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P** art Three: "The Danger"**

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Ever since she had been born during what her parents had forever said to be the clearest, brightest if not most glorious day of spring twenty-one years ago, Nyrina had seen many mind blowing things while traveling around her world of Felldew.

Back in the past, thanks to the fact that her parents had always been adventurous souls even before her birth, even before the making of the Dynamic and drifting through river country, she had visited the many massive, upraised, black boulders of jet that were the very reasons for why the north coast was named Onyx Bay by the sea otters. During those same days, she had also glimpsed the shadows of the fabled northwestern territory known as the Labyrinth where networks of well-placed human strongholds were supposedly located high in the Norlinthian mountain ranges. To the northeast, she'd even seen the highest mountain in the world, Margrin, the sacred place where the ursine of Tundran climbed up as well as down once in their lives to prove that they'd finally grown from pups into warriors.

Up to this very day, Nyrina could not at all deny that she'd experienced more than the typical Felldewan. Having followed her family from one end of the world to the other, having traveled by water or land to the north, south, east and west corners of every realm, she had become a living book full of momentous occasions. She knew of most everything about her world, about every country known, about every landmark, about the many awakened races under goddess Gaia's protection.

As the daughter of experienced adventurers, she had been brought up to know such things. For knowledge was often a handy if not powerful tool to have at one's side.

Still, at the moment, despite her wisdom, despite her years of inspiring travel, it could be said that Nyrina still had much to learn. Not about Felldew, mind, but about her limitations, about her disobedience, about her not having listened to her parents' warning about going off alone... for now she faced a threat she'd never thought of facing before in her life; the Bull Shark that was slowly if not menacingly circling her presently.

Never before had she seen any specimen of shark with her own eyes. Not until now, anyway, where she could very well see the sea predator stalking her as well as understand why her father hadn't wanted her to ever go too close to the side of a boat during her otterling years visiting Onyx Bay. He hadn't wanted her to accidently fall into the ocean water. Why was because he hadn't wanted her to be the possible prey of any grey skinned, thickly built, muscular, deathly jawed, beady eyed killer fish for even a second.

And why Nyrina's father hadn't wanted his otterling to fall into the sea became clear to her now in the future. As she watched the bull shark lazily swimming this way and then turning that way through the sun beamed, calm Seidon River around her, Nyrina could feel her heart pounding rapidly against her chest, her nerves whipping out of control, her body shaking with fear.

Yet, was it really fear that she was feeling at the moment? Or was it more along the lines of shock?

Truly, despite the stormy weather for the last three days, even though she was hurt, this whole fiasco happening to the Urchinhide daughter was something that was turning out to be quite unbelievable by the second. How could the goddess be letting this happen to her? Was this some kind of punishment against her? For what? As she had kept telling herself earlier, Nyrina hadn't been out on her own looking for trouble like this to come to her. She had only been searching for freshwater pearls, not freaking sharks that'd been washed out of their natural habitat!

Regardless, whether or not goddess Gaia was punishing her in some sick fashion for having disobeyed her family's rules of going anywhere alone, there were many emotions whirling through the she-otter's throbbing mind. Firstly, like her father would do in this situation, she needed to cease feeling so intimidated and pull herself together so that she wouldn't ultimately become a certain killer fish's snack.

Secondly, she needed to take a breath of fresh air, check her surroundings along with swim for land as fast as possible.

Thirdly, she needed to learn from this experience, remember it along with never venture anywhere without some otter by her side ever again. Okay? Okay.

Due to the previous surprise attack against her, Nyrina had come to realize that she'd dropped her stone headed javelin into the gloom of the river bottom below. In the very least, she still had her stone dagger as well as what she'd come to the river for in the first place; her waist pouch filled with twelve twinkling, freshwater pearls.

So, ignoring her injured side, all that the she-otter needed to do now was get to land where she would be most certainly safe from any possible kind of aqua predator's assault in the near future.

As for an aqua predator assaulting the Urchinhide daughter, the bull shark seemed to grow bored in watching its immobile prey. When Nyrina popped her head up above the river surface to breathe in air, the killer fish barreled forward with demonic speed! Its she-otter of a target had barely ducked back underwater in time to register what was going on and with an expression of utterly frightened dismay, she dove downwards out of the way of the cavern of razor sharp teeth heading straight for her.

At once, with another burst of agility that made Nyrina pull another shocked face, the shark wheeled around as well as hurtled downwards after her.

Not being able to do anything else, zipping through the watery world around her with her own quick speed, the Urchinhide daughter managed to evade the diving shark. Then, as it passed her, she took her stone dagger in paw, lined up her stab, then jabbed her attacker squarely. Where she'd meant to hit the killer fish was in its right eye. However, she instead cut just under her desired target.

