Chapter 10 (Out Cold)

The coldness of the water was almost unbearable. Each second Gabriel spent underwater seemed like an eternity of dying. His head was throbbing as the icy cold seeped into his ears, and wrangled his brain until he almost cried out in pain. He thrashed his legs violently, and then his arms, begging to be free of the water and finally get the sweet sensation of air into his lungs again. After a few fruitless attempts he finally broke the surface.
He looked around him wildly, but saw nothing. It was dark, and the only thing he could see around him for miles was the plain black of the sky, pressed against the darkness of the water. The boat was capsized behind him, but he couldn’t help but notice a large gash that had penetrated the side of it. He gasped for breath as a small wave hit him in the face, and shivered as he felt the coldness creeping in on him. His clothes were heavy and dragging him down and he was nearly exhausted with trying to tread water.
Something floated in front of his face, and he made a quick grab for it, hoping it would be something to keep him afloat. He felt the slick cherry wood, and knew what it was instantly. He took the staff and held it close to his chest.
“Gabriel!” someone cried out of the darkness.
“I’m right here!” Gabriel screamed, his voice was sounding childish and scared. The continuous rocking of the waves did not help either.
“Whatever you do don’t move!” He saw Eoin’s figure swim out from the shadows. His hair was slicked down but miraculously his cloak seemed dry, even though it was submerged almost completely in water. Abigail was treading water close behind, followed by a rather irritated Gretchen.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked, trying to get the statement out without chattering his teeth.”
“It’s a sea creature,” Eoin explained, “I don’t know anything about this one, but from what I can tell right now, it has a knack for flipping boats, and has way too many tentacles to count.”
“That sounds very nice!” Abigail shouted sarcastically.
“I’ll take it on by myself to get out of this water.” Gretchen stated, as a matter of factly.
“Sure you would.” Abigail replied.
“Wait,” Gabriel interrupted, “If that thing tipped our boat. Where is it right now?”
The entire party was silent for a moment. As if this question was something they had not considered yet, and the very idea that it my come back seemed preposterous.
“I think it retreated down into the water…”Eoin said unsurely.
“That’s great,” Gretchen retorted, “Now all we have to- Ah!” and she was gone.
It happened almost in an instant. One moment she was there, and the next her head was pulled under water in a quick tug.
“Gretchen!” Gabriel screamed, “What happened?” he said turning to Eoin.
“Looks like it got her. Pity.” Abigail said unphased, but almost as soon as she said this, Gabriel heard a yelp, and she was gone as well.
“Damnit.” Eoin said. He was looking pale, even in the darkness. Gabriel could barely see his face, but he picked up the distinct scent of worry.
“Abigail!” Gabriel screamed. He dunked his head underneath the water and tried to open his eyes, only to have the salt in the water sting his eyes mercilessly. He brought his head out and wiped his eyes and saw that Eoin was gone too. The waters were moving and Gabriel was alone now. He was frightened, and each moment was a feeling of perpetual horror. He felt almost relieved when he felt the cool tentacle wrap itself around his ankle and dragged him underneath the water.
He couldn’t breath at first. The water was making its way through his open mouth and descending into his lungs. He thrashed around, horrified at the feeling of the tentacle wrapped around his ankle. He tried hitting it off with the end of the staff, and winced in pain as he knocked his own leg hard. He felt his leg grow warm, and was surprised as he felt the entire warm sensation spread through his body. Calm washed over him, and suddenly he was not afraid of the monster that lay before him. He found he didn’t even have to breath now. Every second underwater seemed almost natural.
He opened his eyes, and felt the water wash up against them, unharmed by the salt in the water. The tentacle pulled him further underneath and he sat back and let it. It dragged him for nearly a mile, though he wasn’t upset by the change of pressure. A school of neon fish darted by, escaping from a shark the size of a boat. He tried taking a breath and realized that not only did he not have to breath when he went underwater, but he could breath the water if he wanted to. He smiled as he felt the water turn into fresh air in his lungs almost instantly. He tried this a few more times before he finally saw where the creature was pulling him.
A cavern was at the sea floor. It was dark inside, but the outside was illuminated with a hundred glowing plants, each one swaying in the underwater current. The outside of the cave was littered with the bones and the skeletons of sharks, and whales, each one of them, to clueless as to the workings of the sea creature. He felt a ting fear again as he was dragged into the mouth of the cave. He hit the sea floor, and watched the sand fly into a cloud and gaped in horror as he entered the main chamber of the cave.
