The hammer suddenly grew heavier, and it dragged Tailfin beneath the surface. Below, it shone a soft white glow from the head, lighting his path as it pulled him down.
The tailsharks began thrashing all around him, their pace quickening until hundreds of the sharks were circling rapidly, creating a vortex in the ocean, their skin shining in the light of the hammer.
Down and down he was dragged, the pressure mounting as he reached unknown depths, accompanied only by the frenzied sharks and the darkness surrounding them. Still the hammer pulled, and still he sank.
His strength waned, with the water pressing so hard against him he felt as though his body would collapse and be crushed into a hundred pieces, small enough to be snacks for the anchovies to enjoy. Still the hammer dragged him down; still the tailsharks thrashed around him, guiding him to the depths.
Finally the hammer struck ground, and he turned himself over and put his feet in the soft sand. Even the glow of the hammer was barely enough to pierce the darkness of the water at that depth. The shadows of tailsharks danced around him, until suddenly they ceased their circling.
A gap opened in the wall of sharks, and a shape waded gradually through. It looked something like a person, two arms and two legs, walking along the ocean floor. Tailfin strained to see the creature approaching, but the sand had been churned up by the sharks, and the dim light was not enough to see anything more than the dim outline of the figure.
It came closer to him, slowly drifting through the water. Tailfin realised all the sharks had stopped moving. They were watching as the figure approached.
An arm reached forward tentatively, hesitated, then touched Tailfin, gently feeling his face, his cheeks, his nose, his chin. The apparition retracted its arm, and remained still for a long moment. All of a sudden, the sharks began thrashing again, and the figure vanished in the chaos.
A powerful vortex formed quickly, spinning Tailfin, and sucking him into the torrent, pulling him away from the sea bed. Up, up he raced, beyond his control. Soon he burst through the surface, a few feet away from the ship.
"You alright, Tailfin?" yelled Madrik.
Tailfin glanced around him. The sharks had quietened down, though they were still circling him. He searched for any sign of the figure he'd seen at the bottom, but there was nothing there.
"Yes," he shouted back. "I'm okay."
"Dammit," said Madrik. "I thought maybe the tailsharks had actually eaten you this time."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Madrik," he laughed, "just throw me a bloody rope."
They pulled him up on deck, and gave him less than half a moment to recover from the dive.
"Well?"
Tailfin shook his head. It wasn't a 'no', but it wasn't a 'yes'. In fact, he didn't know what the hell it was.
"I saw... something."
"You saw Him," said Discreet.
Tailfin looked around, helpless once more.
"Perhaps, but still no mainland. Now what?"
The ship suddenly lurched forward as if taken by the breeze, but the sails remained slack, unperturbed by any wind. The crew ran to the bow, trying to see where they were going. The sharks were still circling, a larger circle now, all the way around the ship, which continued to gain speed, churning the water with huge waves carved in its wake.
"Where are we going?" yelled a sailor.
"To the mainland!" yelled another.
Kyrnrie eyed Tailfin as if to ask him if it were true, but Tailfin could only shake his head in return, knowing nothing more than anyone else.
They all watched ahead, searching for something to appear on the horizon. A mainland, preferably. But as time passed, so did the endless ocean. Still, they watched in eager anticipation. They had little choice; the ship was moving beyond their control.
"We'll be there shortly," said a calm voice beside Tailfin.
He turned to discover a man standing there, one he didn't recognise. He was unremarkable: not tall, not short. He wasn't well built, but neither was he weak. His face was plain, his hair short yet unkempt. He appeared... mundane, for such a powerful god.
"You're Him?" asked Tailfin, already knowing the answer. "The one who caused all this... this..."
"It's Him," hissed Discreet, dropping to his knees. "Forgive us, oh great one. We meant no disrespect. We only wanted to find the mainland... to return to our own home."
Deklow nervously dropped to a knee beside him, but the ancient god appeared to ignore them, turning back to Tailfin, and showing a gentle smile.
"I am 'Him'," he acknowledged. "Unendricke Trysirakkero Brykfenryk is my name."
"Aah, I suppose that is why no one calls you by your name."
The god nodded towards the two gods kneeling before him.
"No one dares to use my name lest I might be angered."
"You have a short temper, do you?"
The god chuckled.
"They are afraid of my power, not my temper."
Tailfin gazed forward beyond the bow of the ship; there was still no sign of the mainland, nothing but open ocean. He looked back at the god, and noticed The Scribe was standing beside him, calmly recording their exchange on his parchment.
"Get up, fools," he said to the grovelling gods. "Enough time has passed now. I will reveal the mainland."
There was a commotion up ahead, shouting.
"There it is," someone yelled.