In turn, sensing it was under attack, the aqua predator shot away. As it did so, with merciless force, its enormous tail knocked its she-otter prey flying, sending her head over tail spinning through the river until she skidded to a halt on the river bed.

Dazed, aching, frightened, Nyrina checked over her body to find that she'd only been bruised once again and wasn't bleeding in any way. Mind, if she started bleeding then she knew her attacker would only become fiercer. She had heard enough during her travels to know that blood invigorated the demonic side of a shark.

Next, her heart experienced a sudden jolt of fright when she realized her waist pouch full of freshwater pearls was no longer secured to her hip! No, rather, having been ripped from her belt due to the monstrous force behind the shark's recent tail slap, the pouch in question was floating towards the river surface a few feet away from her.

Not hesitating for even a moment, knowing all that she'd done in the morning for all the good reasons would be lost if she didn't get it back at once, the Urchinhide daughter pushed off from the bottom of the river towards the freshwater pearls that'd escaped her possession. It was a good thing she lunged upwards when she did. For just as her feet left the river bed, a cloud of mud erupted from underneath her where the bull shark - which had been charging towards her, mouth opened wide, a moment ago - had slammed into the earth with devastating force.

Yet, where she'd just nearly missed being crushed, Nyrina couldn't escape the billowing cloud of mud made by the bull shark's savage tackle. As hard as she tried, she couldn't find her way through the muddy water much less grab onto her now invisible pouch of pearls. Not only that, even though she desperately needed them back in her paws, her gift to her mother was becoming the last thing on her panicking mind. For with her lungs aching again, she discovered that she needed air!

In building frustration as well as desperation, the young she-otter found her way back to the Seidon River's surface where she took in several rushed as well as much needed fresh air. Then, intent on finishing the job she'd begun, honing in on the thought of gaining back the freshwater pearls for her mother, she dove back underwater... only to squeal, flounder in place and manage to just evade the bull shark as it came mercilessly streaking upwards from the muddy depths!

Thankfully, the killer fish missed its floundering target. Just barely though. For as it passed her by mere centimeters, as it leaped up from the river because it couldn't stop itself, Nyrina was dragged along in the mad fish's current as well as sent hurtling through the air until she didn't up from down. Finally, she fell back into the water where she gracefully righted herself, began to try to locate her lost pearls, then had no choice but to flee as her predator came silently chasing after her through the murkiness.

Now the event at hand had become a real race of life and death. Having lost sight as well as hope of finding her pearls meant for her mother, hot tears of anger along with despair escaped Nyrina's eyes as she desperately swam for where she thought she would make land. As she rocketed through the water, her mind raced with fuming thoughts meanwhile.

With the way the morning had been so very good to her earlier, how could all of this have happened to Nyrina? Didn't the goddess understand that she'd only gone off on her own to please her mother? Of all of the times, why was a freaking shark after her? Why, in the goddess's name, was there suddenly a wall of mud and no shore in her way?!

A second ago, thinking she'd been on the right course for the sandy shore where she'd dived from to begin pearl searching, the Urchinhide daughter had been confident in her chosen direction of swimming. Now, though, she was not at all sure. Nor was she sure she was going to make it alive out of the situation alive when the bull shark, only a foot behind her, came flying towards her from behind!

For a moment that felt like eternity, all that she could see with her widened eyes was the bottomless pit rimmed with hundreds of dagger like teeth that was the killer fish's maw. Then, having nimbly dodged away to the side, with the shark having smashed its face into the mud wall behind her in turn, she saw only mud flying up around her!

Not waiting a moment, evading the madly swishing tail of her attacker, Nyrina shot upwards through the muddying water. She raced along, feeling increasingly weary all over due to her aching bruises. Then, through the mud, she could see it; sunlight! She was almost there! She was almost to the surface! And when she finally broke the river's surface for the umpteenth time, she discovered she was close to shore.

Yet, it wasn't the kind of leveled out, sandy shore she'd been hoping for but a reedy, weedy, slope she couldn't possibly climb up in one go but slide back down over and over again.

The frantic thoughts of what would be soon coming up after her made Nyrina quit worrying and spring into action. Muddy slope or not, the shore before her was solid ground where she would be able to escape the monster that was now realizing where she'd gone. So, with a building up of speed underwater, with a newfound determination to get away from this danger with her life, wanting to see her family even if they would be displeased with her coming back to them so hurt, the Urchinhide daughter swam a few circles before diving up a good distance onto the muddy slope... before immediately sliding back down into the water again!

Nyrina was too wet. She was too slippery to get anywhere up the slope! The bull shark was coming and she was running out of strength to... to go on for much longer.

