“Veer!” shouted Shota.
Veer had his head bowed and looked up at his friend’s shout, his brow knotted, hands at his temples.
“I can’t get a way in,” he said, his eyes remaining pitch-black as he, apparently, tried to control the sea monster using his powers.
“There is something…strange…about this creature. It feels ancient. Immune to my power.”
The man who threw the spear had freed himself with the aid of his comrades. He barely managed to flee a few steps when a fatter, stronger tentacle stuck fast, like a giant python, wrapping around his torso and dragging him, kicking and screaming, into the sea.
Tentacles fastened around his limbs. It was over in a few minutes. The men who came to help him watched agape, as the churning waters bloomed with red foam and his dying screams echoed around the grotto.
“Fall back,” barked Girish to the petrified men.
The crowd of people edged away and clustered around the goddess statue.
Chandra stood staring at the water, feeling a chill down to the bone, as it gradually turned pink, washing away the violence of the moment. Someone grabbed her arm.
Billadev grimaced in apology. “Sorry, Princess, but it’s dangerous to stand this close. Please move toward the goddess statue. You will be the safest there.”
Chandra nodded. She glanced around and realized their precarious position. The storm had whipped up the waters in the sea-cave to a frenzy. They stood on an island with their ways of escape cut off. Even if they used the boats, the chances they could outrun the monster were slim.
Veer remained standing at the bank, alone.
“Veer?” called Shota.
Veer unsheathed his sword, the sound of scrapping steel clear amid the howl of the wind. He glanced back at them. Water ran in rivulets down his face, plastering his hair to the skull.
“I am the strongest here. I’ll fight the monster,” he said. His eyes found Chandra’s and a reckless smile slashed his face. “What do you think, Princess? Just deserts for a man who has tried to strike the divine, eh?”
He exchanged a knowing glance with Shota, his look sober once more. “You know what to do,” he said before turning back to face the monster.
A fork of lightning screed down from the skies, blinding blue in intensity.
Veer stood still, a lone figure against the light, his sword, unsheathed in his right hand and tapping the ground, as if he were contemplating something at leisure. His left hand glowed red. Chandra frowned and recalled seeing a vague glimpse of it once before.
He made a running jump into the ocean. The tentacles met him when he was airborne, snatching him and wrapping around his torso, attempting to carry him toward a teeth-lined circular aperture on its underside that passed for its mouth.
Chandra was startled to feel her arm taken for a second time. She whipped around. “Princess, you must come with me.” Shota had a slightly abashed expression. “We have to leave now while the monster is otherwise occupied.”
She understood the meaning behind Veer’s words instantly. “Don’t tell me we are leaving him to fight against that monster alone? What kind of friend are you?”
“It’s what he wants me to do, Princess,” said Shota, his mouth compressed to a thin line, resolute in following his friend’s instructions.
Chandra glanced back to see the battle take place in earnest. Veer was, to her amazement, holding his own againstthe monster, his sword flashing steel in the melee of tentacles. Crimson blood and indigo ink stained the waters as both the monster and Veer sustained damage.
Her lips firmed. Veer may have his faults, but any man who risked his life saving others, just so he could give them all a chance to escape, deserved more than a cowardly retreat from the people who called him leader.
“Well, I’m not leaving.” She grabbed her hand back, unnerved to feel no resistance from him. She stared at Shota in mild surprise and found him watching the entrance of the tunnel.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“I think it’s useless to try to leave anyway,” Shota said hoarsely, pointing toward the ceiling of the grotto.
She followed his gaze and, in the dark light, made out the sinuous movements of more tentacled creatures. Lightning flashed outside once more, enough to give them a quick glimpse of the creatures, who were pouring out of the same opening which they had sailed through on magical boats.
Chandra suddenly recalled the vague movement she had seen on the shadowed ceiling and wondered on a burst of realization how long they had been followed by these monsters. They now seemed to lie in wait, making no move to gobble up the vulnerable prey they had right beneath them.
She observed them for a while, waiting with her heart in her throat for them to start pouncing. They were right above their heads.
