I lean on the railing of our fishing boat, bored out of my mind. I rest my chin in one hand, and my other twirls around lazily in the air, commanding an orb of water. It dances around languidly, sparkling in the sun and creating mesmerizing patterns. I let it rejoin the clear, blue water surrounding us, and draw up another portion of the liquid.
To my delight, a little, silver fish is pulled out of the water as well. It spins around to face me, clearly aggravated. I let out a laugh as the animal glowers at me, and I have the feeling that if it could talk, I'd be on the receiving end of a very serious lecture on my poor etiquette right now.
Nasrin gently thumps the back of my head. "Hey! Careful, Kiana. What if someone saw you doing that? What would we do then?"
I sigh. Mina, Nasrin, and I have been stuck on the cramped boat for hours, and I think it's safe to say that we're all more than just a little bit aggravated. We all had to hide while the boat was pulling out of the dock, but now that we're out at sea, we've decided to take the risk of coming out of hiding and taking turns on watch duty. However, it's still not enough to make us feel completely better. We're all being more than a little short with each other.
Hank's friend directed us to a point on the boat where none of the crew mates will find us, and though he was mostly right, there has been some traffic in this area. We're tucked on the side of the boat next to the cabin and mostly out of sight, but every once and awhile, we need to jump behind some wooden storage containers as to not be discovered.
I slump to the ground next to Mina and sigh. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?" she murmurs, her tone monotone.
I shrug. "I could try."
"You'll feel a lot better if you do. Plus, you can't be bored if you're sleeping."
I nod in agreement, my eyelids drooping. Mina has a point, but sleep seems like an impossible dream right now. I try to slow my breathing nonetheless. I find myself slowly fading from consciousness, and the last thing I can remember before falling asleep is Nasrin plopping down beside me, presumably to take Mina's advice.
...
By the time I wake up, night has fallen. Because harsh light from the cabin breaks through the dark, I assume that most of the crew is awake, but I can no longer hear them over the howling wind as they bustle about doing their chores. Mina, Nasrin, and I are huddled together miserably, pressed up against the wall behind us. The unforgiving dark sky is dumping buckets on us. Our experience at sea so far has been less than pleasant, to say the least.
The boat careens dangerously, and Nasrin's face has tinged a sickly green. Mina rests with her eyes closed, and I twiddle my thumbs, stir crazy beyond belief. I don't know what the Shahbaz has in mind for us, but I hope that it happens soon. I don't think our sad little trio can take much more of waiting around in the rain.
None of the crew have passed by since the sun set, the lack of a need for awareness has sapped the all the energy out of me. "This sucks," Mina groans. I don't respond to the complaint, but Nasrin seems to have something to say about the matter. She rushes to the railing and empties the contents of her stomach into the turbulent sea.
I cringe as she continues to lean over the barrier, still dry heaving. "Are you alright?" I call out.
She shakes her head. "I'm fine." I expect her to rejoin us, but she continues to peer into the water.
"Then what is it?"
"It's just that... It's just that I swear I saw something in the water."
"What?" Mina wonders, rising and joining Nasrin. I stand as well, my interest piqued.
I peer into the swirling water. The surface bubbles a few yards away from the boat, and the water glows an ominous green.
"What the he-" Nasrin starts, but she doesn't ever get the opportunity to finish.
A beast rises out of the water and lets out an earth-shaking bellow. I can barely hear it over the angry storm, but the vibrations of the outcry still sends a shiver down my soaked spine. The sea serpent hisses as it glares down at us, and I shudder.
I push myself as close as possible to the wall. "Does the Gaokerena have a guardian? Does this mean that we're close?" I question, but neither Mina nor Nasrin respond. Either that, or they didn't hear me. I'm going to choose to believe that they didn't hear me.
"What is that?" I shout at the top of my lungs, leaning towards my friends. They shrug simultaneously, and my jaw drops in disbelief. "You're telling me that between the three of us, we have absolutely no knowledge of what this... this sea monster is?"
Mina shakes her head, but Nasrin looks to be too in shock to answer. Her lips are slightly parted, and her eyes are wide as saucers. I snap in front of her bug eyes, demanding attention.
