Hey all! Been doing a lot of Abyss Sea scenarios lately so I’ve decided to try my hand at a little oneshot. Nothing special, just a group of ice smugglers encountering an Atlantean down in Frostmill’s ice mines. I would’ve gotten this done sooner, but I’ve been playing waaaaaay too much Darktide lmao.
================================
“Ugh… how many times are we doing this today?” A gruff voice asked, its owner trudging along through the icy tunnels. “As many times as we have to before we fill up the boat. Now shut yer trap and keep moving.” Alexia replied, leading Torin and Carter down the path. It seemed like another ordinary job down in the mines. Get in, get as much ice as they could before being spotted, and leave before anybody gets wise. Sometimes they were caught early by lousy Frostmillers, but they’d always come back. Ice was a rare commodity in most other parts of the Bronze Sea, so the demand was always high enough for the ice smugglers to continue their dirty work.
The three had just dropped off another set of ice chunks on their sailboat when a noise rang out from the water, catching their attention as Carter turned to face the sea. “Uhh… Anybody else hear that?” He asked, Torin and Alexia wondering what it was, “Think it might’ve been a sea monster? Oh, we really don’t need a White Eyes here and now…”
“Ah, man up Carter!” Torin shouted back, “Whatever it is, it’ll be long gone by the time we’re done here.”
“Yeah… you’re right.” Carter steeled his nerves as he and the others went back into the mines. He’d only been an ice smuggler for a few weeks now, compared to Torin and Alexia who had both been at this for at least a few years. “Don’t worry, kid. If things go south, I’ve got us all covered.” Alexia snapped her fingers as a ball of fire appeared in her hand, tossing it at a nearby wall and melting a decent chunk of it out. Carter was impressed, while Torin merely rolled his eyes.
“Alright, we get it, you can use magic. Apologies we can’t be as cool as you, your mageliness.”
“Oh, please. As if you’re any better, ya big lug. Always thinking with your muscles instead of your brain.”
“Oi! I’ll have you know these muscles have saved your fireball-flinging ass on many occasions! Remember the time ya got pinned by that bounty hunter?”
“H-Hey! He attacked while my back was turned!”
As the two continued to argue, another noise rang out, echoing throughout the tunnels like a starving animal. The three fell silent, Carter nervously drawing his cutlass as he pointed it in the general direction of the noise.
“W-What the hell was that?”
“I dunno…” Torin replied, cracking his knuckles as he prepared to solve the problem the only way he knew how; punching the hell out of it, “But it doesn’t sound like any sea monster I’ve ever heard. Think we ought to check it out?”
Alexia considered their options. They had a decent enough haul on the boat already, but any intrusions by outsiders means their future ice-stealing endeavors could be threatened. Best to eliminate it before it becomes a problem. “We’ll take a look. Stick close to me and don’t do anything stupid.”
The three trekked down the frozen halls towards the source of the noise, Carter nervously looking around as he clutched his blade close. The sounds rang out again, sounding clearer yet so much more garbled. It sounded like some… drowning animal. Like it had just surfaced after spending a long time underwater and had to hack it all out of its lungs. Carter instinctively hid behind the much larger Torin, the latter smirking at his companion’s cowardice.
“C’mon, newbie! It’s probably one of the other guys pulling a prank or somethi-” Torin stopped, his gaze fixed on a figure standing at the other end of the tunnel. Alexia and Carter saw it too, each one immediately assuming a combat stance as the figure drew closer. As it shambled towards them, they could make out the finer details of its form. It was a humanoid being, garbed in ragged sailor’s clothing that appeared to constantly drip with water. A shark’s head stood in place of a human one, its mouth full of razor sharp teeth poised to bite. Scales lined the thing’s arms in haphazard patches like a quilt hastily sewn together. In its bestial hand it carried a what appeared to be a sea urchin tied at the end of a length of bone like some crude morning star. When it locked eyes with the group, it raised its weapon, unleashing a roar that paralyzed the group.
“What the h-hell is that thing?!” Carter cried out, shakily pointing his cutlass at the thing as Alexia quickly charged up a fireball, “I don’t know, but I’m incinerating it!” With all her might, Alexia hurled the sphere of flame at the beast, the orb striking it straight in the chest. It shrieked in pain, the flames singing of some of its tattered clothing, but the damage appeared to be minimal at best. “Dammit, this thing’s tough… How about another one!”
Alexia hurled another fireball at the creature, but it was prepared this time. Raising its own hand, an orb of dark metal formed and grew in the beast’s palm, reaching the size of a watermelon before it was launched at the ice smugglers. Colliding with the fireball, it barreled straight through it as the metal orb became superheated, flying down the tunnel as it headed straight for Alexia.
“W-What the-?!” Alexia barely had time to react as the metal sphere crashed into her, exploding as the force of the impact sent her flying into a wall. The ice behind her cracked, the badly wounded Alexia falling to the floor as she struggled to even move. “No… I c-can’t…” She groaned out, a final gasp escaping her lips as her two companions watched in horror, turning their gaze again as the beast began rushing towards them.
“Oh you fish-headed BASTARD!” Torin roared, anger rushing through his veins as he charged the abomination head on. It swung at the smuggler with its crude mace, Torin dodging the attack as he unleashed a barrage of punches. But even after several blows, many of which struck it in the head, the monster seemed unyielding. It swung again, striking Torin in the side as the smuggler recoiled from the blow. “GGGAAAAHHHH!!” He cried out, the spines from the urchin penetrating deep into his flesh.
Torin backed up for a moment, but wasn’t fast enough to see the creature lunging at him. It caught him in a tight grip, snarling as it bit deep into Torin’s neck. The smuggler could feel the pain surging through him, the blood seeping from his veins as it dripped down his body and stained the ice a crimson red. “C-Carter… Run…” Were the last words Torin spoke before the beast tore a huge chunk of flesh from his neck, savoring the taste as Carter could barely stand to watch.
Carter would have likely stayed frozen in place were it not for Torin’s final words, dropping his blade and bolting down the tunnel as fast as he could. The beast dropped Torin’s lifeless body and gave chase, the thrill of the hunt coursing through it as it hunted its prey. Carter tried to lose the beast in the expansive tunnel network, but no matter how many turns he made, the thing was always behind him. It was locked on his scent, and nothing would stop it until it claimed its prize.
Carter’s luck would finally run out as he ran into a dead end, no other way in sight as he turned behind him and saw the abomination standing at the other end of the tunnel, bloodied mace in hand, ready to strike. “No no no no no no no no…!” Carter frantically searched for another way, anything that could save him from his impending doom as the creature roared again, charging at the hapless smuggler. “NO NO NO NO NO- AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Carter’s screams echoed throughout the mines, his death throes heard by none save for those near the entrance to the ice mines. They wondered what it could have been. A bounty hunter? A confrontation between the smugglers and the brigands? But while many theories were made, none knew what the screams truly were: a herald of Frostmill’s demise…
