Chapter 2
“When I grab you, pretend my arm is a tentacle.”
Luna had to smirk. “It’s the wrong color.”
Marrick rolled his eyes. “What? You want me to paint my arm blue and cover it in slime?”
“Tentacles aren’t slimy.”
“Oh, you know that do you?”
“I’ve done my research.”
“Okay, slippery not slimy. Now! Let’s do this thing.” One of Marrick’s huge green arms wound round her neck, she did the quick twist he’d taught her, twirled, ducked.
And freed herself.
“Much better.” The orc grinned. “It’s speed, dexterity and wiggle that will get you out of a tentacle hold.”
“Is wiggle an official term?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ve never thought being small would be an advantage, but now…” Luna grinned. “Can we try that again. I think you were being too easy on me.”
“Remember that they’ve got arms too.”
“Yeah, I always thought that was grossly unfair,” Luna grumbled. “Why do they get to use arms, legs and tentacles.”
“Because Kraken set the rules. Besides, minotaur’s use tails and horns, gargoyles slap with wings. That’s the fun of the game.” Marrick smirked. “Monster assets— use what you’ve got and go for it.”
“And you. How did you win?”
“Brute force.”
“It wasn’t just that and you know it.” No one had quite believed it when Marrick had won the games last year. A Naga had got close once, but it was always a given that the Kraken would be victorious. Other species had gone along with it, with good-natured camaraderie. For the most part. Until in recent years, the monsters had decided to get competitive.
Frankly, folks had gotten sick of Kraken egos and the way they showed up in Motham for just a month a year to stake their claim.
And this year it would be different again. Because it was the first time a human had entered the games.
A female human.
A small female human.
Luna backed off now, dancing on her toes. Except these moves wouldn’t be nearly as easy in the ring because the games were conducted in mud, and no way would she be prancing this easily in all that glug. “Don’t go easy on me this time,” she said.
They moved around each other stealthily, Marrick’s eyes glinting dark red in his big orc head, panther like in his grace despite his size. She got how he’d beaten Acha last year. He had the ability to read situations and as the manager of Club Beast he’d been wrestling for many years.
And of course, Acha had been too cocky by far. More interested in playing to the crowd, which had given Marrick the upper hand.
Suddenly Marrick darted forward, his arm grabbing her around the ribcage so fast it winded her. Luna squirmed. His grip tightened. She let out a strangled little wheeze and immediately he loosened, enough for her to duck out from under his armpit.
“I wasn’t ready for that,” she gasped, rubbing at her breastbone.
“You weren’t watching me closely enough. You have to anticipate the synapses snapping in my brain even before I do.”
“I was thinking…”
“No room for thinking, moon girl. Just feel. Then act.”
Luna set her jaw, pushed back her short straight blonde hair. It had been long, almost to her waist, but that had proved an impediment when she started to fight at the club. Folks could pull it, even when she tied it back, and it got all sweaty and hot on the back of her neck. So off it came. She’d looked at her golden tresses lying on the floor of the Harpy’s salon, and realized it was the end of an era. Luna Storm was all grown up now.
But then, come to think of it, had she ever really been a child? Hadn’t that been stolen from her?
“You’re right. Stupid mind.” Luna muttered. She did think too much. Her brain at night was consumed with memories, with planning, plotting.
“Your mind is a tool that must be trained. it’s not good or bad unless you let it be,” Marrick said.
“I know.” Luna nodded. She’d been working on that of late. Not letting bitterness consume her thoughts continuously. Clearing her mind with meditations. Trying to heal.
“One more time— let me prove I can focus,” she pleaded.
To her annoyance, Marrick shook his head. “No. You’re trying to correct what you perceive as a weakness. I’ll beat you again, you’ll get more annoyed, you’ll tense up and make more errors. Let’s take a break.”
Luna pursed her lips. He was right, of course. She was pushing herself. Having lived alone, a fiercely independent human on the edge of the marshes for so long, she’d used her determination and sheer bloody mindedness to survive. But sometimes, like now, she was finding that it could work against her.
She took a deep breath. “What’s my practice then, for tonight?
“Visualization.”
“I thought I’d go practice my foot work in the mud flats.”
Marrick shook his head. “Swim if you must. But I want you to focus on relaxation. When I took you in that last hold, you went rigid, just staying relaxed would have given you a chance to find the gap in my hold, wriggle your way out. Especially if my arm had been a tentacle.”
