Chapter 144: Resolve
The world beneath the surface was silent, too silent, and the only light came from the faint blue glow of the floating cores inside their circular shields.
In the depths of the watery black, eyes began to appear, massive, slow-blinking orbs, wide and ancient. They stared without fear, watching each step the travelers took as if judging them, weighing their presence.
Dune caught glimpses of sea creatures with translucent bodies longer than trees, with thin glowing fins and mouths lined with serrated teeth. Tentacled beings coiled like vines in the distance, and once or twice, something large brushed the barrier wall, shaking the core slightly in response.
Syras shivered. "Why are there so many eyes?" he muttered, glancing around.
Dune said nothing, his gaze steady, but Syras suddenly stiffened.
An enormous eye floated just beside him,
nearly pressed against the barrier. The pupil narrowed and focused directly on him, unblinking, its iris glowing with shifting colors like oil on water.
Syras stared back, slowly raising a brow.
"...I know I’m good-looking," he whispered under his breath, "but this is getting weird."
He turned stiffly and sat down, arms crossed, shutting his eyes with forced calm. "Wake me up when its day and these things stop looking at me," he muttered.
Dune stifled a laugh, his own tension easing for just a second.