles to move. "Don't move, you are hurt." she says as she
rubs her hand across his head. He slowly lifts himself up and notices that he is
on the shore. As he looks around he sees a whole city before him. Actually, he
sees the top of a city. The entire city is submerged under water and only the
tops of the buildings are sticking up. All around are mermen and mermaids,
swimming around and having fun. He looks down the shore and sees his comrades,
all laying there unconscious. "Did we all make it?" he asks as he notices that
he is the only one moving. "Yes, they are all alive. But they are all hurt from
the fall." Derrick rubs his head as he remembers the fall. He looks up and sees
the giant waterfall that leads right into the city. It is at least a few hundred
feet high. "Did we fall all the way down?" he asks as he looks at how high it
is. She smiles and says "If you fell all the way, you would be dead. The rocks
would have killed you. Then as he looks closer, he sees a series of nets that
are hanging across the waterfalls. The first one is about fifty feet down. "The
nets saved us?" he asks the girl who is in the water with only her head and
waist sticking out. "Yeah, we put them there to catch fish and other animals.
You are the first humans we ever caught. Wonder how we should cook you?" Derrick
gets a scared look on his face as he says "Cook us?" She laughs as he replies "I
am teasing you. We eat fish, not people." She then goes underwater for a few
seconds and pops back up. "Sorry about that, but we are not air breathers." As
Derrick looks closer, he can see small gills on her neck. They open and close as
they try to breath the air. "I always thought mermaids could breath air."
Derrick asks. She smiles at him with her large blue eyes and long blonde hair.
"There are mermaids that are air breathers, but they share a body with a dolphin
instead of fish." Derrick thinks about that for a few minutes. He does not
remember there being different versions of mermaids in the game, Into the
Catacombs. He will have to ask Scott when he comes to as he remembers all the
creatures in the game.
One by one, the men all start waking up. While none of them
are seriously hurt, they are sore. A fifty foot drop into a net can cause some
bruising. A few of the men have cuts from where the net dug into their arms.
Derrick is now standing and walking over and helping each of them up. Bearslayer
is the next one to wake up. He is amazed when he looks out at the large city
submerged in water. "Where are we?" he asks Derrick. One of the mermaids yells
out "You are in the Big Easy!" Bearslayer is confused by the strange name.
Derrick helps him out as he tells him "The Big Easy was a nickname for a city
called New Orleans in my time. This must be the remnants of the city." The chief
overhears them as he slowly rises. "A city completely underwater. Makes sense
that it's New Orleans." One of the mermaids jumps in "There are many cities
under water, all over the world. We found that it is easier to take over an
abandoned city and then just rebuild it than to start new." Eightdigit and
Howlingmad are now both up as well. Scott is the last one to wake up. When he
sees where they are, he gets excited. "This is so cool!" he says as he looks out
at the rows of buildings sticking out of the water. While it looks like a sunken
city, there are numerous changes. Many of the buildings now have rocks on the
roof as well as plants growing out of them. They almost look like small islands
with trees and plants growing on top of the buildings. There are numerous birds
that have made the rooftops their home. . There also is no glass in the
buildings as it has long been removed. And many of the buildings are just shells
of steel and concrete as the facades have worn off.
The mermaids all go back underwater to catch their breaths.
Within a seconds, they all pop back up. Derrick looks at the others and says
"They are water breathers." The rest of the team nods in acknowledgement. Scott
then says "We have to go down and see their city. Is that all right?" The
mermaids laugh. A red haired one then says "How can you go down there silly? You
are an air breather." Scott smiles and says "I have a breathe water spell I can
throw on us." Derrick thinks for a second and says "Yeah that is a spell you
would know. And if I'm not mistaken, it is a low level spell, so your spell
should last for a long time." Scott starts counting on his fingers. "If I am not
mistaken, we should be able to stay underwater for at least ten hours." The
chief looks at them and says "Are you sure about that? Last thing I want to do
is go underwater and find out the spell runs out when were are at the bottom."
