“Shit!” Dakath yelled, quickly grabbing me as our boat heaved once more. He anchored us to the mast in the middle of the deck, with his arm locked around the wood.
Elijah and Kolvar stumbled to the ground before quickly righting themselves.
“What is he saying, Ky?” Dakath asked in my ear. “We must do something before it takes us, or the entire fleet, out.”
“I don’t know what to do yet!” I admitted dejectedly. “Hold on!”
Kyella, your blood was spilled the first time this creature appeared, was it not?
“Yes!” I quickly answered, remembering the brutal torture I’d been put through. “A lot of my blood!”
Has your blood been spilled since coming on this ship?
My face screwed up in confusion. “My blood? No! How would my blood have been spilled on this trip already?”
Dakath’s hand gripped my upper arm as he spun me to face him, eyes wide as he yelled, “Your blood was spilled, Ky! When we fed from you and I used a rag to clean it up. I tossed it onto the floor after wiping it up.”
That confirms my thoughts. The Kraken was rumored to be drawn to powerful blood, often appearing in naval battles and destroying those who had dhampyrs on their side. It was so long ago that I wasn’t sure if I was remembering it correctly, but that must be it. It’s drawn to you, Kyella.
Shit.That would make sense for why it hadn’t appeared the first time I’d sailed the Cursed Divide after escaping Malakai. We hadn’t known what I was at the time, and I had only consumed others' blood. Mine had never been spilled.
My stomach churned violently at the thought of how much danger Bailey and Rina had been in being on the same ship as me without any of us knowing.
It was like death followed my every step—that anyone I surrounded myself with would never be safe. Guilt wrapped around my heart in a vice-like grip, squeezing until I felt breathless.
The ship directly to our right could be seen faintly with our enhanced sight and the glow from our lanterns and ours. From the water between us rose three massive tentacles that were as thick as our ships were, curling up out of the water dramatically and staying high in the air for the span of a few breaths right before crashing down onto the ship, splitting it directly down the center.
Tears streamed down my face as my knees wobbled. Why was I always met with so much death and destruction? I had vowed to bring back every single soul that I could to their homes. Yet we weren’t even facing our true enemy yet and lives were being lost.
I was failing them.
“Kyella!” Tristan yelled, running at us in a blur until he stood with our group. “Two ships have been capsized. We must do something. We’ve all readied our cannons, but we don’t want to risk shooting in the dark for fear of hitting our own ships since we can’t see the creature well.”
“Barnabus!” I screamed, “How do I kill it?”
I had to end this. I had to save them.
The creature was massive and lived beneath the water. How the hell was I supposed to kill it when I couldn’t see it well and couldn’t even swim?
For the first time, a feeling of helplessness seeped through me.
Chapter Six
Kyella
For a second, I felt paralyzed by fear.
Not of the Kraken—although that would have been reasonable right now—but rather the fear that I wouldn’t be able to vanquish this new enemy and keep my people safe. A feeling that was only enhanced by the knowledge that I had failed so many of them already. The screams from the ships being cracked in half rang in my ear as the tentacles disappeared under water once more.
I had to fix this. Now. I would not let my fear, or this creature, be our downfall.
“Hold steady! Wait for my command!” Elijah roared out to the men crowding the ships’ main deck, easily controlling the chaos of the situation. It seemed all traces of the alcohol in his system had evaporated with the adrenaline suddenly pumping through his veins.
On the ships closest to ours, I could hear similar orders being given. Luckily, no one had acted rashly yet.
Running to the railing of the ship, I watched the water from where the creature had last appeared, trying to focus on it in hope of predicting its movement and finding a way to target it. Using my enhanced vision to seek out the shadow of its movement in the dark water, I realized that it was…everywhere.
Below, the gigantic creature seemed to be one with the violent sea, making me wonder just how big it really was.
