Page 86 of Fallen from the Stars

Vasil narrowed his eyes against the irritating sand and twisted to look back at Theo. She withdrew something from her bag — a stout cylindrical object with four leg-like pieces spaced evenly around its exterior and a handle on top. She pressed its bottom against the side of the submarine and twisted the device’s handle. It latched onto the hull, legs locking into place.

The sound of moving water called his attention forward again just in time to see the creature emerge from the surrounding abyss to attack the group of kraken again. Vasil’s companions fought back with harpoons and spears — Pythas and Donis attempted to flank it from one side, Calix and Orin from the other, while Dracchus faced it head-on — but the creature seemed unfazed even when the weapons struck. It bit at the kraken and swiped its claw-tipped appendages at them, adding more dark blood to the clouded water.

Its onslaught was too furious even for Dracchus to stand for long; he propelled himself away from it, catching it with a glancing blow from his spear.

Dipping to the trench floor, the creature scrambled forward along the hull, tail undulating behind it — straight toward Theo.

Fire flared in Vasil’s chest, blasting him into the creature’s path. For an instant, he saw Theo out of the corner of his eye; she was frantically manipulating the controls of the device she’d attached to the door.

He jabbed his spear at the monster. It shifted its trajectory suddenly, causing the spear to glance off its head; Vasil felt it connect with hard bone through the shaft, jolting his arm. Before he recovered from his strike, the creature clamped its teeth over one of his tentacles.

Pain lanced through him, crackling like lightning up and down the length of his tentacle. The creature whipped its head to the side, tearing Vasil’s flesh. But he would not allow himself to be dragged into the darkness. Twisting his torso away from the creature, he slammed the spearhead into the seafloor as hard as he could, using it as an anchoring point to fight the creature’s pull. The additional pressure in his wounded tentacle heightened his agony.

Though Larkin, Dracchus, and the other kraken were close by, the creature’s thrashing tail held them at bay; they could not get close enough to help.

Vasil lifted his head to look at Theo. She stared at him with wide eyes, her lips pressed into a tight line. Without looking away from him, she pressed a button on the device. Its small display glowed green.

The sound began low — a powerful hum from Theo’s device that pulsed through Vasil’s body and rattled his bones. He tightened his hold on the spear and the sound somehow deepened while a second noise — more a high-pitched whistle or whine than a hum — joined in. The first resonated in Vasil’s bones, but the second was like a knife plunging into his brain. The pain was too great; he clasped a hand over his forehead and squeezed as though it would keep his skull from splitting open.

The creature released its hold on his tentacle and flipped onto its back, writhing in the sand.

Neck straining, Vasil swept his gaze over his companions. The other kraken were in similar states of pain, holding their heads in their hands and curling their tentacles, Calix and Orin doubled over. But not Larkin and Theo; the humans’ mouths were moving as though they were speaking, their expressions dominated by confusion and concern.

Vasil struggled to pull his spear out of the ground; this was the one chance they had to strike the creature while it wasn’t darting through the water. The pain in his skull only intensified with his effort. Tiny, tingling bubbles filled the water, followed by a cloud of disturbed sand from the direction of the submarine. Vasil released the spear to cover both ears with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut.

He did not know how long he drifted just above the trench floor in that agonized darkness before something brushed over his arm; his pain said it had been a thousand years, but it could not have been more than a few seconds. He forced his eyes open to see Theo over him, holding the spear in both her hands. Larkin was higher up, above the monster, with a fresh harpoon loaded. She fired it into the underside of the creature’s jaw, but it was not enough to cease its movement.

Teeth clenched so tightly they seemed likely to shatter, Vasil forced himself upright. Theo met his gaze as he grasped the shaft of the spear behind her hands. That shared look was all they needed.

She planted her feet in the sand, and he his tentacles, and they launched forward together, Vasil driven as much by his need to eliminate the threat to his mate as by his own pain. At any moment, his brain would surely explode, but he’d kill this monster first.

The sound ceased an instant before the head of the spear plunged into the largest of the creature’s eyes. With Theo and Vasil’s combined weight and momentum behind it, the weapon sank deep; half the shaft slid into the creature’s head, pinning it to the trench floor.

For several moments, Vasil and Theo remained in place on either side of the spear’s shaft. The creature stilled. Though the device’s sounds had stopped, Vasil’s head throbbed, and his body felt as though it were still vibrating. The pain in his tentacle had grown dull and distant, but he knew the reprieve was temporary.

Theo’s eyes met his again; they glistened beneath her furrowed brow. Releasing the spear, she leapt at Vasil, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He returned her embrace and held her tightly, wishing he could feel her skin or run the tips of his claws through her hair.

By the time she drew back, the others had gathered close by. Vasil kept a hand on Theo, unwilling to let go, as he looked over their companions. All five kraken — Dracchus included — bore fresh cuts and wore disoriented expressions. Only Larkin and Theo seemed to have been unaffected by the harsh sounds that had come from the device.

Any serious wounds? Vasil signed.

Dracchus shook his head and gestured toward Vasil’s tentacle, which had been shredded where the creature had bitten down.

I will be fine, Vasil signed. He saw Larkin’s lips move.

Theo shifted to look down at his wounded tentacle and frowned. She spoke rapidly. Vasil looked to Larkin for explanation.

She is not happy you are hurt, Larkin signed with her hands; human signs had seemed far more limited by their anatomy when Vasil first learned of them, but he’d realized their depth as he’d grown familiar with them during hunts with Randall and Larkin.

Tell her I am fine. We need to go in, he replied, pointing to the sub for emphasis.

Theo remained in place, staring at him.

He cupped the side of her mask and offered her a smile. Her return smile seemed forced, but she swam toward the door, nonetheless.

Vasil followed, but his movement faltered when he saw the side of the sub; the cylindrical tool was attached to the metal in the same spot she’d placed it, but everything else was different. The buildup and dirt that had clung to it were gone, much of it piled on the trench floor below, leaving the hull fully visible. Theo grasped the device’s handle and twisted it in the opposite direction from what she had before. It came loose, and she returned it to her bag.

The outline of the door was clear now, marked in some places by chipped, fading yellow paint.

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