Luna grabbed her towel and flicked it at him, before drying the sweat from her neck and armpits.
In the middle of summer, it didn’t take much in Motham’s heat to work up a sweat. At least that was one good thing about the games taking place in mud. It was cool.
“Will Acha compete this year, d’you think?” She mused, as Marrick joined her at the edge of the ring, slugging a long draft from his water bottle.
He smacked his lips. “No way. My win was deeply humiliating for them. They’ll be looking for a new contestant. Less braun, less bravado. More subtlety… they’ll choose an enigma.”
“An enigma?”
“Yeah. A kraken who is hard to read. Other species have been analyzing my win. Trying to glean tips so they can do the same. But you can bet the contest will be very different this year.”
“Yeah,” Luna laughed. “Because I’ll be competing.”
“Sure. That’ll be a surprise for them. Have you signed up yet?”
“Nope. I’ll do it last minute. I’m planning to be an enigma.”
He barked a laugh. “Well then, whoever you’re up against, you’ll be well matched. Want to grab a bite to eat?”
Luna hesitated. “Sure, why not.” Truth was, she needed to be more sociable, be seen around the quay, eating and going to clubs even. She stifled a grimace. She’d only ever frequented clubs to get laid. And those days were well over. Competing meant she’d be the center of attention suddenly. Hard for a reclusive human in a monster world. The humans who did well here were good at promoting themselves, but Luna had just a tiny handful of friends.
Marrick being one of them would surely go in her favor. He would drum up support for her.
“Thanks for believing in me,” she said as they left the club after a quick shower and made their way toward the little diner on the corner.
He gave her a brotherly hug. “You’ve got talent, moon girl. And I know how important this is to you.”
“It feels like my only bargaining chip.” She sighed. “If I win, maybe I can force them to tell me what happened.”
“I hope so.”
She cast Marrick a quick glance. He didn’t sound as sure as she’d like him to.
“How else do you think I could get the truth out of them? They’re impossible to even get near— except once a year.”
Marrick nodded. “This is your best bet, for sure.”
As they ordered and sat down at the table she fidgeted. “I saw a kraken the other day actually. In the waters near their sacred caves.”
Marrick’s thick brows rose. “Really.”
“Yeah, he actually came close, stared at me.” She felt a little shiver transcend her spine at the memory of his luminous eyes on her.
“If a Kraken is that close to shore, it means they are readying themselves. Was there any other activity?”
“Not that I saw. I was looking for clams for supper. But he…” She couldn’t explain the feeling she had seeing him. “He was partially in human form, which was... interesting I guess.” More than interesting if she was honest. His features had been arresting. Dark almond shaped uptilted eyes, full lips, a fine bone structure with broad high cheekbones. His chest had clearly been human, with defined pecs and an impressive six pack and a shade of luminous blue, his limbs a mix of tentacles and human legs and arms. In half-shift.
She couldn’t explain the tingle of excitement that ran through her. As though here was her destiny right in front of her. Afterward at home, cooking up her marinara pasta, she couldn’t get him out of her head.
And he’d swum toward her. As if she fascinated him too.
They’d stared at each other for a long moment, even through her mask she’d felt his dark gaze boring right into her. And then she’d accidentally exhaled which meant there was no breath left in her lungs. She’d swum swiftly up to the surface. But the contact had affected her, disturbed her in ways she didn’t understand.
But no way was she telling Marrick any of that.
“When krakens come to the caves, they are in readiness. They may be auditioning candidates at present,” Marrick mused.
Their food arrived, and Luna dug into her noodles. Her heart raced a little thinking that the kraken she’d seen might be her rival.
The idea of wrestling his muscled body made her mouth water.
She told herself it was the fragrant noodles in front of her.
It was late by the time Luna got home. An afternoon spent on the forklift in her job at the docks after her morning of training meant she was wiped. She’d moored her boat, walked wearily up the plank path above the marshes to her little tumble-down shack, the one she’d lived in since she was eight years old close to the river mouth.
It wasn’t much of a home, but it suited her needs, which weren’t many. She swam, caught fish for supper, went out in her little wooden dingy. Made a few odd marsh critter friends and using her wits, had eventually landed herself a job at the warehouses near the docks.
