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Chapter 8: A Father’s Violence
The surface world’s air couldn’t support the Airborne method of flight; Bjorn fell like a kite without wind. When he plunged into the foaming waters, the slurpy moisture clung to his pectorals like hagfish slime. Getting caught in the most awful rain ever conceived couldn’t drown him any quicker.
He sank, pressed back to the surface, gagged, and sank again. His gills pumped sludge, and a fire raged in his throat. He went down again.
A casting net fell from a lower deck, and Bjorn snagged hold for dear life. In the excitement of a moment, he had forgotten the requirement to walk rather than glide. His father’s rules were more than a mere display of authority. Had not Twister and Stinger been on the quick, he may well have choked to death beneath this world’s oily waters.
As they pulled him free, his gills cleared, and his breathing returned to normal. Now, he must face his father’s wrath.
The scolding never came. Even as
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