Veridiana balled up a bit of bark and tossed it toward my foot. She gave it a meaningful glance, then looked at me and back to it.
Picking it up, I unwrapped the bark to read the message she’d scrawled inside.
‘Tyrell told me you need help training. Do you?’
Staring at her, I shook my head ‘No’. She gave me a look of mock-sympathy and shrugged, turning back to face forward.
“The most lethal creatures we have confirmed in the miasma are Krakens,” Instructor Garcien said.
I hunched inward, suppressing a full body shudder. This was the topic I needed before lunch, an excellent way to ensure I wouldn’t be able to eat.
“Krakens are mostly seen around Raevar. The last time one was spotted near Mesmoria, over a dozen seasoned Voyagers died. Many more were injured.”
The memory of the story didn’t just visit my brain, it unpacked and rearranged the furniture.
During the initial work on the now-abandoned bridge, a Kraken had attacked the crew in charge of constructing it at dusk. They’d been building it using planks from a former Arc, the only material durable enough not to be eaten away by miasma.
The Kraken had demolished the planks like the entire structure was a sandcastle. Worse, it had broken the end of the bridge that was closest to Mesmoria, cutting off any chance of escape for the builders. It had killed the entire crew of Sentinels.
“We don’t know what they prefer to eat, or what attracts them. We don’t know how they mate or how prevalent they are compared to other miasmic life forms. We do know they are vulnerable to piercing weapons. They are nocturnal, or at least light averse, and they grow larger over time. Little is known about them, but the Ascendancy’s policy is the same for them as it is for Leviathans–if large, steer clear. Krakens devastate human life when encountered.”
Henrik noticed my discomfort, and capitalized on it by wiggling his fingers like tentacles. Sarina elbowed him in the ribs.
The picture of the Kraken I copied down looked nothing like the creative conjurings of my imagination at night.
“What about the Devourer?” Talissa asked when Instructor Garcien paused for a few moments too long.
A few chuckles rippled out from the rows ahead of us.
“The Devourer is unconfirmed,” Instructor Garcien explained with diplomatic readiness. “There have been nosurvived sightings of it, and thus there is no way to confirm it exists.”
“But the teachings sa–” Instructor Garcien interrupted Talissa.
“The teachings say many things, but that does not make them inherently true. They talk about the Devourer feasting on the nightmares of children, virgins being given to the Kraken as sacrifices, the sparkling once-sea. We have no way of confirming any of those tales as truth.”
“The teachings are sacred,” Talissa argued, aghast. “They’re what guides us to stay true to our Tide!”
“The teachings are yet unproven,” Instructor Garcien said. “The Ascendancy mandates the teachings to keep civilians safe, but as Voyagers it is our responsibility to recognize the difference between known and unknown dangers. Part of that is to question and try to understand the unknown, to prioritize keeping ourselves and our crewmates safe. You will experience things while aboard Arcs no other citizens ever will. This concludes today’s lessons on the creatures that live in the miasma.”
She set down her book with a loud thud. Many trainees looked ill after hearing her explanation, including Talissa.
How many teachings were true, and how many had been twisted by time? They went back a thousand years, and that was a long time to keep anything accurate.
Voyagers had to try to understand the unknown, which sounded like a verbose way to rebrand curiosity.
Instructor Garcien’s warning from the bamboo grove came back to me.
Curiosity by itself wasn’t destructive, but Talissa’s comments made something else occur to me. Most of the class had reacted like Talissa.
Being different was dangerous. And being right when everyone around you was wrong was doubly dangerous.
Chapter 18
Limits Crossed
“Today's midterm will test what you've learned, your physical aptitude, your ability to work in teams, and your intelligence,” Instructor Garcien announced, her clothes immaculate. “We’ll be dividing you up into groups of five, allowing for five minutes of introduction. Your main objective today is to survive.”
That didn't sound ominous at all. The dim light from sunrise wasn't helping.
