Jake slowed down as soon as he was out of sight of the others. If he wasn't careful, he might swim into something nasty that wanted to eat him. The daylight had caused many smaller animals to hide, while colorful fish the size of his leg swam around in small packs. From what he could see, they were all predators, eyeing each other and even him while hunting for easy prey.

He was hovering in the shadow of a black coral with red and purple fungi growing over it in small patches, uncertain what to do. Telling him to find something with dragon blood was all well and good, but he realized now that he had no idea where to start.

After a while, he realized, standing around doing nothing wouldn't help either. So he began swimming around in expanding circles from where he knew Mason and the others to be. The white sand was glistening while he swam across, navigating through the colorful maze.

Minutes turned to hours, and he felt his violent mood from the dream finally dissipate. He had arrived in a deeper area, and plants with broad green leaves created an underwater jungle, with smaller fish hiding below them. All of a sudden, Jake heard a heavy thudding sound that caused his heart rate to spike. Looking around, he didn't see anything and realized the noise came from deeper inside the vegetated area.

After half a minute, the sound stopped, while Jake was still wondering if he dared head into the dense area. "Fuck it," he muttered before swimming towards one of the leaves and hiding underneath. Staying close to the higher leaves, giving him some form of cover, he moved deeper. The plant density kept increasing, and finally, he had no other choice but to dive below the safety of the leaf cover to be able to see what was on the bottom. The sandy floor and shadows from above made everything dark and gloomy.

He was startled out of his wits when the sound started again, practically next to him. Dodging to the side, he looked back, but there wasn't anything there, and he realized the sound came from below. Swallowing, and almost kicking himself when he felt a wave of cold sea water slide into his stomach, Jake swam down so he could see below the leaves.

In the middle of a patch of white sand was a pile of dark grey and black stones. Below them, Jake could see a small fissure leading down, and the rocks seemed to be blocking it. As he looked, the pile began shaking as the banging noise came again. Something was trying to get out! There were lots of plants strewn about, seemingly uprooted by something, and staring at the pile of rocks covering the fissure, Jake wondered if something had come out of there, causing this.

Before he could find out, the top of the pile slid off the rest from a knock louder than the previous ones. Backing up until he was on top of one of the plants, Jake kept his eyes glued to the pile. It began shaking again, more stones floating slowly down to the sea bed, and all of a sudden, a long blue tentacle surged out from a crack between the rocks, tearing away the others. Shit, he should have left when he had the chance, Jake cursed, looking at the hideous thing that crawled out from under the stones.

If a lobster had a baby with an octopus and it was the size of a small car, it would probably look just like what he saw. A grey, mottled shell on its back, with four legs keeping it off the ground, the thing seemed injured. From below the outer shell, all along the edges, dozens of long blue tentacles were dragging it towards the side of the underwater forest opposite Jake's location. It was leaving a blue trail behind on the white sand, and Jake saw blood was flowing freely, staining the water.

Sitting motionlessly until the tentacle crab disappeared, Jake felt relieved. That could have gone worse! He hadn't finished the thought when a host of fish-men came surging out of the shadows towards the hole. A smooth gray upper body with arms ending in taloned hands, they propelled themselves forward with a shark-like tail. They were shouting at each other in high-pitched voices, before rushing into the hole. A scream of pain and anger came shortly after, and then the fish-men came back out, quickly locating the trail of blue blood. Their fairly human-looking faces were warped by rage as they disappeared after the crab.

Are you kidding me? Jake thought as he heard the sounds of battle, muted but carried far and wide by the water. Having more than enough excitement, he backed up until he was a layer of leaves up before turning around and swimming away as fast as he could. It was time to find Mason and Sandra and tell them there was no dragon blooded creature in the area to hunt.

--

Two hours later, the setting sun was turning the water orange, and much smaller fish began slowly popping back out their holes. Frozen in shock, Jake stared at the empty spot where he had left the others. A bloody mist still hung thickly in the water, and scales in different colors littered the ground. But the most unsettling thing was the Hydracii corpse that lay in the spot the wounded had been lying at when he left. Its mouth was wide open, its puffy tongue lolling outside, but strangely enough, no fish moved anywhere near it.

Shaking himself, Jake swam through the water, barely keeping himself from screaming his friend's name. Looking around, he cursed when he realized he couldn't find any traces on the ground. Most likely, they had been swimming when they fled. There was nothing swimming near the surface and steeling himself, Jake propelled himself through the water like a canon, straight up. When he was above the highest parts of the reef, he looked around, hoping to spot his friends. All he saw where more reefs, colorful fish, and water. Panicking, he swam up further, far beyond what was safe, and he finally saw something.

A small group of spots was chasing another group, far in deeper regions of the water. Jake got ready to rush over when a gurgling sound made him swerve, and he barely dodged a long tentacle. Behind him was a giant turtle moving his way with deceptive speed. Freaking out, Jake dove down as fast as he could, dodging left and right. He managed to take one last glance at the distant shapes, that he hoped were his friends before he fled into the reef. Behind him, the turtle had given up and was now chasing a school of fish.

Waiting until his heart stopped racing, Jake sat with his back against a wall, making himself as small as possible. That had been far too close, he thought, mentally kicking himself. Should have paid more attention to his surroundings. Pushing himself from the wall, he oriented himself, before looking towards a broad path leading deeper into the sea. Those spots had better be his friends, or he would have no idea where to start searching.

The night passed in a blur as he swam as fast as he could in the direction that he hoped his friends were heading. When morning came, Jake was sitting on an outcrop, waiting for daylight. He felt lost and had no idea where to go. His only hope now was to swim up, shout a few times while trying not to get killed, and hope his friends were close enough to hear him. If they weren't... He didn't finish the last thought, glad to see the water lose its rising-sun red.

With nothing in sight, he swam up, took a quick look around and roared Mason's name at the top of his lungs. Far more careful this time, he saw the giant shadow before it could get to him, and quickly swam back down. Back in the relative safety of the reef, he huddled on the ground for a moment. Nothing, they aren't here. Now what? He knew the answer. He would have to try again until he saw them while making his way to the first island, in the hopes that the others were doing the same.

Three more times, he attempted to alert his friends. The last time, he almost got caught by one of the tortoises, and he realized it wouldn't work. The only thing he was doing now was getting himself killed. Somber, and trying to resist the temptation to sit down and wait for help, he began aimlessly wandering the reef, hoping to find anything familiar.