Alexia still didn't feel ready when voices called across the armada, and the caws of seabirds blended with the horns blowing, as the white shores, lush jungle, and green mountains of Haaia brought an end to the Endless Blue. She didn't feel ready as ripples spread across the waters between the armada and the beach—aqua fissures, like blue-green fingers stretching toward Sea Lion and the other twenty-two ships of the coalition fleet. One finger, then three, then a whole sea of them, crept toward her, a reminder that the beautiful isle and the blue-green water was a mirage obscuring the ugliness that lurked below. Tentacles burst from the depths. Pristine water turned pitch black with toxicity. Alexia Bluerose didn't feel ready, but that would never stop the curtain from rising.

Cries of "Kalagoth!" were heralded from every ship, spreading panic like a plague throughout the armada. Alexia wasn't immune to the plague, her calmness fleeing as her gaze shot toward Azi.

The Blue Princess nodded toward her, then saluted. The acknowledgement meant everything to her. Even though she fought for the entire world, having her best friend to fight for gave her what she needed.

The Redeemed Men formed a protective wall around her, quickly acting on the protection plan. Garrond stood at her side, Dust drawn, it's cold aura a pocket of winter in the hot summer. Captain Makeba summoned her sailors to the harpoons. Waterruner and Windjumper bondpairs readied their powers, Dalis and Zafrir's divine energies being channeled in mass.

A storm gathered above, lightning crackling across the sky, blocking out the sun as Theos Stormkin brought the wrath of Balbaraq to the Haaian coast. The other cognitive-affectomancers brought from Sapphirica conjured divine energy, changing the temperature, borrowing the winds, and siphoning from the sky.

Leoquo Mahagan shouted over it all, rallying nearby ships with his war cries as he ran the length of the deck, clapping the Mahagan Spears on their backs. Aboard Sea Lion and the neighboring ships, dark-skinned men and women shouted for freedom, for the Fourteenth, and for the kalagoth to experience the anger of Dalis and Zafrir. Their voices gave Alexia strength.

But their voices weren't alone. Bam shouted, "For Alexia! For Leverith!" and the Redeemed Men followed his call. From the decks of The Blue Lance and the other Sapphire ships, similar calls went out. Even if she wasn't ready, they believed in her. Beside her, even Sir Garrond tilted his head, his frown flatter than usual.

Throughout the armada, the panic subsided, just another wave on the water that they had to sail through. Instead of terrified, frantic hearts beating too fast, they became several hundred souls bound together—a harpoon launching toward the Tamed.

Sir Garrond, ever practical, had tied a rope to Aurora on the first day of their voyage. Alexia finally slipped the other end of it around her wrist and tightened it. The bind was unpleasant, but it was better to keep hold of Aurora than to watch her channeling medium slip into the sea the first time she lost her footing. She inhaled, held, exhaled, letting the calls resounding from the Sapphire and Mahagan ships rally her to her purpose. Even the Kavovan trading cogs had their sailors readied with harpoons, applying centuries of dealing with pirates in the employ of competing governors to the first fight for the future of humanity. The Volqori ships, on opposite edges of the armada, blew their draconic horns the loudest, their devotion to Seraxa or Qoryxa audible from across the fleet as blue-haired men beat their chests and red-haired women roared at the kalagoth, their axes in hand.

On the verge of war, witnessing such a force rally together, Alexia found peace. All eight of the divine energies awaited her as she settled into her meditations. But it was one of them she sought, the mother of the Mahagan, the Goddess of the Waters, the one that would defend her home. Finding tranquility, Alexia harnessed Dalis.

Dalis answered in abundance, water energy overflowing Aurora until Alexia took as much as she could safely hold.

More than a dozen kalagoth burst from the sea, in successive intervals, a wall of tentacle and hatred between the fleet and the coast. Dark gray monstrosities, their tentacles, twenty to sixty feet long and thicker than the sturdiest man, slapped the water, sending small waves toward the ships, rocking them wildly, as they leaked black toxins into the water. Witnessing their hideous, misshapen heads, Alexia realized that the half skull Theos had in his chambers was on the smaller side. Entire families could live inside of the head of a kalagoth. But nothing could survive in the waters they poisoned.

