6Chapter Four
Abán, the tiny Christened elf, sighed leaning on his shovel and wiped his sweating forehead with his damp towel before taking deep breathes.
"Father O'Farrell, a good man, a good man—born on the shores of the River Shannon—raised to be a saint! And a saint he was! Godly man—never sinned in my book, oh no m'boy. Ye see son, that's a good man. Fed your poor father ah many ah day when I couldn't find a bit to eat. Bless his soul, Mother of Christ, he's a Christian man, he deserves it."
He continued to dig deeper in the fitting grave which held no body but the tiny Christened elf felt it was his duty.
"Shame what that water beast did to ye Father O'Farrell. But we be getting ye back soon. Just wait. I found this nice grave in Cobh like ye wanted. We'll get ye back soon I bet my soul on it."
"Oh why don't you go and be buried next to em' too, Ailill! And why not marry em as well?" snarled the female elf swinging vigorously from a tree branch.
"Kiss my arse Mekda! Ye lousy, stinkin' wretch! Be gone with ye! Ye have no business here!"
"I'm your wretched wife you ungrateful parasite!"
"Shaddup Mekda —and my name is Abán, after the Saint—ye best remember that!"
"Shaddup Ailill!"
"No! Ye shaddup Mekda!"
"Ye think they wouldn't argue in front of the child." Whispered young Durlan, the misfortune offspring of the two quarrelling elves. Abe nodded in agreement, "Do they go on like this all the time?"
"Everyday, every minute, every second—there's never peace in our house." Durlan said with remorse, "Mam says its dad's fault that the other elves have shunned us from society because he serves the human's God and communicates with the humans freely and that he's a blinded follower deserting his own kind—and dad says he can believe in what he wants, he's a free being and no law of the land is gonna tell em who he can worship and that the Elf King can kiss his arse."
Abe listen, amused, as the young Durlan sighed watching his parents quarrel for another five minutes before Abe interrupted them.
"I didn't come to solve your marital problems." Said Abe stepped in front of the two foot, gaunt Mekda who was positioned to tackle her husband.
"Ah ye are right mister…" said Abán straightening his collar and tie, "this is not right—this is disrespectful to Father O'Farrell's gravesite."
"I swear, me and the boy could be starving and all you care about is Mass and that damn Father!"
"Mind yer tongue Mekda!"
"Mind yours!" Mekda shouted dipping between Abe's legs, "I have a good mind to leave yer arse like my Mam said to! You're no good for this family! You've abandoned us for a silly saint!"
"Ouch, Mekda —how can ye say I don't care for this family!"
"Screw you!"
"Ok that's enough." Abe said. The two Irish officers accompanying Abe stepped forward shoving Mekda back, "S'cuse me ma'am but we're gonna have to ax you to leave."
Mekda glared up at Abe, "Callin' in these pathetic creatures to do yer biddin'! And that bag of air! Humph! He'd be confrontin' Leviathan by himself if he wasn't so small! You ought to be shame of yourself Ailill—what about the life we had?"
"Pagan spirits are the creation of the imagination."
Mekda's face grew purple but she swallowed her insult and grabbed her son, "Silly elf! Why'd I ever love you! You cause me nothin' but hatred and sorrow. We're leaving Durlan! Say goodbye to yer paw!"
"Bye dad." Durlan said sadly as Mekda dragged him into the bush and disappeared from view.
"Mother of Christ forgive her ignorance." Said Ailill, "She be the love of my life—she was…"
"We need to get down to business Ailill. The B.P.R.D. was not summoned her to watch you and your wife bicker." Abe said in a matter-of-fact way.
"Please, call me Abán, Dr. Corrigan. I was christened almost a year ago on the thirteenth of May, feast day for Saint Abán—I'm honored to have his name."
"You are a peculiar elf." Abe said, "I have never seen a Christian elf."
"The elves in the bush don't like me but I don't care! I'm a Catholic—the elves in the bush can kiss my arse."
