Page 48

This, of course, led to Pari being approached by irate fathers of girls who Cleo had attacked for daring to flirt with her prospective lover.

Pari and I sighed over the whims of our children and settled down for a long and difficult courtship.

Emil and Inka had several fights, which they made up; after all, Mihal and Cleo were their babies.

Our life aligned harmoniously with the Morans. The existence we lived was extremely content, and we lapsed into a false sense of security. Our youth were being raised in the right environment and then tragedy struck.

None of us could have seen it coming or done anything to divert it. Maryn had been playing with the children on the beach at twilight when a Kraken had beached itself. She had sent the youngsters to get help, for even a beached Kraken was bloody dangerous. The creatures didn’t tend to die straight away.

Maryn had stayed clear from the creature until a young toddler ran out of the trees. We had just woken when we learned it had beached, and we offered to accompany the townspeople. They accepted our help with thanks. As we approached the beach, we heard a scream that made us race in the direction it had come from.

There, a picture so horrible confronted us that it still makes my blood chill.

A child had run straight towards the Kraken, and Maryn had raced to stop it.

The Kraken spotted the approaching infant and turned its massive head toward it.

Maryn reached the child first and threw it out of harm’s way just as the Kraken had opened its jaws and caught her. As we ran onto the beach, the Kraken was slinging Maryn about, trying to rip her in half.

Maryn was pale and lifeless in its jaws, and blood poured everywhere.

Horrified, we raced toward the beast whilst throwing spears and shooting our weapons when it heaved Maryn directly at us. Maryn fell in a crumpled heap at her mother’s feet.

Diana screamed and scooped her up, dragging her to safety. Nes’c raced towards his beloved, skidding in the sand. Diana began to yell that Maryn wasn’t breathing and become hysterical.

Maryn was badly wounded, and I rushed over to assess the situation. We hadn’t had our blood that night, and it was lucky because it was obvious that Maryn needed it more than us.I yelled for the supply to be brought at once, along with a healer. Another scream ripped through the air. The Kraken had someone else in its teeth, and with a horror, I realised it was Father.

“No!” I screamed.

Panicked, I picked up a spear and, running straight at the Kraken, threw it with an all-mighty heave. The end pierced the creature’s thin skull and entered its brain. The Kraken dropped its head, forcing its jaws down harder into my father. I reached Father’s side just as his last breath left his lungs. Father feebly raised his hand towards me, and then it fell as his eyes glazed over.

“No!” I screamed again and again.

Desperately, I tried to drag Father free of the Kraken’s jaw, but all I did was tear his body even more.

Pal dragged me off, and Kait and Raymone freed Father from the creature. Traumatised, I threw myself back at Father, pummelling him and begging him not to die. Not my father, was the singular thought running through my mind.

Gently, I lifted his head, cradling it on my lap as I sobbed in great anguish. Father was dead, and it was me that had killed him. Screams rebounded around the beach, and Taran and Ju were there, taking Father from me.

I walked away devastated. Pal followed as I slumped in the sand on my knees, sobbing and babbling incoherently. I knew not what to do, and I could hear further cries as Mother, Marrin, and Uralla arrived on the scene.

“There was nothing you could have done,” Pal said, soothing me as best as he could.

Mihal screamed for his grandfather, and Inka tried in vain to comfort him. He pushed her away and ran off into the bushes. Inka herself, was crying great tears of blood, that just rolled down her face.

“I killed Father. Pal, I threw the spear,” I sobbed, burying my head in my hands.

“No! No. Marcus was already dead. The Kraken had pierced an artery. Marcus was bleeding to death, Jacques. Your spear saved other people, it did not kill him,” Pal soothed, stroking my hair.

I threw myself into the sand, prostrate with grief.

Diana’s sobs reached a high as Maryn remained lifeless.

“I shouldn’t have left Father alone,” I cried through a mouth full of sand. This had been my fault.

“Ah, my poor friend, you didn’t even know Marcus was here,” Pal said softly.

“I should have known,” I exclaimed before tearing myself off to run away.