The touch is encroaching on areas of personal space that Heine is never really comfortable with having breached. He looks down, forcing his eyes open in the salty water to see a dark mass, and tentacle-like limbs closed fast around his legs and snaking further upwards. He struggles again and manages to halfway sever the appendage just below where it reaches his ankles.

The creature flinches, releasing its grip just long enough for Heine to kick hard and pull free. He swims for the surface. But feet away from breaking through, another tentacle, slick and immeasurably strong, catches him around the shoulder and moves up to wrap tight around his neck.