Davos put his ear to the boardwalk with the quiet grace of a mountain lion preparing for the pounce. If the merfolk creature was a moving shadow then Davos was the darkness itself. The slithering creatures fins brushed the boards and logs its passed with barely a whisper but he still caught it. 
The woman whod throw up over the railings onto the beach was easy kill. If he had to guess the tactic in play here, this beast was associating alcohol to weakness and striking out at the lone individuals. 

Grab them from below as they stumbled loudy over the boards and along the road, minimalize the distance needed to get back to water. Did it have lungs capable of indefinite periods on dry land or was the reason for its sea bound escape becaude its skin was susceptible to drying out..

Or maybe it had family to feed. 

The entire day had been painstakingly spent viewing everything around the port city, investigating where the biggest groups of people would be gathering and finding which of those areas crossed the docks..
A solid part of the early morning had been spent digging in the sand where the tide wouldnt spoil the surprise.

Meticulous anticipation and a tiny bit of luck had put the monster right where Davos had expected it. Where he wanted it. Closer to 30 foot traps had been set up in the sands, coveres with some thin sticks and a piece of cloth before having sand coat the top. There was a small handful of rocks piled up on top to mark where each one was.

[i]THUMP[/i]

the woman was down, scaled arm reaching over, and Davos was off in a sprint down the board walk at a blistering pace to catch up. In the darkness he could just make the creature out against the backdrop of the sea. Moonlight illuminated very little but the hunters eyes had adjusted to the dark well enough to keep him in fighting form.

Up and over the rail in a single smooth practiced motion had him on the beach below in a crouch. 
The fish man swiveled its neck to view its new meal and gave what passed for a predatory smile, lips curling away to reveal rows of sharp serrated fangs. A snakelike tongue tasted the air in anticipation as Davos assumed it was.. thinking.

"Beautiful creature. You can see it can't you?"

It took a threatening step forward, the many fins on its back and arms twitching as it let out a low hiss.

"You can see I don't fear you. Won't run from you. But you can tell, through whatever passes for intelligence in your species, that you're stronger." 

Davos' eyes were wide with excitement, looking the creature up and down as it stalked the sands just a few short feet ahead. There was no way it could ever understand human dialect, seeing humans as food, but Davos was certain that it understood praise. Tones could be recoginized by any creature..
So he had always hoped.
The beast bellowed suddenly, lutching forward as its toothy maw spread wide to audibly show it was not pleased. Or confused.. or hungry. Interpretation wasn't easy on first meetings for Davos, but he recognized its legs twitch before it barreled forward with one arm stretched high into the sky. 
Down came the clawed hand as it hissed its watery dissaproval, the appendage raking through the air and into the sands with tremendous force, throwing up the sands aroun it. To the right Davos leapt, rolling on the sand and up in a crouch with a grin.

He'd been standing on a bundle of rocks..

Scales were quite effective at turning a sword and this being was certainly well armored in that regard. Its hand had crashed down straight into the hole and bent a few of the steel bars he had angled within but from the sound of it howling he had done the trick.

It its outrage the merfolk shrugged off the female and brought its free hand down into the sands as it struggled to escape the simple but effective placement of painful pointy sticks, cleaving through the sands until it graspedsomething hard and began to pull, trying to pry the metal bars out of the deep sands.
Had this been proper soil Davos would have been confident it could not accomplish the task quickly but this was still just sand. It would succeed in freeing itself shortly.

Davos had the option of striking for a telling blow or grabbing the woman, a part of him burned with the urge to strike. Bleed the creature and see if it was truly strong, but refused to get in close. He didn't see a way to get in close with just a dagger and strike a telling blow before such a massive creature could free itself and rip him to shreds.

"Another time, pretty fish." He whispered into the cold air as he sprited forward and grabbed the injured woman by the leg and draggingher limp form away from her would be killer as it tried to turn, swingingits clawed appendage in a futile attempt to lamd a telling blow on the victim only to come short by mere inches as its claws glided harmlessly over the ladies face.

Screaming into the nights sky the beast tore into the sands with new found fervor as lights among the docks began to grow, concerned townsfolk grabbing torches and weapons as they came to the railing from the taverns to see what was happening. 
With one final tug it ripped iys bleeding appendage out from the ground, turning its murderous gaze squarely on Davos. Shouts from above, bright lights and glasses rained down on it the moment it was spotted. A bellowing roat of outrage issued from its throat as it growled one more time at the crimson robed spoiler of its meal before it sprinted back to the safety of the waters, splashing noisily down into the depths. 

"OI! Are ye fine down there lad?!" Called one gray bearded sailor, others rushed down the stairways nearby to back up the hunter with their cutlasses out and ready despite their breaths stinking of booze.

"Fine.. see to the girl and watch your steps! Avoid the piled rocks or you'll lose a damn limb." 
 
If the merman had looked angry then Davos looked absolutely furious.  Both hands clenched at his sides as he glared out at the rippling waves picturing the bleeding thing staring back with hatred.

Long after everyone else had fled the docks and back into the bars or their homes, Davos paced the walkways restlessly. Every thought focused on the creatuees appearance, mannerisms, and those gleaming eyes.
His hand idly traced the line across his chest. The leather had been cut cleanly from shoulder to hip during his last moment dodge of the claws, yet had it not been for the light metal pieces places across his armor he might well have been killed.

[i]Next time I'll be sure to study you properly.[/i] he swore silently, gazing out at the waves and the sunrise.