"But what is the Smoking Hole?"
"But what is the Smoking Hole?" you ask Sophia, then you follow the long line of merfolk swimming around an upthrust of coral, and you see it.
You freeze in place, staring open-mouthed at the sight before you. It is frankly incredible: a gigantic hole in the bottom of the sea: it is so big, you can hardly see the other side of it. Looking down, you almost feel vertigo: it stretches down further than the eye can see, disappearing into darkness far below.
And it really does smoke: dark wispy clouds rise up from the black water far below, filling the water up here with a rough sulphury stench that makes you blink your eyes and cough as it reaches your eyes and gills.
The merfolk have gathered in a long line at the edge of the reef overlooking the Smoking Hole. Looking around, you finally gain an idea of the sheer size of the reef: it must be miles across! Looking about, you see a pair of merfolk nearby swimming at the edge of the Smoking Hole. "Who are they?" you ask, pointing toward them.
Sophia follows your pointing finger and grunts dismissively. "That's Hermakles," she says. "And some slut he's found."
"Hermakles does not reverence the spirits as we do," Nick says softly, glancing toward the distant pair of merfolk; Hermakles and the mermaid brush against each other, then descend into a hollow in the coral together, then vanish from sight. Nick grunts and turns away from that. "Someday he'll go too far, and then we'll see about him," he mutters.
Then it begins: there is no signal given, no sign to start, but one of the mermen pounds the heel of his trident on the coral. Once, twice, again, continuing, a single steady beat.
Another merman takes it up, then another; one of the mermaids takes up a pair of shells and claps them together in a light counterpoint to the steady beat.
You glance around at the merfolk as the beat swells, some taking it further, beating out rapid tattoos that dance gaily across the beat;still others begin to dance, swaying in place, beating their tails and writhing sensuously to the rhythm that beats through the nerves like an exciting fire.
The beat swells in your ears, hammering out a rhythmic, hypnotic beat in your mind; you cannot help but sway to it, your body responding to the music whether you will or not.
But you don't want to stop it: it feels so good! You dance to the beat, feeling some feeling swelling in your breast, an expanding feeling, as if you are growing, soaring higher and higher on the music. The mermaids begin to cheer, a long ululating howl that echos across the Smoking Hole; lost in the music, you don't even notice it is you they are cheering for as you dance out over the edge, directly over the deep blackness, lost to the world as if possessed.
Suddenly, a second presence intrude on you: a merman swims to you, dancing to the same beat as you. The merfolk howl as you come together, joining in a writhing, passionate dance; there are no words for it, but in that moment you can feel the spirits' hand upon you, granting you a tiny measure of their power as you dance to their glory.
You feel the merman's powerful body pressing against yours and you cry out in an explosion of passion, of pleasure and power that overwhelms you.
Written by J-B-Hickock on 20 December 2014
