Dari swam through the cold, shadowed waters, the pressure of the deep pressing against him as he searched for a mate to call his own. Exiled from Atlantis for his dark abilities, he had learned early that the creatures of the sea, both small and colossal, feared him. Even the giant predators gave way, sensing the dangerous aura he carried, and he welcomed the solitude.

The first day of mating season was always the hardest. The ocean pulsed with life and color, the currents carrying scents and sounds that stirred instincts he could no longer ignore. As he patrolled the familiar paths of the deep, a sudden glow caught his attention, bright, warm, and otherworldly, emanating from the mouth of a cave he had never noticed before.

Curiosity outweighed caution. Dari slipped through the opening, moving silently, muscles coiled and eyes sharp in the dim light. There, bathed in the radiant glow, was a merman unlike any he had ever seen. His scales shimmered like molten gold, catching every flicker of light and reflecting it across the cavern walls.

Dari’s gaze lingered, sharp and calculating. He watched his potential mate carefully, every graceful movement etched into his memory. In that moment, clarity struck him—this merman would be his. No hesitation, no doubt. The choice was made, and the hunt was no longer for survival; it was for connection, for claiming the one who had captured his shadowed heart.