AWAKENED FROM THE RIFT, PART 4: (Patreon)

The shark rises fin first, like a crooked blade jutting out of the waters, closing the distance at a rapid pace until it appears as if the entire monster is above the surface. With barely any time left to react, the fishermen set aside their oars for spears. A call to action is rung out from amongst the boat; to aim for the eyes. Collectively they follow the instruction, without argument, perhaps from the direness of the situation or solely from the hope for one to take charge amidst a moment of life and death. 

Time slows in the minds of each soul there, all setting soar to the crude spears like a barrage of iron rain. A clumsy pattern of attacks, first gliding off into the depths, some glancing the sides of its impervious hull. The final release of their armaments showers the left side of the creature's face, penetrating and destroying the eye within an instant. All of this attack finishes within an arm's reach of the longboat, causing the Render Maw shark to lurch back from the disruption of its course, and to collide into the vessel. 

As the anglers are knocked into the ocean, the shark propels itself onward and deep below, struggling to maintain the hunt whilst becoming a swimming pin cushion of teeth. Such a world can make man forget all other colors beyond the infinite shades of red, for it is times like these that tint the sea itself an ever-increasing crimson glow. They wash the blood from their eyes, unknowing if it is theirs, the shark, or simply the ocean's. Once they've grabbed ahold of the wreck, it is clear there is little else they can do. So after a moment's pause, and a promise to never leave the mainland for as long as they live, the survivors paddle their way back home. 

For those who dare to make their way through the land and down to the quiet shores, they may no longer hear the unsettling quakes from the fathoms beneath, but surely one may still catch a glimpse of the things below, awakened from the rift.