It’s my fault she’s got magic poisoning, my fault she might become a bloodpuppet, and remorse is eating me from the inside out.
And yet I miss her and wish we were together, staring at the endless mountains, watching the clouds gliding above us.
But I need to do this.
I yell a few times requesting an audience with the Royalty of the Sea, or begging to see their king, but the guards don’t even react.
There’s only one thing they won’t ignore. One thing that will for sure draw the attention of their king.
“Guards,” I say. “I invoke the ancient laws and ask for a duel with your kraken.”
They laugh, and it’s like poking my anger with a sharp stick.
I approach the bars and shake them. “Is Prince Machiel that much of a coward? I mean, I understand thathedoesn’t want to duel me, but he won’t even feed me to the kraken? Really? Because if he doesn’t answer my plea, I’m going to yell that he’s a coward. Prince Machiel is a coward!”
The water gets warmer all of a sudden, and then the prince steps into the cave. “A duel, guardian? Is that what you want?”
What I truly want is an audience with his father, but at this point, I doubt they’ll summon him. My best bet is to cause enough of a scene for His Majesty to notice me, and this is my chance.
“Yes, prince,” I say.
He approaches the cage and cranes his neck as if to examine me better. “No gills?” He looks me up and down, I suppose noticing the air around me. “You’re bold venturing this far into our waters. Do you think boldness will save you?”
“I’m under no such delusion.”
The prince sneers. “And you think you can kill our Kraken.”
“Defeatthe Kraken. I’m not in the habit of killing innocents.”
His mocking smirk turns into laughter. “Bold indeed. Perhaps a little stupid. It means there won’t be much spectacle. Don’t worry. I’ll still enjoy it.”
“Your lack of enjoyment doesn’t worry me in the slightest.”
The spark of amusement in his eyes doesn’t dim.“We’ll see.”
He swims away, leaving me here hoping he won’t take forever to summon me even if I’m dreading facing the Kraken.
I trust my magic, but it’s going to be tricky to evade the gigantic beast while worrying about finding breathable particles. To say that I’m not in my element is an understatement.
At least I don’t have to wait much, as three new guards come to the cave, and one says, “Come.”
They open its door, and two of them pull me by the arms, then swim fast away from that underground hill, the movement making my body even colder than it already was, as I focus on keeping the little air I had with me.
We advance in almost darkness, passing by sea creatures, coral reefs
They take me to the edge of a fissure. The Sea Prince is standing on the other side, flanked by his retinue, and points at it. “Down there. It’s her lair.” He chuckles. “Let’s see who survives.”
“I need to ask for a prize, don’t I?” I say. “If I defeat the kraken.”
I wouldn’t be crazy to ask this prince for what I really want, but I need to give them an excuse for my presence here.
The prince takes a long look at me and says, “Youcouldhave asked for something, except that you requested to fight the kraken with no stipulations. Too late.”
I sense more guards and sea fae arriving at the area, and then lighting some kind of crystal which at least lets me see further, but not into the fissure. Many guards surround me, golden tridents pointed at me, and two of them kneel and wrap something on my feet. Weights, dragging me down.
Rough hands push me, and then I’m falling down into that dark crater.
This is not quite what I was planning.