Yet, she couldn't go out like this. She couldn't vanish without a trace and leave her parents heartbroken over who knew what had become of their only daughter. No, no, no! There was just enough time, just enough energy left in her bones to let Nyrina swim about, take aim as well as launch herself up onto the muddy slope before her.

This time, the she-otter didn't slide back down into the Seidon River. Not when she grabbed onto a good clump of weeds, anyway, and held on for her life. It was a good thing she did, mind, because if she hadn't held on so tightly... she would have slid right back into the maddened frenzy of the bull shark below that'd just resurfaced, seen her and begun thrashing nastily about. The resulting splashing made the slope more slick that, in turn, made Nyrina's grip that much harder for her to maintain!

Then, the bull shark did something most nasty if not devious. Determined to have its prey no matter what, it lunged upwards out of the water! The resulting slam of its body shook the ground, loosed mud, uprooted plant life along with weakened the now frightened Urchinhide daughter's grasp on firm ground. More times, the stubborn killer fish flopped against the muddy slope, making loosened earth cascade down over Nyrina as she refused to fall to her certain doom below.

"Go away!" She finally screamed at the top of her voice over the noise, closing her green eyes as the monster below her thrashed about venomously, "Go away! Haven't you done enough to me? You've hurt me, chased me, made me lose what would have been the best gift I could have given to my mother for her birthday... Just go away! Goddess make this thing go away!"

Stronger than ever before, the bull shark slammed into the muddy slope. This time, with a desperate squeal, Nyrina nearly lost her grip on the weeds in her paws. By the goddess, was there no hope for her to make it out of the Seidon River today alive? Did she really need to be punished so harshly for having gone off on her own this morning?

Goddess Gaia... was she not willing to help an innocent otter maiden in her most vital hour of need?

Yet, just when things seemed to be the worst for her, everything changed for the better within a heartbeat for the weakening Urchinhide daughter. Still holding on for her dear endangered life, she didn't at first glance notice the bold, white-blue robed, hooded figure that appeared at the top of the slope she held onto. She didn't see the same figure un-shoulder his longbow at hand, whip out an arrow from the quiver on his waist and then shoot the most excellently aimed projectile into the bull shark's nose which snarled fiercely in turn!

It was after two more shots from her helper at the slope top that Nyrina saw her killer fish of an attacker bleeding profusely. It was then that she looked up and saw who was, out of the blue, hurriedly aiding her.

"No, don't move, otter! Keep your head down! I do not wish to shoot you!" The stranger at the top of the slope hollered at once, making the Urchinhide daughter immediately lay back down while still trying to hold on, "There, I've got that thing on the run. Here, quick, I'm lowering my axe down to you. Take a hold of it by the head and I'll pull you up here - Argh, get back down there, fish! Get back!"

The bull shark was truly a mad creature. Perhaps it was demon sent from the damned realm of Helnoth, ruled by the most wicked of souls.

Enraged beyond belief, seeing its prey about to be taken, bleeding due to the numerous arrows sticking from its straining body, the shark began to try to wriggle up the slope! Just as the white-blue robed, bowman of a stranger loosed another arrow into it, the killer fish still managed to nip Nyrina's beautiful tail who cried out more in shock than pain. Then, after the tenth arrow hit it in its side, the bull shark finally rolled back into the river with an explosion of crimson mist.

For once, it did not resurface.

During the resulting calmness, carefully grabbing a hold of the head of the long poled, one bladed war axe lowered down to her, trembling Nyrina was hauled quite carefully up through the mud to her savior who - even though not knowing her - instantly if not purposefully put an arm around her shoulders and embraced her tightly. In turn, in her mysterious hero's embrace, everything suddenly dawned on the she-otter's mind as well as senses.

Truly, she had been so close to dying. She had been so close to never seeing her family again. She had been so scared... but she was alive now. Yes, she was still breathing.

Within her next heartbeat, due to her near death experience, she was shaking, sobbing, wailing with so many emotions into her unknown rescuer's shoulder. For the longest time, she didn't look at he who was hugging her, who was telling her everything was okay now, who humbly went about looking over her injuries along with applying some medical attention to them in due time.

However, at the very moment she saw who had truly saved her from the bull shark, looking upon the soft face of her hero, all sound seemed to fade out for Nyrina. She could see her champion's lips moving as he reassuringly spoke words of comfort to her but she couldn't hear anything he was saying.

No, she wasn't exactly paying attention to what he was saying to her. All of her focus was suddenly on realizing who and what exactly had turned out to be her knight in shining armor.

It seemed Gaia had heard Nyrina's plea for help on the slope, after all. For one of the people of the first awakened race, a messenger of the goddess, a young human man, had been the one that'd just literally rescued her from the jaws of death. While they sat in the grass in the morning sunlight, he was the one who was presently attending to her every physical as well as emotional injury.