The crashing of the waves in the great hall behind me and the slapping of the otherworldly flesh against glass jolted me with a new rush of panic.
“The king...” I panted, struggling to breathe. “Where is the king?”
“I’m here!” His strong voice sounded from the plaza behind the guards.
His tall figure emerged from the graying pre-sunrise air.
“Kye...” I exhaled, leaning against the closest wall for support. Relief was so overwhelming, it rendered me momentarily too weak to stand on my own.
“Maren? Why are you here? What happened?” He rushed up the steps to the doors.
The guards shrank away from him, and he pushed the doors open with force. The metal grate on the wooden doors turned to glass under his touch, but he paid it no mind.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, taking in my sorry state. Raising his hand, he hovered it next to my slime-smeared face.
I’d give everything for just one hug from him at that moment. I needed to have his arms around me and for him to tell me in that deep, soothing voice of his that everything was going to be fine, that I was safe.
“Who did this to you, my love?” he growled, glowering at the slime and pearls on my body.
“A...um, a god.” I tried to stay still, even as everything in me wished to lean into his hand for a caress. “They called him the Ancient One. Jay...Jah...something...ham?
“Jahanam,” he said in a grave voice.
“The vengeful God of the Abyss!” both guards gasped at once.
A high wave of dark water rose from the ocean on the other side of the plaza. It blocked the sky, rising higher and higher. When it would inevitably crash to the ground, there’d be no plaza, no gardens, and no palace stairs anymore.
The guards froze in shock, as did I.
“Run!” Kye gestured inside the palace. “Up! To the tower.”
Both guards ran in the opposite direction, however, to the shore on the other end of the island. As sirens, they sought safety in the ocean. As a human, I was the safest on land. And Kye chose to stay with me.
Water sloshed under our feet, flooding the corridors of the palace. Tendrils of dark mud spread through it, searching, prodding.
“They’re here,” I croaked through my tightening throat. “They came after me.”
“This way.” Kye directed me to the great hall.
My feet refused to obey, however. I couldn’t bring myself to enter the same room I’d just fled in so much fear.
“We’ll need to get to the tower,” Kye explained.
A crashing noise came from outside. The giant wave slammed into the island.
“Hold on!” Kye yelled, grabbing onto the nearest wall.
I hugged a corner as tightly as I could.
The heavy palace doors screeched and cracked but held against the impact. Only a thin film of water slipped under the doors, washing away the slime from the floor.
“Come on, Maren. Faster,” Kye urged.
I ran into the great hall after him and started moving along it by cautiously shuffling my feet along the ledge to the other side.
Kye waited for me to get ahead, then stepped onto the ledge too. A long, black tail whipped through the air, then slapped the glass ledge in front of me.
I jumped in horror, then stood still, splaying my hands on the glass wall behind me.
