The Moon Spawn #1 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

Chapter Seven

It took a very long unnerving while before the ground began to crack open. Judson sighed in relief as he watched thick vines shoot out of the cliff, growing rapidly across the river until it found solid ground on the other side. The vines grew so thick and close together that they were sturdy enough to walk across.

Waverly squealed in delight at the sight of the new bridge and pecked Judson lightly on his cheek. "You are truly very clever, Jud!"

Judson's skin took on so many colors at once that for a brief moment, he looked like a living rainbow. Waverly went first and began to cross over to the other side. Judson was about to follow when the cliff shook again and the waves underneath seemed to grow a little bit higher. He panicked and stopped to look at it.

The waves kept growing until the surface broke and the large maw of a sea mammal opened wide. It reached up until its jaws were directly underneath the vines. Before Judson could raise an alarm, Waverly had already noticed the monster. She was screaming and jabbing at the creature with her Karya. It was so large that its enormous slime covered body seemed to wedge between the cliffs causing Judson to flatten himself to the rocks.

The creature groaned and snapped its massive jaw shut. The impact shook the cliffside and the vines causing most of them to snap like yarn.

"Run!" Judson yelled.

The creature's right eye which was far behind in its head clocked toward Judson's voice. Its eyes were too small for its body and it took Judson a minute to shockingly realize that the creature was staring at him.

The huge fish leaned to the left and came back with full force. It smashed against the cliff where Judson stood. The rocks trembled and came off in tiny bits. Judson felt relieved that Waverly had successfully made it across to the other side. His cheek still tingled from her innocent kiss. He knew she had only meant the kiss to be a compliment of some kind but he felt differently about it. He was about to tell her to keep going but when he looked up, he almost screamed out of frustration.

Waverly was now dangling from one of the loose vines, taking swipes at the creature with her sword which resulted in only small scratches across its slimy skin. The fish did not seem to have noticed her yet. Its attention was still on Judson and it continuously tried to get a good front so it could eat him. Waverly kept yelling and trying to nick the creature but the slime on its skin was too thick to penetrate. The creature rose higher until it formed a barrier between Judson and Waverly.

"It cannot be hurt, Waverly. It is a Mantin." Judson yelled. The roaring of the water below drowned out his voice yet somehow Waverly heard him but what she heard was - "It cannot be hurt, Waverly. You must jump in!"

Waverly looked confused at first but she yelled back. "Why should i jump in the river?"

Judson heard her clearly but what he heard was - "We should jump in the river!"

Judson looked down. The Mantin watched him intently as if trying to tell him it was completely safe to jump down. The strangest thing about the creature was not its size or its grey slimy skin, it was its human eyes. Looking into its eyes, Judson felt he was staring at a person. A very sad, hungry and lonely person. Through its gaze alone the Mantin bent Judson's will, luring him to jump into the river.

With its other eye, it glared at Waverly urging her to also jump into the river whilst convincing her with Judson's voice. The Mantin's trickery worked on Waverly first. She let go of the vines and fell into the river below. Judson was unaware of this because the creature's massive body still blocked him from seeing past its eye.

Waverly sank deep into the black river. It was so dark that she suddenly panicked and tried to swim for the surface but the force of the Mantin's magic kept pulling her under. She feared that she would not be able to hold her breath for too long and that her Grogana would become too heavy to swim with. She vaguely recalled HalfHyde teaching her about dangerous fish monsters the first time she requested to learn how to catch fish for sport.