Chapter 3

As the kraken craft surfaced, way out at the very end of the docks, Kai swam over, grabbed his bags from the skipper and thanked him. He’d chosen to swim from Thedaka, as proof of his fitness.

Now he hooked the heavy bag onto his back and swam to the jetty.

Before hauling himself up onto the wooden boards, he made sure his tentacles had retracted fully into his torso. On land it was essential to look fully human—at least until the games began. Except kraken would never be mistaken for human because of the blue tinge to their skin, the luminosity of their eyes, and their facial structure. They were clearly creatures of the sea. Eye catching, head turning. Considered handsome by many.

The curious gaze of monsters working on the quay shifted to him, then away as he walked nonchalantly along the jetty, the water dripping off his now fully human limbs. Kai suppressed a smirk. He wasn’t vain, but he knew he cut a fine figure with his honed muscles, the way his skin shimmered, the unusual breadth of his high cheekbones, and his full, sensual mouth. All he was wearing were shorts made from a lightweight woven sea grass. As his muscled legs powered along the jetty he relished the pull of gravity. It was a good feeling, but one he had to get used to again.

Last year, when he’d come here to observe the games he’d circulated with ease, enjoying the attention, and taken his fill of lovers.

And that was expected. It was appropriate for a young kraken in training to learn the ways of lovemaking on land. After all, you had to learn it somewhere—mating with a female kraken was not allowed until your Metan was declared. But this year… this year, he wasn’t allowed to date, his focus and energy had to be on the games. From there, the need, the yearning to find a mate would come to fruition.

Because at the heart of it, kraken were family minded. He would return home and find a female to commit to, to spend his life with. Except… Why did that not entirely excite him? A memory of the small human he’d seen a mere two weeks ago in the depths jumped into his head. Again. This was getting to be a habit. He’d even swum to the caves a couple of times in the hope of seeing her again, before deciding he needed to curb this foolishness. He had his training to focus on, there was a mere month before the games commenced.

There was no room for such fantasies. Acha had disobeyed the rules, fucked himself stupid last year, and that was probably another reason for his defeat.

I would never…

Unless…

Gah! What nonsense. He blocked his thoughts and strode along the quay, head held high, affecting the haughty demeanor of krakens.

The persona you took on started from the moment you set foot on dry land. He represented kraken kind now, not himself, with his playful nature and soft hearts. He had to perfect an image, wear a mask, hide his gentler side.

Yet at the same time, he must not let that mask become him, take over, like it had Acha. Kai knew he was playing a game. The real Kai was someone else, someone who had suffered, been teased as a kid for his disability. It made you… humble. Made you more empathetic. That was the real Kai, the Kai he always would be.

But on the outside, he was molding his image to be The Chosen. The—One—Who—Would—Win.

As he reached the end of the quay, he saw a blue beach buggy waiting. Out hopped Shen. Like Grandpa, his Uncle Shen had a big bushy beard, but Shen was buffed and built. Now in his early forties, his prime, his skin was a shade of translucent turquoise that caught everyone’s eye. That, and the fact everyone knew Shen was in charge of the games each year.

When you saw Shen out and about, you knew the games were nigh.

And sure enough, already a small crowd of monsters had gathered to watch, grinning and nudging and talking among themselves.

A loud wolf whistle made Kai’s head jerk up. A gelfin (half elf, half goblin; the species who pretty much worked the Purple Lantern District) was watching him with a big grin on her face. “If you want a bit of fun, handsome, I’m your girl,” she called out raucously, pointing at her bouncy tits.

He winked at her and waved, reminding himself that sex was out of the question, at least until after the games, when he’d be allowed to indulge—providing he won. A whole heap of females squealed gleefully, and Kai struggled not to blush. This was kind of… weird. Like he was a movie star or something.

“Hey there, kiddo.” Shen gave him a bear hug, took his bags, and slung them in the back of the buggy. “Let’s get you home. There’s a feast of shrimp and shellfish waiting. Your aunt Hana has been slaving away in the kitchen all day.”

Shen jumped in, and Kai circumnavigated the buggy and hopped in next to him. With a crunch of gears, they took off along the busy port road, lined with shipping containers and scattered with orcs and minotaurs loading cargo onto ships. Soon they reached the river and crossed over the bridge to the marshes.