"Very well then." Abe said, "So what is the story with Father O'Farrell?"
Abán sighed taking his hat off again and placing it over his heart, "Bless em. Gawd bless em. Poor man—poor saint. He was the victim, I swear! There he was Mass Sunday givin' out the Communion when Packie Molony went up to eat the cracker and drink the blood of Jasus. Then Father O'Farrell sneezed and nobody said 'Bless Ye' and he just fell over dead."
"Wait. Repeat that."
"Grasped his chest and fell over dead. Didn't see it comin' cause his heart stopped when he sneezed. Gawd bless em'."
"Maybe you should have said that sooner."
"So the morgue sent his body down the River Shannon to County Cork to be buried on his mother's soil like he asked in his will. The morgue in Ballycotton just so happens to be near the shore and there I am sittin' on top the lighthouse watchin' the docks and boaties and all of a sudden I see these two blazing orbs of fire under the water miles apart then I knew it be him. Then all of a sudden a vacuum of air sucked the life out of me and I went faint. Hours later I awake to the harbor, docks and boaties missing. Nothing but sea and half the lighthouse that he didn't take with him. Leviathan it was. He ate everything. Ain't nuthin' there no more. Nuthin'. And he took the ship that Father O'Farrell's body was being held in."
"Hmm Leviathan." Abe pondered hearing the approaching footsteps of Johann Kraus and their British marine biologist, Dr. Eugene Knut. They came up the steep hillside with the help of a third Irish officer; Dr. Knut stepping harder in a pile of leaves smirking, "Thought I saw a snake."
"There are no snakes in Ireland." Said the Irish officer automatically as Abe relaxed leaning on a tree.
"Do we know anything more about Leviathan, Dr. Kraus?"
"Hmm. Not much." Kraus said looking around at the nature, "He's just a Biblical sea monster. About 300 miles long in length… lower intestine is one of the seven gateways to hell—"
"Ah Father O'Farrell's going to hell!" Abán cried shocked.
"It would take centuries. The size of this beast means it rarely digests the things its just eaten." Kraus replied.
"But he could be digestin' Father O'Farrell now! We got to stop em!" Abán shouted in a panic throwing down his shovel.
"Please Abán calm down." Abe said, "We will get your precious Father O'Farrell back but I doubt that Leviathan appears in the same place twice. We're going to find him to get him back."
Abán started to cry rubbing his itchy eyes, "Ye wont let em' get digested will ye?"
"Of course not Abán. We'll get him before Father O'Farrell touches the stomach acid."
"Kraus!"
"Well it is true." Kraus said swaying slightly in the wind.
The military radio hooked to Kraus's suit began to static as Garner's voice came through, "Calling Dr. Kraus—calling Dr. Kraus."
Kraus held the radio in his hands holding the button down, "Yes this is he?"
"Dr. Kraus we have coordinates of Leviathan. He's exiting the English Channel sir and appears to be heading for the Straight of Gibraltar at an accelerated speed."
Abe and Kraus looked at each other. Even though Abe could not read the globe dome of Kraus's containment suit, he could sense the impatient uproar inside him when he was bamboozled or the last to know.
"How fast is this yacht Manning has rented for us?" Kraus asked Abe.
Abe nodded thinking, "Pretty fast."
"Then let us go. We have no time to waste. This beast could swallow the Iberian Peninsula if he wants. We must stop him."
"You have the egg?"
Kraus turned around to the Irish officer behind him who handed him their secret weapon. It appeared to be a basketball wrapped up tightly in a brown parchment paper with a leather string holding the paper in place. Kraus's suit swayed forward as Abe took it off his hands.
"Wow this is pretty heavy."
"Do not drop it." Kraus said as Abe rolled his eyes.
