‘Do we need to somehow let it know it’s free to go?’ I wonder aloud.
‘How?’ Kyor asks.
‘Well, if I—ifwecan feel what it’s thinking, maybe it also works the other way around? Maybe I can send thoughts to it. Tell it that it’s free to go.’
‘You think that’ll work?’ Jonas asks dubiously.
‘I think it’s worth a try,’ Benny responds before I can.
I’m still not sure whether he’s bought our lie about residual magic inthe water, but I’m glad to have him here. With three against one, whatever Jonas says will be brushed aside.
‘Hold the boat steady,’ I tell the others before plunging my hands into the water. Though there’s an immediate icy chill, it doesn’t take long before I cease to notice the temperature. Instead, the kraken’s emotions flood me, consuming every other sensation I have. It only takes me a heartbeat to know they’re the same as last time. Confusion and loss, but no discomfort. The pain has definitely disappeared.
If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. The ward is gone and it’s free to go. It just doesn’t know it.
You can swim away,I think, pushing the words through my mind with as much force as I can.You can swim away. Swim away!
A flicker comes from the creature – the slightest modulation in its emotions. Excitement sparks within me. It’s working. It’s going to work.Swim away!I try again.You’re free. Go!I practically scream in my mind.Please, hear me. You can leave.
The same flicker comes again, as though it’s struggling to make sense of what I’m telling it. I’m only adding to its confusion. A single tentacle rises up out of the water – it’s only the tip, but it’s covered in suckers the size of carriage wheels – and with a gurgling roar from the kraken’s unseen mouth, the tentacle slaps down into the foaming waves. Something about the way the motion slows just before impact tells me it’s as much in frustration as anger. I need it to hear me. Properly.
As I pull my hands out of the water, I turn to the others.
‘Paddle towards it,’ I demand.
‘What?’ All three men respond simultaneously.
‘Paddle towards it. Now! I need to be closer.’
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the other two boats. They’ve both taken a wider route, possibly hoping we’ll be enough of a distraction so they can slip across unnoticed. Though if that’s the case, they’ve vastly underestimated the size of this beast.
‘It can hear me, but it doesn’t understand. I’m sure if I can just get closer, it’ll work. Do you need a minute first?’
My question is aimed solely at Kyor, though he shakes his head. ‘No, I’m good. But if you don’t mind, I might do this the easy way.’
‘The easy way?’
A moment later, I’m slung onto my back as we’re struck from behind by a gust of wind that careens our two small boats straight into the kraken’s path. I wait for the second gust to come from the front and slow usdown, but it comes later and harder than any of us expect. The boats rock violently as waves crash over the sides.
‘Wanna wind the weather down a bit, buddy?’ Benny asks Kyor.
‘Sorry.’ The prince grimaces. ‘That storm took it out of me. Not so easy to judge strength when you’ve just blown a dozen priestesses off a cliff.’
Even in the tumultuous chaos, I can feel Benny snicker.
I smack him.
‘Not the right moment?’ he asks innocently.
‘What was it you said?’ I shoot back. ‘Read the room?’
In case we need a reminder of just how much we need to get out of here, a tentacle smashes down less than two feet in front of us, sending a wave that rockets us up in a cloud of white foam. We clutch the sides of the boats, holding fast as we crash back down again.
‘Will everyone just focus?’ Jonas snaps. As we all look to the kraken, the frown tightens on his forehead. ‘Is it moving towards the shore?’ he asks. ‘Because if it keeps doing that, it’s going to beach itself and probably kill us in the process.’
‘You’re always such a ray of sunshine,’ Benny mutters, but Jonas isn’t wrong.
‘We need to get this thing to swim down the channel,’ I say. ‘Now.’
