Spencer nodded once slowly. “I’ll bring her back.” Not a promise. A certainty.
The sea beneath Merlin’s Gate pulsed in response and Dave grinned.
“Right then,” he said brightly. “Time for the fun part.”
Spencer frowned slightly. “The fun part?”
Maeve immediately perked up. “Oh this bit’s great.”
Spencer looked around suspiciously. “Why are all of you smiling like that?”
Nobody answered, which was concerning.
Brutas simply jerked his head toward the water. “Shift.”
Ah. Right. Spencer cleared his throat slightly.
“You’re all going to need to turn around.”
Silence. Then Dave burst out laughing.
Maeve nearly fell off her chair. Even Brutas made a suspicious sound that might have been amusement.
“You’re shy,” Isabeau gasped.
“I’m practical.”
“You’re modest!”
“I don’t know you people!”
Dave wiped tears from his eyes. “Oh Gods, Edith really did find the most emotionally constipated Kraken possible.”
Spencer glared at him. Brutas finally sighed heavily and turned toward the cavern wall.
“Humans,” the guardian muttered.
“We’re literally not human,” Dave pointed out.
“Close enough.” The witches turned around eventually, still laughing.
Spencer ignored them with dignity. Mostly.
Quickly stripping off his coat and boots, Spencer stepped toward the glowing waters of Merlin’s Gate.
The pull intensified instantly. Calling him home and calling him deeper. He hadn’t shifted fully in years. It had been too dangerous and far too obvious. But here, beneath the Hollow, within the Gate, protected by ancient magic and guardians and sea, it felt safe. For the first time in a very long time. Spencer stepped into the water and let go.
Magic surged instantly in response. A cacophony of violence and beauty. His bones shifted and skin rippled as power exploded outward beneath his skin, and finally, his body expanded rapidly into its true form. Tentacles unfurled through glowing water and the relief nearly broke him apart.
His Kraken form surged fully beneath the Gate, his enormous body moving instinctively through the underground sea as magic crackled around him. Gods, he had missed this. Missed himself.
Beside him, two more massive forms slipped into the water. Brutas and Dave.
The guardians moved effortlessly through Merlin’s Gate, ancient and powerful beside him.
One silver. One dark as midnight depths.
Brutas rumbled low beneath the water.
