But it didn’t happen.
The next thing I knew, hands gripped me and yanked. The suction between my body and the sucker broke, and water floated between us. My body grew slack as someone pulled me through the little tunnel I’d made, into the larger sea. I jerked in their powerful grip, nearing death as they pulled my body away from the ocean floor.
Then the surface broke. We soared out of the water and into the sky. I sputtered and gasped for air, and the scent of spice engulfed me as I coughed the sea from my lungs.
After only seconds, the sensation of drowning lifted. The feeling of beingme, alive, whole, and ready to fight, returned like a tidal wave—so fast that I didn’t understand it.
“Alice!Alice! Wake up!”
Hatter. . .
I opened my eyes to find Henri cradling me in his arms as we flew above the sea creature, well out of her reach. As much as I wanted to keep looking at him, staring into his green eyes forever, the screams and cheers and heckling all around us ripped me back to reality.
Down on the ground, the beach was pandemonium. The kraken had nearly retreated into the ocean, trying to gain an element of advantage over the cat as she fought like mad. And my creature, the cat, battled as hard as he could.
This needs to end.
“Fly low.” I was surprised to hear that my voice didn’t waver. “On the other side of the kraken, toward deeper water. Just out of her tentacles’ reach at first, so she sees us.”
“Alice, you nearly drowned.”
“I’m fine,” I said, and even though I wasn’t sure how I’d recovered, I meant it. All I’d needed was a few lungfuls of air, and I was ready to continue fighting.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
He probably thought I was crazy, but Hatter did as I said, soaring toward the bloodied, thrashing arms of the kraken. Closer to the water. Closer to injury or death.
“Hey, kraken! You didn’t get me!” I screamed. “We’re over here! Come and finish this!”
The monster’s head turned toward me and, like all simple-minded creatures do, she followed using the most direct route. She twisted at her center, causing the opposite side of her body to lift off the sand, higher and higher.
This time, since she was half submerged in the sea, her arms could grab at the water and pull her weight more effectively than they could on land. The waves aided her, lifting her higher, until the soft spot above her heart was completely exposed.
“Cat! Now!” A tentacle extended to snap me and Henri out of the air.
Henri diverted, and for a moment, I couldn’t see the cat in the mess of seawater, kraken arms, and the mix of black and blonde hair that flew around me. Still, I knew when the cat had landed the dagger in the monster’s heart.
The beast made a deep guttural sound that vibrated the air around it.
I pulled the hair from my face, trying to see, and caught the moment that every single one of the beast’s arms pulled back into her body. It released another horrible sound, fainter this time, a cry for help. Surprisingly, the kraken’s pain cut through me, and my stomach wound up in knots.
It was a little irrational, but feelings rarely were completely rational. And I couldn’t help but feel pity for the beast that my aunt had forced me to kill. The beast that probably didn’t give a damn about her, and would rather be patrolling the seas for fish to eat or ships to sink.
So much pain, all because my aunt wanted something that wasn’t hers.
The thought struck me, made me want to witness the kraken’s end, because I was sure my aunt didn’t give a damn about the creatures she controlled. Just as she didn’t care about her subjects.
“Henri, stop!” I yelled. “Wait. I need to watch her die.”
He jerked to a stop, and although his expression was one of pure confusion, he trusted me and twisted in the air.
We stayed there, a safe distance away, watching the kraken queen’s final moments.
As soon as her body collapsed into the wake, tears sprang into my eyes. We’d done it. The Trial by Aether was over. Like a movie on fast forward, everything I’d done to get here flashed in my mind. I saw those I’d had to injure or kill, but also those who I was helping by taking on an evil queen.
A lump rose in my throat. The end was bittersweet.