It was always top-notch artillery for ex-navy seal, Stan Dole. He was a middle aged man with a square jaw, large hands and graying hair that he trimmed in a Caesar Cut. His co-workers new him by his voice and the repetitive rhythm in his stride because he had a little limp which he tried to hide around people. They also knew when he was coming down the hallways because the doggy-tag he always wore with his name and contact info clinked against the metal rod sticking out of his chest. It didn't actually stick out the way many would imagine it like a clothes rack or something but it was his sternum and two artificial ribs that were metal and pressed against his skin so you always saw it when he had his shirt opened and that was very often. How he had gotten a metal sternum, he never would say.
Older agents knew he didn't like to talk about it but this was how he got the job he had now. Some paranormal accident he didn't like to talk about that involved terrorist and dissection. But Dole was a good man to talk to about fishing and guns because that's what he knew best.
He also knew his sea monsters.
As Abe and the rest of his unit strolled down to the docks, they saw the smooth black yacht Manning had rented for them and Dole waiting in the driver's seat. He smiled, his dark eyes hidden behind cop sunshades and waved at Abe. He waved, hearing Kraus make a "tsk, tsk" noise about him holding the egg.
"Aye! I see you all made it out alive!"
"We just needed to get the whole story from our only living witness." Abe informed, "And from what we know, Leviathan has swallowed a port town and its ships. God only knows what else."
"Well I've been listening to the radios all day. Every ships been cleared out the Atlantic until we get rid of this thing. And all flights across the pond have been cancelled. No one wants to deal with this thing."
"Of course they don't—that's why we're here. No one wants to pay off a family so they won't talk about the gigantic sea monster that swallowed daddy." Abe joked as Dole helped him on the ship.
"Don't drop it!" Kraus howled after him.
Dr. Knut and the three Irish officers followed behind them. When everyone was sitting and ready to go, Dole's team members came up from below deck carrying parts of a scuba suit and other meticulous junk. Dole sped off into the sea; Kraus turned around just in time to see Abán waving goodbye frantically.
"So!" Dole shouted over the engine and sea, "Is everyone excited about slaying their first sea monster?"
Abe suppressed a grin as Kraus made a mediocre sound; they had slayed plenty of sea monsters.
Dole grinned ear to ear, looking back at his crew, "This here is Gerald Grimes and Sean Withers. Two of my best men. They'll be accompanying us on the high seas today. Gerald was an Olympic swimmer."
The blonde male, who was assembling Dr. Knut's radar, glanced up and smiled at everyone.
"Sean cooks."
The other fellow rolled his eyes at Dole and stood up putting his hand out, "I also am a student in biochemistry at Brown."
"Yeah and he cooks."
This made the Irish officers snicker at Sean; Sean's face grew red with embarrassment and he quickly excused himself to go under deck. Soon, the Irish officers were playing cards, Dole had his radio blaring 80's tunes and Kraus was off daydreaming in his own little world. No one noticed Abe, sitting there with the egg in his arms—the answer to their problems. Abe always took these precious moments when the tension was off and went into his own little world of daydreaming. Usually literature was where his mind was. Poetry, fiction, How-To Books he had skimmed across whenever boredom reached a new level. But right now his mind couldn't go anywhere past this yacht or the object he was holding in his arms.
Abe tore a piece of the parchment off to glance at the thing. The egg wasn't as round as it felt; it had dents in it here and there but the embryo in the middle was a site. It looked like a regular bird embryo but it was just the size of a grown Bald Eagle. A few feathers had just sprouted on the scalp of its head just before its demise but what made it such a spectacular object was the fact that Abe could feel a pulse.
"Kraus!"
"Yes I hear you Abe." Kraus said condemningly, "What?"
"Tell us what this egg thing is." Abe asked. The ship soon grew quiet as Kraus sat up, ready to speak.
Abe was holding the egg in his arms. The parchment wrapping on it was more ancient than time. So were the straps. Both had been blessed by the holy man in Nasser just out of protocol but the egg its self had a long history.