Alexia focused on the spoiling of the deep azure into something foul, drawing comparison with what happened when a tamer's consciousness invaded minds. She'd grown up not believing life could be reduced to good and evil, but she suspended that belief here and now. She would cleanse these waters, then the Nine Isles, of evil. Ready or not, here she came.

She trapped the closest kalagoth in a whirlpool before its tentacles could crash into Sea Lion. She held the kalagoth there, stuck in her aquatic cyclone, rendering it an easy target, just as she and Theos had practiced this morning. Maintaining her focus, Dalis gifting her with an abundance of control, of calm, she narrowed her eyes upon only this one enemy she could control. For now. Choosing not to see the other kalagoth emerging and attacking the other ships.

Lightning crackled, several luminous bolts streaking down into her whirlpool. Deafening thunder blasted as the lightning burst through the kalagoth's skull. Theos Stormkin slew kalagoth once more, master of the sky reigning down upon the monster of the sea.

If only that horrible toxic ink dumping out of the dead monster's ugly head like pus from a wound and the awful smell of death didn't render her nauseous.

Alexia stumbled into the ship's railing, swallowing bile.

Sir Garrond stabilized her. "The lance."

He pointed Dust toward The Blue Lance, which was on collision course with a kalagoth. Seeing the swelling number of kalagoth disturbed Alexia's tranquility. But as cognitive-affectomancer, she knew to make use of the way emotions naturally flowed. She embraced the chaos, harnessing Zafrir's wind.

The wealth of wind and the ease with which she gathered it restored her calm. Alexia merged the powers of the patron divinities of the Mahogany Isles. Tranquil Dalis and unpredictable Zafrir, disparate entities, were fused into one harmonious force, commanded by the only person in the world that could hold them both at once.

Alexia shifted the wind, using her mind's eye to visualize all the air currents and all the chaos. The screams, the cacophonic cries, the splintering wood and skull, the splash of inky water, the scent of brine and blood and death, the feel of decking shaking furiously, the bolts of lightning slamming into the sea, the flight of Windjumpers, all of the pandemonium only built upon her connection with the everchanging wind. She caused the water beneath the Sapphire flagship to jet upward, then carried the ship on the air currents she commanded. The Blue Lance lifted upon the wings of wind and water, like a wooden spear being thrown rather than the largest galleon in their fleet.

The Blue Lance soared, higher than a two-story building, before sending the meladonite lance at its prow down upon the kalagoth with the force of gravity and the two patron Divine of the Isles behind its joust. Meladonite, unbreakable by everything except itself, burst through the kalagoth's skull, as though it were a pumpkin created for the sole purpose of smashing.

This time, she knew not to let her eyes linger on a creature that was even more disgusting in death than it was in its hideous life.

Yet, not even Alexia could focus on two things at once.

"Coming from below! Alexia, get down!" Azi bellowed from the quarterdeck, her big voice carrying clearly over the din.

A tentacle smashed through the rails as Alexia hit the deck. Sir Garrond scrambled to her side, the blow grazing off his meladonite plate rather than hammering down on Alexia. The tentacle writhed around the deck, seeking bodies to grab. It found axes and swords instead as the Redeemed Men unleashed their fury upon it.

The kalagoth's horrific cries undulated beneath the water as bubbles of ink hit the side of the ship. Erlos delivered the final blow, cutting the tentacle clean. Dust pierced through the severed nub as it writhed. The beast lurking below the hull shook the boat as it thrashed in pain.

"Down, Alexia!" Azi bellowed.

She hit the deck once more, feeling the tentacle lashing over her. Further down the ship, a separate tentacle seized an unlucky sailor. His harpoon fell as the tentacle coiled around his chest, dragging him to the rail. The ship tilted as the kalagoth leaned on it, trying to pull the sailor over the railing. At once, several Windjumpers crashed onto the tentacle from above, their heavy spears plunging through oily scale. Waterrunners sliced at the tentacle with incredible speed and grace, Leoquo Mahagan among them.

