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“Okay, shadow squid.” Tammy huffs, then raises her arms and throws a large green energy bolt into one of the tentacles.
Her beam hits it with a solid splat. Nothing shadowy about it.
Oh, crap. This just got serious. For an instant, I consider reaching over the side and summoning my ice blade with ocean water… then feel like an idiot. Going after these tentacles with a sword would be about as stupid as Maple brandishing a pen knife against Kingsley.
I can’t think of anything sillier than me trying to stab tentacles this big with a sword. Granted, not terribly long ago, I had used the Devil Killer to great effect when dealing with a god killer in the Underworld. Two things... one, I had used the Devil Killer, and two, that thing I had fought was more gelatinous than muscular.
The tentacle before me is nothing short than a twenty-foot-round tube of pure muscle. Yeah, oh crap, indeed!
Angus and some of the crewmen run out onto the deck and open fire on the tentacles with rifles and pistols.
Okay, that’s pretty silly. I mean… ‘A’ for effort, but those bullets don’t seem to be doing much.
Maple zips around it, firing off energy beams from her hands. They are tiny and don’t appear to be inflicting visible damage on the enormous tentacles… but wherever she zaps them, they recoil away instead of slapping the ship.
Might as well do this magic thing while I can.
I concentrate on my normally feeble magic and draw forth a lightning ball. This time, I don’t care how big, loud, or dangerous it is. I’m not holding back in the least. Might as well enjoy it while I can. As soon as there’s no unicorn charging me up, I’ll be back to making little toy lightning balls.
So, yeah. This is pretty cool. I feel like a human cannon; in fact, my lightning orbs are about the size of cannonballs… and even louder. Once or twice, they’re so potent, they knock me on my butt when they go rocketing away from me.
Talk about positive feedback… whenever I hit a tentacle with one of these things, that entire tentacle quivers and shakes out of control. This may or may not be inflicting serious injury to the creature, but I’m definitely giving it a nice shock. Hoping it’s enough to convince it to leave our ship alone the way electric eels dissuade anything trying to eat them.
The unicorn fires golden energy beams from the tip of her horn. Those slice huge open wounds in the tentacles, from which dark vapors slither up. This seems to enrage whatever creature is attacking us as it bumps the boat from below. A brief few seconds of weightlessness happen, then I slam down on the steel deck.
Tammy goes sliding past me, looking more irritated than scared. We make eye contact. “I just want to know one thing,” she says, finding her feet again.
“What?”
“Who released the Kraken?” she asks.
“Oh, brother.” I scramble back to my feet, as well, and launch another lightning orb.
Anthony has sprouted golden wings and is now flying way up high near the narrower tips of the tentacles. He’s brandishing his fiery sword. He’s not quite the Fire Warrior, but he’s getting there. After all, a Fire Warrior in the middle of the ocean isn’t ideal.
Meanwhile, I can’t really see how well he’s doing amid the chaos and trying to focus on my own magic.
Angus appears to process that his bullets aren’t doing anything productive. He shouts something about the engines and runs to the stairs down into the ship.
Between all of us, we’re somehow holding this thing off from grabbing the boat and pulling it below the waves. I have no doubt this creature is big enough to do just that. However, like a small child trying to grab a thistle burr, it’s hesitating due to a lot of little ouchies.
The unicorn’s magical energy beam cuts like a laser across a tentacle high up in the air, slicing it where it’s only about five feet thick. Her magic is powerful enough to cut through the tentacle, causing a long—maybe fifteen-meter section—to separate from the lower part and fall into the water.
All the tentacles quiver in pain… then one lashes out in rage.
It kinda reminds me of how Danny used to punch doors if he bumped his knee on them. He’d get angry at inanimate objects for his own clumsiness.
A massive black tentacle swings down out of the sky… at Paxton.
There’s no way I can stop it completely, though a well-aimed fireball seems to knock it off course. The tentacle crashes down. The strike pounds the ship deep into the ocean. Water rises on all sides above the level of the deck, sweeping the unicorn and girl right off the deck.
Our ship bobs back upward with enough force to take me off my feet again. I have no time to think about anything else but getting Pax and the unicorn out of the water. There’s only one way I can think of… Talos.
No time to do this carefully.
I summon the single flame, and instantly my body bursts out of my clothes as I transform, borrowing my dragon friend’s physical body. As soon as the transformation is complete, I leap off the ship.
Thank the creator that dragons are almost bird-like in how amazing their eyesight is. It takes me a fraction of a second to locate the pink spot in the water. Paxton’s clinging to the unicorn, which appears to be doing its best to tread water.