"It is the stillborn egg of Ziz." Kraus repeated from his photogenic memory of a book he'd read, "Ziz is one of the three beast in Judaism that will be served in the great feast when the world ends to God's chosen people—or so says the Jews. Aber die Juden sind immer reden. Still, the beasts were quite real. Leviathan ruled the seven seas; a fearsome sea monster who could swallow whole nations. Behemoth was a knight of Shoel and follower of the house of Fly in Hell—he was never much of a threat to anyone, really. He enjoyed roaming the earth and claiming to be the sun god so tribes could worship him and sacrifice blood. And lastly there is Ziz. He was a gigantic bird whose wingspan could block out the sun and cause Ice Ages."
"Aye—Clyde come ova here and listen! The man's telling a tale of the monsters!" called one of the Irish officers but he was quickly shushed by Dr. Knut so Kraus could continue.
"Anyway the tale I'm about to tell you comes from one of the Seven Books of Tanknrah—a Hebrew prophet who wrote many stories that were omitted from all bibles for other purposes. Now, these three monsters were powerful but could cancel each other out. Ziz could freeze the seas and kill Leviathan, Leviathan could swallow Behemoth and Behemoth could slay Ziz if he pleased. Kind of like 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'."
"What happened was that one day; God grew tired of their bickering and killed their counterparts so they could not reproduce. But at the same time Ziz's mate had just laid her eggs when she was struck dead so God planned something malice so he could get rid of them finally.
He sent down his archangel Michael to ask Behemoth was he the greatest creature ever to live. Behemoth beat his chest and said he was but Michael said that Ziz was greater and would one day have children who would rule this land. This upset Behemoth so he found Ziz's nest and poisoned the eggs. When Ziz found them dead he was devastated and spread his wings causing an ice age. Leviathan began to freeze and asked Ziz to stop but he would not listen to him. So Leviathan negotiated that if he swallowed Behemoth that Ziz would have to end the Ice Age. Ziz agreed and Leviathan found Behemoth and began to chase after him. Angered, Behemoth found Ziz and they fought. He killed Ziz then Leviathan swallowed Behemoth. The Ice Aged ended but Leviathan was still frostbitten and went into hibernation."
Kraus looked around to see everyone wearing an awkward frowns.
"Well that was a horrible tale!" called one of the Irish officers and they returned to their huddle at the front of the ship.
"So I guess that Ice Age wasn't cold enough for the fishy bastard." Dole inquired.
"I guess so." Kraus said, "But the plan worked and the three were extinct from existence or… so we thought."
"And this is one of the stillborn eggs of Ziz?"
"The only stillborn egg of Ziz. The others were destroyed by the indigenous people. How this one survived is a true wonder." Kraus replied.
Kraus said it was dead—stillborn, there was no way it was alive. Yet there was a faint pulse and heat coming off the thing that Abe could feel and it gave him goose bumps to think such a creature like this once existed.
"So…" Dr. Knut asked implausibly, "If we're going off of the religious stories of Judaism or Christianity… Leviathan is back to help end the world?"
Kraus nodded, "That is one reason why he is awake again or…"
"Well we just don't know." Dole interrupted, then added, "Yea but how many times have we heard this? The world's going to end today—yaddah, yaddah, yaddah."
"Still," Kraus continued, "If the story is true, Leviathan is one unstoppable beast. If he can swallow a whole nation what do you think our puny submarines could do to him if we were to fail? Nothing."
For a brief second the agents of the B.P.R.D felt a chill come off of the sea and sweep around them. In that moment they realized how dangerous their jobs were and how a crisis like this is thought unfathomable by naïve people and even by them.
And then Abe thought only of himself and the egg he was holding. It would be his choices in those critical moments that would either send Leviathan back into his shell or get Abe and the rest of the world swallowed.
"So…" said Dr. Knut breaking the odd silence, "What's the plan when we find this thing?"
Dole rose up in his seat to stretch, "Well, when we find Leviathan we're gonna call into headquarters first. Second, Abraham here is gonna get suited up, dive into the water and confront this thing face to face."
