Brant's heart pounded as he sped toward Aaron. He groped at his belt for a cylindrical device called a breath-saver. Its tank only held about three breaths' worth of oxygen, but even that was better than drowning. Aaron's suit carried one as well, so if Brant could only drive Cormorant away, they had six breaths to spare him while they somehow struggled to shore. 

Of course, "defeat Cormorant" is easier said than done, he reminded himself. 

Brant grunted when Cormorant swept him aside yet again. He despaired of ever saving his comrade. When he jetted forward again, he only achieved the same result. 

A bubble of air appeared around Aaron's mouth as Cormorant peeled him off the wall he'd been pressed against. The man choked and gasped on the newfound air. The god floated a little distance above Brant and stared down. 

"It's only my power that's keeping the water from your friend's face, so you'd better not try anything." Cormorant commanded. 

Brant hung his head and sighed before looking back up. "What do you want?" 

"I want your compliance." 

"You have it." 

Cormorant's sigh rumbled through the waters. "Why have you given yourself to this folly, Nayan? Of all people, you should know the cost of working with these...rebels. These criminals." 

"A small price to pay for righteousness, I'm afraid." 

"Oh, is that so? Because last time we spoke, Baird's felony was to you the greatest abomination imaginable, the pinnacle of evil. And now you venture to call it righteousness?" 

"Emperor Pietrovo championed a lifestyle I can no longer stomach." Brant said carefully, eyes fixed on the air bubble around Aaron's mouth. He tensed at the slightest variation in its size. "Besides, I've seen far greater abominations since, and those with my own eyes." 

Cormorant crossed his arms. "Like what?" 

"Well, for one thing, Dove—" 

"Never mind." the god of the waters interrupted, "The ancients were right. 'The foolish wallow in folly, while the wise bathe in their wisdom'. Your chance to be reasoned with has already passed away, Nayan, and you'll soon be swept away in the judgement of Dove." 

Brant sighed. "Maybe you're right. But please, spare Aaron. Your quarrel is with me, not—" 

"My quarrel is with those who would oppose my divine brother!" Cormorant roared, causing all the nearby fish to dart away. "He has rendered your traitorous exploits possible!" 

"That's true. But perhaps we can reach a compromise." 

"On what grounds?" 

Brant shrugged. "You hold the power here. The terms are yours to make and ours to accept." 

A moment of silence descended over the three before Cormorant spoke again. "I will spare his life on one condition. You must both submit yourselves to my watch, and also tell me where your allies have gone." 

"By that, I assume you mean you'll take us captive?" Brant squinted at a strange movement in the water behind the god. 

"Of cou—" 

A missile decloaked just before making impact with Cormorant. An explosion ensued, sending his blood into the water and hurling Aaron elsewhere. Then a squadron of winged submarines banked around the corner from behind a cluster of buildings, closely resembling ravens in shape. They pestered the bleeding god with bullets, giving Brant an opening to rush over to Aaron. 

Brant shoved the cup of the breath-saver over Aaron's nose and mouth with shaky hands. He would unfortunately have to swallow a few ounces of saltwater to clear an air pocket inside, but it was a small price to pay. While Aaron inhaled a deep breath and held it, Brant paddled them upward as fast as he could. His heart sunk. He couldn't even see the surface, so the likelihood of them reaching it in time were terribly low. 

Brant had pushed them about a third of the way to the mesh dome overhead when he heard the hiss of Aaron sucking a second breath from the cylinder. One more, he told himself as he struggled to swim faster. He was already beginning to tire, and they hadn't even reached the dome. This is hopeless. 

Finally, they reached the dome, just as Aaron finished his third breath. Brant hooked his fingers around one of the bars forming the metal mesh to hold them in place while he removed the second breath-saver from Aaron's belt. 

With gritted teeth, he tugged at the metal bars, struggling to wrench them apart. Even with his enhanced muscles, it was all but impossible. With a renewed push and a greater strain on his quivering biceps, they began to budge. 

You can do this, he told himself as he felt his veins bulging in his head and neck, you have to do it. Just a little more...there! 

He felt something snap in his left arm when he finally tore the metal beams apart, but gave himself no time to question what it was. Instead, he pushed Aaron through the opening ahead of himself, then he swam up. Paddling his fastest, he headed for the surface. Aaron drew in another breath. One more, and that's it. 

