Master Of None

"I assumed you wanted me to come here? I couldn't do much when a little dragon was pulling at my robes." Scylla was looking a little disheveled having been dragged along by Midnight. She couldn't tell what was going on so suddenly but had hope it was what she had asked of Walker. 

"I spoke with the king. There are beast cages in the coral bunkers here. One may have the leviathan we are searching for." The light in Scylla's eyes seemed to focus as Walker said this. She glanced back and forth between Leon and Walker waiting to hear more. 

"Follow me. Please do not touch anything. My father is very tense right now and I would hate for him to make enemies." Leon knew that Walker was in no mood to fool around with politics. The attitude of his father had already pushed away the hero he had pleaded with for assistance. Now Leon had to keep hold of the relationship to make sure the future was still as bright as he felt it would be. 

Some merfolk with bladed shell spears were standing guard at a closed doorway. They had already been told to allow them through and opened the strong coral door for them. "Stay close. Not many enter here without permission." Since Leon was using the utmost care, Walker and Scylla followed the same actions. Midnight was lazily swimming behind them sniffing the water. Her unique position as a true dragon champion had allowed her to smell the water the same as the air. She had caught on to this and had not stopped getting a sense of this new realization. 

The feeling of the water in this passageway was much colder than they had expected. There were also slight rumbling sounds from below them as they descended. Colorful coral grew on the ceiling giving them a pink and blue colored light that gave them sight. "Not many have come down here. We often capture rare and powerful monsters to be tamed by our people. There are some systems that are unique to merfolk. One such system allows the control of underwater monsters. It is similar to a tamer but also very different." 

"So you and your people spend the time to trap them and feed them until they are controlled." Walker did not like the sound of this. However, he was sure that the tamers also had such practices. That didn't mean it was good for the monster thought. Midnight could easily have been one of those monsters if others had found her before the party had. 

"It is not as bad as it sounds. There are monsters like the goliath blue crab which could have grown and destroyed the city. Now it is under the control of one of our unique soldiers. They have guided it to protect the city from many large ocean monsters. It also helps deter the other goliath red crabs from coming near the city." The goliath red carb was a monster that lived very deep in the oceans. For the merfolk to have control over one in the shallow waters they lived in was very impressive. 

"How do you come by some of these monsters? Do you raise them or just force them in to submission?" Scylla was fearing that she would find the last leviathan partner harmed and barely able to join her. 

"Some need force, others are lured with food. We have others that just seem to care less about where they go. I hate to say it, but one of those that don't seem to care is the leviathan we found. From what I know it was drifting in the water not eating, not swimming, just drifting with a dead look in its eyes." Leon did not notice it but Walker clearly saw Scylla clench her fists. 

Bars of black coral came in to view and Walker found they were in a room many times larger than the higher floors of the coral bunker. "These are the beast cages. They were made many years ago when this was but a small cave within the natural coral. That is the crab I was speaking about before. There are also two giant sandworms, a lionfish, and that over there, is what you wish to see." 

Scylla pushed off the ground and sawm with all her might directly to the bars of a darker cage. The light was dull there since the coral had been torn off the ceiling. "I am sorry I could not find you. The oceans finally brought you home." The other leviathans swam from Scylla and started to open their mouths in a silent hissing. Scylla reached a hand through the bards of black coral. 

The water in the beast cages shifted and churned. Small pieces of coral and rock were kicked up around them. Walker could sense the mana around them growing denser. There even seemed to be a breeze through the water even though there shouldn't be one in the water. "I know you felt empty. I know that you have been incomplete. We are here now. Do not feel pain any longer." 

Part of Walker felt that he was witnessing something he was not meant to see. This was more than just Scylla's feelings. This was her very being on display. The mana that was around them was hers. The water and wind affinity she had was powerful enough t cause the surrounding mana to vibrate and react. 

A large head came in to view and cold eyes looked right at Scylla. The staring contests lasted only a second before the dead look in the eyes of the massive leviathan became energetic and mana began to leave Scylla and travel to the leviathan. The size of the leviathan became less and less until it was the same as the others. It slipped through the black coral bars and wrapped around Scylla with the other leviathans. Scylla was smiling just slightly before she started to slowly fall to the sand. "That's not something I believe I have ever seen in my life." The stunned Leon just watched as Walker and Midnight retrieved Scylla to carry her somewhere she could rest properly. 

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