Chapter twenty-eight
Kai
Serpent's Wake
We’re two days out from Taika’s domain, maybe less if the wind holds.
My arm starts to throb again. I wrap it tight with fresh cloth, binding it just in time. Whatever part of the siren is pushing through this time, I want to catch it clean. Last time, two clawstore through my skin. This time, I’m hoping for at least two more. Mira and I both have debts to pay, one to the most powerful witch to ever live and the other to the most vile sea creature to ever live. The black veins have slowed their spread, but the pain inside them is consistent.
Each piece that surfaces is a promise. One wish, if we make it to the fountain. With the way things are going, we’ll need every single one. My health is getting worse. I refuse to die. I won’t let Mira pay for my curse.
Powerful creatures are beginning to notice us, the kappas trailing our every move. I can feel them just at arm’s reach, lurking beneath the ship. The deals Mira and I have both made to two very powerful beings are not easily escapable. We’re running out of time.I’m running out of time.
It’s midday. The sun burns high above, the deck alive with motion, ropes hauled, sails trimmed, boots pounding on planks.
I see Mira perched high atop the mast, a queen on her throne, surveying her kingdom of endless blue. The salty wind teases her curls, and the sea breathes in rhythm below her.
The noise in my head hushes at the sight of her. She looks down, sensing my gaze.
Her posture shifts and she points toward the horizon with certainty. I turn. A dark storm is churning.
Clouds roll in like a thick unnatural fog, swallowing the sky in a single breath. The hush that follows is eerie.
I turn to signal Mira down, but she’s already moving, sliding down the ropes with graceful ease. My mind flashes back to when she swung over from her ship to mine with such grace, such fluidity. So much has changed since then. We’ve been on a journey one would write books about. “Ready the ship!” I call out. “We’re heading into a storm!”
The crew jumps into action. Sails are lowered, ropes tightened, cargo lashed down. Every man aboard moves like clockwork. A violent sea will show us no mercy, we have to be ready.
Then I hear her voice behind me. “Into the eye of the storm, aye, Captain Kai?”
I turn. There she is. Soaked in sea spray, wind threading through her hair, eyes gleaming like she belongs to the storm. She smiles, her eyes lighting up, not like she is walking into a tempest, but like she’s the tempest. For a split second, I don’t fear the storm at all. There’s a hint of mischief in her voice, the kind that always gets to me.
“It seems so,” I reply, smirking, but deep down, this storm feels wrong. I glance past her and catch a shadow slicing through the water between us and the storm.
“What is it?” Mira asks, turning just as it vanishes.
“I saw something,” I say, stepping toward the rail. “There’s something in the water. This isn’t a natural storm, treasure.” Her eyes snap to mine, wide. “We need to turn the ship around. Now.” I leave no room for argument. “Turn the ship around!” I shout up to Jay as I sprint for the helm. He stumbles aside, pipe in hand, as I grip the wheel and wrench it hard.
The crew scrambles, shouting orders, dropping sails, tying down anything not already secured. The ship groans beneath us, the wheel fighting me like it doesn’t want to turn. But I force it away from the storm. Away from whatever’s out there.
I’ve never run from a sea monster in my life, but I’ll never gamble Mira’s life for another tale in the dark, especially if I saw what I think I saw.
Whatever the fuck is out there, it’s guarding something. Maybe a breeding ground. Maybe a graveyard. Either way, it doesn’t want us near. We’ve been lucky so far, avoiding sea monsters, but there are plenty. And what I saw, could be one of the worst of them all. A tarlock.
A massive sea serpent with amethyst and charcoal-black scales, each edged like a blade. They’re nearly impossible to kill. Their teeth alone stretch four feet long, gleaming like polished daggers. These creatures are born in the deepest trenches, surfacing only to breed. The dragons of the sea. Even the Kraken had been known to steer clear.
“What did you see?” Mira’s voice cuts through the storm. Steady, but laced with fear. “I feel cold,” she says after a beat. Her voice shakes. “If it’s what I think it is, we’re not going to make it.”
I feel the cold, too, seeping into my bones. It’s the look in Mira’s eyes that truly guts me. Her fire has been snuffed. Her light dimmed. As if whatever’s out there already took something from her.
“We’re going to be fine, treasure,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “We’ve changed course.”
She looks up at me, her eyes narrowing into that cool, steel gaze. “What. Did. You. See. Kai.”
I soften my voice, my face, anything to ease the edge in hers. “I think… I saw a tarlock. I could be wrong. But I’d rather not find out.” My hands are still on the helm, steering us clear of the storm, of the beast.
Her expression shifts like a tide turning, fear blooming like frostbite. “A tarlock?” she echoes, stepping back, eyes locked on the churning storm in the distance. “You think you saw a tarlock?”
“Mira,” I say gently, “it’s okay. We turned in time. We’re clear of it.” Even I don’t believe what I’m selling.