Brant glanced down, where the raven-like vessels continued firing at Cormorant. Despite his wounds, he seemed to be still fairly proficient at combatting them. He swept two of the vehicles into one another, and each ship's blade-like wings sliced into the body of the other. He couldn't imagine the effects of the collision on the occupants, but then again, neither did he really want to. 

With a grunt, he redoubled his efforts to pull himself and Aaron to the surface. His left arm went numb, while his right throbbed all the harder, as if to compensate. He squinted, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the surface, but it still remained too far up. 

Aaron inhaled his last rescue breath. Brant panicked and managed to push himself even harder. But still, no end appeared in sight. About a minute passed, and then bubbles emerged from Aaron's nose. He just emptied his cavity. Brant thought, That can only last a few seconds until his body forces—no! 

Much as he appeared to resist, eventually, Aaron gave way to his reflexes. Sucking in a mouthful of water immediately resulted in violent choking. He shoved Brant away. 

With widened eyes, Brant struggled to hold onto his convulsing companion, who now tried to struggle up to the surface in his own strength. But it was clear he couldn't make it on his own, with no air. Dread set in Brant's heart as he realized he was going to lose Aaron. 

Aaron soon went limp. Brant gritted his teeth and renewed his struggle once more. With a few more strong strokes, he began to see the shimmering water of the surface. Even still, he despaired of successfully saving his friend. 

Then a dark shadow stopped over the surface, and a maroon figure broke the quivering tranquility. The glowing reddish blur sped toward Brant and Aaron, and just as quickly, he found himself alone again, with empty arms. Wendy. 

Brant sighed, but even he wasn't sure whether from relief or not. He glanced at the battle raging below again before gasping. One of the submarines whizzed right by him. Then another. Finally, he squinted and grabbed onto a handle on the body of the next one speeding by. It carried him with stunning speed to the surface. Cormorant followed closely behind the squadron. 

When the raven-shaped vessel broke the surface, Brant found himself flung to shore. Sand scattered underneath him when he landed, and he took a second to recover. He tugged the helmet off and inhaled a refreshing breath of unfiltered air. 

Then Brant rolled over to see Wendy kneeling beside Aaron's limp form, her dripping helmet on the ground a few feet away. Aaron's head was turned sideways, allowing water to drain from his mouth and nose. 

Once satisfied with the drainage, Wendy turned Aaron's head upright, pinched his nose shut, and took a deep breath herself. Then she stooped down and placed her mouth over his. After she puffed four times into his mouth, she put her ear to his chest. Brant scuttled closer. 

Aaron jerked to a sitting position with an abruptness that hurled Wendy off his chest. She and Brant watched him closely as he coughed mouthfuls of water onto the sand. His voice grew hoarse from the violent hacking, but after a few bouts of it, he drew in a bigger breath than Brant had realized was humanly possible. Clearly weakened, Aaron toppled onto his back again. 

Wendy settled into a sitting position beside Aaron and held his hand while staring into his eyes with concern. He managed a weak smile and placed his other hand atop hers. 

Brant finally averted his eyes toward the sea and observed the continuing battle between the submarines-turned-planes and Cormorant. He sent mighty waves up at them, which they appeared to evade even easier with the reduced drag of open air. 

"Thanks...guys." Aaron hissed, immediately falling into another round of coughing. 

"Shh, don't try talking yet. We know." Brant said before giving him a grim smile. 

Wendy closed her eyes and planted a kiss on Aaron's forehead when he recovered, almost like a reward. His feeble grin widened. 

Brant stumbled to his feet and stretched his back. When he heard the roar of a raven-ship's engine drawing closer and saw its shadow racing along the beach, he looked up. The squadron was heading inland, and the aquatic god was not far behind. Glancing at his feet, he realized the surf had begun washing over them, even though it was supposed to be low tide. 

He raced over to where Aaron lay and motioned to Wendy. "Give me that other glove, would you?" 

The blonde nodded and wrestled the wet glove off Aaron's hand. Then she tossed it to Brant. He nodded thankfully and slipped it on. 

He redirected his attention to the sea again and narrowed his eyes at the sight of Cormorant speeding to shore on a dolphin's back, no longer wearing his seaweed-green robes. The creature wriggled and squeaked as if it was unwilling to bear his weight, which wouldn't have surprised Brant, given the sizzling sound and reddish fumes rising from its flesh. The god held a swordfish in his hand and forced his reluctant ride Brant's way. 