"What are we gonna do?" I scream, my voice already starting to become hoarse.
The giant sea serpent writhes around in the water, sending even more giant waves our way. I throw an arm protectively across each of my friends as a wall of water engulfs us. Mina loses her footing, and her tiny frame is about to slide under the railings into the raging water when I grab her hand and yank her back to the deck.
"Kiana, do something!" she sputters out frantically as she regains her footing.
I search desperately for some sort of weakness on the monster. It looks a bit like a giant snake, with its long, scaled body and giant fangs. Long tendrils stretch from its face, wriggling around in the air. Its piercing red eyes are milky, and its nostrils are slits on its cold, green face.
I prod Nasrin's arm and motion to the monster's head. "Nasrin, I think it's blind!" I shout, clutching in the rails of the boat for dear life. She squints and nods.
"Those things on its face- do you think that they're a weak spot?"
I bite my lip. "I don't know! Do you think that we should go after them?"
Nasrin shrugs. "They might be some sort of feeler, or something to make up for its sight."
I take a deep breath. "It looks like that's our only plan here. Let's do it."
Nasrin leaps into the air without another moment's hesitation, her golden wings sprouting from her back like magic. She soars towards the sea serpent, only to be immediately smacked out of the air by the furious snake.
She flies back towards the boat and lands with a cat-like grace on the deck. I step forward to check if she's okay, but she shakes her head like the blow was nothing and launches back in the air in an instant.
I nudge Mina. Nasrin looks to be a little lost in the sky. "She needs help. We have to distract it!" I exclaim. She catches on quickly and begins screaming insults at our wild opponent.
"Hey, you stupid sea slug!" she taunts. The monster turns in our general direction, momentarily distracted from Nasrin's attack. It's clouded eyes glint, and my heart drops to my stomach. My shoulder aches for a fleeting moment, reminding me of my traumatic encounter with the manticore. I shudder.
I search for something to defend myself. The only idea I can conjure is to use the bronze daggers at my side, so I pull one out of my belt and chuck it as hard as I can at the monster. It bounces off its armor harmlessly, and the snake barely seems to have even noticed the attack. I swear the corners of its lips turn up in a sneer as if it's mocking my feeble attempt to harm it.
Nasrin takes the creature's distraction as her opening, reaches for one of the tendrils, and latches onto it. It slides right out of her grasp and flicks around angrily. One of them smacks Nasrin across the face, and she cringes, a look of pure repulsion dominating her features. "Awe, it's slimy!" she blurts.
My heart races a million miles an hour. "Try again!" I encourage, but I doubt that Nasrin can even hear me. She's too busy dodging the thrashing head of the serpent. She darts in again, and somehow, she manages to restrain the monster's tentacles. There are three of the bright green appendages on each side of the serpent's head, and they're as thick as Nasrin's arm- too big for her to hold in her hands. So instead, she wraps her arms and legs around all three like a koala. All the odds are against her. The rain pelts her mercilessly. The serpent rises at least 30 feet out of the water, and the waves of the angry sea almost strike her as she's flung about. Despite all of this, she's still relentless in her struggle.
"Now!" she screams.
I don't really know what god I'm supposed to worship anymore, but I call on whatever celestial power might be listening and thrust my hands forward. Time seems to slow down around me. I listen to the patter of the raindrops against the deck of the boat. My pulse thunders in my ears, a result of fear no doubt, and I channel that very goosebump inducing terror into my efforts. Nothing happens.
"I can't hold on much longer!" Nasrin screams.
"Come on, Kiana," I whisper to myself. "Now is not the time to freeze." I try again to no avail.
Mina yanks me around to face her. "Get angry!" she demands, shaking me back and forth. I shrug helplessly, and before I have time to gather myself, Mina slaps me with all the might I'm sure she can muster. I curse and clutch my cheek.
"Uhhh!" I whine, but I'm pretty sure that the complaint is lost in the storm. Mina whips me around to face the sea again. If anything, her gesture is more distracting than helpful. However, she's right. If we learned anything at the lake, it's that my powers are much more effective when they come from a place of anger.
