Shattered by the Sea Lord - Starla Night Page 0,85
outside the bell, I think it’s a mallet,” Dannika said.
Meg rolled her eyes. “Whatever it’s called, let’s gong it.”
Bex eased the long pipe through the water. It tapped the bell.
The bell resonated in Dannika’s chest like loud bass at a rock concert. “Whoa.” She rubbed her chest.
The others mirrored her, equally affected.
The echoed reverberated in a high G contrabassoon. Just like the squids’ doot-doot-doot noises.
Because of course it did. It was a squid bell.
“It’s a little flat,” Dannika said.
“How can you tell?” Meg asked, startled, and everyone stared.
“Because it doesn’t sound like a squid yet. Let’s clear off the rest of the muck.”
Somehow, this must be the key they needed.
The key to save Ciran.
And themselves.
Chapter Thirty-One
Voices vibrated above the tiny coral-lined cell of Ciran’s prison.
He peered up through the gaps in the coral.
The Life Tree of Lusca floated overhead. Spiked plates of coral armor covered its thick stalk to deter any destructive squids. They regularly emerged from the massive trench on the other side of Ciran’s prison. Squares of red mirror stones pointed at the trench, keeping the kraken confined beneath. They emitted a constant, high-pitched whine.
That was where they had thrown Prince Ankena.
And where he, Konomelu, and Itime would also be thrown.
Soon.
A strange angry scream reverberated through the city, momentarily silencing the voices.
Ciran floated to the wall of his prison closest to the trench. “What was that?”
“It is howling.” Konomelu’s vibration came weakly from the far cell. He hunched, favoring his ribs. “As we rage at the surface humans for taking our sacred brides, the kraken rages at us for taking her young fry.”
“Her young fry?”
“The ones the king lets out to harness for his attacks. They chain only one in the field. See?”
Across the distant trench, a few tentacles moved, but the coral mostly obscured Ciran’s view.
The howl died out.
A low, musical tone hummed. The same vibration had sounded when Bex had destroyed the coral barrier, only much fainter. “What is that?”
“The warning bell. The Life Tree roots around it.” Konomelu dropped silent, then summoned the strength to continue. “When the bell tolls, the sacred brides are in danger. The kraken must rise. But in their hour of greatest need, the bell never sounded, and so the kraken never rose to save them. I long wondered why, but now that I am imprisoned, I see. Someone muffled the bell.”
Ciran peered through. Was that a curve? “Dead coral has fallen on it.”
“And slabs of curved wood, like the kind humans use for their hulls, packed with mud. The mud is a red color found in distant fields. It was brought here deliberately.”
“Why did they muffle the bell?”
“Perhaps it was inconvenient. Perhaps the kraken arose even when the bell was not rung and caused damage. Perhaps…”
“Why muffle the bell if the mirror stone controls the kraken? Or does the bell overcome mirror stone?” He waited. “Lieutenant Konomelu?”
“I do not know.”
Itime groaned from his cell and then fell silent again.
The voices sounded louder again.
“Someone is coming. Not the king.” Konomelu wheezed urgently. “You escape. I will…I will make a distraction. Prepare to fight.”
“Your drive to free me, while admirable, is doomed to fail. Rest yourself, Lieutenant.”
Konomelu, and Itime in the cell between them, had barely survived the beating. The warriors had attacked them with pent up rage from years of hate.
Ciran was in better shape, but he could not escape the city alone.
“You will see the truth in time,” a confident young male declared as he floated down to the prison. “Lusca is unstoppable. No warrior stands against us, no human dares to hunt us, and we follow no rules but our own. Pledge yourself to our king and become a true warrior.”
The speaker floated in front of Ciran’s cell.
He was an older Hadali with darker brown hair, a fiercer expression, and a filled out, adult body. Luscan tattoos crossed his torso and shoulders, the markings of having completed the first levels of training and become a warrior.
But on his chest, over his heart, a different style of tattoo was still just visible.
It was a phoenix.
“Lukiyo,” Ciran murmured.
The young male turned imperiously. “That is Prince Lukiyo to you, Undine!”
Konomelu rose with a groan. “Luk?”
Behind him Nuno floated, defiant and scared.
“Nuno,” Konomelu exclaimed hoarsely
“Dad!” Nuno strained toward the cell. “Dad, I’m so sorry, I—”
“Silence!” Prince Lukiyo slashed a trident in Nuno’s face. Nuno jerked back. “Do not apologize to this traitor. He turned his back on his duty. On his king. It is a mistake you should not repeat.”