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I looked around as the boat started to slow. The dawn’s sky had faded to a pale blue and the sun was just starting to show itself. The temperature was already starting to rise. Part of the reason for an early start was because under the heat of the sun, the water temperature could rise to an uncomfortable level. Hopefully we were early enough for it to be tolerable, and we’d be deeper too. I was glad it was a clear day as well. The Dead Sea wasn’t known for its visibility, but I was keeping my fingers crossed we’d get a good five to ten metres.
Alastor passed me a bottle of water and gave another one to Sariel. “Drink up,” he said. “We don’t need any of us passing out with dehydration down there, and the heat and the salt is not going to help.” I’d already polished off a bottle of water before leaving, but I knew he was right, and I took a couple of longdrinks. Sariel did the same, and I tried to ignore the way her lips wrapped around the bottle neck. Alastor didn’t seem to be able to drag his eyes away, I noticed with a grin.
The boat's engine slowed to an idle as Eli manoeuvred us into position. "This is it," he said. “The coordinates Cole gave me bring us right here.”
Alastor glanced over the side, but there was nothing to see in the murky green depths. "Good. The cliff should be pretty much below, give or take a hundred metres."
Eli nodded and lowered the anchor line. Not only would it hold the boat in the right place, but it would give us a guide for when we needed to come back up.
We put on the rest of our gear, including the heavy lead weights on either side of our tanks, more around the waist, some in front of the body, on straps on our BCDs and in our pockets. A hundred pounds of lead was heavy, and movement would be easier with it distributed over our kit rather than just on the regular weight belts, however we were still left uncomfortably front-heavy which made getting on our tanks tricky. Our tanks, filled with a special blend of oxygen and nitrogen, clinked softly with every movement.
I checked and double-checked our equipment, and so did Alastor: BCDs, regulators, dive computers, and masks. Every piece had to function flawlessly. As I tightened the straps of my full-face mask, the familiar scent of neoprene and rubber filled my nostrils. Alastor also added neoprene gloves and socks. He was adamant the salt water wouldn't be too painful, but I was glad to see he was covering up as much as possible. Sariel and I left our hands and feet bare, not counting the fins. The salt water might dry our skin out a little, but it wouldn't cause us any pain.
The thought made me think of that moment in the tent where for a moment Sariel had seemed genuinely concerned about Alastor's wellbeing. Most angels couldn't give a shit about anyspecies that wasn't human or angelic, so to see her actually caring had fed the spark of hope in me that she might still one day want to be my mate. I sighed. Maybe.
I watched as Alastor helped Sariel with her mask, then stepped up to double check the fit, as Alastor did the same to mine.
“You ok?” I asked. She nodded.
“Not worn a full-face mask before?” I asked. She shook her head.
“We don’t want salt in our eyes,” I explained, running my finger around the edge of the mask to check it was watertight. “You can’t take it off and clean it underwater like you would with a regular mask. You get water in, you let me, or Alastor know, ok?”
She nodded again.
"Let's do a final check," I said, my voice muffled through the mask's intercom system. We each went through the buddy check, ensuring that our BCDs were secure, regulators were delivering air properly, and that all gauges were functional.
“Right, I’ll go first, then Sariel, then you, Theo.” Alastor moved to the side of the boat, his huge weight making the whole thing rock alarmingly. He settled slowly on the side, facing into the boat. With a last nod at me, he pulled his knees up and performed a perfectly controlled back roll into the water. There was a decent splash, and he disappeared from view for a second before reappearing.
“How you doing, boss?” I asked.
“Fine, not too bad at all. It’s really buoyant, watch yourself when you come up.”
I helped Sariel to the edge, holding her hands as she lowered herself onto the edge of the boat in the same way Alastor had. At a nod from me, she rolled backwards without hesitating, dropping into the water below and clearing the surface a moment later. She backed away from the boat as Alastor had,and a minute later I was in the water with them. A couple more checks of the equipment and the intercom, and we were ready to descend.
