"Help me!"
"Save me!"
The sharks's deceitful hunting cries echoed from opposite sides of Melita but only for a moment. Her first arrow, aimed perhaps too fast, wasn't a killing blow. It stuck into the shark's dorsal fin and might have barely slowed it except that the lightning within crackled through the beast and left it dazed and floating in the water, twitching in the aftershocks but no longer a threat. The second shark had earned her fuller attention and this one, closer than its brother, was easier to hit at the range it had reached. Her arrow pierced its eye and it didn't even have time to realize it was dead as it carried forward on mindless momentum before turning belly-up.
Hadama's first starlight blast struck true, blinding its target and leaving the shark thrashing in pain and sensory overload as it veered away to recover. The mermanta had no time to follow up, however, before the second had nearly reached him. It was young and foolish and attempted a straight-on attack, jaws gaping, but the merman thrust his spear between that deadly serrated circle with a grunt of effort and let loose a second blast that seared down the shark's throat at point-blank range.
One might think the rest of the pack would have had enough but they weren't particularly bright and the fresh blood in the water was stirring them into a mindless hunger. Besides, they still had the advantage in numbers, and they instinctively split to divide the prey. Three arced towards Melita, diving below the water this time and intending to leap up from beneath her while the remaining two charged Hadama, all niceties in hunting tactics forgotten as the blood of their brethren clouded their minds into a killing frenzy.
"Save me!"
The sharks's deceitful hunting cries echoed from opposite sides of Melita but only for a moment. Her first arrow, aimed perhaps too fast, wasn't a killing blow. It stuck into the shark's dorsal fin and might have barely slowed it except that the lightning within crackled through the beast and left it dazed and floating in the water, twitching in the aftershocks but no longer a threat. The second shark had earned her fuller attention and this one, closer than its brother, was easier to hit at the range it had reached. Her arrow pierced its eye and it didn't even have time to realize it was dead as it carried forward on mindless momentum before turning belly-up.
Hadama's first starlight blast struck true, blinding its target and leaving the shark thrashing in pain and sensory overload as it veered away to recover. The mermanta had no time to follow up, however, before the second had nearly reached him. It was young and foolish and attempted a straight-on attack, jaws gaping, but the merman thrust his spear between that deadly serrated circle with a grunt of effort and let loose a second blast that seared down the shark's throat at point-blank range.
One might think the rest of the pack would have had enough but they weren't particularly bright and the fresh blood in the water was stirring them into a mindless hunger. Besides, they still had the advantage in numbers, and they instinctively split to divide the prey. Three arced towards Melita, diving below the water this time and intending to leap up from beneath her while the remaining two charged Hadama, all niceties in hunting tactics forgotten as the blood of their brethren clouded their minds into a killing frenzy.
