It wasn't his first time being pursued by a hungry orca.
But it was beginning to look like it might be his last.
Hadama stroked his wings determinedly through the water as the hunter cruised after him, undeterred when the manta it had been hunting for lunch turned into a mermanta instead. The smith headed for the nearest shallow water he could find, hoping the sandbars and shifting depths of the Kuali'i Isles might deter the killer whale, but it seemed to be enjoying the chase far too much to let a little sand on its belly stop it now. They slid into a deeper channel between islands and Hadama leapt from the water just barely ahead of a bite aimed right for the slender point of the merman's manta tail. Blood trailed from an earlier grazing bite to one of the broad fins that spread from his back and shoulders, glinting in the sun amidst the spray.
It was only a momentary escape, as the orca surfaced as well and sped up with a sudden lunge, ready to stop playing with its food and start dinner.
But it was beginning to look like it might be his last.
Hadama stroked his wings determinedly through the water as the hunter cruised after him, undeterred when the manta it had been hunting for lunch turned into a mermanta instead. The smith headed for the nearest shallow water he could find, hoping the sandbars and shifting depths of the Kuali'i Isles might deter the killer whale, but it seemed to be enjoying the chase far too much to let a little sand on its belly stop it now. They slid into a deeper channel between islands and Hadama leapt from the water just barely ahead of a bite aimed right for the slender point of the merman's manta tail. Blood trailed from an earlier grazing bite to one of the broad fins that spread from his back and shoulders, glinting in the sun amidst the spray.
It was only a momentary escape, as the orca surfaced as well and sped up with a sudden lunge, ready to stop playing with its food and start dinner.