Sean and Gerald looked up stunned from the radar at the Icthyo-Sapien. Abe nodded, "Yep—that's Manning's brilliant plan. To get me swallowed and regurgitated."
Dr. Knut, who was sketching looked up disgusted, "You can't be serious?"
"Hopefully, Leviathan will not try to eat him." Kraus insisted, "He is to present the egg to the beast and it is to swallow it. If what Professor Bruttenholm wrote is true it should send the beast back into hibernation."
"Yep… if what he said was true…" Abe repeated.
Abe had never doubted the wisdom of the late and brilliant Professor Trevor Bruttenholm. When he was alive he was the go to man for the occult. He was a fountain of knowledge—every kind of creature and demon he knew widespread knowledge about. But the professor had been killed by a frog-being; unseen before by Abe or the B.P.R.D. and Hellboy had disappeared to find himself years ago.
Both were distant memories that weren't helpful now. Only the Professor's notes and essays lived on at the Bureau. There was an extensive file kept on him and his findings and explorations; often, they were cited whenever they needed extra insight. Both Liz and Abe owned about 1/3 of his private library—books the Professor had given them as presents. The other 2/3rds were given to Hellboy, locked up in his old room that had went untouched since he left.
But now these notes that the professor had left on Leviathan were the only concrete evidence that he could be defeated. Notes that were about 30 years old. Manning had made copies of them, the brittle pages and yellow paper looked funny printed out with the professor's sloppy handwriting.
Abe listened to Manning in the briefing quote certain passages from the notes as if it were the bible.
'Ziz's stillborn egg is a fine example of ancient preservation. Whether it was the indigenous people burying the dead offspring of their god or Ziz himself, we will never know, but we can assume it was left here for a reason.'
What the Professor had wrote was a simple solution: Get Leviathan to swallow the egg. It seemed like it would work. Why wouldn't it?
Abe shook the egg slightly to see if he could get the embryo to move. It did not and he stopped, placing the egg on the deck underneath his seat. He stretched out to get comfortable, the hot sun making his lips crack. Kraus continued to watch the egg obsessively, afraid as if it might spread wings and fly away.
Abe closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wonder. He would need to get some rest.
Around nine that night, the radar on the yacht picked up something. Everyone on board was either dozing in the salty cool breeze or playing spades with Irishmen up front.
Dr. Knut was in charge of the radar. He was a lanky fellow with short brown hair and a proper English accent. He was a part of the British Clairvoyant Force, a troupe that handled paranormal activity in England's borders and Abe had talked to him over the phone on several occasions but never remembered his name.
He was absolutely phenomenal about his work and passionate about marine life so that he was willing to sacrifice his job to go and help save dolphins in Japan. But he didn't get the chance too—this whole Malvec thing had pulled in some of the best from every field and he was nominated to come and help. Now he was dealing with an 'End of the World Crisis' and didn't know what to expect.
"Trust me kid we get these all the time." Dole explained sipping some coffee, "Some loony lets a monster loose and we kill it. It's the same with Malvec—once we catch him there will be another running around claiming he has the power of God."
"Oh." Dr. Knut said swallowing spit, "You deal with this everyday?"
"Everyday of my life." Dole said patting his metal sternum. He burped wiping his mouth with his glove and grinned, "Don't be scared kid! You're in this field too! Haven't you seen stuff?"
"Just a few things but nothing this big."
Dole laughed, "Well, what have you seen in this field?"
"Gigantic squids, angry ghosts, killer piranhas, singing sea lions…, but nothing like this."
The radar suddenly began to beep as Dr. Knut contemplated his misfortune. He turned to the radar scanner, expecting to see another shark or something pop up but this time it wasn't. it was the real thing. He jumped a mile in the air and let out a shout, "Ag—AG—AGENT ABE! Abe! It's him! IT'S HIM!"
Abe was lying down on the seats now with a tile over his face. He hadn't fallen asleep yet.