Scott thinks for a second and says "Why don't we just go down for a few hours
and then if everything goes well, we can go longer tomorrow." The mermaids all
start jumping with excitement. "Surface men in our city, that is awesome." Scott
then gathers everyone together and he thinks about the spell. He then chants
some words and out comes what looks like a bubble. It then goes over each person
and slowly absorbs into their skin. The men all look at each other, wondering if
it worked. Scott then runs over and jumps into the water. He goes under and
opens his mouth and finds that he can indeed breath water. He then heads to the
surface and says "It works great! Come on down!" The rest of the men all run
over and jump into the water and soon they are all swimming under the water and
breathing fine. The mermaids all come over and grab each one by the hand and
pull them down below.
Under the water, the men find a whole new world. As they swim
among the buildings, they see that many of the merfolk have taken up residences
in the different buildings. They look and see whole families that are fixing the
buildings by replacing stone and using a concrete like substance to fill between
the rocks to make walls. Others are making nets or weapons like spears. They
also see various fish swimming around including rays and dolphins. The smaller
fish are skittish and dart as soon as they come near them. Many of them hide in
the different plants that grow along the buildings. Down towards the bottom, the
buildings have become a coral reef. The buildings that are not occupied by
merfolk are covered in coral and a cascade of colorful plants and animals. There
are thousands of fish, shrimp, crabs and other sea creatures swimming in and out
of the buildings. The men are just amazed by all the life and how peaceful it
is.
As Derrick looks at his mermaid, he cannot help but be amazed
at how gracefully she swims. Gentle strokes of her large fish tail is all it
takes for her to glide through the water. She moves so rapidly and so
effortlessly that he cannot help but be amazed. He also is enchanted by her
beauty. The soft features, the long flowing hair and angelic face. All the
mermaids are beautiful. As she looks over at him, he hears some thoughts in his
head. "So you think I'm pretty?" He is stunned at first as he has never heard a
voice in his head, other than his own. "What is that?" he thinks as he looks at
her. She turns to look at him and smiles "Underwater, we communicate through our
thoughts. I can read your thoughts and can send my thoughts to you. So you
really think I'm pretty?" This is all new to Derrick but he tries it. He thinks
"Yes, I think you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." She
smiles at him and squeezes his hand. "Thank you, that is very sweet."
After much traveling, they finally come to their destination.
The mermaids swim towards the Superdome, which is now just one more submerged
building. As they swim through the front, there are numerous other merfolk
swimming around the gigantic building. "What is here?" Derrick thinks as they go
into the stadium. "We are bringing you to meet Poseidon, our king." she thinks
as they go deep into the building. As they come out into what was the playing
field, they find it is well lit. As they look up, they see what looks like a
giant glowing ball. The ball floats at the top and emits light that fills the
stadium. On the field is a row of statues that make a path to a large throne. On
the giant throne is a enormous merman. He looks to be over ten feet tall with a
long white beard and long flowing white hair. His face is aged but shows allot
of wisdom. His large eyes are dark and piercing. He holds a giant triton in his
hand and his fish body looks to be made of shark as opposed to regular fish for
the mermaids. "Who are these surface dwellers and what are they doing here?" His
thoughts invade everyone's mind, including all the men. With the exception of
Derrick, it is the first experience with telepathy for these guys and it is not
a pleasant one. They all look at the girls who let them know what is going on.
Derrick's mermaid lets loose of his hand and swims over. "Daddy, these men fell
from the waterfall and we saved them." He rises from his throne and pounds his
trident on the ground. "What tribute did they bring?" he screams into their
heads. The girls all look at each other and say "They come bearing no tribute.
But if you demand tribute, let us know what you want and they can get it for
you." He quickly swims over and looks at the men. His speed and size are
intimidating and the men feel fear. Even though they have encountered dragons
and giant spiders, they are still in awe at this majestic king. "What business
do they have with me and how do they stay underwater so long?" Derrick, the only
one who understands the telepathy answers "We came seeking information, King
Poseidon." He moves over towards Derrick and looks at him. "So you understand
our mind talk. I am impressed human. But what information could you want from
me?" Derrick looks back into the eyes of the powerful man and is impressed at
how imposing he is. Even being invincible, Derrick still fears Poseidon. "I am
looking for my friends. There was four of us, I have found one friend. We are
all invincible. We cannot be hurt or killed. Have you heard of such a person?"
