Page 31 of From the Myths of Kings

You will not die today.

Nearly blinded in a torrent of bubbles, Saoirse felt for her sword and yanked it from its scabbard. Twisting against the beast’s hold, she hacked blindly at the tentacle wrapped around her ankle.

She’d thought the sea monster had been terrifying above water. It looked otherworldly and hideous in the ocean. Primal terror gouged through her at the sight of the beast lurking in the shadows, wreathed by unending oceanic depths. The image of its jaw unhinging to reveal white teeth against the inky black waves spurred her on. Finally free from the tentacle, Saoirse swam toward the surface with every ounce of strength she had. She could feel the monster coming for her as the ocean bent around it, but she didn’t dare look back. The skin pricked on the back of her neck as it loomed closer. The muscles in her legs were on fire.

A hideous screech cleaved through the sea as she swam, its warped cry somehow sounding more bone-rattling underwater. She was so close to the ship now that she could see individual ropes trailing in the waves. Another shuddering roar rippled through the ocean and she finally turned back around.

Holy Titans.

There was something else down there with the beast.

Another flash of lightning shimmered above and temporarily lit up the murky depths. The tentacled monster writhed in pain. The light faded before Saoirse could make out the other form that dove at the beast. Fueled by fresh terror, she grabbed ahold of one of the ropes and clawed her way up until she broke the surface. Any awareness she had was reduced to mere sensations.

The haunting moan of the wind in her ears. The rough cords that bit into her palms. The gash in her shoulder that burned like fire.

The waves rolled over her again and again, but she clung to the rope with everything she had. Vaguely, she heard shouts from the main deck and felt her tether being reeled in.

Suddenly she was pulled from the water, her body going weightless as she clutched the rope. Dangling from the side of the ship, she spared a glance over her torn shoulder. The sea monster burst through the surface of the ocean like a cannonball tearing through a wooden hull. But this time, it wasn’t aiming for their ship. Instead, it was tangled around another enormous beast, its throat crushed by a locked jaw. The two warring beasts thrashed in the waves as Saoirse was lifted up. Flailing limbs and spiked tales coiled together, conjoined roars resounding across the sea like sheets of metal being torn apart.

Through the chaos of spraying waves and bloodied claws tearing through flesh, Saoirse caught fragments of the other beast. Yellow eyes. A crown of menacing spikes. Blue-tinged scales.

“Kaja?” The name came out in a rasp.

It can’t be.

Saoirse still remembered the sea dragon chasing after her when the beast had awoken to find the dark pearl stolen from her trove. Kaja’s Trench was leagues away in the northern half of the Maeral Sea. Why was the dragon prowling the Southern Sea?

The sea dragon wrestled the tentacled monster back under the surface, ripping out its throat with her bone-splitting teeth in the process. They both disappeared below the churning waves once more. Pulpy gore floated to the surface and Saoirse nearly vomited. She collapsed in a heap when she finally hit the main deck. Every inch of her body trembled with fear and exhaustion.

“Saoirse,” a voice called. “Saoirse!”

Her ears rang. She felt evaluating hands on her arms and chest. She sat up and nearly collided with Neia, who kneeled over her with a crease between her brows. White clumps of hair hung around her forehead, the tips stained pink from fresh blood.

“I’m fine.” Saoirse pushed up from the deck, renewed urgency clawing through her. “We need to leave while Kaja is distracted. She is a greater threat than that other monstrosity.”

“Kaja?” Neia asked.

“The other beast,” she replied, scanning the bubbles that drifted up from choppy waves. “She’s native to the Maeral Sea. I stole something from her once.”

Neia looked baffled, staring at her as though she spoke another language. “What do you mean, you stole from her?”

Saoirse rose on shaking legs, pleased to find she’d somehow managed to hold onto her sword for the duration of being overboard. She cast her gaze back out to the heaving ocean. The dragon was still out of sight. For now.

“The Relic of Elorshin was hidden in Kaja’s Trench just north of Kellam Keep. I stole the pearl to prove my worthiness for the Tournament.” It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Why was the Relic in the dragon’s possession in the first place?”

“My great-grandfather enlisted Kaja to guard it in the trench after Selussa murdered his brother and tried to steal the pearl. At the time, Selussa was disguised as an Auran princess, so technically he banished ‘Yrsa’ to the Fretum,” she amended.

“So the dragon is loyal to your family then?” Neia asked. “Your great-grandfather entrusted the Relic of Elorshin with this beast. Doesn’t that mean she’s not an enemy?”

Saoirse hadn’t considered that before. More than likely, the dragon was just scouring the sea, searching for the thief who stole her treasure. Sea dragons were notoriously prone to greed, and they obsessed over even the smallest lost gold coin. Kaja probably saw the other beast as a threat, killing it as an instinctual display of dominance and nothing more. Kaja would undoubtedly turn her focus on their ship once she’d torn the other monster limb from limb.

Before Saoirse could retort, the dragon herself burst from the water like death incarnate. She loomed over the ship, blood and gore hanging in clumps from between ivory teeth that could snap a blade in half. A crown of spikes cascaded from her head like a lethal veil, trailing down her spine and lengthening into huge barbs that could easily tear a ship apart. Her yellow eyes shone bright as she swung her heavy head toward Saoirse.

Behind her, Saoirse heard bowstrings pulled taut and swords drawn from scabbards, awaiting Neia’s signal.

“Wait!” Saoirse stared at the dragon, her mouth going dry with trepidation. Intelligent eyes gazed back at her. She expected a snarl to come rumbling forth from the dragon’s chest, but the beast merely floated beside the ship as if waiting for instructions. Cautiously, she stepped toward the railing, her heart threatening to beat right out of her ribcage. Neia sucked in a breath behind her.

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