The collision came with a sound like the ocean splitting in two.
Orange dragon fire struck the Kraken Emperor’s concentrated cyan beam directly above the flooded royal cemetery.
Prince Rowan lowered his silver sword.
Varr, his enormous black dragon, roared beneath him.
For a heartbeat, fire and water-energy pushed against each other.
Then Rowan’s sword began vibrating.
Green-blue sparks raced across the blade.
The cyan beam bent toward the ancient mausoleum behind him.
“Varr! Roll!”
The dragon twisted violently.
A concentrated blast tore past his right wing and struck the marble steps of the royal tomb.
The explosion sent stone fragments flying through the storm.
Rowan held tightly to the saddle.
Behind them, the Kraken Emperor lifted its colossal head.
Eight armored tentacles rose from the black water.
Its golden eyes blazed.
And the cyan core embedded in its forehead was now burning almost white.
Rowan raised his sword again.
Then he saw something that made him hesitate.
The shattered mausoleum was glowing.
Deep beneath its broken steps, ancient symbols had awakened.
They were the same color as the Kraken’s core.
And they were responding to its power.
“That’s impossible,” Rowan whispered.
Varr circled above the ruins.
Below them, the Sea Mausoleum continued breaking apart.
Black obelisks leaned over flooded avenues.
Ancient stone warriors stood waist-deep in violent water.
Royal sarcophagi had been thrown from their resting places.
And at the center of everything, the Kraken Emperor remained surrounded by its enormous tentacles.
Rowan had fought monsters before.
But none had possessed a power connected so deeply to the place it was defending.
He looked toward the cyan symbols beneath the tomb.
Then back at the creature.
“The core isn’t just a weapon.”
Varr released a low growl.
Another enormous tentacle rose from the water.
Rowan tightened his grip.
“Move!”
The tentacle struck the remains of a black obelisk.
Stone exploded outward.
Varr folded his wings and dropped between two giant statues.
The falling debris passed inches above his head.
Rowan leaned sideways, his silver sword extended.
Its blade scraped across the Kraken’s coral armor.
A shower of sparks illuminated the rain.
The creature roared.
A wall of water surged between the royal tombs.
Varr beat his wings and climbed above it.
But Rowan noticed something strange.
The Kraken’s tentacles weren’t simply destroying everything around them.
Three remained wrapped around enormous stone foundations beneath the water.
And whenever the creature moved those three limbs, the cyan symbols along the cemetery brightened.
The Kraken was holding something in place.
A deep rumble rose from beneath the cemetery.
Rowan looked down.
The vortex at the center of the flooded avenue was expanding.
Dark water disappeared into a circular opening surrounded by ancient stone.
Sarcophagus fragments spiraled toward the center.
Broken statues turned in the current.
Even Varr struggled against the enormous downward pull.
Then Rowan saw a shadow beneath the opening.
Not another monster.
Something worse.
A vast black current moved beneath the entire cemetery, pushing upward against an ancient barrier.
The Kraken’s cyan core flashed.
The black current retreated slightly.
Rowan stared.
The creature was fighting two battles.
One against him.
And another against whatever was trapped beneath the tombs.
“Varr, the tallest mausoleum!”
The dragon banked sharply.
They landed on a narrow stone platform above the flooded central courtyard.
Rowan jumped from the saddle.
Rain streamed down his armor.
He approached a carved wall partly hidden beneath fallen masonry.
Ancient symbols covered its surface.
At the center was an enormous image of a Kraken.
Eight tentacles.
Golden eyes.
A brilliant circle upon its forehead.
Beneath the carving stood four black obelisks connected by flowing lines.
And below them, a dark spiral had been sealed beneath the earth.
Rowan brushed away the rainwater.
An inscription became visible.
THE EMPEROR HOLDS THE LAST TIDE.
THE FOUR PILLARS CARRY HIS LIGHT.
BREAK THE EYE, AND THE SEA SHALL FALL.
Rowan went still.
He read the final words again.
Break the eye.
And the sea shall fall.
A terrible realization struck him.
The cyan core was not merely the Kraken Emperor’s greatest weapon.
It was the living heart of an ancient seal.
Centuries earlier, the royal builders had constructed the Sea Mausoleum around the Kraken’s power.
Its enormous coral-armored body could withstand the terrible pressure rising from beneath the ocean floor.