She’d lied, told them she was elf. A fully grown elf. She was thirteen years old.
“Large for an elf, aren’t you.” The boss, a big orc had grunted.
“My clan are on the taller side, yes.”
She’d even made herself pointed ear extensions out of papier maché and painted them to match her skin, but he’d barely glanced at her ears.
“We need a cleaner. You’ll do,” the orc had grunted.
So, she’d worked hours and hours a week, and finally got promoted to packing when she was big enough, and from there to operating the forklifts.
She was good at the controls, her reflexes and co-ordination soon made her the fastest packer on the floor. After a while she didn’t bother with the fake ears. Nobody seemed to care what species she was as long as she got the job done.
And all the while she bided her time. Each year she watched the Kraken Games that took place in the waters off Motham bay, taking notes, practicing her own moves in the cracked mirror in her bedroom.
It was at the games that she’d met Marrick, all of three years ago.
When she’d gone to his change room out the back of the arena, he’d opened the door, given her a once over and snorted out of big green nostrils.
“What’s a human doing here?”
“I’m an elf,” she responded crossly.
“Pull the other one. It’s green.” But he’d grinned and she had to smirk back. She liked this orc already.
“I want to take part in the games one day,” she told him. “You’re good, I’ve watched you, can you train me?”
He’d guffawed loudly. But he’d given her Club Beasts details. “Come to a class see what you think of wrestling. No promises though. What’s your name, little human?”
“Luna.”
“Suits you. Okay moon girl. See you soon.” And then he’d shut the door in her face.
Marrick hadn’t won. Not that year, nor the next. But then he had, and he’d been her personal trainer at Club Beast these past six months.
She was going to beat that damn kraken; she knew it in her bones.
And her win would not be the Cup. Or the prize money. She’d happily forfeit both. Her prize would be a meeting with the Kraken leaders. To find out what happened to her family. To Tomas.
In her tiny kitchen, Luna opened the rusty fridge, (everything always turned rusty in the marshes) and found a few limp lettuce leaves, a piece of curled ham and a chunk of dried out cheese.
She sighed. There was a wizened apple in the fruit bowl. She’d been spending too much money on training and not enough on food. Even though Marrick had given her a great price for her sessions with him, you didn’t earn much at the docks. She sniffed the ham. It was okay, it wouldn’t poison her. She’d fry up the bread and melt the ham and cheese over it. Throw out the lettuce but eat the apple.
She’d just sat down to her makeshift meal when there was a knock on the door.
Checking the spy hole, she was relieved to see it was her other friend in the whole wide world, Harper. Harper was a genuine half elf, half human, one of just a handful who now lived and worked in Motham. They’d met at Sweet Clams café where Harper worked as a waitress, on one of Luna’s pay days, (the only day she could afford to buy chowder). Harper had given her a second serve for free. They’d been friends ever since.
When Luna opened the door, Harper shoved a big, yummy smelling container into her hands.
“For you. From me.”
Luna’s nose worked at the delicious fragrance. Chowder. A huge pot of it.
“Heard you weren’t eating enough.”
“Who from?” Luna grabbed the container like it contained pure gold and walked back into the kitchen.
“Sweet Clams is goss central; you know that.”
Luna tried to set her chin into stubborn mode, but in front of Harper—sweet, kind-hearted Harper, it wouldn’t comply. Her shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”
Harper hooked her butt onto one of the crates that Luna had got from the docks and pretended were stools, even made little plywood seats to go on top. When you lived alone you came to be your own handy person.
She could feel her friend’s eyes boring into her back as she put the chowder on the stove.
“So, how’s it going?”
“Good”.
“Training going well with Marrick?”
“Ok.”
“Can you give an answer that’s more than one syllable,” Harper grumbled.
Luna gave a smirk over her shoulder. “That’s not fair, the last word was two.”
“Yep.”
“Hey, stop taking the piss.”
Yep.” Harper giggled. “Actually, I need some advice. Guy related.”
“Wrong person.”
“You’re my best friend and you’ve had gazillions of relationships.”
“Hook-ups.”
“Yes, but you’ve done the whole dating thing and other than stupid Wyatt I’ve not— you know, really dated anyone at all.”
“Harps, hon, I do sex, I don’t date. Did.” Luna corrected. It had been a year since her last hook-up; training had taken precedence.
