33. To Kill a Kraken

"If we don't kill the monster, it will go after us as soon as it sinks the Sea Rose," Hudson tells Lukas urgently.

We're on the deck, overseeing Lukas's cannons. So far, the men have had several good hits, but it's not enough just to hit the monster's long arms. We need a lethal shot to the body.

The monster is half out of the water now, its beak-like mouth open as it attempts to crush the Sea Rose. It's gray, with at least a dozen arms, each covered in massive suckers, along with several longer tentacles. It's easily twice the size of the ship—the most enormous creature I've ever seen in my life. Water glistens on its skin, catching the light as the sun escapes the clouds.

Our men load and fire another round of chain shots, but I think we've only succeeded in making it angrier. I've sent half a dozen firebolts at it, but we're too far away. They fizzle before they reach the creature.

"We have to get closer!" Hudson argues.

"Do you see what that beast is doing to the Sea Rose?" Lukas yells to be heard over the chaos. "If we get closer, what do you think Brinny will do to us?"

Davyn's on the quarterdeck, keeping the ship in position for the cannons. He yells Felicity's name, and I look up, barely able to make her out on the rail of the Sea Rose.

Then she dives.

I gasp as she slices through the air, slipping into the water far below…with the monster.

"Take the wheel, Hudson!" Davyn yells.

"Captain, we need?—"

"TAKE THE WHEEL, NOW!"

The Greybrow's first mate scurries to the helm. He barely has the wheel before Davyn runs for the rail and dives overboard.

Lukas swears when his brother disappears, but he has no choice but to stay at his station, giving the gunners directions.

"Soleil," a tired voice says from behind me.

I whip around. "Gregory, what are you doing up here? You're still recovering, you need?—"

"You have to kill the monster."

He looks better than he has in days, but he's still wan. He was too close to death to be up and around yet.

"I've tried to send fire at it, but it fizzled too soon."

"That's not enough. I need you to break the Sea Rose's mast and use it to impale the creature."

"Gregory," I breathe. "I can't do that?—"

"You can. If you can lift a boulder, you can break a mast. And I will instruct you—you don't have to do it alone."

I almost ask why he can't do it, but I know. He's not well enough for that sort of magic.

"You're going to manipulate the air around the ship." He speaks calmly, like we're in the middle of a lesson. "Direct it—imagine creating a sword of wind. Compress it and slice it through the mainmast."

I feel like I'm floundering. Surely he can't expect me to do this? Break the mast? Impale the creature? That's great magic—magic only a trained elemental mage could wield.

"Even a mighty wind isn't capable of that sort of force," I argue.

"I've done it dozens of times. It's how we took down Captain Barlow, and it's how you're going to save the Serpent now."

I wince as another round of chain shots goes flying. These must meet their mark because the creature makes a horrifying noise and releases the Sea Rose.

The ship falls, crashing into the water on its side.

"The Sea Rose is going to sink, Soleil," Gregory says urgently. "You must act now! If we lose the ship, you lose your weapon."

Just as the Sea Rose begins to capsize, Brinny surfaces again, clutching it and dragging it into the air. People, cargo, ropes, and supplies fall from the deck, crashing into the sea below.

The sails are saturated, hanging limply. The ship"s body is fractured, and pieces of broken wood already float in the water surrounding us.

"NOW, SOLEIL!" Gregory yells.

But I'm frozen in place, fear and doubt racking me.

Then Lukas takes my arm, pulling me toward him. He clutches my face, his eyes meeting mine. "You are an excellent mage, Soleil. I know you can do this."

I stare at him blankly, and then something snaps inside me. If I can't do it, Lukas will die. Everyone will die.

The Serpent will just be another one of Brinny's victims, like so many ships that came before her.

And I won't stand for it. I'm not going to die now, because of a giant octopus. Not after escaping the cave and its hungry monsters, after we somehow made nice with an irate voltaic dragon.

I refuse.

"I can do it," I tell Lukas wildly. "I'm going to do it."

"You can." He kisses me firmly and then releases me, turning back to his task, commanding the men to load the cannons once again. A quick glance confirms we're running low on ammunition.

I race up the quarterdeck to get a better view of my target.

"Imagine the air is wet sand," Gregory commands when he reaches me. "Pack it together."

My eyes try to flutter shut as I concentrate, but I need them open for this. There are so many spells that would assist me if I knew them, if I had them memorized. But instead, I must manhandle the magic myself. It's a battle of wills, a fight.

I draw in a slow breath as I feel the air compressing under my magic, elongating.

The monster turns the ship in her arms, giving me the opportunity I need.

"NOW!" Gregory yells.

I heave the magic at the mast, imagining it slicing through the thick beam like a sturdy axe.

It snaps.

Splintered wood flies, and the beam falls, caught by the sails before it crashes into the sea.

"It's just like a boulder now," Gregory says. "Pick it up and stab it into the creature."

I grunt, nearly falling on my knees as I try to lift the mast. This is far heavier than the female dragon, far heavier than the boulders we moved together. I can't do it.

I can't lift it.

Just when I realize this was all for naught, the load lightens. I gasp as I sense the mage pulling at the mast and then spot Tiago clinging to the rail of the Sea Rose like a drenched rat. With his legs wrapped around the rope netting below the rail, he raises his arms.

My vision blurs as I reach the end of my magic, my body beginning to give out.

But I fight it, refusing to fail now. Together, Tiago and I lift the mast, drawing it back and straining against the rigging that fights us. And then…

We heave it at the creature. Like a pike, the sharp, jagged wooden beam impales the legendary Brinhelga, sinking into her soft, unprotected body.

The bloodthirsty beast screams, its arms and tentacles flailing. It hurtles the Sea Rose toward the water, Tiago flying with it.

People yell all around me, several calling my name. But my magic is spent, and I can no longer ignore the black dots marring my vision.

Stumbling to my knees, I succumb to the darkness.