The mermanta relaxed his magic and relinquished his grip on the net as Ray successfully wrapped the woven lattice around the aqueix so it couldn't struggle free and hurt itself - or them. Its defensive fauna had been stirred into a wakeful cloud of confused and irate life by all the disturbance, but Hadama reached out with a quiet Your pardon, as he pulled Ray into his arms much as she had held the aqueix. He flexed his powerful tail to thrust them up and away from the pint-sized protectors of their prey.
Once they'd put enough distance between themselves and their small harassers the merman carefully released Ray into the dark water. The reef glowed in islands of light a short distance beneath and around them, providing illumination in the immediate vicinity, but the Maw was going to be a far more difficult proposition to navigate to.
The King unslung his starlight-tipped trident from his back and extended it forward to light their way. I will use my water magic to protect us from the pressure of the Maw as best I can, he assured his friend. But if it becomes too much I will return you to the surface. As glad as he was for Ray's company, there were some dangers he wouldn't subject his human friends to when they lacked aquatic shifts of their own to protect themselves from the environment.
~Fin~
Once they'd put enough distance between themselves and their small harassers the merman carefully released Ray into the dark water. The reef glowed in islands of light a short distance beneath and around them, providing illumination in the immediate vicinity, but the Maw was going to be a far more difficult proposition to navigate to.
The King unslung his starlight-tipped trident from his back and extended it forward to light their way. I will use my water magic to protect us from the pressure of the Maw as best I can, he assured his friend. But if it becomes too much I will return you to the surface. As glad as he was for Ray's company, there were some dangers he wouldn't subject his human friends to when they lacked aquatic shifts of their own to protect themselves from the environment.
~Fin~
