Splinterlands Fantasy Story and Music Contest // Week 15 - A Summoner's Tale

The young boy quickly swam to shore, laughing at the mermaid as she lost the race... again. He greeted her as she surfaced and flapped her tail, almost as a cheer, and watched as she turned her back and swam the other way, disappearing on the clear waters.

I'm getting faster each day! He thought as he ran home, ready to endure another soft scolding from his mother about the dangers of swimming alone in the seas. He heard the tales over and over, about the evil creatures of Azmare, the ones that lurked in the deep waters and dragged little kids to the depths of the sea .

But he knew, at least in what concerned him, that no danger would come from there. Especially when he heard how, at the age of two, a turtle bought him back to the shore, on top of her shell, after he crawled to the sea while his mother was distracted, enjoying the sun at the beach. It seemed the seas atracted him, in a way he couldn't explain. And that tale from childhood proved what he was now absolutely sure of: although he never told anyone but her mother (who told him he was just imagining things)... he felt there was some kind of bond between him and the creatures around. It was as if he could almost communicate with them.

At the age of 8, he could swim faster and hold his breath underwater longer than any grown man in his village. And now, as he was about to turn 14, he was discovering that he could already outswim some of the sea creatures too! He kind of suspected his mermaid friend did let him win sometimes... but nevertheless, there was no doubt his speed was increasing.

Little did he knew how much he would need all his speed in the following day, when he went to bed that night.

---

The sky was covered in heavy clouds, as he got out of bed in the early morning of his birthday.

Strange, he thought, it wasn't suppose to rain the whole week!”. Nevertheless, off to the beach he went. There wasn't a day that passed without a swim in the sea, sunny or not.

But when he arrived at the beach, he was puzzled again.

No waves.

The sea that never once in his lifetime was still, was completely flat.

He still hesitated before going into the water, but as he dipped his feet in the lukewarm water, all the worries disappeared. Nonsense, he thought, as he dived head first and started to swim away from the shore.

He didn't swam far, though. Coming out of nowhere, a strong wave crashed right on top of him, stopping his daily ritual and casting him a few meters back.

What the hell??? Was the boy's thought, as he recovered his posture.

And as he surfaced, the sea was flat again.

“There will be no swimming for you today, human. At least... not the kind you are used to.”

The voice coming from his back made him turn and face the shore. And a few meters back, a creature he had never seen before was staring right at him, motionless.

The muscular upper body was in contrast with his fish tail, and his red eyes made him unconfortable. The expression on his face was one of curiosity, if he had to guess.

“Who are you?”

A grin appeared on the creature's face.

“If you survive my challenge, you´ll find out. By now, you know where the sea of pearls is. Bring me one. Anyone will do.”

The young boy's farce hardened. He didn't enjoyed being told what to do.

“Of course I know where the sea of pearls is, it's not a far swim from here. But I don't know you and no one besides my mother tells me what to do. You can get the pearls yourself, I won't be needing to survive anything... whatever you mean by that.”

A loud laugh echoed all around.

“Survive means exactly that.”

Only then did the boy noticed the shadow that was covering him. And when he looked around, he felt his heart missed a beat.

The shadow's cause was a huge sea monster that was standing behing him, a portion of his body high in the air, reaching as high as his house. The massive head had its jaws slightly open, showing countless rows of sharp teeth... and he was staring right at him.

“One pearl. And that is your... incentive, let's call it like that. The chase stops when you get back... if you get back.”

And the sea monster descended on the boy.

He only had time to dive to the side, as the monster dived exactly where he was a second ago, with wide open jaws.

---

By then, he realised the strange creature wasn't joking. He dived deep and tried to use the rocky bottom in his advantage, hiding in the crevices while he advanced towards the sea of pearls. Why him? And who was that creature?

The sea monster swam by, searching surface and bottom for him. Sea monsters had a fame of lousy eyesight, and luckily for him, it seemed to be the case. He waited for a couple of minutes before surfacing to get some air, and plunged back to the bottom, swimming as fast as he could.

For the first time in his life, his only thought was to leave the water as fast as he could; and for that he needed the damn pearl.

As he got closer to the sea of pearls, another thought came to his mind: the area called sea of pearls was a sandy bottom area. Pearls were all around, but there was no hiding place. He had only seen the monster again once, far from where he hid; but he knew he was searching for him.

As he arrived at the last rock before the sandy patch, he looked around, standing perfectly still, searching for any clue of the monster's presence. He found none. And filling himself with courage, he ventured forward.

It wasn't long before he found a pearl, and by then he desperately needed to fill his lungs again. He reached the surface, glad he found his objective.

The monster found his too.

A few dozen meters from where he surfaced, the monster was standing still, only head above water, waiting for his prey.

The boy saw him a couple seconds later. And he knew his chances were slim to none.

He dived as soon as the beast moved forward, swimming faster than he ever had, trying to reach the nearest rocks in order to stand a chance of returning.

The sea monster was too close. In seconds he was there, cutting his way to the bottom rocks. And when all hope seemed lost, the beast stopped.

All around the boy, swirls of water formed, as beings made of water materialized. Four they were; and at the same time, the medusas appeared as well.

The boy knew what they were as soon as he noticed the snakes in their heads; he knew the tales, and knew they could transform him into stone if they wanted to. Yet, they seemed to be on his side; they came close to the water beings, facing the monster instead of him.

For a brief moment, he didn't knew what to do. The sea monster seemed big and powerfull enough to eat them all, but he remained motionless.

He tried to start swimming back. The group followed him closely... and the monster too. And yet, he felt he wasn't a threat anymore.

I knew it, he thought.I have a bond with the sea. And I'll show that creature that he shouldn't mess with me!

---

Soon after he was near shore, and the blue creature appeared again.

All of a sudden, the water beings vanished into the water again. The medusas bowed, and vanished as well. He looked around confused, and the sea monster had gone too.

As he face forward again, the creature was right in front of him, his deep red eyes even brighter.

The boy didn't knew if he felt relieved, or raged. But before he could speak, what could be considered a smile appeared on the creature´s face, and it spoke.

“You managed to come back. Good.”

The boy bursted in rage.

“Here's your stupid pearl! What the hell are you? I could have been dead, if the sea creatures hadn't come to my rescue!”

The smile transformed into a laugh.

“And what did you think the challenge, child?... A lousy pearl? I have no need for that. Keep it as a souvenir.”

His face turned serious.

“It takes someone special to be trusted by the creatures of Azmare. And even more, to summon a water elemental without knowing it. That was the challenge I had for you; and one you passed... with distinction. I told you I would tell you who I am, if you survided: I am Rgoth, a Ruler of the Seas. And your potencial... is beyond your wildest dreams.”

The rage gave way to confusion. The boy heard every word, but still couldn't make sense of it. Summon? Elementals? A hidden potential?

“It wil all make sense soon, child” Rgoth continued. “Probably one day, it will be I that will answer your calling. Now go home... your mother and a visitor awaits”.

“A visitor? What are you talking about?”

---

But the time for questions was over.

The boy stared, as he slowly swam away, laughing as he went.

“His name is Alric. And you'll have plenty to talk. From a summoner... to a future summoner. We shall meet again... Valnamor.”

The jorney of a legendary summoner started that day.

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