"No, that's not it," called another. "That's Littleren, the Godstone. That's Renryre Island."
A collective sigh of disappointment spread across the deck as the ship passed by Littleren, and continued up the south-west coast of Renryre Island.
"You're taking us home," asked Tailfin.
"I'm taking you to the mainland. It's just across the channel from Helen's Bay, remember."
"But... how?"
"I am the god of the sea, Tailfin. The endless ocean is my domain. Every wave and every ripple is under my command. The fish in the shallows, the monsters in the deep. The very sea breeze obeys my command."
"But you are not the god of the mainland."
"No," he acknowledged, "but what is the mainland if not but another island floating in my ocean? I moved it, Tailfin, to a safe distance. Then I controlled the sea, the currents, the winds, making sure that not a single ship could ever reach its shores, nor leave it, no matter how good the navigator."
"Thousands of families were sundered when the mainland vanished," said Tailfin. "And countless lives were lost in forty years of searching the seas. I've watched it, all my life. I've felt it. I've done my very best to protect Renryre Island, to keep it from falling apart after what you did. The damage to the lives of those living on the island has been immeasurable. Why cause such pain?"
The god of the sea walked towards the stern of the ship. He pointed towards Renryre Island, the green coastline, Rordynne Forest to the south, Helen's Bay north, and the line of mountains behind. It was a beautiful sight.
"You think the damage was done to Renryre Island?" he asked. "You are mistaken. Not only did I hide the mainland from Renryre Island, but I hid the island from the mainland. You thought you have been protecting them all this time, Tailfin, but you are mistaken. It was I who was protecting them. It was I who cared enough about Renryre Island to save it."
"Save it? Save it from what?"
The god of the sea looked at the two gods standing meekly on the deck.
"You didn't tell them about the war?"
Discreet hung his head, and Deklow beside.
"I wanted to tell them," whispered the innkeeper under his breath. "I wanted to."
Tailfin looked back at the god of the sea, waiting for more.
"The path to return to the skies lies on the mainland. A war broke out between the gods, control of the path the prize. But too many factions emerged, and before long, they began enslaving humans into their service. Into their war. A blight was set upon the mainland, powerful enough to kill humans and gods alike. The three demon-goddesses cared little for the innocents caught up in the war, and I was left with no choice but to act."
Tailfin turned to Discreet. He wanted to hit him, and to kick him once he was down. He felt the anger boiling up.
"You knew about this?" he yelled. "But you wanted to go home. You risked the lives of all those on Renryre Island in your own personal quest. What if the war was still going on? What if the blight spilled over to Helen's Bay the instant you found the mainland? Do you even care?"
"I knew the war would be over," he protested. "It must be. And the blight would have died years ago. It fed on..."
Arynlock put a hand on Tailfin's shoulder, and Kyrnrie stepped in between the angered crime lord and the cowering god of time. Tailfin was furious; everything he'd fought to protect, this god would have undone for his own personal gain. Even if Discreet did truly believe the danger had passed, Tailfin could not forgive the reckless selfish act.
Suddenly, he felt the ship scraping on sand. In the commotion the crew hadn't noticed their approach. Tailfin looked towards the bow, to the expanse of land stretching in either direction. It was green, lush, beautiful. Cautiously, he made his way to the bow and looked at the sand below.
Irikhart was the first to leap overboard, landing on his feet in the sand. He turned around and gazed at the rest of them still waiting on board.
"I believe I have found your missing mainland," he said, waving his arms around as if he was worried that nobody else had seen it.
Tailfin jumped over, landing on the beach. He heard people dropping around him as he plunged his hands into the sand. He lifted his right hand, watched the grains slipping through his fingers.
He glanced around him, seeing his companions all watching him, almost too nervous to smile in case the mainland vanished again. It was Kyrnrie who broke the silence.
"We found it," he said, arms open as his grin burst. "We found the godsdamned mainland!"
A chorus of cheers broke through the crowd as people began dancing around.
"We found it!" yelled Merilyce as she leapt into Kyrnrie's arms, the two of them toppling and rolling over in inappropriate celebratory behaviour.
Tailfin stood up again, taking a few steps along the beach, almost disbelieving what had transpired. He was aware of the god standing next to him as he looked up beyond the beach. There was a city that lay in ruins. As far as he could tell, there was no one there.
"Did anyone survive?" he asked.
"No one," said the god, his tone betraying a hint of sadness.
"You really did save Renryre Island," said Tailfin, suddenly appreciating the very thing that had plagued them for forty years.
"I did my part to protect it from the world and the wars outside," acknowledged the god as he turned to Tailfin. "But I didn't protect it from itself. It seems... I left it in good hands."