“We got lucky. A huge fight broke out between the students and the guards in our containment room,” Ez said. “A bunch of people got shot, but Chancey and Ivy overpowered one of the guards and stole their keys so we could leave. They were in the same holding room we were. There was a lot of chaos going on in that room, so I don’t think anybody noticed us escaping.”
“Where are they? Did they get out?” I asked.
“I don’t know. We lost them in the fight,” Ez said. “We decided to come to the lake first, to see if you guys needed any help locating the key. It won’t be long before the guards figure out we’re gone.”
“I’m coming with you,” Opal said, already stripping off her sweater.
“Opal, you don’t have to do this,” I insisted. “If we get caught, they won’t let you see your daughter—”
Opal’s eyes became misty, but she said in a strong voice, “Marina is well-taken care of. The Warden’s already got it out for me for associating with all of you. He’ll never let me see my daughter again, anyway, because if we don’t break out, I’ll never get out of this place. And you guys need me.”
I couldn’t be more grateful for the depth of the sacrifice she was making. Oberi carried me to the water and laid down on the shore.
“Take my journal, and my compass,” I said, digging them out of my bag and handing them to Marcus. “We can’t afford to lose my aunt’s prophecy now.”
Marcus subconjured it into his stash. Kallie stopped at the lake’s edge, kneeling to put her hand in the water. “I have to break the illusion hiding the ship first.”
There was a greatthuddingnoise, and a geyser of water shot up out of the lake, blasting twenty feet upward before crashing back down. I cringed at the loud noise it made. Kallie stood, shaking off water droplets from her fingers.
“Did you break it?” I asked.
“I broke the illusion hiding the ship. You should be able to see it now,” Kallie said. “Though I couldn’t break the illusion of the giant squid. It’s too strong. If it doesn’t let us pass to get the key, we’re going to have to fight it to break the magic.”
Kallie’s magic had caught the attention of the sirens in the lake. I saw the splash of a couple fishtails before Arsinoe’s head popped out of the water. The siren we’d made our former deal with hovered at the surface, appearing frightened.
“What are you doing out here?” Arsinoe hissed. “The Warden’s locked everything down!”
“We have to search the lake again,” I begged. “It’s an emergency!”
“If he finds you out here with us, we’re all dead. You need to leave!” Arsinoe demanded.
“I promise that we wouldn’t be here unless we absolutely had to be. But if we don’t get in that lake, what the Warden is going to do will be even worse than him finding us here. You have to trust me,” I pleaded.
Arsinoe’s eyes narrowed. “If it’s that important and you won’t go away, fine. But payment is required to enter unharmed.”
“We don’t have another body!” Kallie protested.
“We’ll kill the giant squid,” I offered quickly. “It won’t be able to hurt you anymore.”
We had to get past the squid anyway to get the key. Might as well do the sirens a favor and stop it from killing anyone else.
Arsinoe raised an eyebrow and said, “It’ll kill you if you try, but if you must, go ahead. Either the squid will be dead, or we’ll feast on your corpses. A good trade no matter what happens. We just don’t want to get caught with you in our waters.”
“We’ll be in and out, I swear.”
Arsinoe swam away. She didn’t want to be around if the guards found us, because she knew she’d get in trouble. I saw the fins of the other sirens flash as they sped away to the other side of the lake to hide. At least they’d give us a wide berth. The minute she was gone, Opal waded into the lake, taking on her fishtail and swimming into the lake’s middle.
Marcus gave me a witchlight to hold so I could see clearer underwater. Opal said she didn’t need one— her merfolk powers enabled her to see far underwater, even in the dark. Charlie helped me into the lake, and my Toaqua powers sustained me in the water as I propelled myself backward to join Opal.
Once I got in the water, the sound of a deranged, loud screech resonated from below the surface. My whole body shivered as the sound became closer, a wail from a monster emerging within the deep.
“Shit. The squid knows I broke the illusion disguising the ship. It’s coming for us!” Kallie yelled.
A massive wave splashed against the surface. Opal swam with it, and I used my magic to keep my head above water as the powerful wave washed me across the lake.
I looked up to see the kraken had surfaced, and it lookedpissed.Its massive, bulging eyes pivoted in every direction as it raised several terrifying tentacles out of the water. The tentacles were as big as some of the Institute hallways, and the kraken smashed them onto the shore, causing miniature earthquakes.
Alistair was grabbed by a huge tentacle and tossed into the woods. I heard him give a cry of pain as he hit something, probably a tree. Pig hissed, and Ez ran off to help him, Tahoma racing after. Kallie conjured a sword and began hacking at the squid’s tentacles with the blade, while Marcus shot battle orbs at the squid’s eyes. Charlie summoned both his Earth and Air magic at once, attempting to pin the squid’s tentacles to the ground with rocks as each limb came crashing down, whipping up a windstorm around the squid’s massive mantle to disorient it.
