Delta 6 (The Pack)

Chapter 40

Warnings: Blood, Character death

~Mitch's P.O.V~

     The solid wall of frigidness sucks my breath away as I dive into the water, instantly chilled to the bone. My mouth gapes open at the impact, precious bubbles of air popping out and breaking on the choppy surface of the ocean. I recover from my shock, swimming out of the way as Jerome, Lachlan, Vikk, and Rob all dive in after me, creating flurries of air bubbles under the water. It's pitch black down here, the only light coming from the thousands of red eyes deeper out in the ocean, my wings which are literally made of light, and the warm glow of Preston's skin as he stands by the waters edge, waving goodbye. He then quickly retreats into the dirt hut, followed by Silver.

     Feeling a pressure building up beneath my ribs, I quickly pop the cap off a water breathing potion, downing the royal blue liquid. Instantly there's an itch at the side of my neck as gills push their way to the surface, and my lungs fill with air. I then follow up with a night vision potion, and suddenly the underwater world becomes clear. Seaweed floats lazily all about, creating massive kelp forests as far as the eye can see. As the ground dips lower and lower the underwater plants become sparse, and sand and dirt gives way to gravel. A few squids jet by here and there, a turtle glides around in the East, and a few brightly coloured fish dart by my face. It would almost seem peaceful if it weren't for the armies of drowned patrolling the ocean depths and swarms of guardians shielding the ocean monument.

     Although diamond is quite heavy, we all wear full sets of diamond armour and carry diamond weapons, and by some magic it feels no heavier than our regular clothing, if a bit bulky. I draw two diamond swords, latching them to either side of my hips. Jerome slings his diamond axe across his back, Lachlan carries the trident that nearly skewered Preston, and Vikk swims off to retrieve the second trident the now dead drowned was carrying. Rob of course opts to use his magic, however he carries a diamond sword just in case. I am delighted to find that my wings are not affected by the water at all, and I can use them to almost 'fly' under the water, swimming much faster than my friends.

Jerome, having the best sight of us all, takes the lead. He raises a finger to his lips, making a shushing motion, and then waves us on. This is a stealth mission. We all nod to snow him we understand and he flashes a smile, drawing his axe, and propelling himself into the seaweed. Vikk tails along at his heels, followed by Lachlan and Rob. I bring up the rear, flapping my wings under the water to create extra momentum. A drowned stalks out of a cluster of dense kelp and I drive my sword through it's rotting neck, sending up a cloud of sickly red blood. I'm back behind Rob before any of them notice I left.

We continue on swimming deeper and deeper, staying in the kelp as long as we can for cover, only encountering a few guardians and drowned on the way. We deal with them swiftly and quietly. But as the kelp thins out and we're forced to traverse open waters, my wings actually prove to be quite annoying, their light attracting any guardians or drowned in a 100 block radius. Jerome tries to lead us behind as many gravel mounds and shipwrecks as he can, but my wings still stick out like a sore thumb and as we get closer to the ocean monument, mobs start flocking towards us in startling amounts. So much for a stealth mission. I think, dodging a laser beam from a guardian by circling around a pillar of gravel and then piercing its eyes and brain with my sword. A drowned hurls a trident at my wings but it simply phases right through, instead killing a guardian circling behind me. I do an underwater barrel roll, slicing clean through the drowned and using the blood cloud as cover to down a fifth water breathing and night vision potion. These potions should really last longer.

     The ocean monument looms before us now, cool sea lantern light rivalling that of my wings. And with it a fresh siege of drowned and guardians. I grunt as a guardian slams into me from the side, one of its bright orange spikes piercing through my armour and into my leg. Blood spills out of the wound as I reel away, using one sword to chop off its tail and then following with the second to stab it in the side. Rob floats over and presses his hand to my leg, instantly healing it. I nod in gratitude, kicking away and bulldozing through a cluster of drowned.