He sat up as Dr. Knut stuttered, "ABE! ABE!"
"Calm down kid!" Dole shouted pushing Dr. Knut out of the way to look at the scanner. They were coming up on something huge. At first it was just an antenna that covered a good four miles then the tail of the beast began to form. Not before long the whole scanner was colored in with Leviathan and they were even close to his stomach.
"Report to Headquarters right now and tell them we've found him!" Dole ordered as Abe scrambled back to the egg tucked under the seats.
Kraus stood up and wobbled in the breeze. He walked over slowly to the scanner and took a look.
"Máthair Naofa de Críost." Kraus gasped.
Dole ordered Gerald to put the pedal to the medal as they raced to get to the head of the beast. Abe was shouting orders for the Irishmen to stay put and help Dr. Knut regain his composure. Dole began to prepare for their battle and looked through the glove box for his gun.
As they continued to speed towards the head, Sean ran over to Abe.
"Captain Dole wants you to get dressed right now." He said, "The diving suit is below deck."
"I don't need a suit." Abe said crankily, "I can breathe under water just fine."
"Well…" Sean said, his hands tied, "I—Well… the captain—"
"I know Dole and I know me. I don't need a suit. What I will need though is sturdy backpack of some kind that'll move with me in that water. I cant hold that egg under my arm the whole time."
Sean nodded and went under deck to find Abe some swim gear. Abe stood in the middle of the pandemonium watching Dole and Gerald drive as the Irish officers held on to the railing trying to get a peek of the monster. Dr. Knut was frantic at the radar as they grew closer to the monster's head.
Soon, they swerved to the left in the ship, throwing the Irishmen to the floor; a scale the size of an ice berg was moving in the water. Dole put some distance between him and the beast; Leviathan was moving again.
His slimy back was a dark purple and green in the dim moonlight. Dole had all the lights on around the boat so they could see him but what was more terrifying than actually seeing him was his silhouette in the moon as he moved. And the sound of the massive splashes he made when he submerged.
Leviathan was like a gigantic snake moving side to side and up and down. Apparently he was dipping in and out of the water, perhaps just to see the sky or playing with his enemy.
Slowly, Dole started gaining on him and finally the beast stopped swimming and seemed to be still in the water.
Dole slowed down the ship to see how the beast was doing. They were parallel with him; exactly 200 yards away so the waves he was making wouldn't tip them over. Leviathan was still as crocodile on the Nile. All they could see were the humps of his back and scales. As Dole got closer, the Irishmen could see hundreds of fish, algae and sea creatures stuck to his back.
One of the officers aimed his flashlight out at the beast; an ancient spear had been plunged into the beast's side and stuck out. This, for some reason caused them to shout in fear.
"Shut up you three!" Dole shouted and pointed to the door that led under deck, "Get you a shot of whiskey and stay down there! We don't need anymore distractions."
The officers followed Dole's orders and stuck together like the Three Stooges. Dole rolled his eyes and looked over at Dr. Knut whose face was a new shade of white.
"How far are we from his head?"
"1000 yards." Dr. Knut whispered.
"Ok."
"…I think that's his head…"
Dole nodded and ordered Dr. Knut to join the officers. Once he was below, Dole shook his head and addressed Kraus, "These softy men! We always get a few! Don't we? They cant handle the sight blood let alone a sea monster."
Kraus was still standing at the front of the ship, holding on the railing. He had not spoken since they found Leviathan and he didn't think he could.
Abe was sitting Indian Style on the deck, holding the egg between his legs. He hadn't spoke either. Whenever they were immersed in chaos, Kraus and Abe had learned that silence was the best answer. While the Irishmen and Dr. Knut were freaking out, they had found a place to think and listen.
Dole was overjoyed with the silence on deck; he tried to smile at Gerald but he could see the young man too was freaking out.
"You cant go drink. You have to steer clear of this thing when the action starts." Dole ordered, "Now where's Sean?"
