(One... two...) Â a pair of small silver fish flashed before the aquatic demon's reflective white eyes. They soon darted into another crevice nearer the lake surface. Pushing aside thick kelp with the three claws of an arm, he looked up from his bed of spongy rock at undulating waves and ripples of moonlight. It was oddly dim for a cloudless night. He kicked off gracefully with two back legs, surfacing in only a few flicks of his finned tail. The air was alive and full of foreboding whispers, none of them from this world. (We're under attack.) The thought was not his, but his response was immediate.
Winiko. That was the name given to an Earth-born race of demons, birthed through ritual and blood contract. Bound to the world only by the shared soul of the human that made them, their bond was one that could reach through the ethereal planes. This bond is the one that called upon him now. As if stepping through a shadow, Nautilus rose out from the water but materialized in a house, dripping on the wooden floor next to his contractor. "We should hide." He spoke, unsettled. The Wraik were what they called the hostile Hell-spawned that took grave offense at the making of demons by humans. They would stop at nothing to have these bonds severed, the human transgressors terminated, and the knowledge of birthing Winiko lost forever. But that had only been a rumor and their life had always been peaceful, except for his sister having terrible hobbies, that time when he was a kid and almost got carried away by a strong current, and the occasional dry day causing his scales to flake- this was bad. His life was flashing before his eyes already.
Mist was gathering around them, the miasma thickening. He pushed it away with a breath of his mind, clearing it despite knowing this changed nothing about the enemy approach. She looked his way, almost calm. "We'll have to fight. I've set traps leading up to here, this is the best place. They've already found us, Nau. Conjure some water. Can you shape it into a weapon?" That caused a nervous chuckle on his part. "You haven't raised a warrior. How would I know a weapon's use? The most violent thing I've ever done was catch fish and break open clams." He saw the fear grow on her face. If he could go back in time and feign confidence, he would. Instead he raised an arm, fixing his gaze on the claws he'd never really used as intended. Compared to the sharpened weapons of a Wraik, they were pitifully dull. But why should he have the weapons of those angry, desperate creatures? He was proud of these dull claws that could touch without hurting. He would give anything to protect the gentle life they shared. No Wraik could take that happiness from them. Finally having found his determination, Nautilus conjured multiple slivers of water, fashioning them into a floating armada of blades. His aura grew bright as a torch, silver-blue mane shifting in invisible current. His human's eyes widened, never having seen him so much as look powerful. "I don't know how well they can cut, but..." She stopped him with a shake of her head, smiling now. "I'm sure Ogone is on her way with allies. That's why she's not here yet. Until then, we can hold them off, you and I." His pointed ears flicked upward and suddenly he was dragged into the ground- no, there was no more ground. A mist drew apart like curtains on approach, a myriad-colored tunnel of clouds forming around as he fell through. She called to him, voice fading until their mental link was severed for the first time. Suddenly he was a child again, unable to summon himself to his human's side, let alone swim properly. Carried down the river away from everyone, he lost sight of them in splashes of white water, struggling helplessly against the current until everything went black... or almost did, as an impact jolted him back to painful consciousness and sent him flipping and careening off a short way, possibly giving someone a wet-fish-slap-in-the-face in the process.
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