Gathering every ounce of willpower I possess, I clear my mind and, with a mighty heave, stab once more with all my strength. This time, instead of pulling the dagger out—which, let’s be honest, hasn’t been working out great so far—I keep pushing and slicing, tearing at the inner gut lining with both hands. I tunnel my hand, then my arm, head, shoulders, and the rest of my body into the rip I create.
The fluid around me slowly begins to thin.
Thank goodness.
The dagger strikes a solid mass in front of me, like hitting an iron wall. I wriggle closer and stomp onto the solid mass. It cracks under my weight, and I dig myself in further.
Finally, my dagger slices through, creating an opening. Salty water rushes in, covering my hand, then my arm, my face, and finally, the rest of my body.
Freedom! Sweet, glorious freedom!
I widen the opening and kick back, freeing myself from the sea serpent’s intestine. That definitely would have been an undignified demise.
Back in the embrace of the seawater, I glance back at the dark blue cloud of viscous fluid. Within it, the large sea serpent is coiled into a tight ball, twisting and writhing.
It looks like someone just realized I am no longer on the menu.
A deafening, high-pitched scream pierces through the water. Covering my ears, I turn and swim back towards the surface. Thankfully, I can still see the submarine floating above.
I rush towards it, swimming as fast as I can.
But halfway there, I’m yanked downwards again by my leg.
Seriously?! I taste horrible! You can’t even chew me; you’ll get a blockage swallowing me! Why?!
I repeat this in my head, hoping the serpent can somehow understand my very valid arguments.
The smaller serpent refuses to let go, even as I kick furiously at its head. Frustration boiling—seriously, how many times do I have to fight this thing?—I raise my dagger with both hands.
Aiming for the center of its skull, I thrust downwards with lightning speed, hoping to end this once and for all. But before the blade can connect, a massive tail swipes my arm aside, and my dagger plunges into the serpent’s eye instead.
It twists its head, and the dagger slips from my grasp.
The tail swipe, of course, came from the larger serpent. It wraps itself around the smaller one and carefully extracts the dagger from its eye with its mouth. Then, staring right at me, it swallows the dagger whole.
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Seriously? Did it just… eat my dagger? It’s definitely intelligent. Is the smaller one its offspring?
A pang of guilt strikes me, quickly followed by annoyance.
Why are they attacking me?! There are, like, a million other things they could be eating! Like… those small alien creatures. Or slightly larger alien creatures. Or even those weird glowing squid-looking things. Anything but me!
Weaponless, I tread water, keeping my eyes locked on the two serpents. My other weapon is inside the submarine, but these two aren’t giving me a chance to retreat.
As I weigh my rapidly dwindling options, the two creatures lunge. The larger serpent clamps its jaws onto one of my legs, while the smaller one latches onto my opposite arm. They twist their heads, trying to tear me apart.
Nice try, unimpressed. It’s no use; my body remains stubbornly intact, without so much as a scratch. Thank you for the effort, I really appreciate it.
With my free arm, I pull back and punch the already damaged eye of the smaller serpent. I push my hand deeper into its eye socket, firmly gripping the inner structure to prevent it from pulling away.
It’s a bit gross, I’ll admit, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
I swing and kick at the larger serpent, but it maintains its grip on my leg.
Fine. Little one first! I’m going to make this very clear: messing with the current me is a bad idea.
I dig deeper into the smaller serpent’s eye socket with both hands. Finding a firm grip I hold on tight as it thrashes and twists. With my other hand, I make a fist and punch repeatedly at the same spot on its skull.
As I punch, the larger serpent pulls harder, dragging us all towards the seafloor. It twists its body around mine, wrapping tighter and tighter, trapping my punching arm and squeezing with increasing force.
But I refuse to let go of the squirming smaller serpent. No way. Not after all that effort.
Managing to wiggle my arm free, I gather all my strength for one final punch.
When my fist lands, I hear a sickening crack, and the serpent’s skull caves inward. Blue liquid oozes from the wound. With one final push, my fist sinks deep into the skull.
It’s…well, let’s just say it’s not a pleasant sensation.
The smaller serpent gives a final twitch, its strength utterly spent.
A deafening, anguished screech fills my ears as the serpent’s body floats sideways, lifeless.
Suddenly, my hair, as if sensing the victory, flares to life again, each strand regaining its iridescent sheen. As if with a mind of its own it twists into a spear and effortlessly pierces the smaller serpent’s head. Talk about overkill. Another flash of light erupts.
When my vision clears, instead of the expected golden light, a massive golden sphere hangs above me.
It’s…it’s just like the painting in Dr. Keyser’s living room, only, you know, a tad bigger. Okay, way bigger. It practically fills my entire field of vision. It looks like an endless number of specks of light nested within the sphere. It’s like looking at the sun, from only a couple kilometers away.
Is this the true form of the bright light? Dr. Keyser definitely knew more about this dimension than he let on.
Just like in the painting, trillions upon trillions of tiny lights, connected by shimmering golden strings, swirl within the sphere. They flicker like miniature golden stars, but they dim the closer they get to the center. It’s mesmerizing, if not slightly overwhelming.
From the darkness below, a dark red speck of light drifts upwards toward the sphere. But before the golden strings can reach it, iridescent strings shoot out from behind me.
Talk about a dramatic entrance.