Chapter 22 Prince Sloth #2
The monster rose from the water and dove for us again.
It crashed onto the deck, tentacled mouth snapping, searching for prey.
“Arm yourselves with swords!” I yelled, rolling to the side, narrowly missing a crushing blow.
The ship shuddered under the weight of the attack.
Beneath the monster’s massive, armored underbelly, thousands more tentacles, slick and sallow, unfurled in a frenzy.
They were the size of human arms, and they writhed in savage unison, ravenous and agitated, helping the beast skid over the deck like a centipede as it slithered through the ruin it had caused.
The beast shoved its spindly arms into the giant cracks it had made with its thrashing, searching out victims to yank into their watery graves.
“Weapons at the ready!” I yelled. “Attack!”
Swords glinted in the flashes of lightning.
I gripped my dagger in my fist and raced for the monster, intent on landing a kill shot while it was distracted. The Book of Nightmares would be mine.
I flung myself onto its back and slid off—its scales coated in some slick oil-like substance. I regained my footing and dodged a swipe of its tail.
The pirates were slashing at it, hacking away, but it wasn’t enough. However the Liber Noctem had unified with the beast, it was in control.
The monster retreated from the deck and sank back into the water, circling us from below again.
I followed its massive wake as it swam under the boat, trying to figure out a way to work around the slick scales.
When it emerged on the other side, it had a new trick.
One I was not at all prepared for.
Its singular crystalline horn seemed to vibrate with an ominous glow now, generating an eerie harmonic sound as it pierced the water’s surface, resonating like an otherworldly siren.
The air was alive with the haunted melody, and the sound swirled around the ship, shaking the very planks beneath our feet.
It was loud enough that it could probably be heard several realms away.
A ghostly fog emerged, following each chilling note, and shrouded the men with its cold embrace.
The Book of Nightmares had called in the storm.
Lore hadn’t mentioned that—which meant we were now fully under the influence of the Liber Noctem. I was glad she was belowdecks, safe, for now.
I had little doubt it would do everything it could to make her fear come true. The siren’s call grew to an unnatural pitch.
A paralysis gripped the crew, a terror so profound that even their shouts were silent, swallowed by the relentless ringing sound.
I scented blood on the air. Some of the crew were bleeding from their ears and noses, the noise too powerful for their mortal bodies.
This was unlike anything I’d ever faced.
But even nightmares could be slain.
The monster flew up from the water, swaying like a giant cobra.
Its serpentine body shimmered with an otherworldly brilliance, each bioluminescent scale flaring violently with every lightning strike, carving a haunting and spectral silhouette against the churning, malevolent storm clouds.
Gripping my dagger with white-knuckled intensity, I glared at the monster as it coiled back, poised to unleash its next brutal assault.
The serpent’s milky eyes were a chilling, sightless white, yet it eerily tracked my movements with an unerring precision that defied logic, as if it hunted by feeling every tremor and vibration rippling through the ground.
The dark book had to be in its gut. I’d need to tear open its belly to be sure.
“Distract it!” I shouted.
The crew jumped into action, fighting to ensnare the monster’s attention, but the beast’s resolve was growing more determined, more vicious by the minute.
It craved death and violence and would not rest until it was sated.
Its tentacles ripped through the crew and the ship, winding around it in a deathly embrace. The creature lurched and tensed, its muscular body wrapping around the ship’s hull with shocking speed, and applied such a massive force that every wooden plank strained against the others.
The Liber Noctem would not be taken easily.
The timbers creaked beneath the immense pressure, each one bending to the brink before the vessel gave a horrifying shudder.
Then, as if in a violent crescendo, the boards began to split and fracture, snapping sharply and sending splinters into the air like a volley of jagged arrows.
It was a scene of utter ruin.
The crew staggered under the sudden jolt, their shouts drowned out by the terrifying symphony of cracking wood.
The sound of the crushed boat carried across the water, a brutal testament to the creature’s devastating might.
It was going to rip the damn ship in half.
Fuck.
We needed to retreat, but a quick glance indicated that the dinghies were destroyed. We’d need to swim and pray there was a shore close by.
I did not want to get Lore into the ocean without a life raft, nor did I want to leave the Liber Noctem behind, but I couldn’t ensure her safety if I stayed.
Cursed Liber Noctem.
Wood groaned as the ship buckled, decks beginning to collapse upon themselves while the creature’s tentacles tightened, leaving the vessel gasping under the strain.
We had moments left before we capsized.
“Retreat!”
The crew started abandoning the ship, knowing it was a lost cause.
I raced toward the end of the deck, sliding over the slick wood.
I needed to get Lore before we went down.
The ship seemed to scream as the beast’s grip shattered all hope of its survival and the front half exploded into dust.
A new scream sounded that stopped me dead in my tracks.
I swung around, searching for the woman who’d made the noise.
There.
At the far end of the ship, like a distant, unreachable shore, was Lore. And right behind her was the Liber Noctem in its nightmare creature form.
Her eyes locked onto mine, a storm of fear and apology swirling within them. She was saying goodbye. She knew the book was orchestrating her worst fear and she didn’t think she’d pass. We’d been wrong. It wasn’t the fear of drowning that was being tested. It was hopelessness.
The realization shattered something deep within me.
A thread I had only started to sense vibrated with tension.
“Lore! Run! The creature, it’s the book!”
She didn’t hear me over the howling wind.
I sprinted toward her with every ounce of strength I had, my heart pounding like a war drum, each beat mimicking the sudden desperation coursing through my veins. I couldn’t lock my panic down.
The book could not have her.
Rain lashed at me with brutal force, driving our failing ship sideways as Lore desperately clung to the frayed rigging.
I was still too damned far away.
The ground was slick and treacherous beneath my boots, and for the first time in my life, I stumbled. My heart seized in my chest. Every moment counted and I’d lost one. Possibly the most important second in the realms.
I pushed on, cursing the elements and the dark book and the emotions I normally suppressed that were boiling to the surface.
If Lore died… if I failed to keep her safe…
She slid down the ship’s tilted deck, her legs flailing over the jagged edge where the tumultuous waves seethed in a frothy cauldron of chaos and death.
I watched as her fingers struggled to maintain their grip and the creature lunged for her. The Liber Noctem almost had her.
An icy dread gripped me as I realized I was too far away to help her, even with every ounce of speed I possessed.
With a primal roar, I hurled myself at the beast, my outstretched hands grasping at empty air, missing it by mere inches.
I landed hard on the deck and rolled to a stop.
Lore’s terrified gaze found mine right as she was yanked into the churning ocean below. There was one solitary beat where I was frozen to the spot.
Then I snapped back to myself.
All my control vanished.
In the next instant, I detonated.
Without hesitation, I clenched my teeth around the cool metallic hilt of my dagger, then plunged headfirst into the water after Lore and the Book of Nightmares.