For all their heroic effort, the railing snapped as the tentacle crashed limp into the water. Leoquo reached for the bound sailor but had to let go before he was dragged in by the weight of the massive tentacle. Soon, the sailor's screams were silenced as he sank beneath the dark, inky surface.

As Leoquo and the others shouted the sailor's name, Zizwe, Alexia felt something snap in her. Across the armada, similar scenes recurred as folk were seized by tentacle and pulled into the inky depths, never to re-emerge. Hulls were smashed open by the kalagoth barrages.

Howling vengeance, Alexia rode her emotions, pulling from the storm and the summer heat. The kalagoth arose, its alien head staring up at Alexia with one giant eye. Fire and lightning blasted from the tip of Aurora, splitting the vile squid's head in two. The eye burst into a cloud of blood, before the skull was set ablaze. Two tentacles thrashed out as the creature died, Garrond jumped between Alexia and them, his meladonite weathering the blows as Erlos pulled her back.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Across the water, toward the closest Mahagan ship, lightning streaked down into the ocean. Tentacles slipped from the boat, dragged into the depths with the massive anchor that was another sundered kalagoth skull.

Theos leaned against the mast, panting. He reached into the pocket of his red swimming trunks, pulled out a vial, popped the cork, and downed the contents. The old man sprang back with a spryness that defied his near century of life. A fortitude draught resupplying his body with vigor. The old man still strained, holding the storm in the sky over them, providing a wealth of energy for the less talented cognitive-affectomancers on other Sapphire ships. The lightning they channeled sparked in the sky, streaming through the clouds, and slamming down across the sea as each ship fought for its survival.

For now, Sea Lion wasn't engaged with a kalagoth. "Find me a target," she called to Garrond and the Redeemed Men. Where am I most needed?

"Watch the flanks!" Azi bellowed from the quarterdeck, her nose bleeding. Alexia couldn't spare thought for her best friend's wounds or where they came from, but had to keep fighting so they didn't get worse.

"There." Garrond pointed Dust toward the armada's flank where half a dozen kalagoth rose from the depths, their delayed assault catching the ships on the edge by surprise.

Enormous tentacles rendered catastrophic damage to hulls. A Sapphire ship on took in water as wood splintered. A Mahagan vessel was thrown sideways, capsized, crew lost in the toxin as three kalagoth and their combined tentacles rolled the smaller ship over. Harpoons, lightning bolts, and fireballs bombarded the kalagoth tentacles. Windjumpers leapt from their decks, slamming heavy spears into kalagoth skulls. Alas, it wasn't enough. They were surrounded and there were too many kalagoth to kill for conventional weapons and your average wizard. But Alexia and Theos had prepared for this possibility.

She and Theos locked eyes, sharing a nod. Let Balbaraq be the vengeful protector today rather than the prankster.

Following Theos's guidance, Alexia embraced the part of her that thought of the fleet as her responsibility, willingly letting the pressure overwhelm her. That part wasn't hard, but she'd soon be captive to the distress, unless it was the path to liberation. She forced herself to think about her burden—twenty-three ships, two hundred thousand Mahagans, the entire world, her Redeemed Men, her mentor, her best friend. She needed to protect them all. Alexia couldn't let them die. For those that had already been taken, she would have vengeance.

Alexia channeled her entire capacity to feel, which even she admitted was vast as this ocean, and stretched across the sky. Though Balbaraq's power was centered in the Balbaraq Mountains over a thousand miles away, the God of Lightning made the voyage, answering the desperate call, knowing what it meant to protect the ones you loved. It wasn't the laughter or the crude jokes that permeated Divine Balbaraq's heart, as most people believed, it was the need to protect, the fear of failure, and the rage one felt when someone tried to take what they held dear. The jokes were the façade, the surface of the water, when the doubt ran deep. Alexia fathomed how Theos Stormkin discovered these truths, but today she would be grateful that he knew the depths of Balbaraq's heart better than any other cognitive-affectomancer.

