Page 11 of A Contemporary Mythos Summer
I couldn’t begin to express enough gratitude for having a second chance with Poseidon. I’d have to send the Fates a basket of fruit and Ambrosia wine or something.
After letting out a quick laugh and pinching Seid’s nipple, I dove under the water, pinning my hands at my sides and moving my legs in unison like a dolphin. It didn’t take long for him to catch up to me, swimming beside me while he casually pretended to lay on his side. We proceeded to play our nostalgic game of underwater tag—circling each other, stopping on a dime, and breaching the surface to pretend as if we needed air. There were enough mortals in the water, one could take notice, and we could never afford that chance.
When we emerged for the sixth time in a bout of smiles and laughter, no sooner had I wiped the water from my eyes a football zoomed through the air, aimed straight at my face. I’d gained a lot of my power back and remembered how to use most of it, but my reaction time still needed practice.
Poseidon hurled his arm forward in a scooping motion, sending a small tidal wave colliding into the ball and flying back in the direction it came. I froze, knowing full well that had to look…strange.
“What in the actual fuck?” A man with spiky brown hair said, holding the football in his hands, wide-eyed.
Here we go.
The blonde woman beside him whacked him in the chest as she eyed Poseidon. “Have you ever seen the water do that at random? Especially in the Gulf?”
Elbowing Poseidon in his ribs, I smiled charmingly at our group of witnesses.
“You all didn’t feel that gust of wind just then?” Poseidon barked a laugh, put his hands on his hips, and shook his head. “Hell of a thing, I tell ya.”
The man with long raven hair dipped a finger in the water and held it up as if testing wind direction but only ended up frowning.
That’s because there was no wind today. Zero.
The surrounding water vibrated, and we both tensed. Gripping Poseidon’s bicep, a familiar lump formed in my throat.
“I’m guessing you felt that, Seid?” I whispered, waiting for the tremor to happen again.
Poseidon nodded and scanned the swimmers around us. “And considering no one has reacted, I can give you two guesses on what it was.”
* * *
P O S E I D O N
There were only two reasons an ocean would tremble like it just had: volcanic activity—or a sea creature. Considering where we were, unfortunately, a sea creature was far more likely. Given the currents pulsing against my legs from the depths, I’d venture to guess it wasn’t a humanoid, but rather very…large.
Fantastic.
“There are way too many mortals around. We’ll have to take the chance someone doesn’t notice how long we’ve been underwater. We must keep whatever this thing is limited to the depths, or the first day of summer for these folks could get really ugly, real fast.” I slowly sunk into the water, keeping watch on anyone spying on us submerge.
“Any idea what it is?”
“Not a damn clue. But it’s big.”
Once underwater, we dove toward the seabed, using our powers to go faster. Once we were deep enough, there was no chance a mortal would catch sight. A flash of scales on a spiraling tail moved past us, and one glimpse was all it took for me to know precisely what we were dealing with—a sea dragon.
“A sea dragon?” Cordelia asked, her voice carrying through the water to my ears the same as if on land. “The last time I remember fighting a dragon was right after we married.”
Thrusting my hand at my side, I produced my golden trident while my queen made her own silver one appear. “Yeah. Me too. This should be interesting.”
The dragon’s enormous face zoomed past us, the size of its head surpassing both of us combined. One webbed and taloned foot lashed at me, but I thwarted it away with my trident’s prongs, nicking it in a toe. Its long, tubular body whirled back around, its glowing serpent-like blue eyes rising to meet us.
“You always could piss something off in record time,” Cory said, her shoulder brushing against mine, readying for battle.
“It’s a talent.”
The dragon opened its giant maw, sending a shrill battle cry, bubbles festering around us and impeding our vision. Unlike land dragons, the underwater variety didn’t need wings, it’s where the fins down the entirety of its spine and extra curvy tail came in handy. It snapped its tail at Cordelia, the tentacle wisps hanging from it lashing her arms. She sliced her trident through the water horizontally, the prongs bouncing off one of the dragon’s extra-hardened patches. Snarling, Cory morphed her legs into a mermaid tail and matched the dragon’s movements.
“Someone’s on a mission,” I yelled to her, a smirk tugging at my lips.
Flapping her fin, she dove under the dragon’s tail and stabbed her trident over her head, stabbing the creature. “One of us has to be, sweetheart,” she shouted, humor lacing her tone.