I close my eyes and reflect on all the hurt, sadness, and anger I've felt over the last few months. I think of how upset I was with Nasrin for lying to me to get me to Visya. I think of how cold her, Ali, and my peers at the village were to me for no reason. I think of Ramin sending me away without hearing my point of view. My insides heat up with fury. The negativity coursing through me makes me heave. I clench my fists until my palms start to sting.
A crackling fills my ears. I look skyward as I feel sharp pains on the top of my head. The sky rumbles with the same ferocity as the serpent, and the water falling all around me starts to freeze. Bits of ice pound the deck and fill the air with a noise like thunder. The air becomes as frigid as the rain, and my breath starts to steam in front of my face. I will the little ice pellets forward, and they fly at the extensions of the monster's face like hundreds of little bullets. They tear through the skin like a knife through butter, and Nasrin releases her grip on the fleshy tendrils. The tentacles fly into the water.
A thick, green goo bursts from the wound and covers Nasrin, who screams in disbelief. The serpent releases an angry shriek and flails around, nearly slamming into the boat. Nasrin swerves around, flicking bits of the slime from her face and hair.
"The other side, Nasrin!" Mina shouts.
I furrow my eyebrows in worry. Nasrin's wings are drenched, and she looks as though she's dipping in the air. "Hurry!" I scream, gesturing to the other half of the monster's enraged body.
Nasrin obliges, rushing to get the job done while the beast is still disoriented. The serpent doesn't seem to notice her approaching, probably due to the fact that we just severed its only way of connecting with the world from its head.
We repeat the process successfully on the other side of its body, but the severely injured beast still isn't down for the count. It wails miserably, and I would feel bad for the creature if it weren't trying to kill us. It snaps at the air with its wickedly sharp fangs, and I nearly chomp my nails off in my anxiety.
"Finish the job!" I call out, but Nasrin doesn't seem to hear me. She struggles to stay in the air, clumsily dodging the sea monster's attempts to kill her. I look around desperately for any sort of weapon to defeat our enemy. I know that trying to throw my remaining dagger will be completely useless, and unfortunately, Mina's books just aren't going to cut it against our foe.
My eyes catch Nasrin as she flails around in the air. "Nasrin!" I scream. By some sort of miracle, she hears me. She glances in my direction, but then returns her focus to avoiding the serpent. She flies above its head, but it's obvious that she won't be able to maintain the height. I have an idea, I just need her attention.
My heart plummets. Nasrin loses all control and begins to fall. To my surprise, she lands on the back of the head of the sea monster as it rears back. Another stream of curses escapes my lips. I need to try and get her attention again. "Nasrin," I scream, my voice nearly cracking because of the volume.
"WHAT?" she screeches. I thrust my arm in the air for her to see. I wield my last dagger. I thought that maybe the lack of sunlight would make it impossible for Nasrin to see, but she seems to understand my thought process.
There's a snowball's chance in hell that this is possible right now, but that hasn't deterred us from trying the other crazy things we've accomplished. I shake around to loosen up my shoulders and throw the blade as hard as I can. I focus on the metal and push it in the right direction with all my will. It soars through the air just slightly to the right of Nasrin. In an instant, I see her arm dart out to the side and catch the dagger. I scream with laughter. That shouldn't have worked.
I celebrated prematurely. It's hard to make out Nasrin's face through the rain, but it's easy to see the abrupt transition from ecstatic to panicked. She starts to slip backwards off the snake like a fireman on a pole. If the stakes weren't so high, it would've been funny the way she fell. I gasp as her head disappears, but just before her arm follows her off the beast, she makes her comeback. The tip of her wings flash into sight, and the fist clutching the dagger raises into the air. She must have found a chink in the armor, because she drives the blade down and into the serpent. It bellows in agony and shudders violently. Nasrin struggles up the back of the creature to its head.
I glance to Mina. A moment ago, she was literally biting her nails in anticipation, but now she cheers. I can't refrain from joining in. I whoop as Nasrin sinks the blade into the clouded eyes of the serpent. She yanks it out and flings herself away from the beast.
