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Victor, Ariana and the sea king were ready for the siren queen’s and the Kraken’s next attack. She brought dark creatures to this battle. They hissed and screeched around their queen. Their eyes were entirely black, like bottomless pits.
The siren queen glided like a snake, with her monstrous pet right beside her.
“You must be the sea witch’s son? It is a pity I couldn’t kill her myself,” the siren queen said. “I believe we have met before.”
Victor was surprised, but then he remembered the voice from the cave. If only he had told his mother that he had heard it. Perhaps things would have been different now.
“My mother may not be here, but I am. I will finish her task,” Victor replied bravely.
“We shall see about that,” the siren queen said as she leapt forward to attack.
“Leave the children alone,” the sea king’s voice boomed. “You still have me to deal with first!”
“Then you shall be the first to die!” the siren queen screeched.
As per the plan, the sea king took care of the siren queen, while Ariana and Victor looked for a way to divert the Kraken. The monstrous creature kept close to its master, weaving around and blocking the sea king’s attacks to the siren queen. Sea creatures had gathered to help Victor and Ariana with their plan, but none of them could injure or even get close to the Kraken. The dark army tore at the sea creatures.
“We must move it away from her,” Victor said to Ariana.
“Leave it to me,” Ariana said as she swam closer to the creature. The Kraken was surprised to see Ariana so close to it. It lashed one of its large tentacles towards her. Instead of moving away, Ariana let the creature grab hold of her.
“Ariana!” Victor yelled and swam towards her. He didn’t realize that Ariana deliberately let herself be caught by the monster.
Once the creature had wrapped its tentacles around Ariana, she swam towards the surface. Ariana did not have magic, but she had speed and strength under water. She wasn’t the same as she was when she got caught in the fish net.
Ariana was older and stronger now. The creature started rising towards the surface with her.
The Kraken tried to squeeze and choke Ariana, but she was moving too fast.
The Kraken had left its master far below, and with each passing second it was getting closer to the surface. Ariana reached the surface, and as soon as the ships saw the Kraken, they fired. The Kraken gave a roar when the cannons hit it. He would try to descend, but Ariana would take it to the surface again.
Finally, the Kraken let go its hold on Ariana.
Ariana watched with dismay as the Kraken started descending in the water. It was too soon! She thought. Richard didn’t get enough time to hit it with cannon fire. If the Kraken submerged itself in the water, it could still destroy the ships from below, and the cannons could not reach it.
“It cannot come back down in the water!” Victor yelled.
He was shooting magic at the creature, but it was being repelled effortlessly by its thick skin. Magic could not injure the Kraken. It was up to Richard, but he needed the creature up near the surface.
For the first time in her life, Ariana desperately wished for her magic to appear.
Ariana couldn’t let any more souls be stolen. There had already been so many deaths. She thought about the siren sisters. She thought about the mortals who perished because of the Kraken and the siren queen. Ariana felt a rage she never felt before.
Ariana was angry at herself. She had promised Queen Martha to protect her son, but she couldn’t save Ivan. She promised her mother, Helena, she would guard her freedom, but instead she used it to make a deal with the sea witch.
Ariana was angry at herself for blindly trusting Prince Ivan. She was angry that she did not recognize her father’s love for her. She was angry that she did not trust Victor, who gave up everything for her.
Ariana thought of every single mistake she had made, and the promises she broke. Not anymore, Ariana said to herself.
It was time to make things right, Ariana thought. It was time for her to wake up and face the world on her own.
Ariana felt a surge of power in her body. She watched as her body glowed like starlight. Her magic was waking up.
She reached out her hand towards the Kraken. At first, there was only a small ripple beneath the creature. Rapidly, it grew in size to a whirlpool. Every second, her magic got more intense until a giant whirlpool started lifting the Kraken up to the surface.
“You are doing it, Ariana! You have magic now. Keep going!” Victor yelled.
The magic was taking a toll on Ariana’s body. Ariana screamed with pain.
“I can’t do this much longer, Victor!” she said.
“Yes, you can. We need to give Richard enough time to hit with cannons. Keep going!” Victor yelled.
Even Victor couldn’t do the magic that Ariana was doing. Victor, however, made sure nothing stopped Ariana. He stopped any attacks from the siren queen’s dark army towards her. Ariana held the whirlpool to keep the Kraken from descending back in the water.
On the surface, Richard’s heart sunk when he saw the monstrous beast descending. It was only a matter of time before the creature would go underneath the water and destroy their ships from below. Richard could retreat now and save his sailors, or he could give Victor and Ariana enough time to bring the creature back to the surface again.
