The enormous net, hastily assembled using every resource Minas Tirith could muster, was pieced together from thousands of fishing nets, sails, and cables. Every main rope was soaked in black tar to prevent rot, and the joints were reinforced with steel rings.
The enormous net slowly sank.
It carried the hatred and fury of everyone in Minas Tirith Port.
Silently, it descended toward the intricate maze of coral reefs below.
Seawater was displaced by its unseen pressure, forming a downward current that stirred up sand and plankton from the seabed.
At first, the colorful schools of fish drifting leisurely above the coral reefs knew nothing of the immense shadow descending overhead.
But when the current created by the net's displacement suddenly accelerated, panic erupted among the underwater creatures.
Some of the quicker fish darted toward gaps in the reef, fleeing in terror;
many more were swept up in the chaos and crashed headfirst into the mesh. They thrashed their tail fins in vain, trapped between the cables as they sank with this net of vengeance.
A sentry of the Many-Armed Folk was keeping watch behind a tube coral.
His name was Kota, an experienced warrior who had taken part in three raids on ocean-going ships.
He first felt the change in the current. A flow of water from above grew steadily stronger, pushing against him.
Kota looked up.
He saw an immense, gridded shadow descending, blotting out the faint light filtering down from the surface.
The shadow was so vast that he could see no end to it. No matter which direction he swam, he could not escape its reach.
He opened his mouth and emitted a burst of high-frequency sound-the most urgent alarm of the Many-Armed Folk.
Gradually, he saw three even darker shadows approaching behind the enormous net...