As the water closed over our heads, the bright light of the rising sun was dimmed, and the heaviness of our equipment became mercifully lighter as we submerged. I inflated my BCD slightly to control my rate of descent, keeping my eye on Sariel. Both Alastor and I had logged hundreds of hours diving, and although she seemed competent and calm, she was still inexperienced. Right now, she seemed fine, regulating her descent as I had, and checking her dive computer as she went.
Below the surface, the world was silent except for the rhythmic sound of our breathing through the regulators. Visibility was poor, the water clouded with minerals, and although I could see Sariel clearly at three or four metres away, Alastor was a dark blurred shape. It didn’t take us long to reach the seabed, and I checked the dive computer. Only fifteen metres down, still within the range of recreational diving. I looked around as Alastor pulled out the underwater tablet he had brought. He was clearly struggling to read it with the poor visibility. What we could see, though, was incredible.
The salt clung to everything, encrusting the seabed and rocks with a crystalline blanket in undulating patterns. There were no fish, no life of any kind in fact, which was so weird. I knew the sea couldn’t support life, but it was still strange, having dived all over the world, to find somewhere that no life could flourish. Light still reached down from the surface, giving everything a greenish glow and fields of creamy salt-crystal formations stretched away into the gloom.
Alastor tapped his tank, drawing my attention, and gestured for us to follow him. It seemed he’d found the direction we were heading in on the tablet, and he swam with it in his hand, tuckeddown by one side. Sariel followed him, and I took up the rear position.
We moved with deliberate care, and slowly. We were all stronger and fitter than regular humans, but the Dead Sea's underwater environment was unlike any other. The water here was a dense, viscous fluid, heavy with minerals, notably salts, that created a surreal landscape beneath the waves. At nearly ten times saltier than the average ocean, it allowed us to float with ease, but it also posed unique challenges. Our movements were slow, exaggerated by the water's resistance, and we remained constantly vigilant of our buoyancy, adjusting our BCDs minutely to avoid an uncontrolled ascent or descent. With visibility already poor, we swam carefully, mindful to not kick up the fine silt that had settled on the bottom that could swirl up and hang in the water around us.
Although it was frustratingly slow progress, it did give us time to look around and take in the otherworldly environment. The seabed was a tapestry of salt formations; some looked like miniature mountain ranges, others like the intricate corals found in tropical seas but stark and white. Salt crystals clung to everything, creating an alien topography. The crystals varied in size — some were fine like dust, others grew into jagged pillars that could easily snag an unwary diver. I'd seen plenty of underwater landscapes in my time, but this one was unlike any other. It was a silent, desolate beauty, both haunting and mesmerising.
Alastor suddenly stopped and pointed at something in the distance. We swam towards it, our breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent world. A vast darkness appeared out of the gloom, the seabed beneath us suddenly dropping away into a dark abyss. I sent Alastor a thumbs up gesture and we began to descend into the depths.
My dive computer beeped gently, reminding me to check my depth and no-decompression limit. We were approaching thirty metres, deeper than recreational dive limits, but within the range for which we were trained and equipped. Sariel would have done the advanced course, meaning she would have been diving at this level, and possibly down to forty metres, which was the limit for recreational dives. It looked like we’d be going much deeper, which our equipment was designed for, but I looked over to check she was ok.
She had been descending steadily, but I could tell that her breathing was becoming more erratic, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the telltale bubbles emerging more frequently. Her descent slowed and then stopped, and I caught a glimmer of panic as she floundered. Swimming back up to her, I put my hand on her shoulder. She looked up, dark eyes fixing on mine, wide with panic.
“You’re breathing too fast and too shallow. The oxygen is filling your body and making you more buoyant which is why you aren’t descending,” I explained calmly. “If you panic, you will float upwards quickly and give yourself decompression sickness.”
She nodded, relaxing a tiny bit. I knew she knew all this, it was scuba 101, but giving her the facts to focus on was helping her calm down.
"Focus on my breathing," I said, taking slow and exaggerated breaths, demonstrating the calm, measured rhythm she needed to emulate. Sariel watched, her own breathing gradually synching to mine. We hovered there for a moment, suspended in the dense water, as she regained control. Once her breathing settled, I gave her a thumbs-up, asking if she was ready to continue. She hesitated, then nodded.
