Page 25 of Elemental Hall: Nautica (Elemental Hall #1)

Now that my mind is clear from confusion over Orion and Darius, the seraphin comes to me again.

I go down to its pool every day, grateful for its presence, grateful that I can feel the vastness of the ocean through the connection we share.

It shows me the workings of water, shows me how it summons whirlpools and waves, how it feels the subtle shifts of the ocean, how it communicates across vast distances through sounds sent on the waves.

I learn more from the seraphin than I do in classes at the moment.

Those are winding down, leaving us with more free time, although of course the more sensible students spend that time in study groups and sparring sessions, because we all know that the elemental mistress might spring another challenge on us.

But it gives me time to spend with Darius. We walk the islands, finding secluded spots where we can be together, enjoying that freedom, enjoying simply being with one another. He is smiling now for what seems like the first time since he arrived, washed up as flotsam on Nautica’s shores.

Today, he is sitting on the sand near the bay where I meet with the seraphin, watching as I wade out to it, my hand reaching for it. I wait for it to show me the beautiful secrets of the deep oceans, or some lost piece of knowledge.

Instead, the seraphin shows me a nightmare.

It shows me the moment that the seaquake hits, only now I am watching it from beneath the waves, and I can see that it was not something summoned simply to test us.

Instead, I watch the ocean floor shifting and twisting, and I see the vast shape of a leviathan rising up from some long slumber.

It is like a whale, but on a scale that makes even whales look like minnows.

Its jaws open wide to reveal rows of teeth, while there is a deep, powerful connection to the ocean in its eyes.

It is something elemental, something primal, something that has power in a way that even the seraphin does not.

But the leviathan is not the nightmare. It is what flees ahead of it.

The kraken rise up as the leviathan shifts from its resting place, moving ahead of it in a swarm too numerous to count, gathering and spawning in the forgotten buildings that the seraphin showed me so long ago.

I have seen the damage that even one kraken can do. So many of them… it is unthinkable.

I break the connection with the seraphin, hurrying back to the shore. Darius is waiting, and he must see the fear on my face because his expression shifts to one of concern.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Kraken,” I say. “So many kraken.”

I barely survived an encounter with one, and now it seems that the waters around Nautica teem with them. I stare out at the water, and I’m not sure that I’ll ever dare get back into it.

“Come on,” Darius says. “Let’s head back.”

He takes me back to the library tower, and as we approach, I see that students have started to gather there.

Is there a class I didn’t know about? I can see Elemental Mistress Halan at the front, but there are other elementalists with her too, flanking her like officers waiting for orders from a general. Even Finder Davan is there.

She is speaking as I approach.

“Your fine efforts this year notwithstanding, there is one more thing that Nautica must ask of you.”

“Another challenge?” Orion asks.

“Not a challenge,” Elemental Mistress Halan says. “At least not in the way all the others were. This is… a mission, a duty for all of us.”

“Is this about the kraken?” I ask as I approach.

Elemental Mistress Halan gives me a surprised look. “How do you know about that, Seraphina?”

“The seraphin showed me them,” I explain. “It showed me that the seaquake was due to a leviathan lifting from the ocean floor. It showed me the kraken moving ahead of it, going into the sunken city beyond the islands to spawn.”

“Then you have seen a great deal,” Elemental Mistress Halan says.

“Yes, this is about the kraken. Every few years, the leviathan rises. That is, as you say, what causes the seaquake. When it does, we incorporate that moment into our challenges. But what it drives ahead of it does not represent a normal challenge. It is a mission for all of those who do not wish the ocean to be overrun by kraken.”

Darius gets the implication of that. “You want us to hunt kraken?”

“Not just you,” Elemental Mistress Halan says.

“All the trained elementalists here will take part in the hunt, as will any elementalist near Nautica. It is vital that these creatures are culled when they rise. If too many of them survive, no ship will be safe. They are intelligent, they are cruel, and they can manipulate water. They must be stopped.”

Orion doesn’t look happy about any of this. “So you’re going to throw a class of partly trained elementalists against them?”

Elemental Mistress Halan’s expression is like stone.

“This is what it means to be an elementalist, Orion. To take on the challenges that those without our skills cannot, for the good of Lumina. This is your final test in Nautica. I will not force you to take it, though. All here will pass through to the next stage, at Skyhold, but this must be done.”

I think of the kraken I faced before. I can still feel the fear I felt then, the certainty that I was going to die.

“Can we even kill them?” I ask.

Elemental Mistress Halan nods. “I know that you are afraid, Seraphina, but the one that attacked you was particularly old and powerful. It was also in a place where you had no aid. Working together, we can kill them. I need to know now, are you all prepared to do this? Those who will play their part, stay here. Those who will not, return to your dormitories. Once this is done, you will be free to return home.”

Everyone stays where they are. I didn’t expect that. I expected at least a few to walk away. Ash still hasn’t reappeared, and I wonder yet again if he died during the tsunami. And if he didn’t, then where is he?

“What’s our plan?” Cara asks, interrupting my ruminating.

Elemental Mistress looks around at the assembled students.

“We will take boats out to the spawning grounds. You will be armed with spears, tridents, harpoons, and bows. We will divide you up into different roles. Some of you will seek to use the control you have gained over water to force the kraken to the surface. Others will be responsible for killing them once they are in range, using a combination of your weapons and whatever elemental skills you have. Those with healing skills will try to deal with any wounded.” She pauses and then looks my way.

“It may also be necessary to send a party into the depths to deal with any hiding among the ruins.”

“You want me to be a part of that,” I say. After what happened to me in the Green Tower Pool, it’s the last thing I want to do. I have seen what the kraken can do and I have no wish to fight them on their own terms.

“It may not prove necessary,” Elemental Mistress Halan says. “If we can drive enough of them to the surface with our magic, that may be sufficient to protect the kingdom. But we have to be prepared for any eventuality. Your skills will also be of use on the boats, obviously.”

My instinct is to tell her that I will stay on the boats. That I will help to drive the kraken to the surface. Let the elementalists handle the work of diving in to face the kraken head-on. I cannot think about the possibility of it without shuddering in fear.

Except that Darius takes that moment to speak up.

“I will help with the diving,” he says. “My lightning will be a more formidable weapon beneath the water.”

Does he think that he’s sparing me by volunteering? Does he think that if he takes a spot, I won’t have to? Because if there’s one thing I’m more afraid of than the kraken, it’s the idea of leaving Darius to face them alone.

“All right,” I say. “I’ll do it. I’ll be a part of the dive team.”

“So will I,” Orion says.

Another half dozen of the students volunteer, including, to my surprise, a couple of the new contingent from Umbrae.

Are they planning to find a way to sabotage us under the water?

Maybe they think that it will provide them with a moment to kill Darius in the chaos of the hunt.

I won’t allow that. I won’t let anything hurt him.

I hope that none of us will have to go into the water. I hope that Elemental Mistress Halan is right and that the boats will be enough. But I also know the way things have gone here at Nautica so far. I have to be ready for a fight—against a foe that is huge, hungry, and deadly.

I have to be ready to face the kraken down in the sunken city.