She lands next to me after what seems like an eternity and throws an arm over my shoulders. It could be a celebratory engagement, but by the way that Nasrin leans into me, I'm guessing that it's out of pure exhaustion.
The three of us watch on triumphantly as the serpent twitches a few times before crashing back into the sea. It's falling corpse sends a wave of saltwater crashing over our heads, but I embrace it, laughing in relief.
However, our celebration doesn't last long. I glance up from a group hug initiated by Mina, making eye contact a drenched fisherman. He's rounded the corner and pauses briefly from his frantic task, just long enough to bark out a confused, "Hey!" I'm just surprised that no one has noticed us so far. The serpent had to have some shroud around it, but we don't. I guess they were all too busy working to see Nasrin flying around in the storm.
Fortunately, I don't think that any other crew members noticed what he was saying over the torrential downpour around us. The storm will buy us some time to think up a solution, but I get the feeling that as soon as the colossal waves calm, we'll have another giant problem on our hands.
I spit out a mouthful of water and rack my brain for a way out of this crummy situation, but to put it quite frankly, I don't think I can. We're literally stuck in the middle of the ocean without an escape route, soon to be discovered by a bunch of angry fisherman. I glance from my drenched friends to the luminescent, watery grave of the sea monster, and suddenly, I wish we had spent a little more time chatting with Mrs. Jones. Some matronly hospitality sounds much better than what we're dealing with right now.
Huge waves rise nearly as high as the boat in every direction, and my heart rises and falls with every swell of the aggressive water. I close my eyes. I don't think I can bend my way out of this situation, but it's worth a shot. It just isn't realistic to control the giant swells or the rain. I search my heart for an emotion that I can grab onto and feed off, but my mind is such a jumbled mess that I can't get anything straight. Nothing outweighs anything. Fear, anger, adrenaline, a thin shield of hope, and a variety of other feelings are impossible to distinguish from one another in my clouded mind. Panic builds up in my chest as I struggle for something to grasp.
Let go.
The words are startlingly clear in my mind among the disaster. I take a deep breath, drowning out the chaos of my surroundings. I do my best to release my inhibitions. I was right before. There's no point in trying to control my surroundings. I just need to stay calm. Something clicks internally, and my eyes flutter open, my breath sporadic.
I point to the skies, not uttering a word. My arm shakes from adrenaline or the cold, only adding to the drama of the gesture. Mina and Nasrin follow my finger, their jaws agape. The Shahbaz bird soars through the air, beautiful and majestic against the destructive and chaotic background. Mina and Nasrin look to like they're shouting in triumph, and a grin of my own spreads across my face.
Out of the blue, the Shahbaz takes a swan dive for the water. I assume an expression of horror and look to my friends. They must've missed our beacon of hope shooting into the stormy seas, because they're still cheering. Panic rises in my chest, but I fight the feeling for the sake of retaining my calm. I follow the glow of the bird as it fades away.
"We have to jump," I realize aloud.
"What?" Mina sputters. "Are you insane?" The rain makes it hard to hear the words that leave her mouth, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what she's trying to express.
"The bird! The bird! It's telling us that we have to jump."
Mina shakes her head. "Kiana, I don't know if you realized this, but that bird CAN NOT TALK! IT IS NOT TELLING US ANYTHING!"
I grab Mina and Nasrin's hands. They tense up immediately, and I don't have to see their faces to sense their apprehension.
"We are not doing this!" Nasrin shrieks. "We'll die!"
I shake my head. "If we stay here, we'll have to deal with the crew. You don't want that. Just trust me."
"How can I trust you when you're telling me to leap to my death?" Nasrin shouts, her voice riddled with anxiety.
I bite my lip. "I'm sorry," I whisper. Mina and Nasrin's eyes widen. My heart beats so loud in my ears that it overpowers all my other thoughts.
I leap over the railing and into the sea before I can second guess myself, pulling Mina and Nasrin along with me.
...
Author's note749Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVNCtfw30x
I would love to have some artwork for the serpent, but I can't find any that is close enough to the image in my mind.
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Thanks for reading.