“Yeah, but you know how to read guys.”
Luna sighed. She wasn’t exactly proud of her dating history. But she wasn’t ashamed either. She had sex because it made her feel empowered. And probably because truthfully, it made her feel less alone for a short moment in time. The touch of a big paw, a large cock to ride, the sharp slap of a wing or tail on her butt, even if it made her eyes water with pain, it was good pain, the kind of pain that stopped her from scratching at her own skin. She’d found out sex worked as a panacea for her misery when she was just old enough to be legal. A minotaur had given her a gentle introduction to the subject and losing her virginity had been pleasant enough for her to decide to keep going.
Since then, she’d had no trouble picking up monster guys. They loved fucking a human. She’d been with most species by now. Always kicked them out of her bed before first light. Which conversely seemed to make them keener.
“Yeah, well if you want advice on the casual shag, I’m your girl.” She poured the chowder into a bowl. “Want some?”
“No, I’ve eaten.”
Luna sat down opposite her friend and tried not to look like she was about to die of starvation as she picked up the spoon. “I’ve a hunch advice on how to get shagged stupid by multiple guys is not what you’re after,” she said.
Harper shook her head. “No, just one. Hear me out and give me your opinion. Noah?—”
“Ah, Noah! Should have guessed.” Noah was a sexy cinnamon roll selkie who Harper had been in love with for as long as Luna had known her.
Harper buried her nose in her glass of wine. “Busted.” She glanced at Luna over the top, her big blue eyes sparkling. “Give me some seduction tips. He’s been coming to the café nearly every day recently and I - I need to give him a clue that I’m interested.”
Luna laughed. “Just ask him on a date.” She’d never been into the coy flirting act. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t know how to flirt.
Harper looked shocked. “Me— ask him!”
Luna laughed, filled her glass with wine, just one would be okay. She barely allowed herself alcohol during training, but hey, she had to support her friend. “What’s the worst that could happen? He could say no. Big deal. Then you move on.”
“I’d be devastated.”
Luna shrugged. “See. You’re asking the wrong person. If a guy turns me down, I shrug it off, no hard feelings.”
“Egh, I should have known you’d be no help.” Harper pouted.
“Truth is, you just want me to hear your seduction plan and approve it,” Luna said, then dug into her soup. Chowder heaven!
Harper laughed and took another sip of wine. “True. Damn you—And I wanted to bring you some food, you’re getting too skinny.”
Luna reached over and squeezed her friend’s arm. “Who needs guys when they have a friend like you. Now, shoot. I’m all ears.”
As Harper explained how she intended to make it clear to Noah that she was interested, by batting her eyelashes, holding his gaze for longer than was entirely necessary, giving him an extra-large serve of chowder with some free shrimp on the side, Luna made encouraging noises between mouthfuls.
Finally, Harper said, “Or I could just ask if he’s free for a drink sometime.” She scrunched up her face, drumming her feet on the floor. “Ooh noooo, I just can’t, if he turns me down, I’d die.”
Luna had to physically stop her eyes from rolling. How long had Harper had the hots for Noah? At least two years. In between, Noah had dated someone else, and Harper had dated Wyatt, Noah’s good for nothing brother. But she’d always really wanted Noah.
Luna didn’t get it; she was over a guy as soon as the chase was done. And her needs satisfied.
She guessed somewhere deep in her soul she would like to know what yearning for another felt like – the way Harper yearned for Noah. But it was like her capacity for loving someone was dead and buried…. down there in the briny depths of the sea with her family. Inside her chest, her heart felt like a small shard of sea glass, polished hard.
She would never fall in love. Some things you just knew.
Besides, life was easier on your own. No compromises. No arguing. Friends like Harper and Marrick were enough to ease the gnaw of loneliness in her gut.
Harper huffed a sigh. “Guess I’ve talked myself into… maintaining the status quo.” She drained her glass. “Maybe if I hadn’t dated Wyatt, I’d….”
“You broke it off with Wyatt six months ago. That’s a respectable time.”
“I s’pose. Anyway, enough of my dating dramas – or lack of them. Tell me in more than two words how training’s going?”