Darkness gathered overhead, as black clouds spread from the storm's center across the horizon until the blue above was blanketed in blackness. Gone was light, save for the flashes in the clouds, streaking sideways and forking through the overcast. Divine Balbaraq's energy crackled throughout the atmosphere, howling above the hideous wails of the kalagoth and the shouts of men and women fighting for their lives. Bursts of yellow and white illuminated the battle in rapid flashes.

Alexia, Theos, and the other cognitive-affectomancers called upon near unlimited quantities of Balbaraq's power. Spear after spear, strike after strike, lightning pierced the kalagoth. Alexia, overwhelmed, stole a moment to glance at Azi on the decks, catching her as the lightning streaked all over. She clung to the desperate need to protect her, and the possibility that they would be able to embrace once this was over.

Powered by her desire to keep Azi safe, by her fear of losing her, Alexia summoned massive torrents of lightning, channeling it endlessly as she sought kalagoth in the waters. Garrond tried to point them out, but it was Azi shouting directions that was most helpful. The princess could find the squid before they emerged, describe their movements, to the point where it was like Alexia was the bow, Balbaraq the arrow, but Azi the one who wielded them. Bam counted off the kalagoth as she killed them, shouting, "Bam!" at each hit and punching the air.

Blood in the water, the kalagoth fled beneath the surface. The Celegans may've been a primitive society, but they weren't stupid, especially in the ways of battle. The kalagoth rendered themselves as invisible as if they were shadows—dark clouds and toxic waters occluding them.

"Gathering over there!" Azi shouted, pointing toward a space between the fleet and the shore. "I see nine of them."

How Azi saw them in the darkness, beneath the inky, bloody waters, Alexia didn't know, but she'd yet to misguide her. Balbaraq flowing through her, Alexia reached for Dalis, sensing the Divine of Water's desire to have the tranquility of her waters restored, cleansed and purified of filth. Merging the two divinities together, Alexia focused on the area where Azi said they were, then electrified the depths with enough sky energy to make the sea burst in a blast of white lightning.

Charred, severed tentacles, and red, viscous blood sprayed as horrid cries undulated from the depths. Cheers resounded over the blast as lightning continued to streak across the sky, waiting to be channeled.

"Azi?" Alexia yelled, still holding to Balbaraq's sky, though her grasp was weakening, the dark clouds started to fade, revealing pockets of blue.

"You got all of them," Azi hollered back. "Let me check for more."

Alexia watched her. Some of the storm receding, she saw that Azi's eyes were shut, blood still trailing down her nose. In her bewilderment, she let her focus on Balbaraq slip further, the storm more rapidly retreating, clouds of darkness rolling aside and fading as the sun burst through.

The water was a sight of horror, like a giant bathtub full of mud and blood. Alexia relinquished her last hold on Balbaraq, feeling the battle at an end. She reached for Dalis, knowing that not only did she owe the Divine of Water her gratitude, but she'd also like to be able to better see beneath the surface or detect where new toxin was secreted.

She focused on purification, on cleansing, one of the first things taught to a witch at the Arcanium. Purifying water. Except she purified a massive block of ocean. Steadily, the seas near the north coast of Haaia were free of toxic ink, blue-green beauty restoring.

Thank you, Alexia repeated in her tranquil meditation. It was because of Dalis they were delivered here, and the patron Goddess of the Isles did her part in this battle, even though she and Balbaraq traditionally tried to murder each other on a regular basis, her little mischievous brother the one who excelled at breaking her tranquility.

The storm cleared, the seas cleansed, no sight of monster beneath the clear waters, the battle seemed done. Alexia was almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Two more!" Azi called out, eyes opening "Syra's Glory! The Sea Drake!"

Those blue eyes must've seen better than any other pair in the fleet. Within moments, the two Volqori ships were targeted on opposite ends of the fleet, both by a lone kalagoth. Alexia, spent, too far from the conflict, watched, contemplating her options now that Balbaraq's energy wasn't readily accessible.

