Chapter 38

F ragments of sediment and rock broke loose, plunking into the surrounding depths. Arcturas paced beside me, her fur pin straight against her back.

"Pickup pace!" my oarsman barked, swinging his tiller across the deck, narrowly avoiding a falling boulder. The floorboards groaned under the abrupt change in direction and my pulse skyrocketed. I heard the crack of splintering wood behind us. I didn't dare look back.

Our fleet raced through the treacherous passage, leaving behind a sunken hull, the screams of her men on the ocean breeze.

An ear-piercing shriek halted our rowers mid stroke. The air thickened. A beast, larger than the cliff itself, breached the surface in front of us. Twelve clawed feet rose from the depths, sending showers of seawater across our bow. It wedged itself between the twin cliffs of the strait, crushing sediment between each spiked toe. The beast roared to life. She blocked our exit to safe waters with scaled, monstrous limbs.

"Reverse!" oarsmen of the ships behind us called. The frantic lapping of oars against water pushed through the violently rising tide.

Scylla shrieked. Her six serpentine heads reared and bucked at the warships. Rows of shark-like teeth nipped at the panic-stricken sailors heaving on halyards to stow their white flax sails.

"Xenophron, Balakros! Prepare your archers! Stow those sails! Faster!" I commanded across ships.

They jumped to action, booming orders and knocking their arrows.

"On my word. Hold. Hold. Fire!" I called, releasing a flurry of black-tipped arrows into the sky. They whizzed over the air like a flock of birds ready to unleash on their prey.

The points of the arrowheads bounced off Scylla's armor-like skin. She howled with rage, swiping her heads across the deck. Soldiers knocked into her scaly necks, launching into the air and wailing as they plunged beneath the rapid, dark surface.

"Hold. Hold. Fire!" I called again. Arrows arced into the sky. Most merely bounced off of her skin, but one sank into the gelatinous flesh of her middle eye. Scylla roared, lashing her wounded head against the bow, sending splinters of pine decking into the air.

"Elpis!" Aryx's voice boomed across the strait, "Arrows won't work! We need the rams!" He plunged his sword into Scylla's thick, armored head, now slithering across his warship, slicing through the iron scales and severing the dragon skull straight through the tendons.

"The ram's not long enough! We'd have to send our ship beneath her feet. She'd surely sink it! It's a suicide mission!" I called.

Another head lurched for the oarsmen, sending me sliding across the deck. Her fangs sank deep into his chest, bones crunching and breaking through skin. With a final gasp, his bloodied body fell limp against his oar, causing our ship to spiral out of control. I leaned against the deck boards as the hull swung around, tilting until the left rail was flush with the waterline.

The ship groaned beneath us. Sailors who hadn't clung to the mast slid into the depths, flailing and screaming for help. Arcturas clawed at the wooden surface, her nails splintered the wood as she, too, slid toward the water. Rowers leapt from their posts, swimming for the safety of the other retreating ships. Scylla plucked bodies from the water using her taloned feet and flung them across the cliffs until only mangled, unrecognizable carcasses remained distending in the raging waters.

I had to do something, or we risked capsizing. Digging into the raised decking, I pulled myself up to the dead oarsman and pushed his lifeless body off the oar. Muscles straining against me, I reeled the oar back to centerline and the keel, creaking in protest, slowly evened out.

There was no time to take a breath, however, because as I regained control of the ship, three of Scylla's heads swung for me. She knocked five of my men off their feet, leaving them unconscious. Unsheathing my dagger, I dove beneath her, jerking the blade into her chin. The sharp edge of my blade shredded the squishy flesh along the length of her under-neck, washing me in her steaming blood as I slid across the deck. The wooden floor boards splintered the tender flesh of my elbow and my body screeched to a halt.

Scylla's neck, now split in half, fell on the ship with a loud thud and the creature bellowed in agony. That was two of six heads defeated. The other four continued to wreak havoc on our fleet as bodies soared through the air, spattering blood across the twin cliffs until the rock stained red.

"Elpis! The ram! Now!" Aryx shouted, his black breastplate glinting red. He shoved a sailor into the rower's berthing. The man cried in agony as his mangled leg, spurting blood from its arteries, bounced down the gangway steps.

My warship floated dangerously close to Scylla. With her remaining heads distracted by the panicked cries of my men, we could make the final blow. Holding the oar centerline, I shouted for my remaining sailors to man the oars. With each rower's stroke, our ship picked up speed and heaved toward the creature.

"Protect that ship!" Balakros called to his brother.

The two ordered their crew to flank each side of us as we continued to press forwards. Noticing the trio of ships speeding toward her, Scylla lifted three of her feet, shifting her weight to one cliff to crack down on Xenophron's deck.

The wood practically disintegrated on impact as the ship split into pieces. Amid the groans of its hull as it sank into the sea, Balakros wailed for his brother, begging him to leap from its deck and swim to safety. Before Xenophron could abandon the wreck, Scylla lunged for him, crushing his body beneath the weight of her foot. The remnants of his crew drifted into the depths, leaving only a trail of bubbles as they let out their final breaths.

With one last stroke of our oars, the curved bronze ram plunged through Scylla's scaly stomach.

"Reverse!" I commanded.

Arcturas, soaked and frightened, pounced toward me. Wrapping her body around me, she cowered behind my feet.

The sailors redacted their strokes, and we glided backwards away from the writhing beast. Her entrails poured out of the ship-sized hole in her abdomen. She shrieked and shrieked in agony, losing her grip against the rock wall and falling into the raging whirlpool below. As she let out a final roar, her body disappeared into the blood-stained waves, joining the graveyard of my men.

I fell to my knees, exhausted from the chaos. Balakros's sobs were heard across the Narrows, filling the silence with grief that only death creates. Hobbling to the aft deck, I grasped at the oar, guiding what remained of our fleet out of the Narrows.

My Queen, what have you done? Rah's voice filled my head as he soared safely above the wreckage.

"I saved my men," I sighed, wiping the sweat and blood off my brow.

You've killed a most ancient creature. There will be consequences for your actions. Be prepared.

"The consequences are worth our lives," I said, leaning heavily against the railing.

"I'll face whatever I need to. These men are worth it."

I wouldn't be so sure. The falcon swooped down to the deck.

Tucking his wings into his chest, he stared at me with worrisome eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Scylla is not the only creature that guards these waters. Her blood will draw them out, sensing a threat.

"We'll face whatever comes," I said, examining my petrified wolf for any injuries or wounds. Aside from her fur being drenched, she was okay. I kissed her forehead in relief and rose to survey the rest of the damage.

We'd lost fifty ships, and with them, hundreds of men. The remaining ships had taken on damage, but nothing too major. Thank the gods. I scanned the fleet for Aryx. He hunched over his oarsman, doused in thick blood and exhausted from the battle. Raising his head, our eyes met and relief pooled beneath the golden flecks of his irises.

"I'm glad you're okay, El," he called, waving across the waters. I smiled softly back.

We were okay.

For now .