Arthur stepped out of the cabin and immediately spotted Daniel and Mera floating beside the sailing boat. His face twisted into annoyance.
"You two, can you stop flirting for five minutes?" He pointed at himself.
"Is this really the time and place for that? There is literally a third person here."
Mera let out an exasperated sigh. Arguing with Arthur would only encourage him. She simply turned around and swam back toward the boat before climbing aboard.
Daniel followed a moment later. Unlike Mera, he didn't bother swimming — he rose out of the water and landed lightly on the deck.
The moment he did, his attention shifted toward the horizon. Dark clouds were gathering. The sea was changing.
The currents beneath the boat were becoming increasingly unstable, and the wind was steadily growing stronger.
"It looks like a storm is coming."
At first nothing happened. Then the weather rapidly deteriorated. The remaining sunlight disappeared behind thick clouds. Rain began falling.
The wind intensified until the sails strained against it. The ocean became violent as waves struck the hull one after another, rocking the boat heavily from side to side.
Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rolled moments later. Within minutes the storm was in full force.
Daniel remained standing on the deck while rain ran down his face and coat, his eyes fixed on the dark waters ahead.
A while later Mera emerged from below deck, already changed into her Atlantean clothes, the green scales reflecting the occasional flashes of lightning.
She walked beside Daniel and looked toward the horizon.
"We should be near the Trench."
"Yeah." The water ahead looked noticeably different from the surrounding sea — the currents moving in strange patterns, the ocean darker than it should be.
"I can see that."
Arthur climbed onto the deck, holding the railing for balance as another wave struck the side. Rain hit him in the face. He wiped it away and looked at Daniel.
"Can't you do something about this fucking storm?"
Daniel seemed genuinely amused by the question.
"I'm flattered that you think I can control storms, but I'm not powerful enough to control Mother Nature."
The truth was that his abilities didn't work that way. He was powerful enough to level a city if he truly unleashed his strength, but controlling weather was an entirely different matter.
Storms, winds, ocean currents, atmospheric pressure — those belonged to the domain of nature itself.
Daniel was the God of Death, not the God of Nature. Death energy, souls, the underworld, and everything connected to death fell within his authority. A storm raging across the ocean did not.
Daniel's expression suddenly changed. Through the rain and darkness he noticed movement behind Mera. Without warning he thrust his arm forward.
Mera flinched, thinking for a brief moment he was attacking her. Then his hand passed beside her head.
A horrible screech echoed across the storm. Something slammed onto the deck. Mera spun around.
A creature larger than a human crouched on the wet wood behind her — a twisted combination of fish and man, pale flesh, rows of razor-sharp teeth in an oversized mouth. It had been less than a meter from her neck.
Daniel's hand was wrapped around its skull. The creature struggled violently. He squeezed. Bone cracked. It went limp. Without a second glance he hurled the corpse back into the ocean.
"What the fuck was that?"
Mera's expression turned serious. "Trench."
She looked toward the dark sea. Even with her Atlantean senses she hadn't noticed it approaching through the storm. If Daniel hadn't reacted first, it would have killed her.
Before anyone could continue talking, more screeches erupted from the darkness. The sea around them began moving.
Shapes emerged between the waves. Then dozens more followed. Arthur's eyes widened as hundreds of pale figures climbed onto the sides of the boat, claws digging into wood, teeth snapping at the air. More kept coming.
The Trench had found them.
Daniel looked around and sighed. "Looks like we're fighting."
A black scythe materialized in his hand.
One creature launched itself toward him from the railing. He stepped forward and swung — the blade passed through it and into two more behind it, all three bodies crashing back into the ocean.
Arthur gripped around his mother trident and met the next attacker head-on, punching it straight through the chest before ripping the weapon free and smashing another across the head with the shaft.
The narrow deck quickly became crowded. Creatures climbed from every side.
Mera raised both arms and water surged from the ocean, sweeping several Trench creatures overboard. Unfortunately for every one knocked away, several more replaced it.
The sea itself appeared alive — every wave carried more, every patch of darkness concealed another set of glowing eyes.
Daniel looked toward the horizon, then back at the endless swarm surrounding them. Thousands. Too many.
"We're leaving."
Arthur had just impaled another creature when he heard that. "Good idea. You planning on sharing how?"
Daniel answered by grabbing Mera around the waist and jumping off the boat before she could react. Arthur stared for half a second, looked at the creatures flooding across the deck, then jumped too.
The moment all three left the vessel, the Trench completely overwhelmed it. The creatures poured over every surface.
Wood splintered. The mast disappeared beneath a sea of claws and teeth. Within moments the sailing boat vanished beneath the swarm.
Arthur surfaced nearby and looked around. That turned out to be a mistake. The ocean in every direction was filled with Trench creatures — thousands swimming beneath them, thousands more circling above.
The entire area looked like a living whirlpool of pale bodies.
"Your plan was jumping into the water filled with those things?"
Daniel ignored him. Mera was already studying the creatures.
"They're surrounding us."
The Trench weren't attacking immediately — they were circling, waiting, moving through the water like predators preparing to overwhelm trapped prey.
"If they rush us together, we'll be torn apart."
"I know."
The nearest creatures surged forward. At the same moment Daniel extended his hand. A black sphere formed above his palm, rose several meters into the air, then burst apart. Dozens of glowing lights spread across the darkness.
The charging Trench creatures stopped. Several recoiled. Others hissed and retreated deeper into the water. The swarm's formation broke apart.
*****
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