The draconic ships resounded with rallying cries, their horns blowing. A red-haired woman ran across the deck of Syra's Glory, then vaulted impossibly far, for a Leverian, leading with her axe. She crashed into the kalagoth's face, her fiery axe piercing through the monster's eye. Fire burst from the wound, like lava. The woman yanked out her axe, leapt up the creature's skull, then vaulted back toward her boat. Shouts of "Undaxa!" roaring aboard the vessel, having no issue carrying across the water.

The Ice Tribe, not to be outdone by their rivals, sent a dozen warriors into the water. Superhuman in strength, the blue-haired men overpowered tentacles, riding them and hacking away with blades. But they weren't alone. Waterrunners took to the sea, running over the surface as if it were land, their scimitars joined the Ice Tribe warriors as they hacked away at the last kalagoth like it was a plate of calamari.

One blue-haired man tore off a massive chunk of the kalagoth skull, chucking it into water. He held his blade high, The Sea Drake calling their captain's name. "Therix!"

The chanting from the two Volqori ships only grew louder as they competed. An all-female Fire Tribe crew and an all-male Ice Tribe crew. Alexia remembered what Leoquo had said the morning they departed. Undaxa and Therix, as well as many of their crew, would either kill each other or need some sturdy beds by the end of this all.

Leverith let it be the latter, she thought, reaching for her sternum. History had proven that Volqori were effective against Tamed. While the current champions were nothing like the Ice Champion had been when Gurgaldai threatened the world, their support would be invaluable.

The battle won, hundreds of arms went up, cries of victory resounding. Alexia raised Aurora, then brought Leverith to the Mahogany Isles as she hadn't been since Queen Alexia Leveria herself unified the sixty-four clans. The midday sun shone over clear waters as blue mist spread over the armada, raising spirits and binding minor wounds, carrying her love from Sea Lion to The Blue Lance and from The Sea Drake to Syra's Glory, touching the decks of every Mahagan, Sapphire, and Kavovan vessel between. A natural smile shone on her face.

"We did it," she whispered, feeling the meaning of this victory deep within her heart. Like the sunrise after the longest night of her life, there was hope that things could be bright again.

Alexia looked for Azi and found everyone else. Leoquo lifted her, tossing her into the air. "She returns! With new eyes!"

The Redeemed Men crowded around her. She felt their pride in every tap, every hug, every shout of affection and relief. Even cold Sir Garrond cracked a smile, the first she thought she'd ever seen. He tipped his helmed head toward her, when her eyes passed over him.

"Well fought, Master Alexia."

"Thank you," she said, her voice cracking a little. She was struck by how much that approval meant to her. "And you too, Sir. The protection plan kept me safe. You kept me safe."

He tipped his head again, still bearing the traces of a smile.

"I doubt there are too many kalagoth left in this world," Theos Stormkin said, fighting through the throng of Redeemed Men and Mahagan bondpairs. "Sailors will celebrate this day for a thousand years."

"You were incredible," she said to him.

He grinned, crinkling the scarred flesh covering the right side of his face. "I suppose I was made the archwizard for a reason."

Alexia beamed, but the person she sought most wasn't here. Where was Azi?

Her gaze swept over Sea Lion's deck, the elation of victory wearing off as worry snuffed it out.

Azi's voice burst through the merriment. "He comes!"

Azi bounded toward the bow, blood running out her nose still, pointing toward Haaia. Alexia strained her eyes, trying to see whatever Azi did. There was nothing there.

"He comes!" Azi bellowed again.

Shouts spread across the armada, echoing Azi's call. A massive fin surrounded by spikes emerged from the Endless Blue. The ribaia leapt, rising over the surface at least one hundred feet before its entire body was exposed. The gargantuan shark-like monster could've weighed no less than half a million pounds and was unfathomably immense. The entire length of its body was covered in spikes, its mouth revealing teeth large enough to tear through the largest of ships.

The leviathan plunged back into the water, sending a diluvian wave toward the fleet, dozens of feet higher than the top of the tallest mast.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.