The roar didn't come from the Kraken.
The sound pierced the air like a cosmic blade, splitting the sky in two. The clouds swirled in black convulsions, as if a vortex had been opened, and from the celestial rift fell lightning bolts that had no natural color: black bolts, glowing with an antediluvian glow, like scars from creation itself. Each bolt touched the sea and cracked it into incandescent lines, destroying the surface as if it were glass.
Cassandra and Monica shivered. Their dragon bodies, built for war, reacted with the most primal instinct—fear. Their hearts beat wildly, like prey before an absolute predator.
And the Kraken… stopped.
All its tentacles, once lashing like living walls, froze in midair. The titan of the ocean, the unbreakable guardian, suddenly became small. As if he had recognized a presence far greater than himself.
From high above the clouds, the colossal shadow moved.