Poseidon laughs as he lifts his trident and it starts to glow. "You cannot be
hurt? I could easily smite you with my trident, little man." His daughter swims
over and goes between them. "Daddy, don't even think about it." She uses her
body to shield him from her father and his trident. Derrick moves her aside and
says "Trust me, I cannot be hurt. Go ahead King Poseidon, do your worst."
Poseidon laughs and says "You must be touched in the head to ask to die. I give
you one last chance to walk away." Derrick keeps his hand on the mermaid and
holds her back. "You cannot hurt me. I will make a deal with you. If you can
hurt me, my friends will bring you whatever tribute you wish from the surface.
If you cannot hurt me, then you must give me any information that may lead me to
my friends." The King laughs even harder. "You are a brave soul to want to
negotiate with me. I will accept your challenge, but it will be you who regrets
it." He then raises his trident, which glows brightly. "Prepare to die foolish
human." he says as he plunges the trident into Derrick. He strikes with great
force and there is a loud clash as the trident smashes into Derrick's chest. The
power of the blow knocks Derrick back and he is pinned to the ground by the
trident. Poseidon pushes on the trident as he tries to impale him. Derrick looks
up at him and smiles. "Is that the best you can do?" This angers the king and he
pulls the trident back and stabs him again with it. Still no effect. He looks at
the weapon, hoping to find some flaw, but finds none. He tries a third time but
the results are the same.
As Poseidon pulls the trident away for good, Derrick rises
from the floor of the stadium and looks at the astonished king. "I told you that
I cannot be harmed." The king bows to him as he says "What manner of sorcery
allows you to escape injury?" Derrick smiles at him and says "It is a long
story." The king then taps his trident on the ground with a thunderous sound
that echoes through the stadium. Within seconds, three mermen swim in and say
"What is it my liege?" He looks at them and says "Prepare a feast for our
guests."
Being underwater, one would think the food would be raw. But
even the merfolk have learned how to cook underwater. On the outskirts of the
city are a series of small volcanic fissures. The heat that rises from these
fissures is more than adequate to cook the fish and make it quite delicious. The
merfolk also have learned of different plants that they can wrap the fish in to
aid in the cooking process. As the group sits around the table, they are treated
to a feast of lobster, sea bass, crab, shrimp and some strange plants that
almost resemble a cucumber. The food is all delicious. They do find that you
need to eat the food quickly because as soon as you unwrap it from the plants
that hold the heat in, the food quickly goes cold. This is part of the reason
that each course is a single item. The first course is the appetizer of cooked
shrimp. It is then followed by crab. The cucumber like vegetable is next and the
final course is the lobster. There is more than enough for all the men.
As the men leave the table, the chief speaks to the king. "We
must return to the surface. We do not know how long we have before we cannot
breathe underwater anymore." The king nods and responds "Will you return
tomorrow? I have much to talk about." The chief smiles as he in turn responds
"Yes, we will return. Is there any food from the surface you would like us to
bring?" The king smiles as he thinks about the food that he would love to have.
"How I long for roast pig. And grapes. I so long to make wine once more, but
there are no plants underwater that we can make wine from." The chief goes over
and bows before the king and says "We will do our best to bring you back a pig
and some grapes." With that, they part ways as the mermaids once again grab them
by the arm and lead them back to the surface. Once they reach the surface, they
slowly climb out and once again they start breathing air. And similar to what
happened to Derrick earlier, they all find that they overtaken with fits of
coughing as they expel the water from their lungs. There is some pain but it is
worth it to explore the Big Easy. The mermaids all say goodbye before they
disappear into the water.
Dominant Species © 2006 - 2008 Tom Zjaba