Meanwhile, the rest of the ships were either trying to kill the monster or at least slow it down so the vessel carrying the prince could escape danger. And honestly, they were doing a decent job. They managed to destroy four of its tentacles, thanks to a crewman who could make cannonballs explode on impact. But the approaching storm threw their plans to finish off the beast into chaos. Turned out, the creature wasn’t as dumb as they’d hoped. After taking down a second ship, the kraken turned toward the one carrying that same gifted crewman. The crew needed just a few more minutes for another solid strike. But a couple of hits from the tentacles split their ship in half.

Regular cannonballs didn’t do much damage to the monster, even at point-blank range. The remaining ships had only one last chance of getting out of this alive. On ship number four was a sailor they called The Unerring — he never missed a shot. Their final hope rested on him firing the cannon straight into the kraken’s only eye. If he teamed up with the guy who could heat up metal, they might actually pull it off. Somehow, the monster figured out exactly which ship they were on. It was only minutes away from impact.

“This thing’s gonna wipe us out — how much longer to load? Don’t forget, I’ve got to aim, John,” the sailor muttered, nervously twitching a shoulder. He’d seen a lot in his life, had been through plenty, but never before had a kraken been just three hundred meters away.

“The whole crew’s counting on us!”

“Hey, don’t put that pressure on me! I’m doing the best I can. You know the power depends on how long it charges. If we don’t max it out, we won’t get another shot!” John stepped away from the cannon, which was now glowing faintly. “You’ve got exactly three minutes before this thing blows. If we die, it won’t be the kraken’s fault — it'll be ours!”

“Oh, now you wanna talk about pressure, huh?”

While John was loading the cannon, a shadow was watching them closely. Only after the plan had been fully executed did the watcher step out from hiding.

“The Second Truth: the shadow that devours conscience,” came a voice from the dark.

The sailors never stood a chance. For The Unerring, it ended in an instant. He didn’t even get to see his killer — just dropped to the floor of the hold. Only John saw the assassin’s face. Pain, confusion, surprise, and fear all twisted across it in that final moment — and then blood sprayed from his neck.

The stranger glanced at the kraken, then melted back into the shadows. He still had to escape the ship…

All Aion could do now was curse fate and take it out on the world. His damn power of not needing to breathe turned out to be more curse than blessing. Just meters from the kraken, the creature didn’t have time to reach the last ship before it exploded — in a strange blue blaze.

Aion wanted nothing more than to see that monster torn to shreds. Rage clouded his thoughts. He almost laughed when the “Golden Dragon” was swallowed by flames too, its bow sharply dipping toward the sea. The ship looked like a spear mid-flight.

But someone stopped him from losing himself in those bloodthirsty thoughts. Strong hands yanked him back toward the stern. Aion didn’t know this sailor, but something stirred inside him — a gut feeling that he wouldn’t get to see the kraken’s brains splattered after all. Unlike the rest of the crew Aion had met, this guy looked downright angry. Aion hated pulling rank, but he was ready to order the man to let him go — until the ship slammed into the beast and monstrous shrieks filled the air.

“All right, Your Royal Pain-in-the-Ass, we’re getting off this boat. Don’t let go of my hand, I’m not fishing your corpse out of the wreckage.”

The ship began to sink fast. The dying monster clung to it like a drowning man to driftwood. Two more explosions rang out behind them — powder barrels going up. Fire and burning oil lit up the scene, reaching what was left of the other ships. The sailor with the terrible attitude smoothed his dark hair back and narrowed his pale eyes.

“What the hell are you staring at?! We’ve got no time!”

“How dare you speak to me like that?! You didn’t even tell me your name! Let me go! We have to finish off the kraken!” Aion struggled, but the guy’s grip was like iron.

His lips twisted into a crooked smile.

“What’s so funny?!”

“Well, I was told to save the dead prince, not the court jester. How exactly were you gonna kill that thing? Run out there in your shirt and pants, screaming at it? Real warriors never forget their weapon! You even got one?” The sailor dragged Aion to the side of the ship while the prince kept resisting out of sheer stubbornness. “What’s your problem?! There’s a lifeboat. Get in and quit testing my patience!”

“Screw you! Wish I had another ship just so I could ram it right up your—”

That’s when the ship split clean in two, and the lifeboat shattered into pieces. Aion and the sailor were thrown off-balance by the impact. The sailor was the first to recover, grabbing his head. The last chance of avoiding dragging a royal pain through the sea on his back was gone. He looked ready to snap the prince’s neck then and there. As the ship went under, he hurled Aion overboard and jumped in after him. All that was left was hope — hope that the royal backside could swim. At least for a couple minutes.

While the ship sank and Aion and the stranger bickered, a full-blown storm was breaking loose around them. If they’d had time, they might’ve noticed how suspicious the wreck actually was. But they were too busy trying not to die. The sailor searched through debris and crashing waves for the prince — and found him, or else he’d have been a dead man himself. Surprisingly, Aion was doing okay in the water. The sailor spotted a floating washtub nearby, and the perfect plan popped into his head. The brave prince had a new ship now.

“All right, idiot, if you start thrashing or arguing, I’ll leave you here.”

Aion couldn’t even figure out where the voice was coming from until the guy grabbed his arm again.

“Grab onto my back and hold on tight.”

And once again, Aion came through. He didn’t fight it — just clung to the stranger’s broad back. His last underwater dip had taken a lot out of him. He’d barely managed to resurface and grab a passing plank. This was not how he’d imagined his journey. A dead kraken, destroyed ships, fire everywhere, so many lives lost — and the waves. God, those massive waves. Aion had no clue how the guy was managing to swim with him in tow. He’d have sunk like a stone on his own. Not even his power to never tire would’ve saved him from being crushed like a watermelon under the pressure.

They reached the washtub. What a relief not to be kicking in the water anymore!

This thing floated like a dream. Within seconds, Aion was vomiting up seawater. He looked up at his rescuer with a dazed expression. The guy was gasping for breath, frozen in place with an unreadable look on his face, trying to pull himself together. They were slowly drifting away from the wreckage now.

“Don’t even think about getting off that thing. I’ve got to help the others while I still can. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Aion nodded weakly. “But what about you? In a storm like this, you’ll get swept away. You’ll drown. You…”

“I can’t drown, dumbass. Call me Kail-the-Savior.” Then he flashed a grin and vanished into the dark waves.

All the madness finally caught up to Aion. His head was spinning — the world swam in front of his eyes like he’d been running for hours. One word echoed in his mind: horror. The damn washtub kept threatening to flip, but somehow, by sheer dumb luck and the genius of whoever made the thing, it didn’t. If Aion had to choose between staying awake or passing out, he’d choose the latter in a heartbeat. Hopefully, he wouldn’t wake up at the bottom of the sea, surrounded by fish. And preferably, his lunatic rescuer would never find out.

“I’m gonna call you Kail-the-Jackass,” he mumbled before finally passing out.