A scream and a loud splash came from somewhere, but not from me.

I couldn't make a sound because I was frozen with fear. The sound had come from the man closest to the water. He was being dragged into the lake by a long leg covered with a fluorescent-white shell.

The younger man looked back and shouted. His cut upper body dropped to the ground. Several gunshots cracked through the air, a bright-red ray flashed, and I smelled something burning.

This was my first time seeing ancient bioweapons.

I rolled onto my back slowly and stared.

What I had thought was a white rock in the middle of the lake was instead a winged fish floating to the surface of the water. Myriad gleaming eyes looked at me. Moving legs were sticking out of its mouth, and one whipped up to hit me...

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"Stop it!"

Light came on suddenly in the cave, illuminating everything.

"Don't kill him. He will not hurt your family," said the familiar voice.

The legs stopped whipping. The fish seemed to hesitate.

"Please, Guardian."

My companion—she—stood in front of the lake. Why had I thought she was a "he"?

She'd taken her hood off. Her long black hair was tied back in a bow like a tentacle. She extended her slender arms toward the fish. They were covered in a tight black knit with luminescent lines. I couldn't imagine what materials were woven into it.

"I ask you again," she said.

The fish closed its mouth and blinked a few times. The wall of caves behind her blinked, too.

After a moment, the fish's eyes stopped blinking, and they all looked at her calmly.

"I appreciated your lenience," she told it.

The ancient creature dived into the water with a loud splash and disappeared.

Then, the luminescence in the cave dimmed.

Her arms fell, and she dropped to her knees.