The stars gleamed lavender as I bounded down the pier. The full moon hung low that night, casting a soft glow over the waterfront and saturating the beach with an eerie violet haze. Waves broke against the dock’s wooden supports and swallowed the sounds of my strides as I continued to pursue him. So caught up was I in the chase that I nearly overlooked the reason we were there in the first place.
"Keep your eyes on the water," he had told me.
"Why, what am I supposed to be looking for?"
"You'll know it when you see it." And he took off without further explanation, leaving me slightly annoyed and wondering why he was suddenly being so enigmatic as I gave chase.
Just as I pulled myself out of these thoughts, something in the waves caught my eye and I turned in time to see a glittering orb of amethyst emerge from the sea. It hung briefly in the air before disappearing again into the opaque water below. I slowed to a halt and completely forgot about him as I stood there, staring after whatever I just saw and straining to catch another glimpse.
An unseen force compelled me to look up and my eyes roved across the dark horizon. A thrill rushed through me when I realized the waves were rising unnaturally in the distance. They pushed upward, further and further until they formed a wall, silhouetted against the open expanse of indigo sky. The resulting enclosure resembled a ritual chamber and an involuntary shiver ran down my spine when I impulsively wondered what the sacrifice would be. And then a short gasp escaped me when I saw it—at the center of the barrier, a giant sea creature suspended in watery stasis. Its aquatic display case rippled with its subdued movements, and though the moonlight was not bright enough to illuminate the scene, the animal seemed to emanate a light of its own, an amaranthine fluorescence that pulsed like a steady heartbeat.
As I continued to look on in open-mouthed amazement, I thought back again to what he said to me before the chase and rather than giving me any promised explanation, the scene before me only raised more questions. I remained fixated on the nameless creature, which stirred slowly in its saltwater prison. The air seemed to hum with an energy that wasn’t there before and the whole thing began to feel surreal.
He had stopped running when I did and was intently watching my reaction. I ventured a glance in his direction but remained silent. When he finally spoke, nothing could have prepared me for what I heard next.
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