Can You Hear The Drums?
(part of the 30 Days of Writing Fantasy Challenge)
If you’re new to The Môrdreigiau Chronicles, welcome! You might find the Glossary helpful for some of these words. Colons indicate the sea dragon’s thought communications.
This is part of the “30 Days of Writing Fantasy Challenge” hosted by . I have yet to figure out how to classify them here in the Chronicles but as “done is better than not posted at all”, here it is.
He frolicked through the currents, swooping, floating, soaring. He belonged to the sea, made of it, divinely born. His mother, the Goddess Morgaine named him Dylan. His father, Poseidon, called him Ahdeul, “son”.
Young, in the way of immortals, yet on the cusp of accepting the mantle of responsibility. When would Father gift him the Western Ocean or Kingship over all the seals?
There was a place, deep under the sea, where a sheer rock face shone, a polished mica surface in which to admire his reflection. His beautiful, sinuous body, a mottled grey in a pleasing pattern, his long long hair as white as foam, as white as his father’s, spiralled around him as he turned and turned again to admire himself.
Father seemed in no hurry to assign him any duties, urging him to explore the vastness of the ocean, to become wise with experience. :Steer clear of the sirens,: he’d advised, :but you may go anywhere, even the darkest deeps.:
Those who live Above Sea believe all is quiet under the water but in truth it is constant noise, a noise more often felt than heard. Fish and plants communicate with each other beyond human hearing. The currents each have their own sound and as they bounce off the underwater mountains that sound changes.
One day, an ululating bell-like tone cut through all the rest. Ahdeul cocked his head. Whale? It had that elusive, haunting quality, but he’d never heard that song before.
He followed the music’s traces, excited to meet a new species. The song took hold of him until he thought of nothing else but reaching its source.
:Dylan, my son!: His mother called to him in thought. :Where are you going?:
:I am exploring, Mother!: he replied. She seemed satisfied with that.
He journeyed on, descending deeper, the music growing ever louder, ever more rapturous.
:Ahdeul, my son!: called his father. :I sense danger near you!:
The music coiled around his heart, soothed it when it should have clenched in fear.
:All is well,: he called back in a sing-song voice. :All is well!:
If his father voiced further concerns, he heard them not, only the song. The music brought him alive in a way he’d never felt before. Every bit of his skin sensitised, the water caressing his skin seemed a brand new experience despite having spent all his life under the waves. Even the tips of his hair tingled with delight.
He descended down a cliff face and found the dark mouth of a cave. The sound came from within. A hint of bioluminescent light deep inside gave him the courage to pursue the song.
The cave tunnel soon widened out into a massive cavern, seaweed in muted hues glowing. Schools of fish dashed in and out of them.
On the cavern’s floor, a beautiful woman with a fish’s tail awaited him. Her hair and bosom were dressed in pearls, her green hair floating in a halo about her.
Her eyes were closed, her mouth open in ecstatic song.
:My lady,: he thought. He’d come almost nose to nose with her.
Her eyes opened, the irises coruscating in blues and greens with flashes of orange. :You have come to claim your power.:
:My power?: The young god frowned in confusion.
:My power is yours,: she sang. :Come and claim it.:
She reached for him, her pupils widening. He could drown himself in those dark pools. He craved the fulfilment her song promised.
:My power…: His thought scattered when her fingertips brushed his cheek.
:Be mine and receive my power,: she sang.
He blinked. Her song. Siren. She was a siren. How very nearly he’d been trapped. :No, lady. What is yours is not mine to take.: The words hurt to say, hurt him to his very core. His bones ached with his denial.
The siren’s song switched to a scream. :Go then! Find your power yourself!:
He clapped his hands over his ears but her screams had form and pounded his body. He heard only her. He couldn’t even form a thought to his parents.
Thump.
A beat cut through the siren’s supersonic pitch.
Thump-thump.
He grabbed onto the rhythm like a lifeline.
Thump. Thump-thump.
He twisted away from the siren, voyaging deeper into the cave system. Her angry screams ended in a long howl.
It hardly registered for the rhythm had become entrenched in his heart, his entire body thrumming with the rhythm.
Thump. Thump-thump.
He entered another cavern, dark and tomb-like. The tessellated floor glowed in patterns of circles and rounded squares.
Thump. Thump-thump.
He skimmed over the floor. In the furthest corner, he found the beat’s hiding place. The floor domed over it like a turtle’s carapace.
He laid his hand upon the floor. The thumping resounded through his body.
Here.
Thump.
The heel of his palm smacked against the patterned tile.
Thump-thump.
Closed into a fist, he pounded the floor in answer.
Thump. Thump-thump.
The tile cracked. On his next hit, the tile broke into large shards.
A column of bubbles geysered upward, setting the young god back onto his heels.
When the water settled again, he peered into the hole, pulling other tiles away.
In the dark space below, glowed a coronet. Made of what looked like coral, the rounded organic points on the crown were the same mottled grey as his flesh. Shining black stones sat at even intervals around the rim. The largest obsidian stone in the centre contained flashes of red and gold.
This was his.
He reached in and lifted it out. He placed the crown on his head, not realising that already his fingers began to elongate, his claws becoming long razors.
The crown spiked through his head, penetrating his skull, piercing his spine. He screamed, his mouth open unholy wide. Ice froze the light in his veins.
He held up shaking hands. Saw their new vicious configuration, saw his forearms bulge and thicken, saw white veins trace his darkening skin.
His skin shone and spikes blossomed in whorls through his flesh. He felt something burst from his midsection. He looked down. New limbs branched from hip and rib. His abdominal muscles rippled with the effort.
He roared. The siren’s last howl had not been one of defeat but of victory.
He shot through the cave system, his new limbs helping him surge forward ever faster.
He tumbled to a stop in the siren’s cavern. The bioluminescent lights hurt his eyes. :Where are you?: he screamed. :WHERE ARE YOU?:
Sand shook from the cavern’s ceiling, cascading over Ahdeul. The fish darted wildly, seeking shelter.
:See for yourself, godling,: the siren crooned to him from her hiding place. She sent him an image: a crowned monster, covered in spikes. Wide black pupils popped out of reddened eyes. No iris, no whites, just a bruised mottle of weeping red, purple and dark green.
He reached in the direction of her thought. Black dust sprang from his claws, spiralling toward her hiding place. They engulfed a school of fish in mid-flight. The fish convulsed and died, floating on their sides.
:Undo… this!: Frightened, Ahdeul realised his thoughts, his words, started to elude his grasp. Soon, he would be naught but beast.
The siren laughed, the tinkling of bells. :It serves you right, for choosing power outside of yourself.:
:You … you tricked … me!:
She didn’t answer. In fact, he heard nothing, not the ocean current, not fish conversation, not even his divine parents. Only one sound dominated his thinking.
Thump.
Thump-thump.
Here’s the announcement for the writing challenge. The prompts can be found in that publication’s chat.
Ooh, can you guess who has interacted with this monster once already? Share in the Comments section on the app/website.
I did not expect the sinister ending either! Wow. I like the monster...
Oh, that was sinister! The power of the crown, and at the end, the way he lost his mind too. Your descriptions are so vivid, I was flinching when he changed into the monster. (I'm loving the titles too 😂).