If I want to attract the attention of the Sea King, I can’t fight the monster down here, where nobody will see me. And I certainly can’tdiein this hole.
Iwon’tdie.
And yet it’s so dark that I can’t see a thing, and it’s cold, too. My body trembles as I sink to strange depths, my ears perked to the muffled sounds around me, hoping I can sense the creature.
No. I need to think. The lack of air is making my mind slow, perhaps even confused. I need time—and more air. I try to remove the weighted cuffs, but they have a locking mechanism I can’t undo with my bare hands—not fast enough, at least.
I call my other magic, and transcend away from the cuffs, less than a foot, but enough to let me swim upward, while at the same time I try to gather more and more breathable particles to renew the air around me. Not enough.
A short transcending shouldn’t be too risky—I hope—and go for it.
The Witch King is much stronger, his tendrils wrapping me. Strangely, I don’t sense him in the Shadow Lands, but I can’t waste time trying to figure out where he is, and emerge above the ocean before it’s too late. Moonlight and stars dot the night sky above me as I take a huge gulp of air, then grab as much of it as I can and let my body sink slowly.
Realization hits me then: Marlak failed. Astra failed. My insides feel hollow as I wonder if they’re hurt or dead, and remember that she risked her life to save me. I feel for Astra, and perhaps regret helping her transcend away, but then, in her place, I would have done the same. I can’t grasp the idea that she might be dead, can’t accept it, and yet I need to push these thoughts away, bury all my horror and sadness, lest they cloud my mind.
If Astra failed, it means I can’t count on the Witch King dying to stop my magic poisoning or worse, Lidiane’s magic poisoning. A bitter taste comes to my mouth as I realize that I need the help of the Sea King more than ever.
As I descend, I recognize the lighting crystals and the fissure, and see the prince looking down, likely wondering if I’m already dead. A huge tentacle emerges from the hole, and the gathered fae swim back, away from the creature.
As the kraken comes to the surface, I realize it’s even bigger than I thought, despite having seen her tentacles before.
This is not going to be fun.
Some sea fae notice me, and the prince looks up.
“Kill him!”, he orders.
The kraken sets her huge eyes on me.
I don’t want to harm you. I don’t want to harm you,I repeat the thought. Magical creatures usually can sense intentions, and I hope she understands I’m not her enemy.
“Kill him,” the Sea Prince repeats.
It’s like something snaps in the kraken, and all I sense is ferocity, a murderous anger, all directed at me.
I flap my arms to keep my body from sinking down, but the kraken lifts a tentacle in my direction.
Had I been above water, this would be easy. I’d just blow it away from me. In the water, my air magic counts for very little. The tentacle comes fast like a whip, and, unable to swim away, I transcend a little to escape it, but another tentacle hits me and pushes me far.
“Running away already, guardian?” the prince asks, his voice sounding close to me, carried by the water.
The kraken retreats to the bottom, and perhaps this was her way to give me a chance to escape, a chance not to hurt her. But escaping won’t help me, and won’t bring the Sea King to me.
I struggle to swim, and yet do my best to return to that fissure, to approach the gigantic beast again, hoping I can survive long enough.
She raises her tentacles encircling me, then hits me with one of them. Dodging her is impossible, considering I move so slowly in the water. The only solace is that her strike is not that strong, as the water cushions the blow.
She hits me again, like a child playing with a doll, pushing it around, then wraps a tentacle around me and squeezes. I transcend a few feet, but forget to bring my air, and see it moving up, eager to escape the water. As I’m pulling it back to me, another tentacle wraps me. I transcend to the air bubble and breathe.
The Witch King is pulling me, so eager to siphon my magic and use me as a weapon, and I don’t know if I can keep transcending like this. Each time, his thrall gets stronger.
I’m running out of options—and might have miscalculated my odds.
Another tentacle hits me, and I decide I’m going to have to fight, even though I have no weapons, but I don’t think a sword or even a spear could help me here.
The only solution is to use my weakening magic and hope I don’t pass out from fatigue. I look for air inside the kraken, and can’t find it, obviously, but I can find the breathable particles entering her body from the water.
I pulled them to me earlier, so I can pull them away from the Kraken, and from her body. It’s what I do—except that the creature doesn’t faint. Instead, it wraps a tentacle around me and still looks very much alert.