Abe took his time to suit up for this mission. He had brought his belt; the one that held his gun and his tracer. Sean had brought him a simple black backpack that would hold the egg in place while Abe swam and a heavy duty flashlight that would help him see better in the dark. Abe looked up at the moon hoping it would help too.
This was one of the dangerous factors about this mission. Swimming in the dark. The place was probably swarming with sharks but he had to take a chance. They couldn't let Leviathan move in the Strait or anywhere near land again. The results would be catastrophic.
Kraus was thinking the same thing and had already ordered that all specialty lights were attached to the yacht.
He had also ordered backup.
"The helicopters will be here in an hour." Kraus announced, "I don't want anything bad to happen."
"But what if the helicopters scare Leviathan off?"
Before Abe could get that out, they felt the boat rock violently. Leviathan was submerging underwater at an accelerated rate. They all went to their knees, afraid to be knocked overboard; finally when the waves stopped, they stood up.
Dole looked at Abe and turned on his tracer for him, "He says 'Catch me if you can.'"
Abe didn't reply. He looked over at Kraus one more time and at the boat. His red tracer was blinking and he saw that a small blue dot was flashing on the radar screen just for him.
"He's still submerging." Dole commented, "I wonder why."
"When the helicopters get here I want you guys to get as far away from here as possible. If Leviathan does get angry he'll attack anything on the water but maybe not in the sky."
Kraus and Dole nodded as Abe took the egg and placed it gently in the backpack. He zipped it up and tied some rope from the latches to the flashlight. Dole checked it for resistance and gave Abe a thumbs' up.
"One more thing sir." Sean called from the deck. He threw Abe an earpiece, "You'll be able to talk to us and we'll be able to communicate with you and we will hear everything that goes on. If there's any trouble, you know how to use your tracer."
"Of course." Abe said placing the ear piece uncomfortably in his canal.
Before they could speak again, he dived off the side into the cold waters of the Atlantic. The instant rush of adrenaline kicked in once the cool salty water hit his gills and eyes. Abe hadn't been swimming in such conditions in a long time but his body temperature soon dropped so he could become comfortable. He swam in one spot for some time, adjusting his ears and eyes underwater. Once he was able to see clearly, he began his descend into the watery depths.
Abe had forgotten how well his eyesight was underwater without much light. Once he reached a new level of deepness, he could no longer see the moon or the bright artificial lights of the boat. He glanced up, keeping track of where he come from.
The yacht now was just a speck of yellow miles above him. He soon reached for the flashlight and turned it on. He turned it on the dark depths beneath; the beam barely penetrated 20 feet in front of him.
Abe looked around, listening for any sign of life. There were of course rocks, reefs and craters everywhere, and sea creatures that lived and fed off plankton. Abe had spotted no schools of fish yet or even a single guppy.
"This is Abe to Yacht One… Abe to Yacht One. I don't know if you can understand me clearly enough but there's not a single organism swimming freely. I have yet to spot one shark or octopus..."
Abe heard a snicker, perhaps from Sean or Gerald. Abe felt for a moment quite stupid for chronicling his findings. But he knew this was valuable information. Did the sea creatures scurry at the sight of such a large beast? Abe continued swimming deeper and the deeper it got, the darker it got.
After about four hours, he was sure he had reached a new level of darkness. He knew well he was too deep. The water pressure had changed and he was fighting harder to maintain a heavy breathing rhythm. Abe had been deep before but not this deep.
The flashlight was becoming useless now. It was as if the darkness was a engulfing everything around him. Abe turned the beam off and tied it back to his backpack; he took out his knife and adjusted his eyes to the new level of darkness.
Mankind didn't know what kind of creatures lurked in the darkest part of the oceans. Neither did Abe. He touched his ear canal to make sure the earpiece was still there.
