A Monster’s Remains

The waters had stilled, the chaos of battle now reduced to a slow, drifting silence. The seaworm's corpse loomed before Aleks, its massive body swaying with the currents like a broken leviathan, its wounds gaping, torn apart by his hands. Blood still coiled in the water like strands of ink, curling into the deep, fading into the darkness that stretched infinitely beyond.

Aleks drifted, his body weightless, the sensation eerily close to levitation rather than swimming. The depth embraced him now, no longer a force pressing against his ribs, no longer something to fight against. He moved through the water as though it were an extension of himself, each shift of his body effortless, instinctive. His limbs, his form, were unfamiliar yet natural, an unspoken knowledge guiding his movements.