Every passing minute, his ships got in more danger.
“Prince Richard, we cannot hit the creature with our cannons now. Should I give the command to retreat?” the captain of the ship asked.
“We need to give Ariana and Victor time to bring the creature to the surface,” Prince Richard replied.
“But Prince, if they cannot do it in time, we will be sitting ducks! The creature will take us all down!” the captain said.
“I know... We just have to trust Victor and Ariana! We cannot retreat!” Prince Richard yelled.
Maybe it was his imagination, but Prince Richard saw the monstrous creature slowly rising. In a few minutes, the Kraken was near the surface again.
“They did it! They did it! Get your cannons ready, and fire on my command,” Prince Richard yelled.
The Kraken was thrashing its dozen arms, but it couldn’t go down into the water. A giant whirlpool was lifting it higher and higher on the surface. Prince Richard saw the belly of the beast and knew it was the creature’s weak spot.
“Now! Fire! Fire with all you got!” Prince Richard yelled, giving his ships the command to release their cannons.
There were the deafening sounds of hundreds of cannons going off from a dozen ships. Most of the cannons hit the Kraken’s belly, splitting it into millions of pieces. The giant beast gave one last roar.
They did it. They had defeated the Kraken!
All the crew of the ships cheered their victory. The Kraken's last cry had reached its master, the siren queen. She left her battle with the sea king and went to the surface.
“My pet! My beautiful pet! You destroyed him!” the siren queen screamed. “Every single one of you mortals will pay with your lives!”
The siren queen gave out a terrible screech and started her siren call.
The sailors were immediately under her spell and started crashing their ships with others. As soon as Richard saw the siren queen, he stuffed his ears with the cotton Sarah had given him.
Richard watched in despair as his men turned to madness, jumping in the water towards the siren queen’s call.
Richard had one chance to make this right before the men destroyed their ships or drowned themselves. He ran to the helm of the ship nearest the siren queen. He put his arrow on his bow, aimed it at her neck and let the arrow fly.
The siren queen was still singing her terrible song when she saw Richard’s arrow fly towards her. She ducked in time, but the arrow hit the side of her neck, bruising it. If she hadn’t moved in time, it would have pierced through her neck.
The siren queen retreated to the ocean, and Richard sighed in relief. He hoped that Ariana and Victor could hold off the siren queen, but he couldn’t do anything to help them under water.
He signaled his men to take the ships back to shore.
—-
Ariana kept the Kraken afloat on the surface with her whirlpool, while Victor protected her from being attacked. They heard the cannons go off on the surface. The creature was thrashing, its body being broken into a million pieces by the cannons.
The Kraken gave out a final roar as it died.
“They did it! Richard did it. He defeated the Kraken,” Ariana said, weakly. She couldn’t hold on to her magic anymore. The whirlpool became smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely.
“Yes, we did it together, mortals and mermaids,” Victor said.
“Father! I must go to my father!” Ariana said, as she remembered her father fighting the siren queen alone. At that moment, the siren queen had left the sea king to go to the surface, but both Ariana and Victor were unaware.
They found the sea king tired, but still alive.
“Father!” Ariana cried.
“Ariana! Victor! You are both alive,” the sea king said with a smile. "It gives me hope to live to see another day."
“Where is the siren queen?” Victor asked.
“She left suddenly. She was going towards the surface, last I saw her,” the sea king replied.
“She must have heard the Kraken’s last cries. Richard and his ships might be in danger,” Victor said. "I must go see them."
“I will come with you,” Ariana said.
“No, stay with your father, and rest while you still can,” Victor replied. "Your magic would have taken quite a toll on your body."
“Ariana’s magic? Has it awoken?” the sea king asked, surprised.
“Yes, father. It is all the more reason I should go with Victor,” Ariana pleaded. "You shouldn’t face the siren queen alone, Victor."
“There isn’t much time to argue, Ariana. Your magic still needs to rest,” Victor said before leaving. Ariana watched him swim quickly ahead and then disappear completely.
“You should follow him, Ariana. End the siren queen once and for all,” the sea king said as he handed his ring. "Ariana, my child, take this ring with you."
“Father, what if the siren queen returns to you? How will you defend yourself?” Ariana said.
