Page 113 of Tiger's Voyage

Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides; above him swell

Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;

And far away into the sickly light,

From many a wondrous grot and secret cell

Unnumbered and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages and will lie

Battening open huge sea worms in his sleep,

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;

Then once by man and angels to be seen,

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Mr. Kadam pressed his fingers together and tapped his mouth in deep thought. “That final part references the end of the world. Supposedly the kraken, or the Leviathan, will rise from the deep in the last days. Then it will finally be destroyed, and the world will be forever at rest. There are biblical references to the Leviathan being the mouth of hell or even Satan himself.”

“Alright. Stop right there. That’s enough for me. It’s bad enough thinking of fighting demons without dragging the devil into it. I’d rather be surprised. The more I learn, the scarier it gets, so let’s just get this over with.”

I took the Golden Fruit, my weapons, and the Divine Scarf and rushed down the stairs with everyone chasing after me.

“Kelsey! Wait up!”

Kishan quickly caught up, and Ren was right on his tail. Mr. Kadam puffed down the stairs behind us, but we soon outpaced him. I slammed into the wet garage like a hurricane and picked up my wet suit. Ren and Kishan were resigned to my actions at this point, and picked up their wet suits without protest and headed to the changing rooms. When I emerged, they were ready. Kishan had tied hischakramat his waist and thekamandalhung from a thong around his neck.

Ren left thegadabut took the trident. I decided to leave my bow and arrows behind because they wouldn’t work underwater anyway and felt pretty naked with no weapon except my lightning power. Kishan pushed the button that opened the ship’s garage door. The fog was appearing again. Apparently, our resident dragon’s snoring was creating the miasma that seemed to seep into my bones. The normally blue-green warm water seemed gray and cold. Bubbles hissed and popped on the surface, and I allowed my mind to create the terrifying monster below.

I imagined the kraken waiting just beneath the water, gaping, toothy mouth open, patiently waiting for me to step off the boat and into his terrible maw. I shuddered. Just then, Mr. Kadam hurried in to hand Fanindra to me. I slid her up my arm and felt better knowing she would be with me. Ren approached and strapped the diving knife to my leg while Kishan handed me my mask and snorkel.

“Do you think she can breathe underwater?” I asked Mr. Kadam.

“She was twisted up, ready to go when I went to get her. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Ren and Kishan didn’t want to be hindered by the tanks just yet. This was to be an exploratory dive. We were just going to scope out the island and look for the underwater opening. If we needed the tanks we’d come back. I sat on the edge looking up at the jutting, rocky island and put on my fins. Ren went first, followed by Kishan. They looked around and gave me the thumbs-up sign. I pushed off with my hands and slipped into the cold, gray water.

After clearing my mask, I started off toward the island following Ren. Kishan stayed behind me. The water was calm if not clear. The island looked like a giant mountainous column just sitting in the middle of the ocean. There was no sandbar, no gentle slope of land. It just went on below the water as far as I could see. It wasn’t very big either, maybe the size of a football field. It took only an hour or so to swim all the way around the outside.

We studied the surface above as much as below, and it wasn’t until we were ready to return to the ship that we found the underwater entrance. After Ren did a short exploration, he confirmed that we would need diving gear. The only good news was there was no sign of the creature.

I’d exited the ship in a rush of reckless bravado, but now that I’d been in the water for a while, I felt my bluster diminish, washed away by the lapping ocean tide. I accepted the fact that I was afraid. Deathly

afraid. I nervously stammered in an attempt at humor. “He’s probably just waiting for all three of us. He’d rather get the combo special. A chicken, a cheese,anda beef enchilada. I’m the chicken, by the way.”

Kishan laughed. “I’m definitely the beef, which means Ren must be the cheese.”

Ren grinned malevolently at Kishan and punched his arm.