I blink, trying to focus. “What do you mean?”
He glances toward the cave entrance. “That storm earlier… I have a suspicion about what may have caused it. I need to take a dive and investigate before we continue on.”
I straighten up. “You mean that wasn’t just some crazy weather?”
He shakes his head, his gaze distant and pensive. “There’s something else at play here. I can feel it.”
I want to protest him leaving me alone for even one moment, but another part of me, the part that’s still reeling from the shattering intensity of our forbidden kiss, is guiltily grateful for the excuse to be alone.
Because I seriously need to process the fact that I just kissed him.
And that I liked it. A lot.
“Okay,” I say softly. “I’ll wait here. Just… be careful out there, all right? Come back to me safely.”
Krakenos gives me a reassuring smile, his hand brushing against mine in a fleeting touch that sends sparks racing up my arm. “I will. I promise.”
And then he’s gone, disappearing out of the darkness of the cave and into the light outside. I watch him go, my heart lodged firmly in my throat, before sinking down onto a nearby rock with a shaky exhale.
I put my face in my hands, unable to make sense of the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. Yesterday, I was so determined to keep Krakenos at arm’s length, to focus solely on survival and finding a way to escape this insane situation. But now…
Now, I can’t deny the magnetic pull I feel toward him, like an invisible tether drawing me closer.
I take a deep, steadying breath, trying to center myself.
One step at a time, Mia. Eyes on the prize.
Focus on getting the hell out of here in one piece.
Everything else can wait.
But even as I firmly tell myself that, I can’t quite shake the searing memory of Krakenos’s lips on mine, the way his touch set my skin on fire and turned my bones to liquid. And I know, with a sinking certainty deep down in my gut, that things will never be the same between us again.
Not after a kiss like that.
Chapter 11
Krakenos
The taste of Mia lingers on my lips, a sweet reminder of our kiss.
It was… unexpected, yet perfect.
But now is not the time to dwell on these unfamiliar emotions. Not until we are safe.
I must get her through this trial, and that entails ensuring the ocean is safe and that the creature I feared stirred up the storm is resting once more.
I dive beneath the waves, my powerful tail propelling me through the depths. The ocean looks like a battlefield, the storm having dredged up all manner of debris and detritus from the seafloor far below.
As I swim deeper, delving into the murky gloom, I notice an abundance of strange plants and creatures that are utterly foreign to me. Fronds of kelp-like vegetation undulate sinuously in the currents, their garish and unnatural hues setting my teeth on edge. Odd, misshapen fish dart skittishly between the undulating strands, their bulbous eyes glowing with an eerie bioluminescent green light.
I pause briefly to examine a peculiar cluster of coral-like structures sprouting from a jagged rocky outcropping. The texture is all wrong, almost fleshy and pulsating gently as if drawing breath. Unnerved by the strangeness of it, I yank my hand back before making contact, a shudder of revulsion rippling through my body.
If there is one thing I know about the oceans, it’s that one should never trust the unknown. Even the smallest, most unassuming creature could be carrying a venom that would leave one wishing for the release of death.
Still, I suspect I know the source of the storm, and I need to confirm it. So I propel myself onward with powerful strokes of my tail, all my senses alert and straining for any sign of danger amid these unsettling waters.
It’s not surprising that this ocean is full of unfamiliar beasts, given the cruelty of the creators of Loop Run. My many seasons in this game have taught me that they’ve plundered hundreds of planets, stealing any form of life they can to place as obstacles in this game for their own amusement. It disgusts me to think of how many planets they’ve ravaged, how many ecosystems they’ve disrupted…
But I have a nagging feeling, a fear that they may have stolen something even more precious from my own home world. If they’ve taken what I think they have, it will be a crime beyond measure.
I swim deeper, scanning the murky depths for the creature I seek. The pressure of the water increases, but it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I was born for this, my body perfectly adapted to withstand the crushing depths of the ocean.
As I descend further into the abyss, I spot something truly massive moving in the distance, an ominous shape that sends a chill across my scales. It’s hard to make out at first, obscured by the swirling silt and debris, but as I draw closer, my heart sinks like a stone.
It’s exactly what I feared—a Storm Brewer, one of the most sacred creatures in Mythos. The colossal beast undulates through the water with an almost hypnotic grace, its translucent bell pulsing with an otherworldly glow that pierces the gloom. Trailing beneath the shimmering dome are long tendrils that twist and curl like the arms of a galactic spiral, each one rippling with untold power.
Storm Brewers are so unimaginably massive that they can churn the very ocean itself, whipping not just the water into a frenzy, but even the clouds above with their might.
They’re worshipped by my people, seen as a divine sign of the gods’ favor. To find one here, so far from home, stolen from its rightful place in our seas and forced to swim these unfamiliar waters against its will… It is an atrocity that makes my blood boil with barely contained rage.
This Storm Brewer in particular is the largest specimen I’ve ever seen. The beast has clearly thrived in this alien environment, its growth unhindered without the natural predators and rivals of Mythos to keep its size in check. For a moment, I can only stare at it in awe.
That is when the immense Storm Brewer fixes its eyes upon me, and in an instant, its mantle flares open to reveal rows of barbed, hollow spines. Before I can even react, it shoots a dart from one of those deadly spines with lightning speed, the lethal projectile streaking through the water straight toward me. I barely manage to twist my body to the side in time, the dart grazing my shoulder as it narrowly misses impaling me through the heart.
Despite it hardly scratching me, I can already feel the numbing effects of the toxin starting to take hold, spreading from the wound. My vision blurs and my muscles weaken. I know I only have precious minutes before the paralytic poison renders me completely helpless.