The marshlands that lay along Motham River on the other side of the docklands were a real mixed area. Mostly the abodes were damp, shanty houses, but some parts had been gentrified, with modern, smart residences set on canals. On the first canal street they turned into, one house was set high on stilts.

Shen’s house.

Kai had attended a few parties here when he was in Motham last year, though the kraken youth who were allowed to attend the games stayed in hostels. He remembered the garden with its emerald green lawn and neat flower beds. The garden led down to the canal, where a snazzy motorboat was moored. Big picture windows were built to optimize the view, and loungers were laid out on the wooden deck.

As they entered the house his aunt Hana floated over to greet them, her tentacles visible with only a sarong draped around her. In the privacy of their homes, kraken allowed themselves half shift mode. Now, as she brought out food, it was clearly easy for Hana to grab what she needed. When they’d sat down, she shimmied over to the table, suctioning several bowls and the salad servers while her human arms held a big pot of fish stew.

Shen gave her a slap on the bottom. “She loves being at home, just free to float around.” He grinned. “More fun for me too.” He winked at Kai. “Remember not to go out in public like that, sweetheart.”

“Of course I won’t.” Hana gave a pout. She was younger than Shen, a glamorous kraken from a well-to-do family. She would soon be bearing Shen’s younglings for sure. “I wouldn’t sabotage Kai’s chances by doing that.”

That had been Acha’s downfall, parading around in half shift, sometimes even becoming full kraken when he went to bathe in the clear waters south of the bay, foolishly thinking he wouldn’t be spotted. Or maybe just not caring, too cock-sure he’d be victorious.

Giving other monsters a chance to study his tentacles had been a major blunder.

But on the positive side, it had given Kai his chance—one he had no intention of blowing by being slack and vain. Kai kept his tentacles embedded in his torso as he surveyed the feast.

“Relax, boy, you can let them out in here,” Shen said.

With a sigh of relief, Kai did so, feeling the skin of his torso part in multiple places as they uncoiled. His scarred tentacles throbbed a little, but not unbearably. Outside, the water glowed as the sun set. Closer to the river mouth, Kai knew the marshes became murkier, that poverty lurked in the shanty buildings. Poorer monster species lived in the damp houses, their gardens and even their houses sometimes swimming in water.

Not here, though. Here, there were lush carpets and sofas in shades of blue and green, paintings of the underwater realms on the walls, and scatter cushions the color of bright coral. Everything was so reminiscent of home.

Hana finally arranged herself opposite them with a pretty smile. “Please eat. Kepa etit, good appetite.”

Kai dug in, trying not to shovel the food into his mouth. He was starving, he realized, after the long swim from Thedaka. With the hours of training he put in, he was always hungry. Soon he would be dining out in Motham, and he’d have to look suave, sophisticated and have good manners. Honestly, he preferred to break food with a tentacle and coil it into his mouth but he needed to practice human ways. He looked enviously at Hana as she broke bread with a tentacle and dipped it into her soup before popping it in her mouth.

Nope, he would use his hands.

And yet… hands were good, too. He admired them again as he flexed his fingers around the cutlery. He’d did enjoy human form, enjoyed the benefits of shifting, had certainly enjoyed his human cock when he lost his virginity, remembering a pleasant first night of being “broken in” last year.

“What’s the itinerary, uncle?” he asked.

“Training, training, and more training.” Shen laughed. “In the bunker. No one can see us there.”

The bunker was a large concrete structure under the house, dug into the mud of the marshes, well hidden from prying eyes. Inside was a small replica of the arena. There were bright lights and state of the art equipment, which they used to view training videos, and to simulate moves with other species in virtual reality. There was even a replica of the ring itself, with a deep hole in the center that they pumped water into, mimicking The Dungeon.

Did it give krakens the upper hand? You bet it did.

Wasn’t that the whole point?

Kai nodded, took another mouthful of food. “This is delicious,” he said to Hana, who glowed a shade of deep blue.

“From tomorrow we’ll be seen out and about,” Shen said. “You’ll frequent clubs, bars, play the field, flirt, but no…” He pumped a finger into his fist and whistled suggestively.