Its cyan core could transform that force into energy.
And the four obelisks distributed the energy through the ancient barrier.
Together, they prevented the imprisoned current known as the Last Tide from breaking through.
The royal cemetery was more than a burial ground.
It was a fortress built around a guardian.
And Rowan had been trying to destroy the guardian’s heart.
The entire mausoleum shook.
A black obelisk collapsed near the eastern courtyard.
Rowan watched it fall.
The monument struck the flooded pavement and split into several enormous pieces.
A cyan line running through its surface flickered.
Then vanished.
The vortex immediately widened.
Water rushed between the royal tombs.
The Kraken Emperor screamed.
Its forehead core blazed.
One enormous tentacle tightened around the remaining foundation.
But the dark current continued rising.
Rowan looked toward the fallen obelisk.
“The beam destroyed one of the pillars.”
Varr lowered his enormous head.
Rowan turned toward the vortex.
“And now the seal is failing.”
Suddenly, the Kraken rose beside the mausoleum.
Its colossal head towered above Rowan.
Golden eyes fixed on the young rider.
Coral armor scraped against the flooded stone walls.
The cyan core began charging again.
Rowan raised his sword.
Varr spread his wings.
For one moment, they prepared to defend themselves.
Then Rowan lowered the blade.
“No.”
The Kraken’s tentacles shifted.
Rowan pointed toward the broken obelisk.
“We know!”
The monster’s golden eyes narrowed.
Rowan continued.
“Your core is protecting the seal!”
A deep rumble rolled from the creature’s enormous chest.
But the cyan light did not fade.
The Kraken still saw Rowan as a threat.
And after everything he had done, Rowan couldn’t blame it.
A tentacle crashed across the platform.
Varr immediately leaped forward.
He caught Rowan with one enormous foreclaw and carried him away from the impact.
The stone platform collapsed behind them.
Rowan climbed back into the saddle.
“Don’t attack the core!”
Varr rose into the storm.
Below them, the Kraken released another tremendous roar.
Its tentacles whipped through the black water.
Rowan looked toward the shattered obelisk.
They needed to repair the ancient seal.
But the Kraken was attacking anything that approached its foundations.
And every movement of the enormous creature threatened to destroy more of the cemetery.
Rowan needed a way to show it that he had changed his purpose.
Varr flew toward the fallen eastern pillar.
The broken stone lay between two flooded royal tombs.
Its pieces were too large for Rowan to move alone.
He examined the surviving sections from above.
The main foundation remained standing.
But its central shaft had shattered.
Without that section, the cyan energy couldn’t travel through the monument.
Then Rowan noticed a rectangular slab resting beside the oldest royal tomb.
It had fallen during the battle.
Its surface carried the same spiral carvings as the broken obelisk.
And unlike the pillar fragments, it was still intact.
Rowan looked toward Varr.
“That stone.”
The black dragon followed his gaze.
“The carvings match.”
They descended beside the royal tomb.
A massive stone sarcophagus rested beneath a damaged arch.
The fallen slab had once formed part of its outer ceremonial cover.
Rowan studied the inscriptions.
The name of the First Sea Queen was carved along one edge.
Beneath it stood a final oath.
LET THE CROWN BE BROKEN BEFORE THE SEAL.
Rowan understood the meaning.
The ancient rulers had never intended their tombs to matter more than the living kingdom.
If the protective barrier failed, even the royal monuments were meant to be sacrificed to restore it.
But moving the enormous slab would be dangerous.
It lay partly submerged beneath a broken stone warrior.
And the Kraken was already turning toward them.
“Varr, lift the statue!”
The dragon landed beside the tomb.
He gripped the fallen warrior’s upper body with his foreclaws.
Then pushed.
The statue shifted.
Its enormous weight scraped across the marble.
Rowan climbed onto the exposed slab.
He pulled his sword free and wedged it beneath the stone’s edge.
“Again!”
Varr strained.
The statue rolled just far enough to release the slab.
Water rushed through the opening.
Rowan jumped backward.
The black dragon seized the carved stone between his foreclaws.
For one hopeful moment, they had what they needed.
Then the Kraken attacked.
A gigantic tentacle rose behind the mausoleum.
Rowan heard the water before he saw it.
“Up!”
