Page 92 of Heart of the Summer Queen

In immediate answer, a terrifying hiss sounds behind us, vibrating through the very timbers beneath our feet.

I whirl around, praying another explanation waits there.

All my futile hopes are crushed as the monster’s head raises from the sea, sheets of water cascading from its horns.

Glowing blue eyes, mirroring Elaric’s magic, rake over our vessel. Each impenetrable scale is just translucent enough to glimpse the black veins pulsing beneath. Fangs like towering glaciers line its jaws, hungry to devour wood and flesh alike.

The sight drives the very air from my lungs. I gasp it back in a panicked rush, heartbeat thundering.

The sea serpent coils above us. With its formidable size, it could easily crush our boat like kindling. Even great warships would hardly slow its assault.

I swivel to Elaric, shouts lodged in my throat. But no magic resides within him now to battle this monster. The vial of Ruposley hanging at his neck will restore his power, yet doing so risks alerting Isidore. Perhaps she glimpses us even now through the beast’s eyes. But we need his magic. Without it, we stand no chance of surviving this fight.

“Your magic!” I cry, though my voice is lost to the blood pounding in my ears.

I lunge toward the sack still lying beside the boat’s wheel. My fingers scramble over the worn material until they close around the hilt of the Sword of Veliantis.

The serpent rushes toward us with terrifying momentum, its monstrous jaws gaping wide to engulf our small vessel. Such an assault would be so devastating it’d obliterate us instantly.

Sword first, I charge.

The creature’s fangs bear down, eager to tear through timber and flesh. With all my strength, I swing my sword, the determination to survive coursing through my body like lightning.

Despite the serpent’s scales appearing as thick as steel, my blade carves through them as though they’re fragile parchment.

A shriek slices through the night.

The serpent withdraws, its fangs snapping closed less than an arm’s length from our boat.

Black blood splatters across my face, stinging my eyes. While the burning is so intense it’s as if my eyes are melting in their sockets, I have no choice but to keep them wide open.

If I lose sight of the enemy for even a second, I will be dead.

I pray that Elaric has already swallowed the potion and that it won’t be long before his magic returns. Then he can conjure a harpoon and drive it through the serpent’s chest.

That is, if his magic works against it. Both his magic and the monster’s scales are borne of Isidore’s power, and so there’s achance it may not work. Even with his magic restored, we may be unable to prevent our inevitable defeat.

The serpent doesn’t cower for long. It soon swirls around, letting out a far angrier hiss than the first, and the sea shudders in response. Blood rolls off its translucent scales, dripping into the roiling waves.

Then it lurches forth. But this time, its attention isn’t fixed on our hull.

It’s fixed on me.

Fangs crash down in retaliation.

There isn’t time to roll away. Not without risking being impaled.

So, I do the only thing I can do.

I dive away from the fangs, toward the center of the serpent’s mouth. Then I leap up and drive my sword into the beast, muscles screaming with the effort.

“Adara!” Elaric yells, just as the serpent’s maw closes.

Darkness encases me.

The splintering of wood echoes from somewhere beyond.

A force barrels into me, but I cling to the hilt of my sword with both hands, the rubies glowing like fire in the all-consuming blackness. I hope my blade is lodged deeply enough into the roof of the serpent’s mouth to hold my weight. Should it come loose, I’ll be lost to the void below.

---