Page 1 of Lover from the Waves

Chapter 1

365 Years After Landing

“And when the heroine found the missing youngling, she knew she could not wait for help—because there was a monster in those waters,” Ector said, flashing his sharp teeth and raising his hands to brandish his claws.

The younglings—both human and kraken—gathered on the sand in front of Ector gasped, staring at him with awed, frightened eyes. Sarina and Jace, two of the half-kraken, half-human children, clasped each other’s hands.

Ector rose on his tentacles, spread his arms, and drew in a deep breath, swelling himself as big as possible. He ignored the dull aches those simple movements produced in his joints. “The beast was immense, as long as the dock, and had teeth longer than a grown human stands tall. It was covered in spikes as sharp as harpoons, and its terrible eyes were red as blood.” He changed his skin to crimson.

Several of the younglings recoiled, but they all remained transfixed. Ector was glad most of these children knew razorbacks as nothing more than monsters in stories. That was likely to change for many of them as they grew, but he wouldn’t allow his thoughts to follow that path; this wasn’t a tragic story.

“But worst of all,” he continued, “that monster was hungry—and it had a taste for little kraken. Our heroine had never fought such a foe before, but she remembered its eyes—because this beast had chased her and her mate through the depths, its eyes glowing red with savage hunger, and they had only barely escaped.”

“Did she grab the kraken youngling and run?” asked Emma, one of the human children.

“No. She knew she could not flee that monster. It had nearly caught the Wanderer already, who was one of the fastest kraken. But our heroine was brave, and she could not leave anyone to such a fate, especially a youngling.” Ector flashed scintillating colors over his skin and curled his hands into loose fists, tucking his bent arms against his sides. “So she challenged the beast.”

“What? No,” said Eros, Sarina’s younger brother. “She couldn’t beat that thing. That’s crazy, Elder Ector.”

“She knew she could not beat it, but that was not her goal. The monster snapped its massive head toward her”—Ector turned his head aside and swung it forward, opening his mouth to display his pointed teeth again—“and gnashed its wicked teeth. Cold fear pooled in the heroine’s belly as she looked into those ravenous, merciless eyes.”

“But you said she was brave. How could she be afraid?” asked the little human girl, Megan.

Ector smiled. “She was very brave, little one. Are any of you ever afraid?”

A few of the younglings hesitantly raised their hands. Nearly all the children stared at Ector in shock when he lifted his hand, too.

“I have been afraid many times,” he said.

“But…you’re soold,” said Jace incredulously.

Ector laughed. He wished his people had had more reason to laugh in the years before they’d connected with the humans of The Watch; it felt good. “I am old, but age does not stop fear. There is no shame in being afraid. Even big Dracchus is afraid, sometimes.”

“Uncle Drak is the biggest and the strongest! No way he gets scared,” declared Eros.

“He does, little one. Everyone does.” Ector spread his tentacles and sank low, leaning closer to his audience. “But we all have it in us to be brave, regardless.Bravedoes not mean you have no fear. It means you do not let fear stop you. It means you still act no matter how scared you are.”

“So, I can be brave, too?” asked little Megan.

“Absolutely, little one. Brave and strong, in your own way.” Ector wrinkled his brow and moved his hand to his chin. “Now, where were we? Was it the part where the monster eats our heroine?”

The chorus of emphatic protests from the younglings made Ector chuckle. He lifted his hands, holding his palms toward the children. “You are right, that is not how our story goes.”

When they quieted, he continued.

“She caught the beast’s attention, and despite being so afraid, she did not freeze. She told the youngling to race home. Then the beast charged the heroine, opening wide its toothy jaws. She swam for shelter in the rocks on the sea floor, and just as she reached them”—he spread his arms, one high and one low, and slapped his hands together, making the younglings gasp and jump—“the monster caught her leg between its teeth.”

Ector swung his arms in wide, exaggerated swimming motions. “She struggled to escape, but the beast was too strong. She kicked at the monster’s face desperately. When her foot caught the monster in the eye, it let out a roar of pain that rippled across the entire sea. Those massive jaws opened”—he brought his hands together, fingers bent like hooked teeth, and drew them apart again—“and she was suddenly free. But the beast rounded on her, determined to finish what it had started.

“She drew her gun and fired, but the monster didn’t slow. Yet even when her gun was empty, she didn’t give up. She drew her knife”—he held up his left hand and straightened his little finger, stretching his webbing tight—“and fought the beast.”

“That tiny little knife couldn’t kill a monster that big,” said Ben, one of the human younglings.

Sarina’s eyes lit up. “But it did.”

“No way,” Ben replied.

“She is right, young one,” Ector said, smiling. “Our heroine slayed the beast with that little knife and saved the youngling’s life—because she was brave and protective and did not surrender. And it was our brave heroine who set into motion all the events that eventually brought kraken and humans together.”

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