Varr launched into the air.
The tentacle slammed against the empty pavement.
A wave exploded between the tombs.
The black dragon struggled under the weight of the stone slab.
Rowan leaned forward.
“Eastern pillar! Go!”
They climbed through the rain.
The Kraken’s golden eyes followed them.
Its core flashed.
Cyan energy gathered.
Rowan looked back.
Another concentrated blast was coming.
He could not outrun it while Varr carried the massive stone.
And if they dropped the slab, the current might swallow it before they could recover it.
“Turn toward the foundation!”
Varr changed direction.
They flew directly above the broken eastern obelisk.
Rowan raised his sword.
The cyan beam erupted from the Kraken’s forehead.
But instead of striking the monster, Rowan angled the blade across the approaching energy.
The silver weapon began vibrating violently.
Cyan sparks raced along its edge.
Rowan struggled to keep his grip.
“Now!”
Varr dropped the stone slab.
It fell toward the damaged foundation.
Rowan redirected the beam downward.
The energy struck the ancient carvings on the falling stone.
Blue light spread across its surface.
And for a moment, the enormous slab became weightless inside the glowing current.
The stone descended into the broken pillar’s foundation.
Its carved lines aligned with the remaining channels.
A tremendous pulse traveled through the monument.
Then the cyan light went dark again.
Rowan stared.
The slab had reached the correct position.
But the energy could not pass through it.
A narrow gap remained between the carved stone and the damaged foundation.
The pieces needed to be joined.
Varr hovered above the ruins.
The Kraken raised another tentacle.
Rowan looked down at the gap.
Then at the black dragon’s glowing orange jaws.
“Fire.”
Varr hesitated.
The last sustained blast had triggered the monster’s furious attack.
Rowan pointed toward the broken stone joint.
“Not the Kraken.”
He lowered his sword.
“Here.”
Varr descended carefully.
A focused stream of orange fire struck the bronze fittings surrounding the damaged foundation.
The ancient metal began glowing.
Rowan extended his silver sword toward the joint.
Cyan energy traveled along the blade.
Then into the softened bronze.
The metal flowed into the carved channels.
The gap slowly closed.
Steam burst from the flooded foundation.
The eastern pillar glowed.
One line of cyan light appeared.
Then another.
The ancient energy began moving again.
Rowan stared as the restored pillar sent its light toward the center of the cemetery.
“We did it!”
But the Kraken was still charging another attack.
The enormous creature rose above the flooded tombs.
Its forehead core burned brighter.
Varr spread his wings protectively.
Rowan immediately raised one empty hand.
“Wait!”
The Kraken’s tentacles stopped for a heartbeat.
The young rider pointed toward the repaired eastern pillar.
The cyan energy was flowing through it.
Then he pointed toward the creature’s forehead.
“We’re not trying to destroy you!”
The Kraken’s golden eyes shifted toward the glowing monument.
Its enormous head lowered slightly.
For the first time, it appeared to hesitate.
Then the black current beneath the cemetery surged again.
A terrible crack split the central gateway.
The Kraken turned.
And Rowan saw the guardian make a choice.
Instead of striking the dragon, it wrapped two enormous tentacles around the damaged gate.
The sea erupted.
A massive column of black water rose from the central vortex.
The restored eastern pillar blazed.
So did the other three.
But the energy was still unbalanced.
The Kraken’s cyan core flashed rapidly.
Its tentacles tightened around the central opening.
Rowan understood.
The restored pillar had renewed the ancient network.
But the surviving sections needed to be brought back into alignment.
And the central gateway had shifted during the battle.
The Kraken could hold the gate shut.
But it couldn’t repair the surrounding structure while maintaining its grip.
This time, Rowan knew exactly what they had to do.
“Varr, the center!”
The black dragon flew toward the vortex.
The current dragged at his enormous wings.
Broken sarcophagus fragments spun beneath them.
A giant stone warrior leaned dangerously over the central opening.
Rowan saw the problem.
The statue had fallen against the gateway’s outer ring, preventing the ancient mechanism from closing.
The Kraken’s tentacles were holding the ring together.
But the fallen warrior kept one section wedged open.
Rowan pointed.
“That statue!”
Varr roared.
They descended.
The dragon seized the warrior’s upper arm with his claws.
He pulled.
The stone moved slightly.
