Chapter 8: 8. Tears

Water AscendantWords: 6661

I have no idea if it was the same duo of riders as the ones who destroyed our boat, but at this point it didn’t matter.

They clearly had bad intentions as their spears were already gripped and ready to be thrown towards us and well if they were different then they should’ve done a better job of controlling their people.

Or at least that’s probably what Grandpa is thinking.

No time to worry about that though, they were upon us.

“DIVE!”

I was already in the process of taking a breath when I heard his shout and dove under the water.

Neither of us wasted any time in swimming as far down and off center as possible.

THWUMP!

THWUMP!

Two almost dull yet still somewhat loud noises could be heard as two spears pierced into the water after us.

I’m 100% sure if we were on land with nowhere to hide then both Grandpa and I would’ve been pierced though without being able to do anything about it.

But the water not only helped to obscure our position but also affects the trajectory of the spear upon contact, and that combined with a bit more strength in our bodies allowed us to swim faster and harder is probably the reasons we still live.

And based on the mad grin on Grandpa’s face.

They’re going to wish we were dead very soon.

Both the spears didn’t travel all that far past us, and Grandpa swam to the nearest one and grabbed it.

I followed suit and went after the other one.

But I barely had time to grab before Grandpa shot off towards the surface.

How the hell could he swim that fast? He hadn’t swam that fast the entire time we’ve been out here. Did he put all of his points into strength?

Grandpa burst out from the water and yelled something I couldn’t understand as he cocked his arm back and launched it forward with speed and power.

These had to be different people because the ones before should’ve been ready for at least some type of projectile because my Grandpa had the gun last time, but these guys were just hovering there like they were all powerful.

Newsflash. They weren’t.

The bird my Grandpa aimed for tried to veer out the way at the last moment but it was too late and unlike the small bullet that only created one small clean hole in the target, the spear completely ripped through one of the wings of the birds and it immediately began spiraling down towards the ocean.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Grandpa didn’t wait to see the result of that and he was already back into the water and he turned around to find me waiting with the other spear.

I gave it to him, he handed me his dagger, and I came back up for air before diving back and swimming as fast as I could towards the location of the falling giant bird.

At this point I was barely thinking and just acting on instinct. This was my chance. I don’t know if Grandpa can kill the other one, I don’t know if they have more spears, I don’t know if reinforcements were on the way, all I knew was we needed to take every advantage we could.

My heart and Trait combined to flood my body with more oxygen and a rush of adrenaline helped me to ignore the fatigue and stress that was building in my body after all the swimming we’ve been forced to do.

By the time I reached the massive bird and it’s red skinned rider, they were flailing about in the water aggressively.

The bird was screaming in pain and trashing about wildly and the rider seemed to have a foot stuck in the saddle and his body was being thrown back and forth in the water.

I don’t even think he realized I neared him as he was also screaming trying to pull his foot from the saddle and fighting off all of the water he was inadvertently swallowing.

The dagger in my hands was gripped tightly as possible and the red skinned man didn’t notice my approach until I was right upon him.

He tried to bring his arms up to block my strike, but he was far too late, and far too tired and simply far away from any luck.

I drove the dagger down into his heart or where I assumed it to be since he had a body similar to humans and it appears I was right as his hands slowly went limp as he stared into my eyes.

I stared right back and it was almost like the world went still all around us for a moment as his red pupils met mine and even the bird had stopped thrashing about now as if it could finally sense the death of its rider.

Unconsciously I pulled the knife out and a gut wrenching noise followed after it.

My stomach twisted.

There were a few notifications that popped up after that but I didn’t register any of them.

By body slowly drifted away from the red skinned man and his bird but I all I could see were his eyes.

His red eyes and the dwindling of the that remained within them.

I have no idea what kept my feet kicking but I bobbed in the water for a few moments until my stomach twisted so much that all the raw seafood I ate today no longer wanted to stay within me.

A disgusting amount of vomit left my body in those moments and it felt like more was coming as the sight of the man’s eyes kept roaming around in my head.

I killed a man today.

He might’ve been an alien, he might’ve been someone trying to kill me, but it doesn’t change the fact that I killed him.

Me.

My hands played the role of a reaper today and that man will never breathe again.

His eyes…his red and lifeless eyes….

“FRED!”

I felt the strong grip of my Grandpa’s hands on my shoulders and it seemed to shock me back to the real world. I don’t know where he came from and I hadn’t even heard him approach me.

“It’s alright Freddy. It’s alright.”

“Blood..?”

Grandpa was covered in blood.

“Grandpa..?”

“I’m alright Freddy, and you’re alright too. Come here boy. It’s okay.”

Tears I didn’t even know I was holding back slowly came flowing from eyes as my Grandpa held me tightly.

In this moment I was no longer 17 year old Freddy Williams, a young man fearless enough to dive into waters filled with massive sharks that would rip me to threads.

No…in this moment I was just a boy.

A boy that needed the support of his Grandfather.

Grandpa allowed me to stay in that state for as long as I wished, and I knew this would be something he never joked about. At least not if I didn’t joke about it on my own.

But eventually I was fine enough to float on my own and I separated from my Grandpa.

I don’t think I was fully over the situation that just happened and honestly I don’t think I ever will be.

But for now…I can push forward.

Taking a look at the notifications, I saw that there were indeed a couple of things waiting for my attention.

For example…

Please choose your Class!