"Kraus, Dole…" he spoke softly, "I don't know if you can hear me—"
"Agent Sapien this is Kraus." Kraus spoke, "We can hear you and we know you are exactly close to 50,000 feet underwater. You've entered a rift of some sort… and there is trouble… we have lost the beast."
Abe let out a sigh.
"Yes I know. He has escaped our radar. But he has not swam away… he has just swam further down. You are close to the checkpoint where he disappeared so… I am assuming—"
"He's in this rift… hiding in a crater?"
Kraus didn't speak.
"That's one large crater then."
Kraus waited for Abe to speak again but he didn't, "Well—if we lose connection with you once you find this crater Abe, just know you will have exactly 1 hour before Dole calls in a submarine."
"Thanks Kraus." Abe replied before swimming further down. As he did, he began to feel around for anything in front of him. His senses were high as the water grew even colder. Abe had to concentrate now to keep himself from turning back. But where was back?
Before he knew it, Abe couldn't tell his up from down or his left from right. He was just swimming in darkness.
"Kraus… Kraus..." he called. Abe began to hear static in his earpiece as Kraus's voice tried to penetrate but would not.
"Kraus I cannot see. There is no way… perhaps if I wait…" Abe mumbled, "If I wait for morning I will see…Kraus… KRAUS!"
The static became unbearable and Abe turned his earpiece off. He began to listen to the water. It was still, he couldn't hear the waves from the surface nor a guppy swimming about. The only thing he could hear was water turbulence from beneath his fins. Abe dived further as if called by the movement. Moments later, he felt a heartbeat from within.
On his back, the egg had remained strapped tightly, enduring the beating waves and pressure of the sea, immobile and dead. Now the stillborn egg of Ziz was moving. Abe couldn't believe what he was feeling. The heartbeat was weak at first and then, as he dived deeper, it grew stronger.
Abe finally stopped as the heartbeat became erratic. He removed the backpack and felt around for straps. Light was seeping from the cracks of the backpack. Light that wasn't his flashlight.
The egg was a light, no—a beacon of fire. Abe felt such heat now from the egg as the heartbeat pounded the water like a drum. All around him he heard it as the egg's light grew brighter. Now Abe could see a few feet in front of him.
The reefs and rocks that were this deep were glistening black like the black sand beaches in Hawaii. There was small peculiar starfish and creatures stuck to these rocks with pallid opaque appearances. All around him, microscopic creatures floated around in bunches, perhaps attracted to this light they've never seen.
The light grew in radius and now Abe could see below him. In the corner of his eye, he saw a colossal sallow tentacle withdraw from around a crater as if swallowed by the gloomy depths.
"Was that a giant squid!" Abe questioned, slightly panicked by such a thought.
Abe had never been spooked before by sea life but he'd never fought a giant squid before and he knew what kind of ferocious beasts they were when their territory was threatened. He stared at the spot where the tentacle disappeared, waiting in suspense for it to attack.
Instead of seeing the graceful creature coming towards him, Abe heard a disruptive noise that shook his whole being.
"Was that a burp?"
Courageously, Abe swam towards the area where he heard the noise but then stopped as the fetus in the egg began to move. The undeveloped wings of the stillborn Ziz began to shift, trying to escape its shell. Abe looked on worried, unsure what to do?
They couldn't have two legendary beasts terrorizing the planet! Abe hugged the egg with both arms, as if it would stop the creature from escaping.
"Please don't get out…" he mumbled, "Don't get out… you're my only light."
"Who dares disturb me?"
A voice unlike any Abe had ever heard made the sea quake in fear. The reef and coral shook, the opaque sea creatures scurried as two parallel orbs of fire lit up spontaneously, in the dark where Abe was heading. The orbs grew larger, almost the size of several wildfires.
The water grew warmer as the egg became still age, extinguishing its light. Only the orbs lit Abe's way as the ocean shook again.
"Who's there? Is it you Behemoth? You Ziz? I am tired… leave me be…"
Author's Notes: Reviews Appreciated. I will return, soon.