Brant planted his feet in the softening sand and grew an expansive kite shield in his hand. He drove the sharp point into the ground while a broad sword blade extended in his hand. Casting a glance back, he saw Wendy tugging on Aaron's shoulders to pull him away from the encroaching water line, face tense and reddening. 

His attention leapt back to Cormorant when he heard water splash against his shield. The artificial wave licked its metal surface before falling in a misty spray. All around the god and his delphinic platform, the ocean clustered together into strange spires, apparently prepared to be tossed about for his purposes. 

"If you want us, come and get us!" Brant taunted, "Your scriptures state Cormorant swore never again to shed blood on this side of the shoreline, so what're you gonna do?" 

"I'll change the shoreline, fool." Cormorant growled, flinging four massive splashes of water onto the beach. 

Wendy used her body to shield Aaron from the incoming wave before she redoubled her efforts to remove him from the impending clash. Meanwhile, the raven-ships sped back over, and hovering over Brant's head, they peppered the dolphin-riding god with bullets once more. 

Brant flinched when a few of the projectiles hit the dolphin itself, and his heart sunk when the innocent creature went limp and moved no more. It sunk down into its watery home, leaving Cormorant to float unassisted. 

With bared teeth and a growling throat, Brant charged at Cormorant. He held his shield up to block the torrent of water obstructing his progress, swinging his sword once in range. The aquatic god blocked with his swordfish's bill. Brant marveled that the fish's pointy beak managed to withstand the impact. 

He moved his shield to defend when Cormorant thrusted the swordfish blade at his belly. Around his own flattened metal defense, Brant swung his sword at the bill, smiling victoriously when it snapped off and left the god with no weapon but his influence over the waters. 

Sure enough, Cormorant retaliated with a mighty rush of a wave that swept Brant off his feet. He managed to keep his hold on his shield and prevent it from becoming a pile of floating dust, settling instead to float atop it like a raft. With Brant out of the way, the raven-ships continued firing. 

With the distraction, Cormorant found himself unable to focus on Brant any longer. The wave subsided and left him back on solid ground. Water splashed behind his legs when he ran at the god again. 

Cormorant whipped his hand once he spotted Brant. A plume of water leapt up at his command, but missed when Brant leapt aside. He landed behind his Cormorant and landed two deep slashes in his back. Fibers of muscle peeked out of the slits. His lifeblood drained out. The water behind him became murky as the crimson liquid poured down. 

Brant gasped when his opponent abruptly leapt into his shield, toppling them both over in the shallow waves. Cormorant sped down into the depths while Brant rose to his feet and squinted. Excellent as his eyesight was, the strange reflections and shimmering quality of water always warped everything underneath. He carefully backed up toward shore while keeping an eye out. 

Cormorant leapt out with a huge bass in his hand and swung it at Brant. Aside from the shocking coldness of the water, it had no effect on him. The shield-bearing man lunged and sliced the fish in half. To evade his own flesh being sliced, the aquatic god spun, and Brant then widened his eyes in shock. His wounds had healed. No hint of their existence remained. 

The water heals him, no doubt. he concluded as he blocked a blast of pebbles swept up by another wave. Immersion is his best friend. But if we can keep him up here... 

Brant hurried behind Cormorant. Waist deep in the water, he stood a high risk of being swept off his feet. But he managed to drive his opponent to shore and landed a trio of hits on his forearm. He assured himself of victory. 

Before he could begin celebrating in earnest, Brant widened his eyes at the largest wave of all emerging from the sea. It overtook one of the raven-ships and sent it crashing down in the knee-deep water right before him. The ground rumbled. Powerful ripples swept him far out to sea. He watched helplessly as a similarly massive wave dropped over him, burying him in the salty depths.

******************** 

A/N: I swear they're trying their best, folks, but it seems all they're accomplishing is drowning! They need help! 

(Speaking of help, 1 vote = 1 prayer for Brant's survival here. 😂) 

I honestly don't have a lot to say this morning, so let's get to our random question: On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate the cleanliness of your room? 

(I swear I'm usually a lot tidier than this, but I'd have to give myself a 5/10 right now. My desk especially easily clutters because when I'm there, I'm focused on working, not organization. I'm also slipping on my habit of putting clothes away properly.) 

Anyway, I hope you have a great day ahead, and I'll see you in Sunday's update!