Page 95 of The Kraken Games

The moment they entered his consulting room, Luna felt at ease. Maybe it was the thick wool rugs and big sofa with richly colored cushions, the rows of books on the walls, the dark wood cabinet full of potion bottles. It felt like a healing space.

“Ah,” Kai said softly, “I remember this room so well. You haven’t changed anything.”

“My patients like me to stay consistent.” Waldo smiled. “Please, be seated.”

Luna sank down next to Kai on the big leather sofa and Waldo sat in a deep red wing chair opposite, crossing his legs. His costume was strange even by Motham’s standards, with its long black double-breasted tunic and the balloon leg pants underneath. He wore pointed boots embroidered with threads of gold and silver. His long fingers were covered in rings, with black and white opals that caught the light and reflected shards of green and blue and purple.

Waldo cut quite some figure.

Perusing them out of obsidian eyes, he finally asked, “So what has brought you two here, to see me?”

They both started to talk at once, about how they met, about the games, the hearing with the elders. Before they’d even got on to Merinda, Waldo laughed softly and held up his hand. “Okay, I get the picture.”

Luna and Kai stopped mid-sentence.

“I already had a sense of this. Being a mage has its advantages, though it can get busy up here,” he tapped his skull, “holding so many life stories, past and current and those that are yet to present themselves.” He smiled at their surprised faces. “The dimension we mages inhabit is rather different in relation to time.” Waldo folded his hands, leaned back. “You’re in love. And you want to find a way to be together. Am I right?”

They both nodded.

“I have attained Metan with Luna,” Kai said solemnly, reaching for her hand. Luna took it and squeezed, her heart overflowing with a wonderful new sense of love and belonging.

“Then she is your mate. It’s as simple as that.”

“You’re right.” Kai cast her a grin. “He’s always right, by the way.”

Now Waldo turned his perceptive gaze on her. “And how is Tom, Luna?”

She blinked at the sudden change of subject. “He’s well, and happy.” How did Waldo know all these things? Could he see a person’s story floating above their heads, like a hologram? She guessed Waldo had faculties she would not understand. He’d healed Kai’s tentacles with magic, and hopefully, been the one who fitted Tom’s gills. She couldn’t stop herself bursting out, “I guess that’s why we’re here. Did you fit Tom with gills, Waldo?”

“Ah yes, Tom’s gills.”

“He didn’t have them as a baby. Did you… I mean, were you the person who fitted them?”

“Yes, Luna, I was.”

“Can you fit Luna with gills now?” Kai asked eagerly.

Luna held her breath.

“I can, though it’s a complex process, and it may take you longer than a baby to adjust to breathing through them, Luna. But before I am willing to do that, issues need to be resolved with the Kraken elders.”

Kai looked stricken.

“You need to go and talk to them, Kai. You need to be a warrior,” Waldo said gently.

Kai shook his head. “Oh no, no way. Done that, been there. I don’t ever want to be involved in the games again.”

The mage smiled softly. “Not a warrior in the way you are thinking. I mean, be a warrior for change.” Waldo laid out his long fingers and studied them as if the answers were contained in their bones and sinews. “Now that you have attained Metan with a human, you have broken powerful kraken traditions, traditions that have held sway for centuries. Traditions that need to be ripped asunder to prepare your people for the future. Thereare signs that big changes are ahead. Magic is strengthening once more on land and sea. But there are also portents of further evil afoot before all species can live in harmony. It will require wise leadership to resist this darkness. Kai, when I say you need to be a warrior, I mean it is up to you to help your people move into this new age. You have met your match in Luna—she too is a warrior for change in the human realms. But first, you will have to introduce this change to Thedaka.”

“That feels like… a big task,” Kai said.

“It is not your task alone, Kai. Behind the scenes you have powerful allies. Your mother had the wisdom to bring you to land to be healed. It was Hana as a little girl who provided the cells for Tom’s gills. The females of your clan have acted behind the scenes for centuries, in the shadows, but now they are ready to be heard, to claim their own power.”

Kai looked startled. “Was it… through the female line that?—”

“That your species were able to shift? Yes. Human males mated with female krakens many moons ago. Not, as most kraken believe, the other way around.”

Luna couldn’t help asking, “Why is Kai the one to bring about change?”

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