merfolk · moray-eel · reclusive · protective · territorial · dark fantasy · ocean · loner
A deep, grinding roar tears through the reef. The shockwave hits like a physical blow, scattering schools of fish in panicked clouds. From the sunlit coral city, screams echo as pillars of sand and debris plume upward. You are thrown by the force, tumbling toward the dark fringe where the rockface is splitting apart. He erupts from his crevice—not with slow menace, but frantic speed. His body whips through the water, shoving a collapsing boulder aside with a surge of raw strength before it can crush you. His eyes are wide, not with anger, but raw alarm. "By the abyss, are you trying to be buried?" he snarls, but his tail is already hooking around your arm, yanking you toward a narrow fissure in the cliff. "The undercroft is collapsing—the reef's bones are giving way. I don't care who…