Then the current surged again.
Varr lost his grip.
The statue began sliding toward the opening.
Rowan jumped from the saddle onto the gateway’s outer ledge.
Water rushed past his boots.
He drove his sword beneath the statue’s shoulder.
The silver blade wedged against a carved stone joint.
“Varr! Push!”
The black dragon braced his hind claws against the platform.
He pushed the statue from the opposite side.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the heavy stone shifted.
The statue rolled away from the gateway.
Its enormous body crashed into the flooded courtyard.
The outer ring moved.
But not far enough.
The central mechanism was still resisting the Kraken’s pressure.
Rowan looked at the remaining gap.
He realized the ring had to turn.
And there was only one creature strong enough to move it.
Rowan faced the Kraken Emperor.
Its colossal head towered above the mausoleum.
The cyan core glowed steadily now.
The guardian watched him.
Rowan raised his sword toward the ring.
Then lowered it.
He pointed toward the broken mechanism.
“Turn it!”
The Kraken remained still.
Rowan repeated the movement.
He placed both hands against the ancient ring and pushed.
The stone barely moved.
Then he looked up at the enormous creature.
“Please.”
For several seconds, rain fell between them.
The Kraken’s golden eyes studied him.
Then one colossal tentacle slowly moved toward the ring.
It wrapped around the outer stone.
The creature tightened its grip.
The entire gateway began rotating.
Ancient carvings aligned.
One by one, the cyan channels connected.
The four obelisks flashed together.
Energy raced between them.
The Kraken’s forehead core erupted with brilliant light.
But this time, the power didn’t fire toward Rowan.
It flowed downward through the ancient network.
The dark current beneath the cemetery began weakening.
Rowan watched the central opening.
The black water slowed.
Then the gateway started closing.
The Kraken released a deep, resonant roar.
Varr answered with a tremendous cry of his own.
For the first time, dragon and sea monster were working together.
The final surge came without warning.
A gigantic wave of black water burst from the narrowing opening.
It struck the central platform.
Rowan lost his footing.
His sword slid across the wet stone.
The current pulled him toward the gateway.
“Varr!”
The black dragon dived.
But the collapsing wave forced him backward.
Rowan grabbed the edge of a broken step.
Below him, the dark opening was still moving.
His fingers slipped.
Then an enormous tentacle emerged beside him.
Rowan froze.
The Kraken Emperor extended the tip of its armored limb.
For a moment, the prince remembered every terrifying strike from the battle.
Then the tentacle wrapped gently around his waist.
It lifted him away from the opening.
And placed him safely beside Varr.
Rowan stared at the colossal creature.
The Kraken had saved him.
The same monster whose coral armor he had attacked with his sword.
The same creature he had nearly destroyed with dragon fire.
Rowan slowly lowered his head.
“Thank you.”
The Kraken’s enormous golden eye remained fixed on him.
Then the guardian turned back toward the gateway.
The final ring was almost closed.
But the cyan light in its forehead was fading.
Rowan realized the cost.
The Kraken had been fighting for so long that its strength was nearly exhausted.
The seal required one final surge.
And the creature might not have enough power left.
Rowan looked toward the four restored obelisks.
All were glowing.
Their energy traveled through the ancient channels.
Then he looked toward his silver sword.
It was still lying near the gateway.
Cyan light flickered along its blade.
The weapon had reacted to the Kraken’s core throughout the battle.
Now Rowan understood why.
Its ancient silver carried enchantments capable of guiding magical currents.
The sword couldn’t replace the guardian.
But it could help direct power through the completed network.
Rowan hurried toward the blade.
He picked it up.
Then climbed onto Varr.
“One last time.”
The dragon spread his enormous wings.
They rose above the center of the Sea Mausoleum.
The storm clouds opened briefly.
Moonlight illuminated the ancient royal tombs.
Below, the Kraken Emperor held the gateway with four tentacles.
Its remaining limbs braced against the flooded foundations.
The cyan core glowed faintly.
Rowan raised his sword.
“Varr, fire!”
The black dragon opened his jaws.
Orange flames surged toward the sword.
Rowan tilted the blade into the heat.
The silver markings awakened.
A brilliant line of energy traveled from the sword toward the repaired obelisks.
The four pillars responded.
Cyan light rushed toward the center.
