Stavanger Bay the night of long fangs

 
"No," he answered the Benthos with a short shake of his skull. The spirit guide ritual was far more pleasant than the drop – nothing compared to the baptism that all pups were forced to endure. The drop was designed to test their mettle, but the receiving of their animal guide was a ritual that would reward them for surviving the most difficult task of their childhood.  
 
Dark ears swiveled forward and he drew his salmon-colored tongue across his lips. "The baptism is a test of the waters. You have already passed, so now you are rewarded with the gifts of the sea," he explained as best as he could.