Eventually night came and so did Cormac and Melusine find a sunken ship to spend the night in. Sitting outside of the wreck, Cormac stared down at the map by the light of the moon, showing the various towns, cities, lands and what not. At the end of the line, down in the Mariana Trench was located Pacifica where Ronemun dwelt… Ronemun… His cousin once removed supposedly, no matter how little sense it made. His great-uncle had not been born until 1870 and there had been tales about Ronemun long before that.
Putting the map aside, Cormac then picked up his brand, still in its case. Looking at it, he wondered whether he would be of any use wielding it. As a child he would play with a wooden sword, going off on imaginary adventures worthy of Prince Valiant and Sinbad, but having played with a toy sword did not mean he could use a real one. What skill did he have when it came to the brand? None.
Unsheathing the brand, Cormac stared at the blade. It was unusual, not like something he had ever seen on film or in comics or even television. It was serrated, but the shape of the blade was like that of a sabre, even the hilt was like that of a sabre. A sabre with a serrated blade… How interesting.
"Feeling up to being a knight in shining armour?"
Looking to his side, Cormac saw Melusine smiling at him. Shaking his head, Cormac uttered: "I don't know… I don't even have the shining armour bit so I don't know if I count… Look at me, just some shirtless guy with his pantlegs rolled up. Without armour I'm… I'm not sure what good I will be and besides, I have no training when it comes to brands, its not like fencing was going on at school."
"I'm sure you will find some eventually." Said Melusine reassuringly. "No doubt it would be easy to swim in and I am certain you will get used to using the brand."
Would he? Cormac could only wonder. Would he even live long enough to get used to using it or would he be killed his first time?
"Melusine, did you ever think this would be your life?" asked Cormac, looking into her large reddish-brown eyes.
Placing a hand on her tail, Melusine stared at the glistering, golden and chiefly scarlet scales before answering: "If anyone was to tell me this was what I would be, I would have thought they meant I would have been working at Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida when I was older."
"In America?" asked Cormac, sounding more than a little surprised. "That sounds like a fate worse than death!"
Laughing, Melusine commented: "I guess playing a mermaid in the movies and television would probably be better, I wouldn't have to be in America. What about you, did you ever think you would be breathing underwater?"
Shaking his head, Cormac answered: "No, but honestly, I wouldn't think this so bad if I could be outside of the water for more than five minutes. You don't have that problem, do you?"
"I spent sometime on the rocks with Orlaith and the other merrow-maidens for what must have been an hour and a half." Replied Melusine, now fidgeting with one of her bracelets. "But the Profound Ones that Orlaith spoke of, I wonder if they—" The moment that the moonlight suddenly vanished, Melusine looked upwards and gasped. "Cormac! Look!"
Cormac looked and what he saw was not the creature that he and Melusine had seen earlier in the day. It wasn't even something that would have been expected by the two former Surface-Dwellers. This wasn't something like a blue whale or a whale shark, this was a stingray, an enormous stingray that was fifty feet wide!