Fifteen meters of slow, controlled ascent, every muscle in Eastiel's body screaming, every instinct howling at him to move faster, get out, get out now.
The darkness below them was no longer dormant. It was stirring. The crackling sound had faded into something worse, a low, resonant hum that vibrated through the water like the warning growl of a beast about to strike.
CRACKLE—
Another rumble, like a distant thunder.
"East…" Reyes's small voice whispered through the comms.
"I got you. Come on." Eastiel said, "Five meters. Four. Three."
Slowly, agonizingly, they broke the surface.
The dive platform erupted into controlled chaos. Swanson was already there, his massive arms reaching down to grab Reyes by the shoulders of his dive suit and haul him out of the water.
Reyes was gasping, his limbs shaking, his suit dripping with water that was just slightly too dark
