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The shadow began to wrap around them, consuming them. From Kayla’s perspective it was a large, slightly omniscient blob, but from an outsider’s perspective the shadow had become a cone with a large base. The narrow end pointing down, the cone cut through the air, speed slowly increasing until contact was made. A large splash erupted from the water as dozens of gallons of water were displaced. The collision put little strain on either of the pair as the peak cut through the surface with ease. As the cone dove deeper and deeper, the water’s resistance to be moved gradually slowed it down, preventing a deadly crash on the sea floor in the process. Surprisingly, Kayla found she could breathe as they descended. It appeared as though the shadow has absorbed the oxygen from the air. Its intelligence scared her, even if it was Derrin’s subconscious according to the Dark Lord. For the first time, she realized she could still see Derrin. She turned her head in his direction and made an effort to discern anything about his condition. Worry grew as she gave up, unable to discern anything from his hazy form.

A soft thud came from below and a startled Kayla began to assess the situation. They were on the bottom of the sea with a limited supply of air. This supply was even more unreliable because of Derrin’s fragile state. Derrin’s efforts to save them seemed fruitless in the end. The collision with the water above hadn’t killed them, but the lack of oxygen soon would. She began to look around desperately for anything to save them. She could hardly see because of the depth, and despite her greatest efforts could see nothing but sand and seaweed through the shadow. Slowly, a dark blip appeared to her right. A weak hope filled her heart. The chance of this being a way to the surface was slim to none, but at least it was something.

She struggled over to Derrin through the thicker-than-water shadow, and found his eyes still struggling to stay open. She pointed to the dark spot that was growing with every second, and Derrin squinted in the general direction. He shrugged slowly, unable to make out anything. She nodded, and waited for the thing to come to them. She struggled to suppress the panic slowly growing inside her: the shadow could run out of air at any moment or burst even before that. As the shadow grew closer, Derrin began to see it, and his eyes lit up as he recognized its importance. The size began to increase more rapidly, until suddenly it was as big as a small boat. Colors began to be distinguishable, and Kayla desperately strived to figure out what it was. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized it finally and all hope emptied from her heart: it was a giant shark. The shark was now approaching at an incredible speed, cutting through the water like it was air. It shot past them, and began to circle its prey. Derrin struggled to move, much to Kayla’s surprise, and after a few seconds produced a throwing star. Shakily, he reached back and summoned all his remaining strength. His arm flung forward as his hand released; the result was less than uplifting. The star spun forward lazily, barely making it out of the shadow before coming to a twirling halt: all seemed lost.

The shark seemed to grow bored of waiting, and without warning made a sharp turn towards them, starvation gleaming in its eyes. The two stared on helplessly while the shark closed in, jaws separated. As the shark grew within fifteen feet of them, two blurs shot towards the shark from above them. The struck the shark directly on the nose, and it veered right in surprise, blood floated into the water surrounding the shark as Kayla the pair stared at the things that had damaged the shark: stars. A boy descended from above with an unnatural aquatic swiftness, stopping right beside the shadow. On his head was a dome, and his body was clothed in tight, dark apparel. In a flash the boy had sent two more stars into the shark’s gigantic fin, and it slowly retreated. Making sure that the shark was gone for good, the boy floated for a moment before gliding effortlessly into the shadow.

“I’m not going to bother asking how you got down here; we don’t have time. We’ve got to be gone in five minutes before the other sharks in the area that smelt blood arrive. That one’s not even hurt that seriously, but the others will finish it off. Take these oxygen masks, they’ll provide oxygen for about ten minutes each.” The boy reached into a pouch on his leg and pulled out six small, translucent balls. “Just give them a hard squeeze and they’ll expand into the size of mine.” When Kayla gave him a confused look, he explained further, “Concentrated oxygen.”

She nodded, “Derrin’s in no shape to swim. . .”

“I’m fine,” he said, cutting her off. “Don’t worry about me, protect Kayla,” then quietly, so that only she could hear, “since I can’t.” She looked at him, surprised at his alertness, and then smiled. She squeezed her mask, and after it expanded, placed it on her face with Derrin following suit. The sensation was like anything they’d felt before. The mask felt like a gel, but it was as light as air. With that, the boy took off with Derrin and Kayla behind him.

I’ve got much planned for this boy, he’s going to be a fun character xD
As a side note to those not from the US and thus not familiar with our weird measurement system, 1 gallon = 3.785 liters.
Anyways, I’m back from being sick! I can’t promise an early blog tomorrow because I’ve got a humongous project that I’m working on, but there will be one. Click the button if you liked it and rate out of ten if you want to.