Page 41 of The Kraken Bride

My senses sharpened to needle points, honing in on the surrounding boulders. Then I heard it. Telltale noises carried by the wind. The haunting warsong of surf where none should be. The scrape of tridents against rock.

The mers approached.

They were running… sprinting… determined. Judging by the scent of brine tingeing the air, they were a mile back.

I had only minutes. Lifting my chin, I cast my narrowed gaze to the wide expanse of dark blue sky, where smoke collected, resembling storm clouds. Inhale, exhale. Thoughts gathered in my mind, tinder for my dragon. I’d been on a date. Mers had attacked. Sebastian had vanished. A madman had eaten my pinky. Munched on it. As he’d once munched on Sebastian’s.

The berserkerage slammed into me like a tidal wave. With a roar from the depths of my being, my dragon broke free in full, nothing held back. Smokewings burst forth in a wild torrent, lifting me off my feet, suspending me midair. Colors faded until my world narrowed, and I saw only heat. Scales bled over my skin, covering my nakedness. My teeth lengthened, and my claws curled.

I let my wings take me over the walls of the nest. Higher still, until only the forest spread out beyond the rocky roosts.

Blood boiling, I hovered there, waiting. Vibrating with eagerness.

My patience paid off.

In a rush of armored bodies, the first line of mers erupted through the underbrush. Their shell-plated torsos glistened as they readied their weapons…

They died screaming in my fire before ever mounting a proper defense.

My dragon wasn’t satisfied. Not even close. The primordial didn’t lay dying at my feet.

The second line cleared the bush. Prepared for my scorching assault, they raised shields while hurling spears and tridents. I ducked and dove through the air, flames tearing free from my throat.

Their weapons melted mid-air. Their screams filled my ears. Music. A lullaby that fed the beast inside me.

Except, as I flew through smoke scented with cooking flesh, a niggle of concern rose. That I had wreaked this destruction… it scared me a little.

Didn’t matter. I refused to care. The primordial wasn’t among them, and I would not stop until he burned.

Death to all!

The remaining warriors reached the clearing. Moving without thought or mercy, I delivered precise, devastating strikes. Their nets wilted into slag. Metal weapons became liquid.

Diving lower, I swooped over them, clawing through anyone left standing. And I loved every moment of it. Mostly. That niggle…

A knot formed beneath my ribs. Who am I?

The dragon answered for me. Vengeance.

The more fire I sprayed, the more screams I heard. A chorus of agony came from every direction. When the few remaining soldiers tried to flee, I didn’t allow it. More fire. More screams. Endless stream of blood. Red, not blue.

Then the battle was over. No more challengers. No more screams.

A river of bodies lay twisted among blackened roots. The smoke was so thick now, it created a hazy canopy overhead. But still, I sought one more.

“Face me,” I roared to the primordial, flying from one end of the island to the other. Searching, searching. No sign of him.

He’d retreated? Or never even showed? “Coward!” I bellowed, landing in the center of the carnage, chest heaving.

The worst of the fury receded, and my vision righted, colors returning. But exhaustion slammed into me. I stumbled back to the stone and slumped against it, blinking grit from my eyes. My hand throbbed, but I’d started healing, tendons sprouting. Then muscle and flesh. Then a little pinky nub.

There was also a gash in my side; it was healing, too, though not as quickly as it should have. I was burning through my healing energy rapidly.

Which wasn’t surprising. A berserkerage always emptied a berserker.

Weakness surged to my limbs. My knees buckled. Impact flattened my lungs.

A hysterical laugh seeped from me, half sob, half triumph. If the primordial came back… if a new round of mers arrived…