Among the ruins of an ancient civilization that time had failed to erase, “Aqua Eileen” sat upon a large rock adorned with coral reefs, staring at the map covered in green lines.
It was a map of the Five Seas, threaded with green lines. He thought for a moment.
This map was speaking of that phosphorescent energy, of its exact locations. This proved that the king of that kingdom knew of its existence.
The drawings were clear. Green lines spread throughout the map, but some of them ended at green spots. This indicated that those spots were either gathering points for that energy, or locations filled with that phosphorescent energy.
But wait...
All of those spots were connected by a single line, and that line led to a place at the far northern edge of the map, where a large green spot had been drawn, larger than all the others.
Inside it was a massive creature with enormous teeth.
In fact, whoever had drawn the map had deliberately made the creature’s teeth larger than its own body.
What did that mean?
Was the center of this energy located specifically in that spot, with a creature guarding it?
Or was there another center of that energy in the deepest depths?
Or was there another world beneath that spot from which the energy emerged?
And what was this huge-fanged creature that the mapmaker had deliberately drawn?
The alien stared ahead for a moment as his electronic mind calculated several possibilities.
The success of his mission depended on returning alive.
Returning with the objective he had come for.
The legendary source of energy that could help his planet rebuild its civilization.
A civilization that was on the verge of extinction.
And this was one of the wonders of the Almighty Creator.
He had to succeed in this mission to save his planet.
At any cost.
No matter what that cost might be.
“Kloko” stood staring at some of the remains inside the chamber of skeletal corpses within the underwater cave he had discovered.
Ancient bones lay scattered around, most of the bodies having already decomposed. This was evidence that whatever creature had done this had not arrived recently.
The phosphorescent crystal was still with him.
He sensed something.
A strange movement in the deep waters.
He looked around, but suddenly...
A long jaw lunged at him, attempting to devour him.
But the Red Crocodile evaded the attack with incredible skill.
It was a sea serpent more than three meters long, with a long head and numerous fangs spread across the upper and lower parts of its mouth, interlocking with one another in a complex arrangement.
It had come from the deepest depths, searching for prey to fill its stomach.
But its bad luck had led it to choose the wrong prey on that particular day.
“Kloko” quickly grabbed his sharp-toothed hook and swung it, driving it toward the sea serpent’s body.
But the latter was fast as well, evading the hook that the Red Crocodile had taken from the mouth of one of the monsters he had hunted.
This time, the serpent lunged with its instinctive, natural hunting experience, and with greater force.
Its fangs sank into “Kloko’s” left arm, causing him pain.
The serpent then wrapped its body around the Red Crocodile’s chest and neck, just as it did with its prey, and began squeezing him with tremendous force.
The oxygen reaching “Kloko’s” head began to diminish.
But the Red Crocodile was not easy prey.
He was a skilled hunter.
With a single strike from a knife he pulled from his belt, “Kloko” drove it into the serpent’s head.
The blade emerged from the other side, stained with the serpent’s blood.
The serpent had become easy prey for the Red Hunter.
Its body slackened and collapsed onto the sand of the seafloor, a lifeless corpse.
“Kloko” began gasping for breath until his spirit calmed and settled.
He tore off a piece of the serpent’s skin and tightly wrapped it around his wound to stop the flowing blood.
His day had ended there.
And tomorrow...
A new beginning.
And a new search.
A large school of tuna cut through the waters surrounding the Shark Kingdom.
They were swimming away from a great danger.
Everyone hid inside their homes, while the female sharks rushed to protect their young.
The massive shark guards lined up behind “Nano,” carrying their weapons—spears and swords made from the bones of their prey.
“Nano” stood facing the approaching danger, muttering:
“A huge school of tuna. That’s enough food to last for days.”
Then the danger appeared.
Three large-headed, sharp-toothed Pliosaurs entered the kingdom, forcing their way forward in search of a plump young shark.
It was their favorite meal.
There were three Pliosaurs, each more than four meters long, and the largest of them was leading this deadly attack.
“Nano” realized that it was the dominant male, leading his two females.
“Nano” then fired the weapon he had developed himself.
It was a large machine gun with a rotating head that created an air current in the water and released it in successive waves, striking its target with a force of one thousand pounds.
The weapon could even blast a small rock apart in the depths within a matter of seconds.
The waves shot forward and struck one of the females.
Her body was hurled backward, and her head slammed into the wall of the kingdom’s gate, killing her instantly.
Meanwhile, the other female attacked one of the guards, ripping his head off with her fangs, then struck another with her tail, sending his body crashing into the wall.
As for the Pliosaur leader, he charged toward “Nano” in fury after the shark had killed one of his mates.
The heroic shark aimed his cannon at him and fired its waves, sending the Pliosaur’s body backward.
“Nano” then swam toward the remaining female, who had devoured four shark guards, destroyed a home over a shark family, and thrust her mouth through a crack in the collapsed den, attempting to devour the young shark.
“Nano” fired his waves at her.
Her body was thrown forward, crashing violently into the den and destroying what remained of it.
The young shark was now exposed before the murderous female.
She quickly swam toward the terrified young shark.
She opened her mouth, preparing to devour him.
Several guards hurled their spears at her, but she skillfully evaded them.
The mother shark tried to defend her young against the deadly fangs.
But at the last moment, “Nano” fired several rounds from his weapon directly at her head.
It exploded, scattering her remains throughout the depths of the Shark Kingdom.
“Hooray! We have plenty of food now, heroes.”
The remaining Pliosaur had devoured a group of shark guards, destroyed several dens, and attacked the female sharks.
When the cheerful shark “Nano” turned to face the dominant male, he was struck by a tremendous blow from its tail.
The impact sent him several meters away, causing his body to tumble repeatedly across the sand of the seafloor.
His cannon flew far away from him.
The Pliosaur leader charged toward “Nano” with its deadly fangs, enraged after he had killed its females.
It opened its terrifying mouth.
It was now clear that this was the end of the cheerful shark.
The end...
of Nano.
*****
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And remember:
Beneath the surface of the sea lie worlds that should never have awakened.
Ismail Alex