Page 14 of Taken By the Leviathan King

“There,” Krak’zol said, his voice losing some of its harshness. “You begin to understand.”

He didn’t praise, didn’t offer empty encouragement. But the subtle shift in his tone was enough. A spark of pride ignited within me, pushing back the exhaustion.

“Again,” I said, my voice firmer now.

We continued the drill, over and over. I tried to replicate that first, tentative success, to control the water with my mind, to shape it to my will. It was frustrating, exhilarating, and utterly unlike anything I’d ever experienced—like discovering a new sense I never knew I possessed, a muscle I was only just learning to flex.

Slowly, I started to get the hang of it. The small vortexes grew larger, stronger, swirling with a faint, iridescent shimmer that matched the new scales on my arms. I learned to create currents, to push and pull the water around me with increasing precision. It wasn’t just about brute force—it was about finesse, about understanding the subtle interplay of pressure and flow, feeling the water’s resistance and yielding in a way that was almost... intimate.

Krak’zol watched me, his silver eyes narrowed in that way that made my pulse quicken and my newly sensitive gills flutter. He didn’t offer much in the way of verbal instruction, but his presence was a constant, palpable force, a gravitational pull I couldn’t ignore. I could feel his gaze on me, assessing, judging,and... something else—something that made my skin prickle with awareness, a heat that had nothing to do with the water temperature and everything to do with him. He was so close I could smell the salt and iron tang of him, feel the subtle vibrations of his low growls that seemed to resonate directly in my bones. It was distracting as hell, but in a way I was starting to crave.Fantastic.A familiar wave of sarcasm washing over me.Now I’m addicted to being scrutinized by a giant, possessive fish-man.

“Better,” he rumbled at one point, his voice a low purr that vibrated through the water. “But you still hesitate. You fear your own power.”

He was right. I did. Every time I felt that surge of energy within me, that sense of connection to the water, I also felt a flicker of fear. It was a power that felt both exhilarating and terrifyingly alien. I used to rely on my training, my reflexes, my human limitations. Now, I was becoming something else, something more... and a part of me mourned the loss of the woman I once was. It was like I was tapping into something ancient, something primal, that I didn’t fully understand.

“What if I lose control?” I asked, the words escaping before I could stop them. “What if I become... something else entirely?”

Krak’zol moved closer, his massive form blocking out the ambient light. He towered over me, a creature of immense power and barely contained wildness. But his eyes, when they met mine, held a surprising gentleness.

“You will not lose control,” he said, his voice a low rumble that seemed to resonate deep within my chest. “The bond will guide you. It will anchor you.”

The bond. Damned thing.It was a tether, a current, a hum of energy that vibrated between us whether I wanted it to or not. I still didn’t fully understand it, still kicked and screamed against the pull—but I couldn’t deny its power.

It wasn’t just some mystical mumbo-jumbo. It was real. I felt it now, a subtle awareness, like my senses were extending outward, seeking him. It was more than just knowing he was there; I felt the weight of his gaze, the shift in the water when he moved, the rumble of his voice deep in my chest as if I was tuned to his frequency. And, gods, the way my pulse echoed his, a matched rhythm that both thrilled and terrified me. It was like he was becoming a part of me, woven into the fabric of my very being. I hated it. I craved it. I shoved him. Hard. He barely moved, but instead of being angry, he smirked like I just did something adorable.Adorable? Was he mocking me?No...there was something else in those silver eyes, something that made my skin prickle.

“Now,” he said, his voice shifting back to that commanding tone that made my body respond without thought, despite my best efforts to resist. “Let me see you defend yourself.”

He didn’t give me time to react, to question. He moved with astonishing speed, his tail lashing out in a blur of motion—a display of raw power that stole the breath from my newly formed gills. My instincts screamed at me to dodge, but another part, the part that was increasinglyhis, recognized this as a test. I threw up my hands, trying to create a shield of water, a desperate attempt born more of hope than skill, but I was too slow, too clumsy. The water wobbled, offering no real protection, and for a heart-stopping moment, I braced for impact, sure I’d failed.

His tail caught me across the chest, sending me spinning backward through the water. It wasn’t a full-force blow—he was clearly holding back—but it was enough to knock the wind out of me.

I gasped, struggling to regain my equilibrium. My body screamed in protest, muscles burning from the exertion and the impact. But beneath the pain, something else was stirring—a surge of adrenaline, of anger, of... something else.

“Again,” Krak’zol said, his voice implacable.

He attacked again, and again, and again. Each time, I tried to defend myself, to use the water as a shield, a weapon. But I was too slow, too predictable. He anticipated my every move, countering my clumsy attempts with effortless grace.

Frustration flared within me, hot and sharp.I’m a soldier, dammit.I was trained to fight, to survive. But here, in this alien environment, I felt like a child, fumbling in the dark.

“Stop holding back,” I snarled, my voice echoing strangely in the enclosed space. “Fight me for real.”

Krak’zol’s eyes gleamed with something that might be amusement, might be approval. “As you wish, little warrior.”

This time, there was no holding back. He moved with a speed and ferocity that took my breath away. His tail whipped around me, creating a vortex of water that trapped me, spun me, disoriented me.

I struggled to break free, to gain control, but it was like fighting a hurricane. Panic rose within me, a cold wave of fear that threatened to overwhelm me. I saw a flicker of something in Krak’zol’s eyes—a brief mirroring of my own fear, quickly masked by his usual predatory intensity. It was gone in an instant, but it was enough to remind me that evenhefelt the weight of this situation.

And then, something snapped.

One moment, I was struggling to hold my own against the training current, the next, something clicked. It wasn’t a conscious decision, not a thought-out strategy, but an internal knowing. The water, which had been a relentless adversary, suddenly felt like an extension of myself. A dam broke within me, a torrent of power surging through my veins, connecting me to the ocean’s pulse in a way I never thought possible.

It wasn’t just the water in the training chamber. It was the water in the walls, in the living coral, in the very fabric of theAbyss itself. I felt it all, a vast, interconnected network of power, and I was at the center of it.

Without conscious thought, I reached out, not with my hands, but with my mind, my will. The water responded, obeying my unspoken command. It rose, formed a swirling shield around me, deflecting Krak’zol’s attack with effortless ease.

The force of the impact threw him backward, his eyes widening in surprise. He recovered quickly, but there was a new expression on his face—not anger, not amusement, but something closer to awe.

The water around me shimmered, glowed with an inner light. It wasn’t just the ambient bioluminescence—it was something else, something emanating from me. I looked down at my hands, at my arms, and saw the faint shimmer of scales, now glowing with a soft, ethereal light.

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