Page 164 of The Sea Witch
Gritting her teeth, digging her hands and feet into the gaps between the stones, Alys climbed up the creature’s back. Until she was at the back of its neck.
She raised the carving knife high. Then she plunged it into the metal slot.
All at once, the giant stood straight and stilled. Its arms hung at its sides. And then the stones in the center of its chest shifted and opened.
A vial filled with shimmering blue liquid fell out. Before it could hit the ground, Ben dove and caught it. He sprinted away, putting distance between himself and the creature.
Alys leapt from the giant just as the stones of its body broke apart. Rocks fell and tumbled in every direction.
There was nothing left of the creature, or the hut. The strongbox remained, and as Ben watched, the lid popped open.
Slowly, he and Alys approached the strongbox. They peered inside.
A scrap of paper lay within. Alys picked it up so they both could read it. On it was written,The storm will set them free.
The paper went up in flames, and she waited until it burnt into ashes before scattering them in the dirt.
Ben held up the vial. Its contents shone sparking blue light onto their faces.
“Here’s our prize,” she said.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cautiously, Alys plucked the vial from Ben’s hand. The slim glass tube was faintly cool in her palm, and had no adornments. The liquid shimmered with the immensity of its potential and was contained by a simple cork stopper.
“The storm will set them free,” Ben murmured.
She stared at the vial as she tried to unlock its secrets. Even as she did so, the sounds of combat could still be heard as distant pops of gunfire and booms from magically created lightning. Whatever way they were supposed to use this potion, they had to think of something quickly, or else her crew wouldn’t survive.
What could it be? What was the next step?
“A storm has to be summoned,” she realized. “With that, we can distribute the potion. But,” she added, “on my own, I haven’t enough power to perform such magic.”
“Mine isn’t nearly as developed as yours,” Ben said, “yet it’s yours to command, however you need.”
“We can grow your power,” she answered, “but there isn’t time for that now. I need Stasia and the others. Between all of us, we should have enough magic to conjure the storm we need.”
She and Ben left the clearing, stepping over the scattered stones that had once been the hut and then the creature. Alystucked the vial into the pouch on her belt. As they sped through the forest, the sounds of combat grew louder and closer, including the angry shouts of women fighting marines on the beach. A pistol fired, followed by a man’s yell of pain.
She and Ben emerged onto the sandy bulwark. Two dozen marines attempted to climb the barricade, no longer adhering to formations. Stasia, Susannah, and Thérèse threw lightning and jets of flame to hold them back, while Inés and Dayanna slashed with their cutlasses whenever an infantryman managed to reach the top of the bulwark. Yet the men kept coming. It was a stalemate.
“Hellfire.” Alys pointed at the bay.
Two cutters full of marines headed toward the beach. Armed, fresh for combat, their superior numbers would overwhelm her crew.
“Damnation,” Ben added. “Strickland and Warne, the mage, are on one of those cutters. And theFearlessis going to drop anchor at any moment.”
“Look.” Alys directed Ben’s attention now beyond the bay.
The leviathan had broken away from theJupiter, and swam toward the shore. It might not be able to leave the sea, but it could stretch out from the water to devour theSea Witch’s crew on the shore. The kraken swam in the direction theSea Witchhad sailed.
Alys pulled out the vial. They had to use the fail-safe immediately, or else she, Ben, and her crew would all die on this beach, and theSea Witchwould be destroyed.
Oliver caught sight of the glowing tube in her hand. He scowled and, grabbing a marine by the back of the neck, shouted something into the infantryman’s ear. The two men clambered up the bulwark. A shot of lightning, fired by Thérèse, singed across the marine’s jaw. He tumbled down the sand, clutching at his burned face.
Oliver breached the top of the sandy fortification. He ran toward Alys, jabbing a bayonet-topped musket at her.
Ben leapt forward and knocked Oliver’s attack aside with the guard of his cutlass. The two men struggled for control of the musket until Ben finally snatched it from Oliver’s grip. Spinning the weapon around, Ben stabbed through Oliver’s arm, just above the officer’s bicep.
