Predator of the Deep

by John Nyman

My hibernation was restless. Throughout the sleep I had been constantly interrupted. Normally, life at this depth was not so active, and the other denizens of the ocean floor would keep to themselves, realizing where my massive membrane was hidden and waiting for nourishment. But for some reason, during that sleep, they had climbed over my hide recklessly, as if there was something more worthy of their fear lurking in the blue-blackness. It troubled my unconscious mind, so much in fact, that by my reckoning I had shifted to consciousness long before the hibernation cycle was over in fear and confusion.

When I awoke all I could feel was itching and irritation. The sand that had lay smooth over my back for ages had been ruffled out of shape by the tiny creatures that crawled along the top of my body in hordes. Normally there had been a splotch in the sandy floor, slightly softer than the rest, where no being would tread, my own body, but these foolish creatures had broken the rule, and had to be punished for it. There was no mercy in the ocean, so I decided to exercise my abilities, and so utilized the evolutionary devices that had caused the animals to fear me so much before. With a quick snap of my muscles, sand flung up from my back into the water, peppering the lonely creatures floating by, and in moments the parasites disappeared, having been absorbed into my membrane. I feasted uncomfortably, though, as the fact that the creatures were there at all showed there was something definitely amiss in the ecosystem.

I opened my eyes to search for the source of the irritation, and upon seeing blackness initially, guided one of my short thin tentacles out of the sand’s concealment and let it hang a small chemical lantern above my field of sight. It had been a long time since I had used my eyes, but my view was always the same. I looked strait forward into the infinity of black water from its only boundary, the ocean floor, and with my lamp I spied on all of the creatures, that were my enemies and the subjects of my kingdom. Normally the water was relatively empty in the radius of my sight, due to my enormity and the fear it invoked, but at that time, I saw creatures swimming everywhere. They were grotesque beings with huge, toothy mouths, protruding claws, spines, and legs, and obscurely rounded or elongated creatures with barely a feature on them. Some of them, those that had the remnants of small, wide eyes, dashed away at the sight of my bright illumination, but I was more troubled to see the blind ones flee as well, as if the protection they had somehow believed I provided had just expired.

As they left, I sensed ripples through the water, powerful ones that never reached this deep, and realized why their primitive minds had told them to flee. It was rare that a force came down from the higher levels, and even then, they had never been as strong as this approaching being was. I continued to watch patiently for the source of the waves, hoping it would either dissipate or arrive to meet me. If there were another creature of the ocean as large, or as powerful as I was, it would have to come and battle me for control of the ecosystem, and I would have to be prepared.

At last the creature did arrive. The area was dark, even with my small lamp in place, but I felt the organism was a large rigid structure, hard-skinned and spherical. It was much like the spores that occasionally floated by; round and featureless, but this object was made of a hard material, and was much, much larger. It appeared to be a worthy opponent for my position, however, when it hit the ocean floor some distance in front of me, the waves of power that it released halted, and it remained silent and motionless. I rolled my eyes forward to continue watching it, waiting for it to make the first move, as it was the invader. The situation was tense, and I poised to strike, the muscles and the circular mouth of enormous tusks on my hidden underbelly preparing for a fierce battle against the metallic organism.

Eventually the moment came, but unusually. Suddenly, a light was activated in the metallic ball, the strongest light I had ever witnessed. It flashed one powerful flash, blinding my sensitive eyes and forcing me to close them in a fit of pain. I sensed the other creatures of the area fleeing, scolded by the flash and reeling in agony, completely unaccustomed to such a large quantity of light. I however, could not move away, as my instincts only held one option. With all of my might I lifted my vast body out of the sandy floor for the first time in eons. My flat, gelatinous mass floated through the water above the floor in a giant leap, pouncing on the sphere. My mouth, a huge circular opening normally buried underneath me in the sand, now opened ferociously with a rim of tusks anxiously springing at the creature they wished to dig themselves into. As I fell, the water rippled tremendously around me in giant waves that slaughtered the unfortunate creatures who had not cleared the arena. I landed on the sphere exactly, as it had not moved, and began my assault. My mouth quickly engulfed the creature, as my body bulged upward and outward into the spherical shape to contain it fully, however, when I tried to close my teeth completely and emerge as victor, they clamped against a metallic rope that stretched from the sphere up into the higher levels. I continued to clamp down upon the line vigorously, but to no avail; it was too strong, and my teeth, despite their screeching, biting, and gnawing, could not break it, and instead grinded against it, causing me great pain. Desperation filled me, as I could not vanquish the monster; yet there was no instinct within me to give up or show mercy, no logic to do anything but die fighting. Suddenly, some great engine from afar activated, and the sphere was pulled up rapidly through the layers of water. I could not let go as the cord retracted, I continued to clamp in vain, trying to break the sphere free of the rope to let it rest in my stomach. But alas, soon the pressure began to lessen, and I could feel the fibers of my body failing me, as the victorious predator of the deep dragged me upwards, upwards, upwards.