Chapter 22 Prince Sloth
TWENTY-TWO
Prince Sloth
I STUDIED LORE CLOSELY, my focus tracing every subtle shift in her expression as I tried to decipher the emotions hidden behind her calm facade.
The moment lingered between us, heavy with my unspoken words.
I couldn’t sense her emotions, and I wasn’t sure if it was another symptom of my dwindling powers or if she’d somehow blocked me.
Very few beings in any of the realms had that power.
Dreamweavers, to my knowledge, weren’t among them.
I’d come here to visit my library and do some quick research but couldn’t.
Either my power was severely drained now, or something was preventing me from using my magic to get there.
I was unable to replenish my magic from my court, and stoking sloth in someone wasn’t ideal given our surroundings. My frustration had grown tenfold.
I’d crossed a line I shouldn’t have when I kissed her, but she dismissed it with a nonchalant wave, as if it hadn’t stirred anything within her.
It was far from insignificant.
Something awakened in me. Something I was having a difficult time wrangling back into submission. I’d been grappling with it ever since.
I would blame my reaction on this peculiar dream realm, but I suspected it had little to do with it. And now that my library was taken from me, I had no text to pull to help decipher what the hells I’d felt.
If Lore wanted to move on from it, I wouldn’t press her into a discussion.
All the reasons I’d sketched out earlier for why we shouldn’t give in to temptation remained. More so now than before if that single kiss was anything to go by.
“Sometimes I think the Liber Noctem’s magic grates on me.”
Her brows pinched together. “How?”
I turned back to the window, running my hand along the drapery as I watched the storm clouds gather.
Lightning whipped across the sky.
Ten seconds later, thunder clapped.
It wouldn’t be long before the storm hit us.
“I believe it has something to do with the tattoo. I also think that might be interfering with my powers, but I haven’t had time to analyze it fully, so it’s just a working theory.
I normally replenish my magic through my court, so it’s also possible this realm is simply taking its toll.
There was no need to discuss it when you have so much else to be concerned with. I might not even be right.”
All of a sudden, I felt Lore’s emotions again. They were like a tsunami.
I squinted into the darkness.
I could have sworn I’d seen a glint below the water.
“You mentioned a sea monster yesterday. Does it attack the ship in your story?”
I watched Lore’s expression in the window’s reflection.
Her gaze moved from me to the storm, a furrow in her brow. She hadn’t tamped down her emotions; if anything they seemed to rise higher. It seemed extreme. I suspected the Liber Noctem was close and ready to act.
“It does, but it’s not until the end of the book and it’s not very big. This is, by all accounts, too early for that to happen.”
Unless the Liber Noctem was running interference.
I saw the exact moment horror dawned as she came to that same conclusion.
She smothered her fear an instant later.
“I’ll try to get us to a quieter story before—”
Her words were abruptly silenced by an eerie, mournful wail emanating from the depths of the ocean just outside our window.
It was a haunting sound that lingered in the air, sending chills along my spine. I pivoted to face her.
The column of her throat bobbed visibly as she struggled to swallow the next wave of fear I sensed coming from her.
“Dear gods.” She tore her attention from the window and looked at me. “In the book, the monster eats a few crew members, but it’s killed with a harpoon.”
Whatever made that noise sounded much larger than something easily dispatched by that sort of weapon. Ten harpoons wouldn’t likely have enough firepower to stop it.
Her fear was growing.
“Do you know what this test might be now?”
She nodded. “I have a slight phobia of drowning.”
I drew in a deep breath. Then the dark book would definitely attempt that. We’d simply keep her belowdecks and out of harm’s way.
“Grab the phoenix tear. Try to visualize another story. Just like you did before I was almost beheaded.”
Lore closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling as something brushed up against the side of the ship, forcing us to sway wildly.
I felt her fear grow impossibly stronger.
Something deep inside me twisted. My hands flexed at my sides.
It took a moment to realize what it was, a protective urge.
My instincts demanded I grab her and run. The almost overwhelming need to do just that pounded in time with my heart.
I struggled to rein myself in, completely out of my element as I tried to take in whatever was happening with me. I breathed out, keeping myself centered.
I watched her hands curl into fists as she concentrated on channeling her magic into the phoenix tear.
She moved to the bed and sat down, her eyes closed in concentration.
