'A teor shower?' The blood in his veins cooled off, ti seemingly starting to freeze.
One teor, one single teor had caused a mushroom cloud higher than a hundred ters, and the shockwave was enough to blow Luna off.
If one single rock of death can cause such devastation, then what about dozens of them?
Even the option of running — or in this case flying — away seed hopeless. Even with Luna's incredible flying speed, she wouldn't be able to create enough of a distance, taking them to a safe place.
"What about going up?" he muttered, gaze lifting upwards, searching for any kind of hope no matter how trivial. Yet even this option would end in their demise. The higher they climbed, the harder it was for them to breathe, and this was not even taking into account the deadly smoke that would be emitted high in the atmosphere in devastating volus once the teors collided with the waves of the ocean.
They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the two were getting closer, trying to squash them into bloody paste.
Before he could fall into a state of panic, he felt a light nudge on his shoulder.
Still hyper-alert, he spun his head quickly, seeing Vera.
"Do you have an idea?" he asked, a small spark returning to his eyes.
"I do," she answered plainly, "But you will not like it."
"Whatever it is, I don't care! How do we survive this?!"
With a sigh, she simply pointed down, making Zaroth grimace.
'It's true. When we are deep underwater, the shockwaves of the teors will not reach us… however, what if there is sothing worse waiting below?' He thought.
He still rembered the weird jellyfish that had co from nowhere. If creatures such as this were close to the surface, then what kind of horrors beyond mortal comprehension could be waiting down below?
He tightened his jaw, making his decision. 'Going deep underwater might kill us, while staying here will kill us. Potential death is much better than a certain one,' He reasoned, plan starting to form in his head.
The night sky shifted color again. The orange glow that had beco a grim on of incoming doom was even worse now — intensified by the presence of not one teor, but dozens.
Giant waves, born from the impact, were still hurtling toward them, ready to swallow everything in their path.
Zaroth didn't have ti to think. He had even less ti to plan. 'How does one survive underwater... without air?'
"I hope this works!" with a flick of his finger, he summoned the serpent. Not wanting to waste even a second more than necessary, he scooped up Vera in a princess carry and jumped upon the beast's body.
Luna, sensing what he wanted to do, opened her maw and let out an inferno, before being dismissed, allowing him to save as much mana as he could.
The inferno flew toward them until Zaroth used fire control and made it move following his will.
In seconds, the fire ford a do of fla around them. He held Vera tightly. A paradox, really — using fire, which consus oxygen, to trap it. But he didn't have ti to perfect the theory.
"Go down!" he barked, eyes glowing with power as he pushed his fire control to the limit. He commanded the flas to hold back the water, yet spare the oxygen within
ROOOAAAAAARRR
Letting out a mighty roar, the serpent obeyed, its body entering the deep underwater, going downwards with full speed.
Using the green flas that Luna had created to keep the water out and the air in was both a blessing and a curse.
While the do would keep them alive, it would also give off a light — creating so sort of beacon. Where they were going was deadly dark, after all.
The potential for them to be attacked was very high, yet Zaroth wasn't able to focus on that fact.
His mana core felt like it was about to burst. It wasn't because he was supporting the serpent — it was the fire.
Using fire to block water while preserving air felt unnatural. The fire needed fuel to function, not to ntion that it was going against its primal enemy — the water.
So the flas turned to the only other energy source they could find — his mana.
'How are they taking so much?!' He cursed, his knees buckling like a mountain had been settled on his shoulders.
Vera would have stepped out from his grasp by this point, but the way the walls of the do began to shrink, giving out to the deep waters, made her not want to risk it.
'Master, you okay?'
While the do was keeping both Vera and Zaroth safe from the cold water and keeping the oxygen in, it ant they were essentially blind. All they were seeing was the firewalls.
This ant the only one knowing what was happening outside was the summoned serpent going downwards full force.
"Do you see anything?" Zaroth asked between ragged breaths. At the mont, it was easier to speak than to communicate with their ntal connection.
'No, the ocean's bottom is nowhere in sight,' The serpent relayed.
'This is bad,' He thought. The more they were in the middle of the ocean, the more likely to be attacked by a sea creature that is proficient in hunting in the deep waters. If that were to happen, there was a high chance Zaroth would lose control over the flas and drown.
"Can I take control?" Vera asked, referring to the serpent.
Zaroth simply nodded. She was an oracle — if soone knew how to get them out of this situation alive, she was the one.
"Change your course," she spoke directly towards the serpent. "Go five knots to the right."
The serpent flared its nostrils. In normal circumstances, it would not take orders from anybody besides its master, but the man had his hands full keeping the fire do burning, so the serpent was going to overlook things just this once.
It changed its course according to her instructions.
"Now to the left."
It didn't take long for her next command, her voice steady and relaxed. Even in a situation like this, she didn't seem even the slightest bit worried.
"Stop."
"Full speed downwards."
"Stop."
"Right."
One after another, Vera gave instructions and the serpent obeyed at a mont's notice. It was clear she was directing them sowhere while keeping any potential foes away, so the beast didn't complain.
Thanks to Vera's command and the serpent's relentless speed, they descended kiloters in a matter of minutes. By now, there wasn't a single trace of light left.
'I see the bottom!' The serpent felt a subtle change in the surrounding currents, a sign that the ocean floor was near, and relayed the ssage to its master without delay.
A small smile crept upon Zaroth's red face. He was drenched in sweat. The do had gone significantly smaller. Before, its walls were about five ters away from him; Now, barely half a ter remained. The air was about to run out.
And if things couldn't get any worse, the ocean's bottom began to tremble.
The teor shower had begun to assault the ocean's waters.
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