For one magnificent moment, the entire cemetery glowed.
The Kraken Emperor lifted its enormous head.
The cyan core brightened.
Energy flowed through the ancient gateway.
The ring turned.
A thunderous sound rolled beneath the sea.
Then the central opening closed.
The black current vanished.
The vortex collapsed.
Water rushed back into the flooded avenues.
The enormous stone warriors stood motionless once again.
And the four obelisks continued glowing beneath the storm.
The Last Tide was sealed.
For several seconds, Rowan couldn’t move.
He remained seated on Varr, staring at the quieting ocean.
The Kraken Emperor slowly released the gateway.
Its enormous tentacles withdrew from the ancient stone.
Its golden eyes moved across the royal tombs.
Several monuments had been destroyed.
Others stood damaged but intact.
The guardian’s cyan core pulsed softly.
Then its colossal head lowered toward the water.
Rowan wondered whether it was dying.
“Varr, down.”
The black dragon descended carefully.
They landed on the highest surviving mausoleum.
Rowan approached the edge.
“Kraken Emperor!”
The enormous creature turned.
Its golden eyes focused on him.
Rowan raised one empty hand.
He no longer held his sword toward the guardian.
The Kraken watched him.
Then one of its great tentacles rose slowly from the water.
It rested beside the mausoleum.
Not attacking.
Not threatening.
Simply waiting.
Rowan stepped closer.
He placed his hand against the ancient coral armor.
The surface was rough and cold.
Beneath it, he felt a slow pulse of living energy.
The guardian was exhausted.
But alive.
Varr lowered his enormous head beside Rowan.
The dragon released a soft rumble.
The Kraken answered with a deep vibration that traveled through the flooded stone.
For a brief moment, the three remained together beneath the fading storm.
Then the Kraken gently withdrew its tentacle.
Its enormous body began sinking beneath the water.
Rowan watched its golden eyes disappear.
The cyan core was the last thing he could see.
A faint blue light moving into the depths.
Then it vanished.
By dawn, the ocean surrounding the Sea Mausoleum had become calm.
The ancient royal cemetery was damaged.
Several black obelisks had cracked.
Two enormous stone warriors lay broken among the flooded avenues.
And the First Sea Queen’s ceremonial tomb no longer had its original outer cover.
But the four protective pillars remained connected.
Cyan light traveled steadily beneath the water.
The royal builders’ ancient promise had survived.
The Kraken Emperor had protected the seal.
And Rowan had finally understood why the mausoleum had been built around it.
The glowing core wasn’t simply a weapon.
It was both the heart of the guardian and the living key to the ancient barrier.
The royal tombs had been placed around that power to preserve it.
Destroying the core would have destroyed the last defense against the Last Tide.
Rowan stood beside Varr on the highest surviving tower.
He looked toward the flooded cemetery.
“I thought we were here to kill a monster.”
The black dragon gave a quiet rumble.
Rowan nodded.
“I know.”
He looked toward the place where the Kraken had disappeared.
“It nearly destroyed us.”
He paused.
“But we were attacking the thing it had spent centuries protecting.”
Varr lowered his head.
Rowan rested one hand against the dragon’s dark scales.
Below them, the cyan light continued moving between the ancient obelisks.
The sea was quiet.
The gateway was closed.
And somewhere beneath the royal tombs, the Kraken Emperor was finally resting.
As Varr spread his enormous wings, Rowan took one final look at the Sea Mausoleum.
He remembered the first terrible moment of the battle.
The falling obelisk.
The sweeping tentacle.
The fire striking coral armor.
The gigantic water-energy beam.
And the instant when fire, steel, and cyan power had nearly collided in a final devastating attack.
He had believed victory meant destroying the glowing core.
Instead, he had discovered that the core was the reason the surrounding ocean still existed.
The greatest threat had never been the enormous creature rising between the tombs.
It was the darkness trapped beneath them.
And the Kraken Emperor had been standing between that darkness and the rest of the world.
Rowan climbed into his saddle.
Varr rose above the ancient cemetery.
Together, they flew toward the brightening horizon.
Far below, a single cyan light flickered beneath the waves.
The guardian was still there.
And now Rowan knew the truth.
Some monsters are feared because of what they could destroy.
Others are feared because no one realizes what they have spent centuries protecting.
