Fear grips my chest, threatening to shatter my bones, but I can’t let them see. I have to be strong for all of them. If the ship goes down, I go down with it. So I grit my teeth and drag my blade through the underbody of a low flying roc.
Odi swings her bola, it wraps around the neck of another, then she drives a dagger up under its beak. The blade exits through the skull with remnants of pale green brain matter still clinging to the tip.
This approach isn’t working. Elio glances at me, reading my mind.
He races to collect the bolts that have spilled from their crates while I ready the mounted crossbow for another shot.
His grin is wide when he passes me the first one, though I know it's only there for moral support. I appreciate it all the same. With my heart pounding in my ears, and rain lashing at my face, I brace my weight against the wood, maneuvering to aim towards the nearest threat.
Someone screams—Ameeya. Roc talons are wrapped around her face, wrenching her up off the deck and into the sky. I let out a breath, urging my muscles to relax before the weapon’s oiled release sends the shot flying. The bird screeches as the bolt blasts through its chest, shattering its chest into a ball of blood slicked feathers. The woman wails as she plunges into the sea.
Her cry snaps something in me, and before I can think, I let the crossbow’s head drop and I’m leaping over the splintered railing of theship.
“Rune, no—” Elio’s cry is riddled with worry, but I can’t think about that right now. I have to save as many as I can. It’s my job as captain.
As I dive over, sharp pain slices through my thigh, tearing through my trousers. The water reaches up to catch me, and ribbons of crimson curl around my leg, mixing with the cloud of bubbles. As soon as it clears I see a shallow graze across my skin.
My trouser pocket is ripped—the one I keep Odi’s necklace in.
I thrash around searching for it, only to discover a faint silver glint sinking to the depths below. Heat crawls through my body, and dread forms a ball in the pit of my stomach.
I dart that way, but my gaze catches on Ameeya. She sinks, eyes wide, hand outstretched in desperate need. Reality crashes in, and with a silent scream in my mind, I abandon the necklace, shift, and race for her, catching her around the waist.
I pull her up, tossing a useless glance behind me. The necklace is gone. It has to be. The ocean is alive, it's angry, and I’d never find it now, even if there was time. Besides it was never mine to keep, and always the sea’s to own.
We swim for the surface, breaking it as waves of midnight blue crash around us. Elio has already thrown a rope over the edge. I tie Ameeya to it and with the help of Odi, he hauls her up.
Odi’s brown eyes meet mine from above and she gives me a fond glare that says if-you-try-that-again-i’ll-kill-you-myself. I flash her a grin as lightning fractures the night, splitting into crooked fangs that claw at the sea. Odi’s eyes grow wide at thesame moment I realise I have about five seconds to get out of the water before I become fried shrimp.
White bolts of lightning stab into the male kraken. It roars, sending a pulse of electricity into the sea just as I pull myself up the rope. The electricity sparks up, restless, arcing out of the water. One of the smaller arcs catches the tip of my fin and ripples under my skin, but I can bear it. I hiss through my teeth and yank on the ropes, falling over the railing in seconds. Just as well the sword still in my hand is made with the same resistant bone we use for our bolts.
Odi rushes to my side as I shift back. “You’re delusional.”
I smirk at her. “Or, I’m a really good swimmer.”
She huffs as she reaches for my hand to help me up. Her touch gives me life. It's enough to bring fresh wind to my lungs, though I can’t help but feel quiet guilt at the thought of her necklace somewhere on the bottom of the Adamaris Sea.
“You’re bleeding. Again,” she gasps, oblivious to my thoughts as she squats down to inspect the wound on my thigh. My jaw clicks as I watch her delicately move the torn fabric out of the way. The sight of her on her knees before me does something in my chest. I have to get it together.
“I’ll be fine.” I offer her my hand, pulling her up. “We have to keep moving.”
No sooner do the words leave my mouth than a tentacle slaps the deck. Elio, Odi and I sprint for it. I pull my bone blade from its sheath and drive it down with all the force I can muster. They attack it from a different angle, and white braids fly through the sky above as Tavi leaps to land on the slickplanks with a thud.
She flashes me a grin. “Time to carve this tentacled bastard into chum.” And then she’s gone. Twin blades singing in a blur of carving motions.
I follow her lead, slashing against another tentacle that snakes over the railing. The bone blade slices the murky pink flesh, but it’s like trying to hack through a rope thicker than my biceps. The cut is shallow, pathetic and the kraken recoils out of irritation more than pain.
My chest heaves, sweat and sea brine stinging my eyes. What are we doing? All these blades against limbs, and we’ve barely slowed it down. Every strike feels wasted.
Elio runs a taloned hand through his hair before wiping his face from the relentless rain. “I don’t think any of these weapons are working.”
Another tentacle coils around a mast, the wood groaning under its strain. My grip tightens on the hilt of my blade. If we keep hacking blindly, the ship will be gone before the monster is.
I nod. “I agree, stabbing the tentacles isn’t doing anything.”
My chest heaves in and out as I try to catch my breath. I stare out at the male kraken.
Think fast Rune.