Another wail went up outside.
Seconds later, the ship lurched violently, caught in the turbulence of the monster’s wake. It hadn’t even attacked; it was just languidly circling us, a predator toying with its prey.
When another moment passed and Lore showed no signs of manifesting us into a new scene, I shifted to our next best option.
I strode to Lore and squatted before her.
None of the earlier tension between us remained.
“I’m going topside for a few minutes. Gather as many supplies as you can safely carry on your person.”
Her panicked gaze shot to me. “You’re leaving me alone? What if I shift stories without you?”
I suspected that couldn’t happen, not that she wasn’t capable. Somehow, someway, the Liber Noctem had to be blocking her power. It could be part of the tests. Otherwise she would have been able to dream up new scenes.
“If that happens, I will find you.”
“You can’t know that.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’ll be back before you finish gathering supplies. Then we’ll make a plan when I return.” I stood and backed up a step. “Try not to miss me too much, Peaches. Or I might think you actually like me.”
Before she could respond, I whipped around and bolted for the door.
The crew buzzed with frenetic energy despite the rain now pelting down. They were a hive of movement as they braced for the impending attack.
I paused for a moment to assess the situation.
Pirates swung agilely from the rigging, their feet barely touching the ropes as they maneuvered with practiced ease.
Their grim faces were set with determination as they hefted massive harpoons and carefully positioned them for the strike, the metal flashing dangerously with each whip of lightning that cracked overhead.
The very atmosphere itself was charged with tension.
Not a single glance of suspicion was sent in my direction as the crew scrambled across the deck, their focus set entirely on their defensive preparations.
We had a common enemy now. Which made us allies.
I spotted the first mate near the spyglass and aimed for him.
“Kensie! Any eyes on the beast?”
“There, Cap’n!” Kensington shouted. “Starboard side, comin’ in around fifty knots!”
I followed the line of his outstretched arm and swore.
Amid the howling winds and crashing waves of the furious storm bearing down on us, a monstrous sea serpent emerged from the ocean.
It was unlike anything I’d seen in the Underworld. A creature that could only be born of this nightmare world and Lore’s colorful imagination.
Its massive body rivaled the size of our ship.
It looked like the nightmare creatures had come to us after all.
As it sliced through the turbulent waters with fearsome grace, I finally saw the spiraled horn crowning its head that Lore had described.
It glistened with seawater as the monster banked toward the ship and aimed that deadly horn our way.
If it hit the hull of the ship with that weapon, we’d suffer a devasting blow.
I followed it from one side of the deck to the other, planting my feet wide and gripping the railing as the next surge of water tossed us around.
A violent surge of dark magic hit me a beat later. Somehow, someway, the Liber Noctem was with the beast. My skin prickled as I searched the waters.
There was no sign of Xavier. Which meant if the book was here and he wasn’t, he’d been eliminated. I had no time to dwell on that.
The creature circled closer, the power of the Book of Nightmares pouring from it undeniable. I needed to kill the beast and claim the book.
The serpent’s scales shimmered like wet obsidian under the flashes of lightning, and each time it breached the surface, the sea around it boiled with fury.
My dagger would cut its flesh, but I’d need to land a direct hit to its eye or heart to kill it. And I’d need to get close for that.
I swept a hand through my wet hair, pushing it out of my face.
My tunic was soaked through, the material sticking like a second skin. I ignored the discomfort; it would not be ideal for fighting, but I’d manage.
This might be the only chance I had to secure the book.
The pirates closest to the creature scrambled across the deck, shouting in panic as it reared up, ready to strike with its powerful tail and razor-sharp teeth.
It rose like a hell beast from the water, its body far larger than I’d first thought. It towered above us, and I noticed it wasn’t exactly a serpent.
Tentacle-like appendages, grotesque and leeching, sprouted with force from behind the monster’s jaw. It dove down, wrapping that hell mouth around one of the ship’s masts in a vise grip and snapping it with ease, like a twig underfoot.
It happened from one breath to the next.
The crew tried to swing the harpoon around, but it was too late.
The monster sank back into the waters before lashing up again, attacking the second mast with the same brutal violence.
That last mast splintered into jagged shards that rained down on the deck. Crew members scattered, their cries swallowed by the roar of the sea and the beast.