Tina Daniell - Maquesta Kar-Thon

She glanced over her shoulder to see Tailonna finish off the dying squid. Another was moving slowly toward Maquesta and the cage, and the sea elf started shooing it away, like one might chase a naughty dog.

Maquesta looked at the morkoth, then let her gaze drift upward and to the south, where she vaguely made out the image of the Perechon's hull. The bullshark was hovering under the ship now, probably curious.

You're coming back with us, she thought, as she gazed malevolently at the caged morkoth. There'll be no more of your tricks. You can try them on Lord Attat for all I care. But first, she added to herself, we've got to get you out of this cage so you can swim free. There's no reason you should be confined in this terrible cage.

Maquesta's eyes were flecked with red, mirroring the eyes of the morkoth. The creature hovered within the confines of its cage, its tentacles tracing patterns of bubbles in the dark water.

Maq watched the bubbles for several moments, then she pushed herself off the coral ridge and floated to the top of the cage. The solder on the bars was likely the weakest there, she decided, as she hooked her legs between the bars for support and started to work on the metal with her dagger. The tip of her weapon broke off, but the rest of the blade was still strong.

Faster, the morkoth urged her.

Faster, she answered inside her head.

Maquesta had just about succeeded in breaking one of the welds when she felt herself flying backward through the water, pushed by two strong arms. Tailonna thrust Maq away from the cage, propelling her down to the coral ridge, and slamming her into it, knocking the water from Maq's lungs.

You don't understand, Maq's eyes tried to tell Tailonna. My friend the morkoth must be free.

Tailonna grabbed Maquesta's head and brought her own face down to within inches of it. "Listen to me," Tailonna said. The tones sounded bubbly and distorted through the water. 'The beast has hypnotized you, just as it did Hvel. As it did to Ilyatha in its tunnel-lair. Fight it!"

Maq blinked and tried to focus on the words, on the sparkling blue-green elvish eyes before her. Tailonna roughly shook her.

"The morkoth," Maq mouthed. "The morkoth lulled me!" Maquesta pushed off the ridge, away from the Dimernesti and toward the cage, fire in her eyes replacing the red specks. She brought the pommel of her dagger down on the top of the cage to get the beast's attention, then she narrowed her eyes and glared at it.

Maquesta stood on top of the cage and pointed her hand up, in the direction of the Perechon . Then she motioned to Tailonna, indicating she should go to the ship. The sea elf shook her head fervently, perhaps unsure if Maquesta was herself. But Maq pointed again, and then pointed at the cage.

Tailonna understood. She was to go to the ship and bring down a cable. The sea elf waited for several moments, until the bullshark moved on, then her powerful legs kicked off from the sea floor and started her toward the surface.

Maquesta watched the Dimernesti rise, feeling envious of her ability to swim so strongly and move so gracefully beneath the waves. Then a shadow fell across Maq's line of sight. She blinked and looked up, initially fearing another bullshark. Squinting her eyes, she saw the movement again. One of the rocky columns amid the sunken ships was quivering, as if it might fall down.

Then column began bending, contorting. At first Maquesta thought the image was a trick played by the currents. But as she continued to watch, she saw the other columns start to move, too. She glanced at the morkoth. It was still. Its tentacles were at rest, though its wide eyes glared back at her malevolently. Not an illusion created by the morkoth, she guessed. Tailonna was too far away now to see what was transpiring. Maquesta could see only the tiny reflection of the sea elf disappearing at the top of the sea, climbing up to the Perechon's deck.

The wavering rocks bothering her, Maquesta pushed off from the cage, trying to get above the sea floor and get a better look at the living columns. As she rose, she saw that the rocky columns were attached to a larger rock, one that sat in the middle of the graveyard. Her stomach began to churn as she realized it wasn't stone she was watching, but a living creature, a leviathan rising from the sea floor. A pair of large eyes opened on the bulbous, rocky-looking body, and Maq's mouth gaped wide.

A giant octopus! Her mind raced. This was why the ships lay broken all around. They weren't the victims of the Blood Sea imps-they were the victims of this hideous monstrosity! And this was the reason there were so few fish. The bullshark was insignificant next to this thing. As the creature moved, barnacles and algae, the parasites that had clung to its tentacles, fell away, revealing smooth, green-black skin. The mantle of the octopus, its bag-shaped body, was larger than any of the ships that lay broken about it. Eyes wider across than a man is tall blinked at her from the base of its body. Eight tentacles, longer than huge sea snakes, writhed and whirled, stirring up sand. The undersides of the tentacles were much lighter in color and sported hundreds of small cups. As the tentacles wiggled above the sea floor, Maq glimpsed the creature's gaping mouth on the underside of its mantle. As she watched, the creature's color began changing, becoming lighter to nearly blend in with the sand and ruined ships.

The thing must have been sleeping for weeks, Maquesta realized, to have accumulated so much algae on its skin. What had awakened it? She glanced down at the morkoth and saw its eyes were practically glowing. A single tentacle flexed toward the giant, like a beckoning finger.

Maquesta shot up through the water, her legs pumping fiercely. She had to get to the Perechon , had to get the ship out of here. Retrieving the morkoth had just become too costly. She refused to jeopardize everyone on board.

A stream of bubbles trailing behind her, Maq saw the light growing brighter ahead, signaling that she was nearing the surface. Ilyatha ! her mind called out. Make them raise the anchor! Make them… At the edge of her vision, Maq saw a mammoth tentacle wrap itself about the anchor chain. Like a child with a toy, the great beast began to pull, and she saw with anguish that the Perechon rocked in response.

Changing her tactics, Maquesta angled herself beneath the ship. Her side ached, but she pushed herself harder, faster. She was nearly under the ship now, near the chain. She groped about on her belt and discovered that her dagger was gone, forgotten somewhere on the sea floor. But her short sword was with her. Pulling it free, and swimming more awkwardly with it in her hand, she finally reached the chain.

Hear me, Ilyatha! she continued to concentrate on the shadowperson, hoping he would pick up her thoughts. You've got to get the Perechon away from here.

Wrapping her legs about the anchor chain, so that she was head down and pointed toward the octopus, Maquesta pulled herself closer to the tentacle and lashed out with the sword. She sliced halfway through the tip of the tentacle that held the chain, then drew back her weapon to jab at it again.

I'm here, Maquesta. The voice inside her head was Ilyatha's.

A giant octopus! Maq shouted back to the telepath. It has the anchor. I'm cutting it free. Raise the anchor! Tell Kof to get the Perechon out of here!

We'll throw a rope to you, Ilyatha communicated, an urgency to his telepathic voice.

Don't worry about me! Maquesta concentrated. The ship. Save the ship. She lashed out at the tentacle again, this time successfully cutting through the rubbery thing. Dark red blood, almost black, poured out into the water like a cloud. She felt the tension loosen about the chain. Move the ship! That's an order. Tailonna can direct you around the Blood Cup! Maq realized that with those thoughts her father's life had finally, irrevocably, slipped beyond her grasp. Without the morkoth, there would be no antidote for Melas. There would be no freedom for Ilyatha's daughter. But staying over the Blood Cup jeopardized the lives of everyone on the Perechon . She could not justify that.