Page 71 of The Kraken's Queen

And then I walk toward the ship with Rip at my heels carrying the harp. Crew members busy themselves inside and outside Atina’s ship, working on whatever the hell goes into maintaining a ship and a crew.

We walk up the slipway, and Rip places the harpdown as soon as we board. “Good luck, Erin. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Likewise. Thank you, Rip,” I say as the large man exits the boat.

“My queen, what are you doing here? Are you okay?” A voice draws my attention away from Rip to see Iris strolling toward me. Delmare is right behind her, assessing me.

I don’t blame Iris for being confused and concerned as to why I’m here. I haven’t exactly made myself available. “I need to see Atina.”

Iris shares a look with Delmare, who nods. “Of course, my queen. Right this way.” Delmare leads me across the deck and up a few stairs. Iris trails behind us.

Atina and three others lean over a map and speak in hushed whispers. Delmare clears his throat when we draw near, and four heads pop up. Atina meets my gaze immediately and straightens up. “Erin,” she says slowly. “What can I do for you?”

I push past Delmare and close the distance between us. “I need you to take me to Allarick. I need to help him.”

Atina doesn’t speak at first. She looks at me like she’s trying to detect a lie, but I don’t fold under her scrutiny. I expect Delmare to interject and say it’s not safe. Or Iris to demand I reconsider. But they don’t do either of those things. In fact, Delmare smiles at me like a proud father who was waiting for the moment I came to my senses.

Finally, just as nerves set in, Atina smirks. “I thought you’d never ask. Welcome aboard, my queen. Let’s go kick some Leviathan ass.”

Chapter 41

Allarick

We encountered no trouble on our journey to the Leviathan’s prison. In fact, we hardly encountered anything. Only a few sea creatures crossed our path, but I felt the eyes of many upon us. The creatures were hiding. It’s like the entire ocean is locked down and hiding in the sand and shadows.

The mood between us is somber. We stop once to rest, but rest doesn’t come easy out here. All of my men have loved ones at home. It’s not lost on any of us that we may never see them again. Thoughts of Erin fill my mind on our journey. Her beautiful music. The way her nose scrunches up when she laughs. Her body draped over mine when we wake up in the morning.

The thought of her occupies most of my time. I only come back to reality when Nori comes to a dead stop. He reaches up to his ear, taking out the noise canceler. After a moment, he gestures to me to do the same.

“We’re here,” he says as soon as I can hear again.

“Here?” I ask, assessing what lies in front of us.

This isn’t a part of the ocean I’ve seen before, and I take pride in having explored many parts of our home. This place is in ruins compared to Tetria. Gray, lackluster sand coats the bottom of the seafloor. No corals and only the occasional seaweed grow here. Other than that, nothing living resides here. Sitting like an ominous beacon in front of us is a large cave made of limestone and sandstone. Sculpted at the opening of the cave are three archways with translucent gates barring the entrance.

Magic. Ancient magic.

In the hands of evil.

“My king, do you see that?” the guard next to me asks. He points at something close to the cavern gates, and my gaze follows.

At first glance, it looks like a random pile of rubble and rocks. But a low moaning sounds from that direction. I swim forward, trying to get a better look. That’s when I see the “rubble” isn’t rubble at all. It’s skeletal remains, withered away until only a shell of their former self remains.

We’ve found where the lost family members have gone. Their souls were snatched by monsters of the deep. A moment of silence settles over us as the others piece together what happened. My stomach drops, knowing I wasn’t able to protect my subjects. The time to mourn will have to wait until later though; we have a job to do.

Trying to ignore the withered remains, I look back at the gate to see it slightly open by a few inches—enough to unlock the power of their voices. It will only be amatter of time before they steal enough souls and power to break down the prison door for good.

“Atina says you need to close the gate,” Nori says.

It shouldn’t be too hard.

“But the Leviathan will sense you and do everything they can to stop you.”

Never mind.

“What attacks should I expect?” I wish I had the forethought to ask Atina all of this the last time I saw her. Not that she was in any condition to tell me, though. She was on the verge of a drunken spell after losing three crew members.

Nori opens his mouth to answer, but a high-pitched hum erupts all around us. One voice turns into ten, turns into one hundred. My body tries to betray me, moving me closer to the sound. It’s like a pull I can’t resist. Before it wraps the noose tighter around me, I push the noise cancelers deep into my ears and shout out to everyone to do the same.

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