“You forget that I still have my trident, but I won’t stay here. I will guide all the mermaids far away from here, where it will be safe for them. I have reports of many of the dark sea army heading towards the floating kingdom. I have a feeling the siren queen will return with all of her dark sea army. There is an ancient underground citadel, where some ancient magic still holds. We will go there. Take this ring, Ariana. It is no longer my fight,” the sea king said.
Ariana looked at her father and said nothing.
“Do you remember when I told you about what makes a true leader?” the sea king asked.
She remembered her father’s words. “It is about doing the right thing even when it is hard,” Ariana replied.
“This is the right thing for me to do, Ariana. Take the ring, and go to Victor,” the sea king said.
Ariana hesitated.
She remembered what Victor had once said to her: You will give up your kingdom? You will give up your people, Ariana?
“Let me do the right thing, father. Let me stand by my people. I will go with you to the underground citadel, and once they are all safe, I will find Victor,” Ariana said to the sea king.
The sea king nodded and didn’t stop her from her decision.
“Tanfur has agreed to protect us with his selkie army, as have the other royal court members. Our allies have agreed to work together... they will stand guard by the underground citadel,” Brutus said.
Ariana nodded. She prayed that their help would be enough to stop the siren queen's army.
———
Victor went to see Richard on the surface and was glad to see that he was still alive. He lost some of his ships in the fight with the Kraken, but many remained intact.
“I am glad to see you alive, my friend,” Victor said to Prince Richard.
“I wish to say the same for my crew, but we would have lost many more if it weren’t for your spells,” Prince Richard replied. “At least the beast is dead.”
Victor had enchanted Prince Richard’s ships with spells so that they were faster and stronger in the water. Without his enchantment, Prince Richard would have lost all of his ships and the people onboard.
“The Kraken is gone, but its master is still alive,” Victor said grimly. “The siren queen is even deadlier than her pet.”
“We saw her. She came soon after we killed the sea monster,” Richard said.
“The siren queen came to the surface? How did you survive her call?” Victor said, surprised.
“Sarah had given me these to block her voice,” Prince Richard said, pointing to the cotton. “I wish my arrow had pierced her throat, but it only grazed her neck.”
“You shot an arrow at her? Her power lies in her call, it must have weakened her,” Victor said. “It will give us some time to plan for her next attack.”
“What do you think she will do?” Prince Richard asked. “Now that her beast is gone?”
“The Kraken was one source of her power. The injury on her neck will prevent her from attacking us directly. Thankfully, she doesn’t have the sea king’s trident or ring yet, but she has a legion of army filled with terrible sea creatures. I think she will attack on land and to collect more souls,” Victor said.
“What will happen if she collects more souls?” Prince Richard asked.
“She will grow powerful enough to overthrow the sea king,” Victor said. “Once she does that, she will flood everything. The entire world will become her underwater kingdom. There will be no humans left alive.”
Prince Richard couldn’t help himself from shuddering at the terrible image.
“When the dark army attacks, pierce their hearts or cut off their heads. That is the only way to destroy them,” Victor said.
Richard nodded grimly.
“We must prepare for that attack. I will gather soldiers, but I am not sure where I should post them,” Prince Richard said. “Do you have any idea where her army would attack?”
“She would likely attack near a body of water. Something like a mouth of a river or a lake close to shore,” Victor replied. “Do you know of such a place?”
“There are three locations near bodies of water. Two are in my kingdom, Kingsbourne, and the third in Rivershelm, Sarah’s kingdom. I will seek to arm those areas, though we will need both kingdoms’ armies to do it,” Prince Richard said.
“Do what you must. I will try to stop the siren queen,” Victor said.
“Be careful, Victor,” Prince Richard said. “Don’t face the siren queen on your own.”
Victor nodded to Prince Richard, but he had already planned to do just that.
I have no choice, Victor thought grimly. I can’t let Ariana face the siren queen. I can’t let her get hurt. The siren sisters’ call never affected Victor, and with the siren queen injured, this was his only chance. Victor would use a spell to stop hearing the siren queen's voice. She caught him by surprise in the caves, but now he would be ready.
“Richard, stop her army from collecting souls, but I also want you to promise me one more thing,” Victor said.
“What is that?” Richard said.
“If you ever see me under the siren queen’s spell, I want you to kill me,” Victor said.
Victor knew that if he ever fell under the siren queen’s spell, she would use him as another arsenal in her plans.
Richard looked surprised, but he nodded his head slightly. It relieved Victor.
He knew Richard would not balk from his promise. With Richard’s promise, Victor set off to face the terrible siren queen on his own.
——-