Relief rolls through me. I get what Kyor meant about Etta seeing them as worthy, but we’ve all needed help at some point or another in the Retterheld. I know I certainly wouldn’t be here without their support.

But I’m not going to dwell. The boys are alive, and they’ve got a boat. That’s what matters. I refocus on the view in front of me. As far as I can see, there is nothing. Nothing but the sea. Still. Quiet. Maybe it is as simple as crossing the channel.

But then, as the water brushes against the hull and spills over my legs, a feeling ripples through my stomach, a twisting that grips the very core of my soul. It is pure, tortured agony. My breath hitches for a moment, but then the pain is gone and it’s like I’m not even in my body. I’m above it. Seeing the water. Seeing our boat. Seeing Jonas and Benny rowing towards us as we sit there drifting. What in the Gods’ names is going on? Is this part of the trial? Have the priestesses somehow used their magic to pull me from my body? I didn’t even know that was possible. How the fuck do I get back?

‘Rose!’ The boat surges and Kyor slams into me, and just like that, I’m back in my body. Whatever that aberration was, it’s passed. So does that mean it was part of the trial or not? Only as Kyor reaches out over the side of the boat do I realise I’ve dropped one of my oars in the water.

‘What? What happened?’ My voice cracks.

‘I was about to ask you the same, Thorn. Are you okay? You just stopped rowing and let go of the oar,’ he says, handing it back to me.

‘Did I?’ I can’t remember that. I can remember being above it all. And before that all I can remember is pain and the fierce anguish that filled me when the water struck my legs.

My chest pounds as I twist around to look at Kyor, already aware of how insane I’m about to sound. But if that wasn’t the priestesses’ doing, then there’s only one explanation. Somehow, there’s still magic running through me.

‘I felt something,’ I tell him. ‘I felt something in the water.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m not sure.’

I put the oar back in the rowlock and lean over the side.

‘Rose, what are you doing!’

‘Just let me do this.’

He quiets as I lower my hand into the water.

A moment later, the pain tears through me and I scream out in agony.

‘Rose!’

I rip my hand out of the sea and the feeling is instantly gone. That presence. That pain. Vanished.

There is something in there. Something in pain. Something strong.

Kyor stares at me, then glances at the water.

‘Don’t touch it. Don’t,’ I plead with him. ‘It’s … it’s horrible.’

He ignores me, just the way I knew he was going to. ‘I just want to see, that’s all.’

Fixing his own oar, he dips his hand into the sea. His brows knit together as he pushes his arm in deeper.

‘I can’t feel anything,’ he says.

‘Really?’ I breathe. ‘It was in so much pain. Like it was trapped. Like it shouldn’t be here.’

He watches me carefully, but I suspect he’s thinking exactly the same as I am. It’s just a case of who has the guts to voice it first. In the end, it’s me.

‘Do you think this has something to do with the ice? With what happened before?’

‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘But I’m starting to hope it might.’

The comment catches me by surprise. ‘You are? Why?’

He tightens his grip on the oar and nods towards something over my shoulder.

‘Because if it is, then maybe you’ll be able to work out how the hell we get past that.’

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 60

My gaze snaps to the front of the boat, and the air rushes from my lungs. Six gargantuan tentacles protrude from the water, twisting and rising as the mammoth body writhes upwards. How big is that thing? A hundred feet? Two hundred? I have a horrible feeling I’m still underestimating its size. As a twenty-foot wave barrels in our direction the creature’s head breaks the surface and a single yellow eye locks on mine. A tremble holds my voice hostage before I finally choke the words out.

‘Is that … is that a kraken?’ I gape. ‘Since when are there krakens in these waters?’

‘You’re the one who said it felt like it was in the wrong place,’ Kyor reminds me.

Shit. He’s right. We have to get past a fucking furious kraken – a creature that’s been dragged out of its homeland and dropped here in the channel. Why in all the Gods’ names would Etta set a trial like this?

‘I can use lightning. If I can get enough power, I can drive it back underwater,’ Kyor says, thinking aloud.

‘For how long?’ I say cynically. ‘It’s hurt. That’s why it’s acting like this. I felt its pain. Striking it with lightning will only exacerbate the situation.’

‘So what would you suggest?’

It’s a genuine question.

I frown as I muse aloud, ‘Okay, if it doesn’t want to be here, why isn’t it leaving?’

‘Something must be holding it in place,’ he theorises.

‘Right. Presumably magic of some kind.’

‘Yes.’ The hitch of excitement in his voice is undeniable, and I feel exactly the same. Not just because we’re closing in on a plan, but because of how easily we are falling into step with each other. It shouldn’t feel this effortless, but it does.

‘Okay.’ I rub my lip as I think. ‘If we can break down whatever magic is holding it in place, then it’ll move on, right? It’ll go and we’ll be able to cross.’

I look around me. How the hell could anything have enough power to hold something that size in place?

‘You need to paddle away,’ I tell him. ‘Stay parallel to the shore and don’t get any closer while we think this through.’

Kyor doesn’t question me, immediately pulling his oar through the water and switching up our direction to make sure we don’t get any closer to the kraken. Meanwhile, I study the shore. Benny and Jonas are in their boat heading towards us, while Zara and Grenda have another. There are a few bodies scattered on the shingle, but I don’t look closely enough to see which of the remaining Rettlings are dead. That won’t help anyone now.

‘How have they trapped you?’ I mutter as my gaze falls on Mila, still standing at the top of the cliff, watching us. She’s barely as high as a matchstick from this distance, but I can tell it’s her. Just like I can tell there are other priestesses spread along the cliff. As I continue to stare at them, my eyes catch on the thin wisps of magic radiating from their hands.

‘It’s them. The priestesses,’ I say. ‘We need to stop the priestesses from using magic on the kraken.’

‘You want us to attack priestesses of Etta during Etta’s trials?’ Kyor’s doubt is clear, but I shake my head.

‘No, I’m not saying we attack them, but we do need to interrupt their concentration and break the channels between them. They’re using their collective powers to hold the kraken in place, so we have to stop the magic in order to set it free. Can you do something? It doesn’t have to be lightning. Snow, wind, rain … whatever you’ve got will work. Just do something.’

He exhales sharply as he looks up at the sky. ‘Okay. Just so you know, Etta, you’re the one who set this trial, so this is on you.’

He releases his oar and dark storm clouds instantly swell above us.

With Kyor’s hands occupied, I’m the one tasked with keeping the boat in place. It’s not an easy task. Too far away from shore and we risk facing the kraken’s raging tentacles; too close and one of the Rettlings without a boat could come after ours.

The thunder rumbles.

Benny rows up beside us, then grabs hold of the side of our boat. ‘Do you want to tell us exactly what’s going on? We’ll stay more stable if we brace like this,’ he explains. ‘So, Rosey, what’s the plan?’

The nickname makes me think of Llinos, and I miss her so fucking much. She could have probably just blown the priestesses over for us. That would have sorted this issue fast. I push the bite of grief aside as best I can. Kyor can command the wind. He can do it.