Hana rolled her eyes.

Shen reached out and touched her. “You know I don’t do that these days, honey.”

“I don’t like thinking you used to, that’s all.” She pouted.

“After you, no one, babe.” He smoothed fingers up her tentacle. “Kai proved his virility last year. The word’s got around that you were quite a stud.”

Kai grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well, I had my fun, but I’m here to work now.” It had sure helped his confidence, all those willing species lining up for his blue cock. “I hope ‘being a stud,’ as you put it, wasn’t the reason I was chosen.”

“Your good looks undoubtedly help, kiddo. There’s no denying the women are going to swoon over you. But no, without talent, you wouldn’t have stood a chance. The committee were clear, what you’ve achieved in your training is little short of miraculous, given the limitations you’ve had to contend with. Never thought I’d see the day, to be honest, Kai.”

Kai felt a blush deepening the blue of his skin. “Well, maybe if Acha hadn’t stuffed up…”

“Acha was always going to stuff up. His ego got too big. One of the reasons we chose you was because we knew you would contain your vanity. Maybe you don’t actually have such a thing.”

“Oh, I have it.” Kai laughed. “I just don’t believe in it.”

“Exactly. So it won’t be at risk of consuming you. You have substance, Kai. Even if you were to lose, you would do so honorably.”

“I won’t lose.”

“No, you won’t.” Shen’s steady gaze held his.

After they finished their meal, they helped Hana to clear up, while she directed them.

“Put that in the fridge. No, not that shelf, the one above it.” She laughed. “Use your tentacles.”

“I know something else I’d like to use them on,” Shen growled.

When the clearing up was done, Shen and Hana left for bed, Shen smirking broadly as he joked with Hannah. “Time for some tentacle play, honey.”

“Too much information,” Kai responded, then went to his room and unpacked his bags. He hadn’t brought much. Just his medals to remind him of the junior games, all his first and second places. A photo of his team. His training gear, the obligatory pairs of shorts in fine seagrass. Other than those, he would be bare limbed, as were all combatants, except for the gelfin who’d competed last year. She’d worn a singlet, for obvious reasons. She’d gotten swept into The Dungeon in the first five minutes, but full marks for trying.

Maybe one day there would be a female kraken competitor, but it wouldn’t happen anytime soon, due to the fear that their reproductive organs might be compromised. Mating and bearing younglings was sacrosanct to kraken, revered above all else. Women stayed home and reared their young. Males got out there and did the warrior thing. That wasn’t about to change. Not under Razad’s rule.

As for finding a mate… back home in Thedaka, there were several kraken females making eyes at him, who would be willing to mate with him, especially if—correction, when—he was victorious. None that he was crazily attracted to, though.

When he’d unpacked, Kai sauntered over to the French doors that opened onto the balcony. Outside, he stood on the deck listening to the lapping water of the canal against Shen’s private jetty. Further away, the smell of the sea beckoned him, but he also registered less familiar scents—the marsh grasses and pungent herbs, the hint of the smelting works and factories over in East Motham, the oily smell of industry making his nose wrinkle.

Sweet and sour, mixing. A world he would frequent just once a year for a month, if he was victorious. Its bustle and teeming land-based life fascinated him. And beyond the city of Motham lay the human lands, and krakens’ stormy, confused relationship with humankind.

Once upon a time, many eons ago, kraken had interacted with humans. Kai guessed they had mated. How else would they be able to shift? Who knew—it went so far back there were no records. Just a few ancient songs and poems, and some scratched drawings on cave walls.

Humans. Gah. He rolled his shoulders, curled his toes, his fingers, getting more used to them. His thoughts strayed once again to the brief sighting of the human. Why had she affected him, he wondered, recalling the way his hearts had pounded at the sight of her.

And the wake-up call in his mating arm, that unmistakable throb deep in his groin.

Kai’s gaze swept the horizon. Somewhere in this teeming city she was out there. Maybe not so very far away.

His hearts beat even faster now, a sharp double staccato in his chest. And once again, the urge to get out there, to hunt for her, was overpowering.

As he fell asleep in a land-based bed, his last thought was of her, the mystery girl.