Syryn was dead, surely, he was dead. Wasn't he? He couldn't breathe. Something was pressing into his gills and cutting off the water supply to them. The mage felt the temperature of his body fluctuate even as cool scaly skin slid across every inch of skin that wasn't covered by cloth.

So he wasn't dead.

Syryn opened his eyes and could see only darkness. He figured that would be the case since he was surrounded and wrapped up like a ball of yarn.

Sounds were muffled but he could hear harsh conversation that sounded like Drevin and Enkansh arguing.

"Dead-"

"-but what if-"

"You can't-"

"Ryn- we can't"

Why wasn't he dead anyway?

"Can't-"

"-try"

"-ave to-"

"No-"

"Get- help"

Syryn wept in his heart. Life was hard.

Hisssssss

The mage heard it right next to his ear.

Ssssryn

How was this happening again? The dolphin had spoken to him first, and now it was a snake.

"Nnnn," he tried to speak but was encumbered by a snake coiled across his mouth.

Sssyrn we are friendsssss

"Can't -reathe."

Water began to trickle to his gills when a few snakes shifted.

Danger comesssss Ssssryn

The mage felt his heart drop. The others too were in danger then. He had, for the moment, accepted that the snakes weren't out to harm him. He wondered if this was their way of protecting him from something.

"I have to tell them then. My friends are in danger too."

Ssssssss

Syryn heard a high pitched scream that sounded like Shali.

"Let me out!!!" He struggled against the bindings that held him inside the group of snakes. "Shali is in danger!"

Freindsss ssssafe

The screaming was cut off just as abruptly as it began.

The ball of snakes suddenly tightened around him, cutting off the water again.

Sssssryn sssafe wait

The mage's heart thudded loudly. It was a war drum beating against his chest. Seconds passed without sound or oxygen. Syryn's gills fluttered against the snake binding his gills. He had no business trusting snakes but he instinctively felt a trust towards the creatures that were suffocating him.

Sssssssssss

Now what? He thought.

What Syryn couldn't see was the large section of sand undulating ahead of their location. The moving sand appeared to be heading directly towards the snake ball. Enkansh, Drevin, and Shali were drifting in the water high above the sand. They recognised the danger that was writhing under the sand and stayed far away from it.

"Infinity worms," Drevin spat. "How did these things get here?"

Shali was silenced by the horrors of what had just taken place. Syryn had been killed in front of her eyes; his life snatched away even as he pushed her to safety.

The guard was also in a state of shock. Syryn had been killed under his watch. He had failed his duty.

"They were lured here by something," Enkansh said with disgust.

Infinity worms were so named for the long lengths of their body. The worms could grow up to a few hundred metres. Their exoskeleton covered bodies stayed buried inside of deep holes within the sand. These worms had strong mandibles that caught prey swimming or walking past an area inhabited by the infinity worm. The poor victim would then be dragged into a sand hole and devoured alive by the infinity worm.

The worms were disinterested in the big ball of snakes on the ocean floor. Blue-ringed tails were toxic even to the infinity worms who normally attacked everything they could possibly drag under the sand.

The three survivors were swimming high above knowing that the worms would not leave their holes to catch them. Only desperation or extreme hunger would drive the worms to expose the full length of their body. Such a manoeuvre allowed them to reach higher swimming prey but it also exposed their bodies to danger.

"So many of them came all the way to the clamshell grounds. It's obvious that they were lured here." Drevin glanced at the mermaid who was still staring at the ball of snakes.

"We have to go get help," Enkansh replied. Even the siren sounded subdued and gloomy.

"We can't leave Syryn!"

"Shali, he's gone," Drevin gently told the mermaid. "We all care about him but there's nothing we can do. Just a single bite from a blue-ringed serpent is capable of downing a merman. Syryn- he can't have survived so many." The silver-blue mer was engulfed by sorrow.

It was too soon. Shali had just lost her brother and now she had to witness the death of a friend. The mermaid wept quietly.

"We should leave... We'll get some help and drive the worms away. Then we'll get Syryn from the serpents," the prince told his sister. He was already dreading the thought of finding Syryn's body riddled with snake bites. The wound received from a blue-ringed serpent was known to ooze blackened blood. He imagined the state of Syryn's body and turned away.

"We can't just leave him, Revi," Shali cried. "Poor Syryn, he will be all alone when we leave."

"We must go Shali," this time it was the siren that persuaded her. "The sooner we get him out, the better it is for all of us, including Syryn."

The mermaid allowed them to pull her away from the scene. She took one last look at the unmoving ball of snakes and turned away.

______

Hissssssssss hissssssss

Those were the only sounds that Syryn could hear. From time to time, the snakes loosened to let in some water so that he could he could get oxygen.

Friendsssss ssssafe gone

He was glad for it. The mage felt his skin crawl when something wet brushed across his fingers. For a while, he thought nothing more of it but his fingers began to burn and heat up. He muttered about making a snake leather bag if one of them had accidentally bitten him.

Sssssssafe sssssyryn

Little by little, the tightness around his body gave way to water and freedom. Uncoiled, the snakes dispersed in all directions.

Up sssswim sssyryn sssssswim

The snake speaking to him was still coiled around his neck. A sense of urgency in the snake's hissing propelled the mage towards higher waters.

Fassssster

"I'm trying my best!"

Syryn felt a sharp pain slash across his feet and was jerked down violently. The mage had a second to look down and see a curved mandible clipping his leg before he was sucked into the sand.