AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s the fucking Kraken!”Ramsay yells again, and panic spreads across the deck like a virus.
“Get the bottle of blood!” Cruz yells at Thane from the forecastle.
Ramsay shoots me a look of terror that I feel from across the deck, though I’m not sure if it’s because of the Kraken or because now my blood is being called into use.
But then he yells at Thane. “Aye, get Maren’s blood! Pass it around to everyone! One shot will do ya!” And I now I know that he’s on board with the idea, finally.
This morning I got up early, emboldened by Nerissa’s idea that I ignore Ramsay’s possessiveness and just give the blood to the crew anyway. So I snuck into the kitchen and she joined me, then I asked Sedge to cut into my vein to bleed me. He hesitated, of course, but he also understood, and soon my blood was draining out of me and into a cup, which was then tipped into an empty bottle of wine.
Now that bottle of wine is verily coming in handy.
But while it’s being passed around so that the crew can fortify themselves, I don’t know what to do. My blood doesn’t have that effect on me.
“Stay away from the sides!” Ramsay yells. “You all know how far those tentacles reach!”
“Maren!” Sam yells at me, holding up a cutlass. “Avast!”
She chucks the sword my way and it’s only luck that I manage to catch it by the handle. “You’re a true pirate now, lass!” she calls out. “You’re going to need to hack away at those tentacles, unless you think your teeth and claws might do.”
“I reckon I’ll try all three!” I tell her, gripping the sword tight. My experience with the Kraken has been shallow, so to speak, but I saw what those tentacles tried to do to Nill.
But then of course, if the Kraken is beneath the ship right now, wouldn’t that mean Edonia is controlling it?
Blast, I swear.Where is Nerissa?
I don’t want to leave the top deck in case the Kraken strikes and an extra sword is needed in defense, not to mention there could be more than one of them. But Nerissa should be up here with us. If she can somehow talk to her sister or the Kraken, then perhaps we need not fight at all, least not the whole ship.
I decide to chance it and run down the stairs to the main deck, looking around for Nerissa.
“Have you seen Nerissa?” I ask Sedge as I burst into the galley.
He shakes his head.
“Alright, well we have company in the form of the Kraken, and I don’t know where the best place is for you and the boys. I know it’s asking a lot to get you to step back into the captain’s quarters again, but in the event the ship starts to sink, at least you can escape through the balcony.”
Sedge just tilts his head as if to say,the ship can’t sink.
Gods, I hope he’s right.Nightwindmight be able to handle some roundshots and grenades and the fiercest storms, but if that sea beast decides to tear apart the ship plank from plank I don’t see how it would be able to put itself back together. It’s not like it’s part of the Brethren itself.
“Will you do that, get the boys for me and keep them safe?”
Sedge nods emphatically.
I let out a breath of relief and then I start running through the rest of the decks, calling out her name. The only people I find are Remi and Horse in position at the cannons, one on either side of the deck. They give me a terrified look.
“I heard it was the Kraken,” Horse says. “Is it the Kraken, truly? We’re waiting for the command to fire.”
“Maybe we’ll get it right in the mouth,” Remi adds with put-on bravado.
“You wait for Thane’s command,” I tell them. “You’ll be alright.” I pause. “Have you seen Nerissa?”
They shake their head in unison. “No, milady,” Horse says clumsily. “Haven’t seen her since…since…”
He trails off, his mouth going slack, eyes locked in terror on something behind me. I whip around to see the open gun port on the other side of Remi. Instead of looking at the blue horizon, all I see is a giant yellow eye peering at me.
“Kraken!” I scream. “Fire! Fire the cannons!”
I don’t care that I’m not Thane and neither do the gunners. They strike a match and light the back of the vent and the shot is fired with a deafeningBANG, smoke filling the air.