There it was, in all of its massive bulk. Each roll fell onto the other as if they were magnificently carved that way. It’s pinkish tint, and its bubbly features almost made Gabriel to believe that what was before him was actually a giant sponge, but retracted the statement as he saw a slit, that formed in the center, grow and open to reveal a set of glistening teeth against bright red gums. Gabriel almost thought he caught a glimpse of two eyes underneath s pair of rolls, but decided that it was just his imagination.
Gabriel struggled as the tentacle brought him closer, unable to get free. He could feel the beasts breath against his face, and recoiled as he heard it groan in terror. The tentacle quickly unwrapped from his ankle, and Gabriel felt himself, for the first time, free. He started to swim, and cracked a smile as he saw Abigail floating in the water, her hand in her pack, and the water thick with pixie dust. The sea creature, for the first time, showed all of his tentacles at once, and used them to wipe at his face in a terrified panic. Gabriel thought he could even see the monsters skin crack and boil.
Hello there Gabriel. The voice was in his head, but it sounded somewhat familiar.
Who is this?
The only other person in this room beside, Abigail, and Gretchen. The voice sounded bored. Gabriel scanned the room quickly and saw Eoin sitting on a rock, with Gretchen sitting next to him. The water around his was wavering, and seemed as if they were wrapped in a giant bubble.
Why aren’t you over here helping? He swam backwards to avoid a flailing tentacle.
Well unlike you and that pixie over there, Neither Gretchen nor I can breath under water. I made a force field to keep the water out and us in.. I don’t quite understand how you’re managing to breathe down here, but I’m sure that you will tell me later.
Gabriel had been just about to tell Eoin that he didn’t have a clue about how he was doing it, and was just about to ask if he could join in on the force field when he was caught full in the stomach by the one of the stomachs tentacle. He clutched his sides, realizing that his face must be contorted with pure agony. He curled into a ball, and let himself float freely for a moment. He heard as the monster made some fruitless attempts to break through Eoin’s force field, and finally uncurled him self as the pain subsided.
He saw Abigail darting through the water, using her wings as propellers, dodging tentacles, and avoid the razor teeth of the monster. She threw out some pixie dust her and there, but most of it was caught in the water, and floated away harmlessly. Gabriel felt the staff burn hot, and felt as if the staff was actually talking to him. He felt as he did back in the woods, and didn’t know why, but he some how knew what was coming next. The water started to boil around the staff, and he willed it to move forward and fell in disbelief as the fire sizzled and burned out as it hit the water.
The monster made another swipe at him, which he dodged quickly.
All four elements are the same, though they can be manipulated in some way.
Eoin? Gabriel asked in his mind, but he received no answer. Just as quickly the staff turned cold. It became almost intolerable, and Gabriel felt as if he would drop it if it became any colder. The water suddenly seemed foggy, and even the monster had taken a notice, and had stopped swiping at Abigail and was now facing its massive bulk towards him.
Water can become ice. He heard it again, but realized this time, that it was not Eoin talking to him.
He saw a glowing blue liquid start to emit from the staff. The creature noticed it to, because it set all of its tentacles at him at once, each one pointed into a razor tip, ready to break through anything that crossed their paths. Gabriel watched the blue liquid move forward slowly from the staff, and was nearly on the verge of peeing in his pants when the liquid met the tentacles mid way. The first look on the creatures face was shock, the next was confusion as each of his tentacles turned blue. Then it emitted a sound of pure anguish as the blue continued to make its way from the tentacles to its body.
Gabriel watched as the blue had found its way across the monster’s body, and spread out like a fan. He heard the wails it made that echoed off the cavern walls, and the heard them stop as its body went rigid. A rock fell from the ceiling, and hit on of the tentacles, snapping it off as if it were just a twig, and that was when Gabriel realized that the sea creature was frozen dead.
Abigail was floating just above the creature, staring at it oddly, and then turning her gaze to Gabriel. He looked over at Eoin and Gretchen, and found that they too were eyeing him curiously. He had just been about to say something to them all as he heard a creak. The frozen mass of hulk was tipping backwards. Abigail rushed behind, trying to keep it from falling, but was not strong enough. The body hit the ground with a tremendous force, causing the body to shatter, and causing a underwater wave.
Gabriel waved his arms, as the force of the water carried him through a small tunnel in the wall he hadn’t seen before. He felt his clothes rip, and cried out as his arms caught along the edges of the sharpened boulders of the narrow passage. He heard the staff scraping along the rocky floor, and held it close to his chest, keeping it from all harm, taking all of the pain for himself. He had been tumbling through the tunnel, propelled by the water for what seemed like an eternity, until everything stopped, and the only thing he felt under him was the cool sensation of wet sand.
He opened his eyes hesitantly, afraid that he was just dreaming, and was still hurtling through the tunnel.