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“Sariel, come on get out!”
I squinted through stinging eyes toward the rocky shelf jutting out like a promise of safety. But the thought of leaving Alastor to fight alone churned in my gut.
“Alastor’s down there,” I yelled, my voice hoarse from the salt.
“He needs you safe before he can get out, dammit! Now take my hand!”
He was probably right, and I wasn’t even sure how much help I’d be alongside a flurry of teeth and claws. I swam the last few metres and reached out for Theo’s hand. It wrapped around mine, warm and comforting human contact.
"Come on, Sariel!" he urged. "Almost there!"
I grabbed the shelf with my other hand, my fingers slipping as they fought to keep hold of the knife at the same time and scrabbling for any footholds under the water. Nearly there…
A sudden weight coiled around my waist, yanking me back with the force of a freight train. My hand slipped from Theo’s and then I was back under. Water gushed into my mouth, and I choked, flailing against the serpent's vice-like grip.
"Shit!" I heard Theo curse from above.
Plunging back into the abyss, I kicked with all my might, but the serpent's grip was relentless. Panic clawed at my throat as I struggled against the inexorable pull. My lungs screamed for air that wasn't there. The pressure on my waist tightened like a noose. I opened my eyes to see Alastor only a few feet away. His massive form cut through the water, a blur of black fur and muscle as he fought on, but the serpent's coils were around him too, squeezing tightly, and the blood in the water wasn’t just the creatures anymore. He spotted me at the same time, and opened his mouth to roar, the sound barely carrying through the thick liquid. Pushing forward, he sank his powerful jaws into theserpent's coils that wrapped around me. The thing jerked and thrashed, shaking my body like a ragdoll, before releasing me once again, as it turned back on Alastor.
I began to swim for the surface again, but then I paused and looked back. Clearly giving me up as a lost cause, the serpent was coiling tighter around Alastor’s body, more and more of its length winding its way around limbs and ribs. I wasn’t sure how long hellhounds could go without breathing, but I could tell Alastor was weakening.
With a surge of adrenaline, I swam for the surface once again. Ignoring Theo’s shouts, I allowed myself two long deep breaths, then with the third, I dove back down. I swam down to where the thing still held Alastor in its death grip. Glowing red eyes fixed on me through the darkness, and I could feel the rage emanating from him.
Tough, I thought. If you think angels follow orders blindly, you picked the wrong angel, Fido.
Dodging the lashing flick of the serpent's tail, I swam up to Alastor, and drove my knife deep into the serpent's scaly hide. The creature bucked, thrashing violently. I gripped the knife tighter, its blade a silver flash in the murk as I slashed at the thing again and again. A roar from Alastor had me spinning around moments before the head of the thing came at me. Square headed with massive jaws, and huge pale eyes, it was a thing of nightmares, and I could easily believe this thing had swum up from Tartarus itself.
The serpent lunged towards me, its sharp teeth snapping at my throat, but I was quicker. I spun around, and with one swift motion, I drove the knife into its eye. It screamed, and thrashed, snapping at me again. As the serpent lunged at me, I twisted around, driving my knife deep into the other eye. The thing was already blind, but there weren’t many vulnerable places on this demon, and I wasn’t entirely sure how we could hurt it enoughto drive it off. It came at me again, enraged rather than deterred, and I stabbed and slashed at the serpent, trying to fend off its attacks.
Fear faded away into the cold, primal instinct to stay alive. Although I’d never fought underwater my body had been honed and hardened over millennia, and I trusted it. Sharp teeth raked along my arm, tearing through the fabric, and I fought back a cry as the salt water invaded the wound with a sting ferocity. My lungs began to burn again, but with the creature's entire attention on me now, there was no way I would reach the surface for air. This needed to end and soon.
As if in answer to my prayer, a huge dark form darted in front of me, and I realised that with my distraction, Alastor had managed to fight free of the death grip. Jaws open wide, he closed the gap between him and the serpent with a terrifying grace. With a thunderous snap, his teeth clamped down onto the creature's neck. The impact sent a tremor through the water, resonating in my bones.
The serpent writhed and twisted, desperate to escape the iron grip of death. But Alastor was relentless, his eyes two glowing embers in the churning depths. They rose together, a tangle of thrashing limbs and scales, the battle driving them upward toward the glimmer of light from the surface.
I swam after them, my muscles burning and my lungs screaming for air, finally breaking the surface once more. Ahead of me, I saw Alastor, jaws still clamped firmly around the thrashing beast, scramble up onto the ledge, dragging the thing with him. Once on solid ground, the tables turned instantly. Tightening his grip, he shook the thing violently, and then with a sickening ripping sound, Alastor tore the serpent’s head from its body.
I watched, treading water, as Alastor tossed the head aside with a roar of triumph. The body continued to thrash in itsdeath throes for a few moments more than the creature lay still, a grotesque carcass of scaly skin and blood-stained salt crystals. Silence filled the cavern, the lapping of the heavy water and our heavy breathing the only sound.
After a moment, I swam over to the ledge, reaching up to haul myself up. Alastor crouched near the edge, his red eyes on me, but a man once again. A very naked man. His chest heaved with exertion, his dark skin glistening with droplets that caught the torchlight like diamonds. I reached out my hand, silently asking for help, and he reached out to take it. His skin felt hot to the touch, burning where it touched mine, and his grip was iron-clad. In one fluid motion, he hauled me up from the depths like I weighed nothing. I hit the ledge with a wet slap, the water cascading off me in torrents as I scrambled onto solid rock beside him. I stumbled, my knees giving way as my muscles trembled and the adrenaline began to recede. He caught me, pulling me against him, and unable to think clearly, I wrapped my arms around his waist to keep myself up and laid my head against his broad chest. His arms wrapped around me, nearly as tight as the serpent’s grip, and I could hear the rapid thud of his heart behind his immense ribcage. He held me close for a second, before grabbing my arms and pushing me away, glaring down at me with a fury that shook me.
“What the fuck were you doing down there, Sariel?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but as my eyes started to heal from the stinging salt, I saw the vicious raw patches that covered almost all of his body. The man's once flawless dark skin was now marred with angry red burns, blistered and peeling. They spread across his skin in a mottled tapestry of reds and whites and in places, the skin had sloughed off completely, revealing the raw, weeping dermis underneath.
“Alastor!” I said, my mouth dropping open in horror. “Your skin…”
“Don’t change the subject!” he snapped. “You got free; I saw you. Why the hell didn’t you get out of the damn water? What the fuck possessed you to come back?”
Emotions I couldn’t even begin to define surged through me as I looked up at the sheer rage on his face.
“I… you were… I wanted to help…”
“I don’t give a fuck what you wanted!” He roared, making me wince and his grip tightened painfully around my arms. “I gave you a fucking order and you blatantly disregarded it!”
Anger rose inside me, and I glared up at him. “And it’s a good job I did, or you’d be dead right now. You should be thanking me!”
“Thank you? You nearly fucking died, and more than once! Do you have any idea… I don’t tolerate disobedience in my team, Sariel. Or foolish recklessness. From now on, you’re demoted to paperwork and tech only. I’m taking you out of the field.”
