Shadow Requiem

Chapter 1: Beneath the Sea

~~[871 Words]~~

The sky looked bruised, swollen with rain, like any second it might just buckle and pour everything down. Those clouds rolled overhead, thick, tangled and almost like black smoke winding through the air. Below, the sea was restless and wild, thrashing around between two islands. The waves smashed against these massive timber posts sticking out of the water, all lined up carefully, like a row of ancient guards someone forgot about.

Off to the side, a cliff jutted out—a breakwater but not gentle in any sense. You're talking black, angry stone shooting straight up from the ocean, seventy meters or more, scratched and battered by centuries, not chisels. Right next to all that roughness, there was just a sliver of beach: white sand, a handful of coconut trees looking like they were deciding whether to stand tall or just give up and fall.

The timber posts were strange. You could see someone put real effort into this. Logs hammered way down into the seafloor, only their rounded tops poking above the surface now, barnacles coating them thick as armor. They'd been standing there for ages, the sea slowly eating them, but the way they were set out? Almost too perfect. Unnervingly precise.

In the middle, the posts huddled into a lopsided circle, a dartboard pattern, more or less. The gaps between each were wide, at least ten meters across, enough space for a small ferry to squeeze through without scraping on either side, if you knew what you were doing.

*******

Deep under the waves, someone moved.

No shirt, just faded denim stuck to his legs. The water was muddy, shadows everywhere but his hair, the color of fresh blood cut through the gloom in a way that was hard to miss.

He didn't really move the way anyone else would. He'd flicker out of sight, then pop up somewhere else, a blur that ripped across the bottom, too fast to track. It wasn't just quick, it was persistent, like watching a movie where the frames were all out of order.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Even at that speed, every post he stopped at got the same careful attention. He picked off each barnacle by hand. Not rushed—methodical. They just crumbled in his fingers, turned to dust, faded away.

He went post to post, not wasting a second. Same move, over and over, like he was on autopilot. Then, suddenly, he just stopped. He stood facing one of the giant logs, dead still in the water, like the job was finally done.

It got colder. He noticed it, skin prickling as the chill seeped in deeper. The silence pressed in, too.

And just like that, something in the water changed. He felt it first, a little jolt at the edge of his mind.

Something's watching him.

He spun around fast.

Eyes wide, caught it right before disaster, something lunging through the dark at him. Calling it a fish was a joke. A shark, jaws snapping close to his face, teeth longer than his hands. It slammed him against one of the posts, not even slowing down.

He stopped it. Just stopped it cold, with almost no effort. The shark kept fighting, biting at nothing, wild with hunger and frustration.

He hadn't expected that. It started to bug him.

He didn't let it. He used his unbelievable speed—and then, gone. He disappeared like a bubble in the water—Clear, no trace left behind. Now, he watched the shark from above.

The shark's teeth only found splintered wood. The thing thrashed, trying to tear itself free.

"How—? Impossible", the thought nagging at him, watching it manage to wrench itself loose. "This one is...?"

He watched. Couldn't help himself, really. The shark made a mess of the post, then swung back for another go.

This time, he was ready.

He lifted a hand, opened his palm. One sharp movement, and a soundless wave shot out—something only a shark could feel. It washed right over the beast, left it frozen. The fight went out of the animal and it turned, paddled off into the dark as fast as it could.

Silence returned.

He let it go.

A few breaths went by. Still, there—unease, that prickle at the base of his skull. He was still being watched.

He turned.

Eyes wide, again.

This shark was even bigger, haunting the darkness without a ripple, making the first one look puny in comparison.

Like clockwork, the small shark drifted by, and just disappeared. Swallowed whole, barely noticed.

He didn't even flinch.

He stood there at the bottom, arms loose, water colder now but he didn't shiver. He knew the next move.

It came at him in a rush.

He inhaled. Then let it go.

This time, he pushed energy from his forehead. It rippled out in all directions, a silent radio signal only a giant predator would hear.

The shark veered off, hard. Like it'd just smacked into a wall. That frequency hit something deep inside, a full stop. It rolled past, close enough for him to catch scars and ridges, the sheer scale of it.

The monster kept swimming. Calm, slow. Like nothing ever happened.

He watched. The darkness swallowed it up, and then he was alone again.