Chapter Text
Dark knew this was unwise. He had duties to attend to, a kingdom to rule! He could not afford distractions. And yet he could feel the inexplicable pull towards his human, like the tide shifting to meet the alien tug of the moon overhead. He eyed the scrying mirror hungrily. Perhaps he could take a quick look…
Drifting closer, Dark extended a finger, ghosting over the smooth surface and focusing his power. Images danced across the looking glass, becoming sharper and clearer, and suddenly he could see the deck of a ship, morning sunlight shimmering on the waves beyond the rail.
His human stood, commanding, at the helm of the ship, long hair buffeted by the sea breeze. Dark sighed, feeling the restless scrabbling in his chest ease. Chosen looked so at home here, with a posture relaxed and expression focused.
"Hey Chosen!" a cheery voice called from somewhere else on the ship. "There's a school of sea serpents up ahead!"
"Position?" Chosen asked calmly.
"At the surface off the port-side of the bow. It's not their breeding season, so we should be fine, but you might want to go around just in case."
"Thanks Red!" replied Chosen with a grin, and Dark felt a small flare of jealousy. "Adjusting course." He gripped the wheel and spun it, expertly steering the ship around the swarm-
"My lord?" a small, anxious voice shattered Dark's focus and the image in the mirror vanished. Dark whipped around, enraged.
A spider crab was nervously wringing its claws, standing hesitant in the doorway of his chambers. Dark bared his teeth, narrowing his eyes in what he hoped was a terrifying display of his displeasure. "What," he snarled, "could you possibly want?"
The crab skittered, looking as though they wished to dissolve into seafoam. "Apologies for the- …interruption, my lord, but I was sent to remind you of your responsibilities. It's been two days since you've done anything. The Cursors are becoming impatient."
Dark groaned, digging his claws into the armrests of his chair and tearing slightly at it. "By code, must I always do their dirty work?" he grumbled, dismissing the crab with a wave. He yearned to stay and observe his human, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
He swept out the door, darting through the halls until he reached the front gates, which were already wide-open. Dark allowed himself to extend his senses, surveying his kingdom and what transpired within. The scrying mirror was far more precise, but he did not need precision for this.
A flicker of greedy hunger and human panic tugged at his consciousness. There was a disturbance a ways north.
Dark could feel the thrumming call of his domain at all times, pressing against the outskirts of his mind. Now, that trickle became a deafening roar as his form shifted, merging with the sea itself. He could feel his waves lapping against the coast, his currents gracing the shoals and reefs and chasms. Forcing himself to focus on that disturbance, he surged forth, reforming from the waves to behold the sight before him.
It was a human ship, floundering in the waters as a terrible storm raged around it, the waves lurching and tossing it like a careless child with a toy. Dark chuckled, surveying the sailors who sloshed about on the deck. Their distress was most entertaining when a storm was present.
Then, he saw the cause of their panic. A ghast was hovering in the sky above, white tendrils dripping with rainwater as it shrieked and spun, wind blasting from its open mouth. No doubt the cause of the freak storm, it spat hail down at the floundering humans below.
Dark frowned, understanding coming to him in a flash. These humans were monster hunters. Ghasts were elusive and preferred to avoid humans unless provoked. Had these fools attempted to pick a fight?
But these hunters were laughably underprepared. Dark couldn't help but chuckle as one drew a saber and immediately stumbled, the weapon slipping out of their hands. It skittered across the deck before tumbling into the churning waves with a splash.
"Secure the cargo!" The human who must have been the captain shouted, and a pair of bedraggled crewmen grabbed a large net and hauled it up the deck, struggling towards the entrance to the cargo hold. The ghast seemed to shriek louder at this, inhaling deeply. Its underbelly beginning to glow with a telltale charge, and Dark leaned in, cackling with excitement. Oh, how he enjoyed watching his creations destroy such fools! His mind all snapping teeth, gnashing with excitement, he observed.
Then, a small white thing thrashed desperately in the net, and all his glee swiftly evaporated, replaced with cold fury. "Oh by the deep," he muttered. "They can't have been that stupid." Surely mortals would have some kind of self-preservation or common sense.
As if in response, the little ghastling wailed pathetically, twisting in vain, and the attacking ghast discharged a brilliant burst of lightning that splintered the timbers of the ship. Several humans tumbled into the sea, and the ghastling wailed again.
Dark could see the fraying bonds of the net even from his vantage point. No doubt the ghastling would free itself momentarily. He plunged into the waves, darting up to where the sailors were slowly sinking to the seafloor. They would make fine prey.
Upon closer inspection, only one was still alive; a scruffy-looking man in a navy coat. He must have been an experienced fighter because his face was scarred and his hands were calloused. Dark tilted his head, curious, and noted the exact moment the man caught sight of him amidst his panic.
First, the gasp, the widening of the eyes. The man fumbled, oxygen escaping his lips in a frantic plume. He reached for the harpoon at his side, the weapon still dragging him down all the while, and pointed it at him.
Dark held out his hands, but the man did not relent. If anything, he seemed more aggressive at this gesture.
As Dark drew closer, the man lashed out, deadly metal tip surging forward. Dark had seen a thousand sailors drown and fear him, yet he was still surprised when the harpoon sliced across his forearm, grazing him and sending dark ichor pooling into the sea like ink.
Dark blinked, momentarily startled. The man smirked, satisfied, but his movements were slowing. Dark hardly noticed beyond the churning ice of his own sudden rage.
In an instant, his body had shifted, jaws elongating; terrible teeth extended as his monstrous form coiled around the man. The sailor screamed, harpoon slipping from his fingers and plunging down to the depths below as he struggled to swim away.
But it was no use. Dark's jaws clamped down on him and he could feel the snapping of the sailor's bones beneath his fangs. The human stopped struggling, and Dark, still furious, bit down hard, severing a limb this time. Red billowed around him in a scarlet cloud of gore, obscuring him. Suddenly no longer hungry, he released the corpse, allowing it to drift to the bottom. Its gruesome form swayed in the gentle current, and Dark flicked a hand, sending a stronger flow to sweep it away.
Usually Dark savoured these moments; the terror in their eyes, the rending of flesh, the meal. This time, it was all bitter. Even resurfacing to see that the ghastling had flown away with its parent didn't improve his foul mood. Something about the human's reaction had felt foreign and unappealing.
Would my human despise me as that sailor did, if I revealed my true nature to him?
Seething with a strange sort of frustration, he returned to his palace to sulk.