“Not fair!” Elijah growled as he entered the room and tried to grab me, but Kolvar was quicker, pulling me down and pressing me to his chest.
Dakath’s chuckle filled the room, letting me know he’d joined us as well. “Children, children,” he chided, “sharing is caring.”
It was honestly a hilarious moment, and I found that my heart was so full of happiness and love. I was so grateful Elijah had thought to bring everyone together tonight and that so much laughter and joy had been felt by all, it seemed.
Pushing up from Kolvar’s chest, I lightly booped the tip of his nose. “There’s enough of me to go around,” I reminded them, letting my voice drop to what I hoped was a seductive tone.
Sleep had been on my mind just minutes ago, but my thoughts had quickly shifted to a different subject now. While they’d ensured I was satisfied prior to my nap, I found my body craving more from them. More of them. I needed to feel them inside of me.
Just as my hands dipped to pull my dress up, the ship rocked violently to one side, and I briefly wondered if we were going to capsize as we were thrown completely off guard. Kolvar and I rolled off the bed and onto the floor into a heap, and I heard the impact of Elijah and Dakath smacking into the wood-planked wall.
“What the hell?” Elijah roared as the ship righted itself.
I was surrounded by the three of them immediately as Kolvar helped me to my feet.
“Are you—”
His question was cut off as Barnabus yelled into my mind, taking all my attention with his alarmed tone.
Kyella! You must come to the deck, now!
Shooting to my feet, I looked around at my guys in alarm. “We have to get to the upper deck. Now.”
As soon as we arrived, we found that the jovial energy that had been floating through the air minutes before had been replaced with chaos and screams as the sound of a ship cracking and splintering in the distance echoed through the air. The lights on their deck went out, and an eerie creaking sound came seconds before shouts of alarm began again.
What the hell was going on?Had Malakai’s forces sailed out to declare war on us?
I hadn’t heard any cannons firing, but something strong enough to take down ships was out there. That thought alone had my stomach tightening with unease.
“The ship capsized!”
“Something destroyed it!”
Our boat rocked, and my initial assumption was that the motion was from the force of the fallen ship capsizing in the water. But after the severe rock our ship had felt while I was below deck with my men, I wasn’t so sure.
Horror churned in my stomach at the thought of our people going down with the ship. I felt paralyzed, at a complete loss of how to size up our opponent when I had no idea who or what it was in the dark.
I could barely hear my own thoughts above the panic, but thankfully Barnabus cut through it all as he landed on my shoulder and spoke to me.
Kyella, do you remember the monster you saw while captured by Holmeth?
The large eye and tentacles immediately surfaced in my memory.Holy shit.
“Yes!” I yelled above the chaos. “It took down the ship with its tentacles! Are you saying that’s the same monster that is here now?”
I didn’t care if anyone heard me at this point. We didn’t have the luxury of privacy right now, and we needed to make a plan immediately.
If this was that same creature, I didn’t have the slightest clue how to defeat it. I hadn’t seen it in its entirety, even in the daylight, but what I had seen was terrifying. Without a doubt, it could destroy these ships like I could break a glass in my hand—effortlessly.
Yes, I’m sensing the same energy as I did then. What I couldn’t tell you then was that this creature had lain dormant for over a millennium. The creature was that of myths…until it resurfaced when you were captured. The Kraken.
I felt myself tuning him out as cries for help sounded around us. I heard the commands from captains to deploy the smaller ships secured to the sides for rescue missions, but I feared that would be the worst option, putting more at risk in the unsafe waters.
“Barnabus, can you call the bats to help those stuck in the water?” I rushed to ask. Their screams were echoing through my mind, leaving me feeling sick.
No, we are much too far for them to get here quickly enough to help. But you need to listen to me, Kyella. It can’t be a coincidence that it has appeared twice now where you are, especially with such a vast distance between where it was first sighted until now.
I felt like a complete idiot, not even thinking of the creature after I’d been rescued by Barnabus and the bats. How had I not considered the possibility of having to face this foe again?
