The Depthborn
1118 Words
The cliffside groaned beneath Lyra’s feet as she sprinted after Kael, the ground trembling with every pulse of the furious sea below. Moonlight shattered across the dark water, turning violent waves into silver blades. Wind whipped her hair across her face, cold and sharp, but not nearly as chilling as the force clawing at her blood.
“Kael—slow down, I can’t—”
“You have to!” he barked without turning, his grip on her hand iron-tight. “The cliff is unstable!”
As if to punctuate his words, a jagged crack ripped across the earth behind them, stone splitting open with a deafening roar. A spray of seawater exploded upward through the fissure like a geyser.
Lyra stumbled, her foot sliding on gravel. Kael whirled, catching her before she hit the ground. His arms locked around her, breath ragged, eyes wild.
“You okay?” he demanded.
“No,” she gasped. “It keeps pulling at me—Kael, it’s inside my head—”
A deep vibration hummed through her bones, through her blood, through her very breath. The ocean’s call—ancient, hungry, familiar in a way that terrified her.
Lyra clutched her skull. “Make it stop—please just—make it stop.”
Kael grabbed her face between his hands. “Lyra, look at me. Focus on my voice. Not the tide. Not the pull. Me.”
She tried.
She really tried.
But the Sleeper’s awareness brushed her mind like a cold, enormous hand. Every beat of her heart echoed its rhythm. Every breath felt borrowed from the sea.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “It knows I’m here.”
Kael cursed under his breath. “Then we move. NOW.”
He pulled her up again, and they raced along the narrow cliff path. Water surged against the rocks below with unnatural force—too high, too violent. The storm wasn’t natural. The tide wasn’t natural. None of this was.
The Sleeper stirred beneath the ocean floor.
Awake.
Aware.
Listening.
Lyra’s skin glowed again, silver-blue ribbons spiraling across her arms like bioluminescent veins.
“Kael—look—” she whispered, voice quivering.
He didn’t look. “Don’t panic.”
“I AM panicking!”
“Then panic while running!”
A massive crack boomed behind them.
Lyra looked over her shoulder—just in time to see an entire section of the cliff collapse into the raging sea.
“Oh gods…” she breathed.
Kael didn’t waste a second. He scooped her into his arms like she weighed nothing, bounding over the newly formed split in the path.
“Kael—put me down!”
“Not if you’re going to fall!”
“I wasn’t going to fall!”
“You were glowing, shaking, and walking like a newborn deer!”
Lyra smacked his shoulder weakly. “I hate you—”
“Good,” he grunted. “Stay angry. Anger keeps you grounded.”
A violent surge blasted upward from the sea, spraying them both. The water struck Lyra’s skin—and her entire body spasmed.
Her vision flashed white.
Her ears rang.
Her power surged like electricity under her skin.
“KAEL—” she choked, trembling.
He dropped to his knees, lowering her carefully to the ground as she convulsed. “Lyra—Lyra breathe—focus—don’t let it take you—”
“I can’t—my song—Kael, I’m—”
A note vibrated in her throat—a siren frequency she wasn’t trying to produce.
“No!” Kael slammed his hand over her mouth. “Don’t sing. Lyra, if you sing now—you’ll call it to you.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her whole body shook as her power raged against her skin like a creature clawing to escape.
Then—
Everything went still.
Completely still.
Even the wind froze.
Lyra’s breath hitched. “Kael…?”
He looked up.
The ocean was no longer crashing.
No longer roaring.
No longer moving.
It was standing.
A column of water rose from the shore—massive, spiraling, twisting upward like a liquid tornado. Moonlight struck it, illuminating its shape.
A humanoid figure emerged from the tide—tall, faceless, glowing faintly with bioluminescent veins like deep-sea creatures.
Lyra couldn’t breathe.
“What—what is that?” she whispered.
Kael stepped in front of her, shielding her completely. His entire body went rigid.
“It’s a Depthborn.”
“A what?”
“One of the Sleeper’s sentinels.” His voice was full of dread. “They only rise when it’s close to waking.”
The figure tilted its head toward Lyra.
She felt it penetrate straight through her skin, her blood, her bones.
Kael extended an arm. “Stay behind me.”
The Depthborn raised an arm—not to attack, but to reach. A beckoning gesture. A summoning gesture.
Lyra trembled violently. “Kael—it wants me—”
“I know.”
His voice cracked.
“I won’t let it take you.”
The creature took another step, water rippling outward in concentric rings.
Kael stepped in front of Lyra again—
And the creature stopped.
Just stopped.
Frozen mid-step.
Lyra blinked. “Kael… why did it stop?”
He didn’t answer.
“Kael?” she whispered, terrified. “Why is it looking at you like that?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched.
Then he said the words he’d never meant to speak:
“Because it recognizes something in me.”
Lyra’s blood ran cold.
“No. No, Kael—what does that mean? You told me you were wolf—”
“I am.”
“Then why—why is a creature of the Sleeper acting like you’re—”
Before he could answer, the Depthborn jerked its head toward the horizon. Its entire body vibrated like a struck tuning fork.
Kael’s face drained of color.
“Oh gods. It’s not alone.”
The sea split again.
This time deeper.
Wider.
A massive tremor shuddered through the cliff.
The Sleeper was pushing upward.
Trying to break free.
“Kael—what do we do?!”
He grabbed Lyra’s hand. “We run inland. Away from the tide.”
But the cliff beneath them cracked—splitting in a violent line that raced toward their feet.
Lyra screamed as the earth gave way.
Kael lunged, wrapping his arms around her—
“Hold on!” he shouted.
The cliff crumbled.
The sea surged upward.
Water engulfed them both.
Cold.
Dark.
Relentless.
The ocean swallowed them whole as the Depthborn dissolved into mist and the Sleeper roared beneath the waves.
- Writer
