The Cold Calm Beneath The Waves

Wind lashed his face, and waves crashed around him as Grave lay on the dark shore, clutching at his right thigh. He could hear a grating choking sound, like a half drowned animal gasping for air. Blood was oozing through his fingers where his fishing knife had cut through his clothes and plunged deep into his leg. Under his full weight, it had only stopped as it hit the bone. Grave reached into his pocket and pulled the knife handle. He screamed with the pain as the blade slid out.

His mind was a blank. Where was he? How had he come here? A smell hit him, suddenly, a familiar smell of the sea, but worse. It cast his mind back to the long passages he had sometimes worked. Men who were injured seldom lasted the journey, and Grave had watched several die the slow death of infection as their body rots, whilst still clinging on to the last threads of life. Then Grave saw it, a huge tail fin draped over the rocks in front of him. It looked like a long-dead fish, washed onto the shore. A few scales still clung to the silver-grey flesh, catching the light as it moved with the wind and waves.

The rattling choking sound intensified, and Grave knew it. His eyes followed up the powerful silver grey tail, and he saw it, he remembered. As if awaking from a dream into a nightmare he looked upon the beast he had hunted. The tail merged at the abdomen with a human body that was neither male nor female. The skin was grey, and translucent, rubbery like that of a long dead corpse washed up on a cold grey shore. Blue veins could be seen beneath the skin, snaking over its torso. Its head was turned toward Grave, but grave could make out no expression on its grey face. The lips were thin and did not serve to hide the array of sharp teeth in its mouth. The eyes were large, with no lids, but looked strangely human. Its black hair was long and matted, with pieces of sea debris tangled throughout.

Grave heard its song, and felt it lift him. The eyes looked sad and kind. It reached out a hand. Flaps of grey skin spanned the long spindly fingers. Grave felt the song eating at his heart, tearing his world apart, more pain and joy than any man could bear. He was being lifted, cradled by two loving arms, cold breath in his face. His head lolled, the pain in his leg was distant, like a memory. Grave lay his head back, eyes staring up at the cliff, feeling empty, feeling loved, loved to death.

A distant voice was calling to him, bringing him back. Was that a figure at the top of the cliff? Grave could see now. Was it his grandfather calling to him? Grave felt the pain in his leg returning, and felt the cold handle of his knife, still in his hand. His grip tightened and his eyes saw the beast. In a flash, he swept the blade up and the tip caught it high in the abdomen. The eight-inch blade plunged through its soft gut, up to the hilt. Grave used every ounce of his strength to pull the blade down the length of its belly, slicing though skin and sinew. A loud gargled cry of pain and betrayal issued from the beast. The smell was unbearable and Grave tried to draw back as he felt the creature's cold innards sliding out over him. The beast held him tighter, rocking back and forth as if trying to comfort him, trying to forgive him. Grave stabbed again, this time the blade sank deep into the creature's chest. It bellowed again as thick black blood poured from the wound. Throwing its head back it lunged at Grave, and bit him hard in his shoulder. Grave felt hundreds of tiny sharp teeth tearing through his skin, and heard ripping as a portion of the muscle tore from the bone. The beast released his grip on Grave, and he fell back hard onto the rocky shore, where the waves washed over him.

Grave watched the beast die, and felt nothing. He wanted joy for his vengeance, but felt nothing. He wanted to cry, but no tears would come. He was left with a void. Where there was love, now there is nothing. Where there was singing, now there is nothing. Grave felt his shoulder numb where the creature had bitten him. He felt like a poison had infected him, but he did not care. The wild waters washed over him and he felt alone. The beast had taken more now than Grave had ever thought possible, but he did not care. In the cold calm beneath th