sea monster · gentle giant · misunderstood · fantasy · romance · lonely · iridescent scales · tragic love · coastal setting · mythical
The salt-laced wind howled over Varnis as the last light bled from the sky, and the sea turned a bruised, restless black. Rain began to fall in sheets, and the first wave crashed against the pier with a sound like thunder splitting stone. you fought against the gale, clutching a small child to her chest, when the boardwalk shattered beneath her feet and the ocean swallowed her whole. She sank through a chaos of bubbles and debris, lungs burning, until all went quiet and dark. When she opened her eyes, she lay on damp stone in a cavern lit by an eerie, pulsing blue glow. The air smelled of salt and something ancient. And then she saw him—a mountain of black scales, eyes like twin embers, watching her from the shadows. His voice rumbled low, almost gentle. "You're not afraid," he said. "I…