Luna threw her spoon into her now empty bowl. “Yum. That was divine. And yeah, I’m getting better, my moves are quicker, more skilful— I think. It’s hard, though when I have no idea how it will feel wrestling a Kraken, I mean I watch the footage over and over, but that’s not the same as feeling it. Marrick does a great job, he knows the moves a kraken will make.” She remembered how she’d got it all wrong today. “And then of course, we don’t know who will compete this year.”
“Not Acha?
“Marrick thinks not. And I agree. They won’t put a defeated Kraken back in the ring.”
“That’s a shame. I know you’d really got your head around Acha’s moves.”
Luna huffed. She’d been studying Acha’s game these past few years. Learning his weaknesses, his strengths, talking incessantly to Marrick about it. She reckoned she could almost second guess that kraken in the ring. If it was Acha competing this year, she’d be more confident. She stroked the stem of her wine glass pensively. “The fact is, they can spring a new competitor on you without any warning. Kraken hold all the cards.”
“Well, they do fund the games,” Harper reasoned. “And supply all the infrastructure, so I guess they feel like that’s their prerogative. They must have hated Acha being defeated.”
“At least it proved the event isn’t completely rigged,” Luna added. There had long been rumors that some of the contestants were stooges, paid by kraken to compete, but it had never been proven. And with Marrick’s win, it seemed the games weren’t a total set-up—which meant she stood a chance of winning. If she could employ techniques that the kraken weren’t expecting.
For a start, they wouldn’t be expecting a human to compete.
Not in their wildest dreams.
“If you win, do you think they’ll talk to you?” Harper asked softly.
Luna stifled her sense of uncertainty. “Yes, if I give up the prize money and renounce the title, they’ll have to give me something in return.” She hesitated. “And even if I don’t win, they’ll soon realize I’m not going away. I’ll be there every single year like a thorn in their side until they tell me the truth. They’ll hate that… and the Tween Council of Towns will love it.”
“You won’t talk to them about it, surely?”
“No way.” Luna scowled. “I probably hate high-breed humans as much as the kraken do.” She remembered bitterly how not a single human from the valley towns of Tween or Twill had come to help her when she was down and out as a kid.
They both fell silent, Luna breathing hard, the way she always did when she recalled why she was doing this, the events of that terrible day when she was eight years old. Harper knew about it—at least, the bits Luna had been prepared to tell her over the past few years as her trust had deepened. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you— for competing?”
Her friend shook her head. “It’s just—oh, I don’t know…” Harper spread her palms as if trying to weigh it up. “Kraken are so secretive, and then—maybe the Thedaka krakens, maybe they weren’t the clan responsible for…” Her words trailed off.
“Murdering my family?” Luna tried to keep bitterness out of her voice.
Harper visibly winced. “I’m sorry Luna, I just… worry for you, if your plan fails.”
Luna pinned back her shoulders. “I know it might fail.” In truth, she hadn’t really thought about what she’d do if she lost the games, or worse, won them and still the kraken refused to talk.
“Look, I know I can’t get Mom and Dad back.” Luna blinked away the image of her parents being sucked under the waves that night, gone forever in the wreckage of their boat. But if it had only been that… Only. Bah! Like losing your parents was nothing. “But a bright blue kraken carried Tomas off, Harps. Blue kraken are Thedaka krakens. It disappeared with him in its tentacles. He was screaming his lungs out. I can’t move on until I know what happened to him.”
Harper nodded, then reached across the table and took Luna’s hand. Luna wrapped her fingers round Harper’s, squeezing hard as she tried to swallow the sudden lump of emotion in her throat.
“You know I’m here for you babe. Whatever happens, I’ll support you.”
“Thank you.” Luna shook her head and forced a bright smile. “I’m going to practice in the mud flats tomorrow. Wanna come and watch? It’ll be funny at least.”
“Sure, why not?” Harper’s face lit up. “Maybe I’ll ask Noah to join me.”
Luna chuckled. “Don’t you dare. I’m not having a selkie tell me how I’m messing up.”
“Noah would never do that.”
“Yeah. I know. Okay, fine, bring him if you like.”
“I’ll probably be too chicken to ask.” Harper hopped off the crate and headed for the door. “Gotta get my beauty sleep. He said he’d be in for lunch tomorrow. That’s the third day this week.”
Luna laughed and shook her head as she saw her friend out.
Goddess above. Falling in love.
What a total waste of time.