Echoes of the Deep

The Impossible

Chapter 1

Episode 8

The Impossible.

The wind howled through the secluded cove. For several long seconds... No one moved. Nikolai lay on the damp sand, breathing hard as his eyes remained fixed on the impossible being standing only a few feet away. Long black hair dripped with seawater. A crimson veil concealed the lower half of his face.

His massive black serpent tail curled behind him, leaving a trail through the wet sand. One hand rested on the shaft of a bone trident.

His crimson eyes never left Nikolai. Nikolai's heart pounded so loudly he could hear it. "I..." His voice trembled. "I don't understand what I'm looking at..." His breathing became quicker. "A... a monster?!"

"N-No!" Naeven immediately stepped between them. "This is Vaesryn! He's not a monster! He's really kind!"

Nikolai stared at him in disbelief. "Kind?! Look at him! He just knocked me flat on my back!"

Naeven sighed. "You grabbed me. He thought you were attacking me." Before Nikolai could answer, Vaesryn quietly tilted his head.

His crimson eyes studied Nikolai with an expression that was almost... Curious. Then, in a slow voice, he spoke. "...Vincent." Nikolai froze. Vaesryn looked toward Naeven. "...Vivenne." The names echoed softly through the cove. Nikolai's expression changed completely. His fear momentarily gave way to confusion. "W-What...?" He slowly looked back at Vaesryn. "You... You know Vincent? And Vivenne?" Vaesryn blinked. He seemed to recognize the emotion in Nikolai's voice... But not the words. Nikolai instinctively took a step forward. "How do you know those names?"

Naeven gently caught his arm. "Nikolai. He doesn't understand us." Nikolai looked at him. "What? When I met him... He only ever said his own name. I don't think he speaks our language." Nikolai looked back toward Vaesryn. "...Then what even is he?" He swallowed. "A... A mermaid?" Naeven shook his head. "A merman. I looked it up after I met him. There wasn't much information. Mostly old folklore. Stories. Myths." Nikolai slowly rubbed his forehead. He laughed once. A nervous laugh. "So... Merfolk are real." Naeven nodded. "I think so." Nikolai looked back toward the ocean. Then back toward Vaesryn. "If merfolk exist..." His expression hardened. "Are they the ones killing people?" Naeven immediately shook his head. "No. Vaesryn saved me." He pointed toward the sea. "Something else attacked me. Gray skin. Long claws. Black eyes. It tried dragging me underwater. Vaesryn killed it."

Nikolai listened quietly. "I think..." Naeven continued. "I think there are different kinds of creatures. And..." He glanced toward Vaesryn. "I think he fights them. I don't know why. But I know he isn't one of them."

Silence settled over the cove.

Nikolai slowly climbed back to his feet. His legs still felt weak. He kept several steps between himself and Vaesryn. Never taking his eyes off him. "...That thing..." He pointed nervously. "...Looks terrifying. I don't understand how you're standing next to it." Naeven smiled faintly. "We're friends." Nikolai stared at him. "...Friends?"

"Yes. He's actually really nice."

Nikolai threw both hands into the air. "IT DOESN'T EVEN SPEAK!"

Naeven couldn't help smiling. "He doesn't have to."

"What?"

"I don't know... I just..." Nikolai looked toward Vaesryn. "...Trust him." Vaesryn quietly watched the conversation unfold.

He understood almost nothing. But he understood enough to realize the two humans were arguing. His crimson eyes shifted between them. Watching. Listening. Trying to make sense of unfamiliar sounds. Naeven looked back at Nikolai. "...Are you going to report him?" Nikolai blinked. "What?"

"Vaesryn. Are you going to tell somebody?" Naeven's voice became quieter. "If people find out... They'll capture him. They'll experiment on him. They'll probably lock him away forever."

Nikolai fell silent. He looked at Vaesryn. Then toward the endless ocean beyond the cove. He imagined television crews. Scientists.

Military ships. Cages. Needles. Questions. Then he remembered the bodies. The gray creature Naeven had described. The stories on the news. He slowly exhaled. "...No." Naeven looked up hopefully. "No?" Nikolai shook his head. "If he's really fighting those things... If he's protecting people... Then why would I take away the only thing standing between us and whatever's out there?"

Naeven let out a long breath of relief. "Thank goodness..." For the first time since arriving, Vaesryn sensed the tension fade. After a brief hesitation, he looked at Nikolai. Slowly... He pointed to himself. "Vaesryn." Then he pointed toward Nikolai. "...Nikolai."

Nikolai's eyes widened. "He... He said my name."

Naeven smiled. "I think.. He's trying to introduce himself." For a long moment, Nikolai simply stared. Everything he'd believed about the world had been overturned in a matter of minutes. Monsters existed. Merfolk existed. And somehow... One of them knew the names of two people who had supposedly died three years ago.

The questions only continued to grow. As the evening tide rolled into the cove, the three unlikely companions stood together in uneasy silence, each wondering what would happen next.