Chapter 14 - The Monster

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Haji introduced Kami to his friend Caleb, who handed her a wetsuit.

Kami pulled on the wetsuit and Haji donned his. They climbed into Caleb’s boat and were taken out to sea. After about ten minutes, Caleb killed the engine. Kami strapped the flippers onto her feet and attached her weight belt. Caleb helped her attach a tank to her back, then strapped a tank on Haji’s back.

“Ready for this?” Haji asked.

Kami nodded. She breathed on her mask and rubbed it with her sleeve, then slipped it over her head and put the snorkel in her mouth. The two began their dive.

The water felt cold against her exposed hands and face, but the wet suit shielded the rest of her body. She looked up to see the green water undulating above her at the surface. She looked around. The water was dark blue and murky at first, but as the particles settled, she could see a little better. She breathed deeply into her mask and tried to relax her body. Kami swam behind Haji’s form until she came to huge chunks of stone. She reached a hand out to touch it. Her heart pounded rapidly. It was incredible to think these were the remains of what had once been the proud Pharos Lighthouse, a beacon of light, much like the library had been a hub of understanding.

She swam deeper, stopping to examine the archeological pieces strewn about the rocky and sandy sea floor. All around her were columns, pieces of statues, amphoras and other pottery, and sphinxes resting in their watery bed. Haji pointed to a stone, and she looked closely to see hieroglyphics carved in its surface. Incredible! It was like she’d stepped back in time.Light filtered onto a sphinx face, and as Kami stared at it she remembered what Haji had said about a monster. She felt a cold sensation sweep up her spine, as if she were being watched.

Kami felt something brush her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around to see Haji’s beckoning hand and pressed her hand to her heart, willing it to slow. She followed him, swimming away into deeper waters, then down to the bottom.

He crouched down and pointed to the sea floor. It was time to begin the search. She shone a flashlight downward and began to feel along the bottom, but she came up with nothing more than a handful of sand. Even worse, each time she stirred up the ocean floor, visibility became virtually impossible. The lost weapons were probably coated with centuries of sediment. Finding them seemed impossible.

If only she had a compass that would lead them to the lost weapons. At the thought, she felt a desire to check the bag at her waist. She opened it, and a glowing greenish light emitted from its depths. Her necklace! She pulled out the scarab and put it around her neck, feeling the gentle pulse of the necklace leading her, guiding her. Feeling a little nervous that the necklace might slip off, she gripped it tightly with one hand and followed.

Haji trailed her, following the glow. She swam, deeper and deeper, away from the chunks of lighthouse wall, until at last she felt the urge to stop. Here, the necklace seemed to say, look here. She settled to the surface and felt along the ground. Although the necklace was bright enough to provide some visibility, the water was too murky to see anything clearly. She moved the glowing scarab closer to the bottom.

Stop! It was if a word was screamed in her head. She froze, and focused all her mental energies on the necklace. She ran her hand through the water, feeling, feeling. Haji crouched beside her and searched as well.

Haji pulled something from the sea bed. He shook the sediment from it and examined the object. Kami moved closer for a better view. He was holding a dagger, with an intricate swirling pattern etched into the blade. The hilt was carved stone, much like the dagger Gedo had found at the digsite. The stone appeared green, but without the red spots like the stone in her scarab. She couldn’t tell if the stone was bloodstone or something else. 

As she reached out to touch it, she felt Haji’s hand clamp on her upper arm. He half pulled, half dragged her behind a boulder. She was so dazed by his action that they had traveled several feet before she thought to struggle against him. He raised a finger to the lips behind his mask, as if to shush her. What the?

He pointed, and then she saw it. A shadow creature.

Kami groaned. Really? Not even underwater could they escape them.

This must be the fabled monster of Haji’s father’s stories. The creature appeared to be nothing more than a giant blob, an undulating mass of shadow. There was something that felt different about this creature compared to the others she had seen. If Kami were to guess, the creature hadn’t been formed by the Shadow Queen. It must be a remnant of an ancient evil. The creature was about twice the size of the SUV. It stretched, and tentacles and legs began to unwind from its body. It almost seemed like a cross between an octopus and a squid. Kami and Haji crouched deeper into the shadows.

The shadow squid bobbed for a moment, then with a startling burst of speed shot out a tentacle and harpooned a large fish. It flashed silver, and flailed against the barb, sending out a cloud of reddish blood as it struggled. The fish put up a struggle for a good five minutes, then tired and trembling, it went limp.

Kami imagined what it must feel like to be skewered on a squid sish kabob and shuddered. She felt Haji’s hand dig painfully into her arm again. He was pointing at something else, something attracted to the cloud of blood.

She saw a bulky object swim past and froze. She had seen this shape before while on the beach with her friends. She couldn’t believe they were pinned between a shadow squid and a shark.

They cringed deeper into the shadows. She waited for the creature to stuff the fish into its gaping mouth, but it didn’t. It continued to wave the fish, salting the water with blood. It was then she realized the squid had never intended to eat the fish. The fish was only bait for the shark. The shark was the shadow squid’s real prey.

The sleek form of the shark circled the shadow creature warily, coming within feet of where they hid. Kami could clearly see its sharp teeth, its smooth silvery skin marred in places with battle scars. Her heart hammered in fear, and she could feel herself trembling. Kami wrapped her hand tightly around the scarab, trying to draw comfort from it.

Haji squeezed her arm again, and when she looked at him, he pointed upward. They had only retrieved one weapon, but time was up. They needed to get out of there.

They backed away slowly, keeping their eye on the shadow squid. Kami had only swam a few strokes when suddenly, she was yanked off her feet. The creature lifted her up and up, leaving her dangling upside down, her ankle held tightly by a tentacle. Panic coursed through her body as she registered her surroundings. The impaled fish was to her right. She shook her foot in frantic motions. If she could just loosen the tentacle’s hold, maybe it would release her and she could swim away. But the squid squeezed around her foot even tighter. All she could see was the flash of pointed teeth. Her heart pounded a desperate beat. Ahead, not far, was a pair of jaws unable to restrain anymore. The teeth were coming at her.

She wondered which bait the shark would choose. The fish? Or her?

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I would be very appreciative if you could hit that star and vote :)

So you may have noticed the picture of the Pharos Lighthouse in the media section. The Pharos Lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and at the top of my lift for "I SO wish I could have seen this" sites! Ptolemy authorized the building of the Pharos in 290 B.C., and when it was finished, it was the tallest building in the world other than the Great Pyramid. The lighthouse designer Sostratus was rightfully proud of his accomplishment and wanted to carve his name on the foundation. Ptolemy refused because he only wanted his name on the lighthouse, so cleverly, Sostratus chiseled the words SOSTRATUS SON OF DEXIPHANES OF KNIDOS ON BEHALF OF ALL MARINERS TO THE SAVIOR GODS, then covered them up with plaster and carved Ptolemy's name. Over the years, the plaster chipped away revealing the dedication. 

How did the world's first lighthouse end up on the floor of the Mediterranean sea? Our best guess is it was the victim of an earthquake. Anyone else a fan of lighthouses? Any ones in particular?

Dedication this time goes out to @grumpy--girl. I've been thoroughly enjoying the comments throughout The Bloodstone Prophecy. Thanks!

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