Page 70 of The Kraken Games

“I was, sir.”

“When?”

“Fifteen years ago.”

Kai stiffened. Surely Razad would refute this. Inform her that she must have the dates wrong, or the species wrong. That the Treaty had put a stop to all such sinkings by kraken. But instead, Razad bowed his head. Kai noticed his gnarly hand tightening on his staff.

“Whereabouts, human?”

“In the waters out northeast of what is now Orc Island, I believe.”

“What were you doing there?”

“I do not know for sure. I was with my parents. And my baby brother, Tomas.”

“Do you have any idea why your parents were in these waters?”

“I do not, sir. Except to say we lived on the water. All my early memories are of the sea stretching forever, of being on our small boat. All I know about my family is that my father had books he’d record things in, things about the sea life, the plants and fish. My mother would draw pictures of the things we found.”

“Were your people humans of the valley?”

“You mean from the towns of Tween or Twill?” Kai watched her shake her head. “No sir, not according to what my parents told me. I remember my mother saying we came from the northern seas, up past the mountains, and that our family had been seafarers for generations.”

“Tell us what happened on the day in question?”

Kai saw her hands twist in her lap, her knuckles whiten.

“It was early in the morning. We had risen, my father telling me that we were close to finding something very special. A place he and Mom had hoped to find for many years. He said we needed to take care, that it was unpredictable, maybe a little dangerous being here, and that I had to do what they told me. I didn’t know what he meant.

“But then the sky darkened, like a storm but different somehow, and so sudden. I remember it had been such a beautiful clear day before that. My father started shouting to my mom to take us below. And then he was calling out from the bow of the boat, ‘we come in peace, we come in peace.’

“I was terrified. My mom screamed at me to take Tomas, secure him in his cot and tether myself to my own bed. I did as I was told. We’d been through storms before, but nothing like this. The boat was like a leaf, tossed around on the sea. And then… I remember this terrible cracking sound. A roaring like thunder, only worse. A hole appeared in our galley, the light and water rushed in, then I recall being buffeted around, tumbled and pummeled by waves.

“My bed was ripped away, all but the plank I’d tied myself to. I held onto it and… And then….” She bowed her head, and Kai heard a muffled sniff. Oh gods, was Luna crying? His proud, fierce human…

“Continue your account please, human,” Razad urged.

“I—I saw many huge blue tentacles rising out of the waves. They seemed to be everywhere, thrashing and pulling apart our boat. I couldn’t see my mom or dad, but I could see Tomas’s cot buffeted by the waves. I knew I had to get to him, but when I tried to swim over it was impossible. I had to hold onto that plank or drown. I called out to my mom, my dad. Nothing. Just that awful roaring sound…

“And then… one of y-your kind was heading for Tomas. It wrapped a tentacle around his cot and pulled it close into its body and disappeared under the waves….

“I think I blacked out because when I came to, I was there alone, still gripping onto that plank of wood. The sea was calm now. Nothing but debris. Except then… then I saw two bodies floating out to sea, face down. Mom and Dad. I called to them,but they just kept floating away, toward the horizon…” She stopped, her head bowed. “Away from me…”

There was silence in the cave for long moments. Razad looked suddenly bowed and tired. He stepped back and motioned to Shen.

Shen stood and spoke, his tone kinder. “Please continue… when you feel able, Luna.”

“I held onto the plank, maybe for hours, I’m not certain. I think I must have become delirious. The next thing I recall was being plucked out of the water by an albatross. One we used to feed from the boat. It carried me to its nest on the cliff. Fed me, kept me alive. And when I was strong enough, it dropped me in the marshes, at the house of an old human woman who lived there alone. She took me in, made me work for her.”

Kai sat stunned. This was a fuller, more horrifying account than the one Luna had told him.

When she spoke again, her voice was composed. “My life has not been a happy one. But I’ve survived, supported myself. And I vowed I would find out what happened to my brother.”

“Is that why you entered the games?”

“Yes. I believed the games were the only way that I could establish any contact with krakens. I thought if I won, it would give me bargaining power.”

“And yet, you shamelessly cheated. Took advantage of our kind. Photographed him without his permission,” Razad growled now, thumping his staff on the rocks.

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