The sea was alive with fury. Waves towered like walls of glass, crashing down with a violence that threatened to splinter the skiff into kindling. Salt stung Rhea's lips as she clung to the deck, her breath ragged against the roar of the storm.
Beneath them, the shadow of the Leviathan cut through the depths,a vast, coiling silhouette that dwarfed anything she had ever seen. It moved with unnatural speed, circling the boat like a predator toying with prey. Each time it breached, the surface shattered, and its scales caught the moonlight in a ghastly green shimmer, as though lit from within by the ghosts of the drowned.
Kael's claws raked the wooden rail, steadying himself as another swell pitched them sideways. His voice was sharp over the storm. "We can't outrun it. It's toying with us."
As if to prove his words, the Leviathan surged upward. A jagged fin ripped through the surface, slicing water apart before a mass of scales and teeth erupted into the night sky. Its maw opened wide,rows upon rows of teeth curved inward, large enough to shear the skiff in two.
Rhea's heart slammed against her ribs. Her chest burned not from fear, but from the dark pressure building inside her. The Queen's voice was already there, curling through her mind like smoke.
Child, you're floundering. Let me in, and the sea will be yours.
Her fingers trembled against the deck. She could feel the Queen's power like a tide pressing at the edges of her veins, begging release. A single whisper of consent and she would be unstoppable… but not herself.
Kael saw the war in her eyes. "Don't you dare," he growled. "Not her way. Not yet."
The Leviathan came down, the crash of its bulk sending waves like battering rams against the skiff. The mast groaned, sails whipping dangerously. Spray blinded her vision.
Rhea forced herself to breathe, pulling the threads of silver from within,the power that was hers, not the Queen's. It clawed at her chest, wild and volatile, burning like frost in her veins. She drew it higher, higher, until her body shook with the strain.
Kael's eyes widened. "Rhea, if you break yourself—"
"I don't need long," she whispered, her voice shaking with both fear and resolve. "Just this moment."
The Leviathan lunged. Its teeth closed around darkness and sky, a canyon of death about to swallow them whole.
Rhea slammed her palms to the deck.
The silver burst exploded outward in a searing wave. It was not the Queen's smooth, seductive magic,it was jagged, raw, almost painful in its brilliance. Light engulfed the sea, piercing the water like spears. The Leviathan shrieked, a guttural, bone-rattling sound as the shockwave blinded its abyssal senses. Its massive body thrashed against the waves, scales grinding against stone, its cry shaking the very marrow in her bones.
The skiff lurched violently. Kael seized the rudder, muscles straining, and wrenched the craft into the pull of an oncoming swell. "Hold on!"
Rhea collapsed to her knees as the boat surged forward. The wave carried them toward a jagged break in the reef,a narrow gap, too tight for the Leviathan's colossal frame.
The beast roared in fury behind them. Its massive head crashed into the reef as it tried to follow, the sound of shattering stone filling the night. Blood seeped into the water where its scales tore against the sharp edges, staining the waves black.
The skiff shot through the passage, barely scraping past, while behind them the Leviathan thrashed against its prison of coral and stone. The sea churned with its rage, each thrash sending shockwaves through the water, but it could not follow.
For a moment, the world was only the sound of waves and the thrum of Rhea's heartbeat in her ears.
Kael was already at her side, crouched low, gripping her shoulders. His face was tight with worry. "You didn't let her win. You fought her."
Her vision swam. She could taste blood on her tongue. "For now," she rasped.
But the Queen's voice purred still, faint but pleased. Clever little wolf. Do you see how sweet the taste of power can be? You'll beg me for more, before the end.
Kael's gaze flicked to the horizon, then back to the foaming waters where the Leviathan writhed, cut off but not dead. His jaw tightened. "That thing isn't finished. It'll heal. It'll hunt again."
Rhea leaned against him, her eyes fixed on the horizon where the sky and sea bled into one another. Her body still trembled from the aftershock of power. "Then next time," she whispered, "we end it for good."
Behind them, the Leviathan bellowed once more, a sound that promised vengeance. But the gap of the reef was closing, the current dragging them further and further away until the night swallowed its rage.
And then,finally,the storm broke. The sea calmed, unnaturally still after the chaos. The moon slid out from behind its veil of clouds, painting the waters in silver.
For the first time since the chase began, silence fell.
But in Rhea's chest, the hunger stirred. Not only the Queen's. Her own.