Elysian House: Edge of the World (3)

Chapter 25: The Kraken

Viola

Of all the things that could have happened on this journey, I least expected this.

In the distance, a storm was gathering and the wind had already become ferocious and the sea was lapping angrily against the ship. I'd never had issues with motion sickness before now. 

I held tight to the shield strapped to my arm as alarm bells rung in my head. Something was coming.

Riley could sense it, too, I could tell. She was on edge and she kept looking in every direction, and then a familiar prickling feeling entered the air and when I looked up, I could have sworn I saw a streak of blackness shoot across the dark sky.

"Something's in the water!" One of the Guards yelled from the edge of the ship. 

Brandon looked green, and with a hand over his mouth, he managed to say, "I smell... fish."

"This isn't a fish," Riley said, darkly. "It's something much bigger."

Suddenly, a shadow spread over the ship, and when I looked up, the breath was stolen out of my lungs as I saw a massive tentacle rising up into the sky. 

"What the hell is that?!" Brandon cried out, desperately. 

"Watch out!" Riley screeched as the tentacle came down. 

The tentacle disappeared back into the water, creating a massive wave that nearly tipped us completely over. I fell to the floor, feeling my body sliding down the deck. I managed to catch myself on the very edge of the ship and wrapped my hand around the edge, trying to keep from falling into the deep, dark blue waves below.

When I looked down, I saw the massive shadow moving below the surface, its large tentacles were flurrying in the water. 

The ship jerked back into place and I crashed onto the floor. I looked up, right as the shadow began to submerge from the water and tower over the ship. I saw what it was.

It was a Kraken. An actual Kraken, with large yellow eyes, and a thousand foot tentacles. It towered so tall that it looked like it was blocking the very sun.

How the hell do we fight a Kraken?

The waves crushed against the ship again and this time, I felt the entire beast beneath us, as if the entire ocean had come alive. Fear struck me as I realized I had no way to fight this beast.

Swords and shields did nothing when it could just sink beneath the surface, for safety.

Once again, the ship rocked violently as the beast shook the entire sea and I was tossed back again, onto my back. As my back hit the edge of the ship, I found Riley in the mass of screaming Guards.

"What do we do?!" I yelled out to her.

She gave me a hopeless look back and I knew right then, we were in trouble.

---

Olivia

The first thing I did was row out to the sea, as far as I could manage and when I felt the water take hold of the small rowboat, I came to a steady halt and simply sat for a minute, just to listen. 

To listen to the soothing sounds of the seagulls, and the waves. To smell the ocean air and to feel the cool breeze on my skin. I looked up into the cloudless sky and then below, to the ocean, where nothing but blue-ish darkness lay. I wondered if down below, at the very bottom, was my Captain.

My eyes stung at the idea, but I ignored it to dig into my pockets, to find the small, little bundle.

When I wrapped my hand around it, and unsheathed it completely, to spread its length, I sighed deeply and lifted the telescope up to my eye.