“You are saying this place you come from has carts that move by themselves?” Meir asked.

“The Isle of Magic and the Isle of the Elementals have carts that do that,” Boost noted, lifting his tankard of beer to his lips.

“Yes, but they use magic or one of the elements to move them. She said her home’s carts move mechanically,” Cyan pointed out.

“Do you really have creatures that create lightning to power your airplanes—I mean, airships?” Jenny asked in awe.

“The Isle of the Monsters has some of the fastest airships in the Seven Kingdoms. Empress Nali can handle the thunderbirds better than anyone. She raises the chicks for all of our fleets,” Boost explained.

“So, what exactly is a thunderbird?” Jenny asked in curiosity, sitting forward and resting her chin on her palm as she fiddled with the handle of the tankard of beer in front of her.

“A thunderbird has sleek blue-green feathers and several long, wispy tails that it snaps in the wind. You can hear the sound for miles. You know they are about to create a strong current when they do that. If you look closely, you will see the small bolts of lightning that interconnect them. It is always better to keep your distance when they are powering up. Each thunderbird has four translucent wings that fold back against their bodies,” Cyan explained, drawing a vivid verbal picture of the flying power stations.

“I love how you can see the lines of electricity running through the veins in their wings,” Meir added.

“You have to be careful around them even when they are not powered up. They have long, narrow heads and beaks filled with razor sharp teeth,” Cyan said.

“Only the Cyclops are good at handling them. We can see the heat in their veins before anyone else,” Boost interjected with a wink.

“Not only that, Cyclops only have one eye, so it is harder for the thunderbirds to pull them out,” Meir chuckled.

“Ew! Are you serious?” Jenny asked, sitting back with an expression of distaste on her face.

“No, he is not serious,” Cyan retorted. “They can pull one eye out just as easily as two or more.”

“Okay, I’m staying away from the thunderbirds. If they don’t fry you, they pick you apart,” Jenny replied with a scrunching of her nose.

“Then cook you and eat you,” Boost said with a nod.

Jenny was about to reply when a dark shadow passed overhead. She glanced up to see if it was a pod of whales. A frown creased her brow when she saw a dark shape spreading over the dome. It looked more like the ink of an octopus with the long tentacles radiating outward to cover the entire dome.

“Jenny!”

Jenny started in surprise when she heard her name called. Turning in her seat, she scanned the crowd of people who had stopped what they were doing to look up as well. Her gaze locked with Orion’s.

“Orion! What are you doing here? I thought you were in meetings all day. Did you see the black stuff above the city? It looks like the ink of an octopus.” Jenny said, standing up and pointing to the ceiling.

“Squid… and no ordinary one. This one can only be Architeuthis,” Orion stated in a grim voice, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close as he gazed up at the growing darkness.

“What is she doing out of the depths?” Coralus asked.

“She would not be here unless something disturbed her,” Orion responded.

“The same for the Megatooth that attacked you,” Kapian said.

“What did you see when you searched Magna’s lair for the Eye of the Serpent, Kapian?” Orion asked.

“It was strange, the water was unusually cold and the bottom littered with dead and decaying creatures, but that isn’t what surprised me,” Kapian reluctantly admitted.

Jenny saw Orion turn his sharp gaze to the other man. A shiver ran through her at the troubled expression on Kapian’s normally cheerful face. Kapian glanced at the two Cyclops and the Minotaur before his gaze swept over her face and settled back on Orion. Kapian’s mouth tightened.

“What was it?” Orion asked in a quiet voice.

“The Eye of the Serpent was right where you suspected it would be. The cave was unprotected and the trident’s gem lay on a small shelf with a collection of items. Some of the pieces were treasures from sunken ships, but mixed with them were things I remember Magna collecting when we were younger,” Kapian said in a voice that sounded slightly haunted.

“You must be mistaken,” Orion said with a wave of his hand.

“No. Remember the silver and ruby comb you bought from Ashure to give Magna for her birthday when you forgot and needed a gift?” Kapian reminded him.

“They weren’t real rubies. They were polished glass that had been painted red. Ashure couldn’t even be bothered with finding red glass to use,” Orion retorted at the sting of duped by the pirate.

Kapian nodded. “She had that, along with a tortoise shell clip that your mother gave her and the crystal globe I brought back from the Isle of the Elements that contained the ever-snow,” Kapian insisted.

“If Magna is behind disturbing Architeuthis, then she will be close by. From what you’ve just said, there are some things that Magna still values. Perhaps we can use her sentimental attachment against her. Regardless of whether we can or not, we have to stop Architeuthis. It is a remote possibility, but Architeuthis may be strong enough to crack the dome over the city. The destruction would be devastating, even to those of us who can survive under the water,” Orion grimly said, turning and pulling Jenny with him.

“But, what about everyone else? Cyan, Boost, and Meir? Can you evacuate the city?” Jenny asked anxiously as Orion pulled her behind him.

“No vessel can leave without risk of being attacked. Kapian, gather the elite guard. Coralus, secure the city and initiate emergency procedures. As soon as it is safe, begin evacuations to the surface,” Orion ordered.

“What are you going to do?” Jenny asked.

Glancing from him to the dome with a mixture of awe and horror. She stumbled on the uneven pavement of limestone when she saw several long tentacles roll down along the center of the dome. She focused on where they were going so she wouldn’t fall or hinder Orion.

They rounded a corner, and she saw the entrance to the palace. Even in their panic, people moved out of Orion’s way as they ran past them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman clutch a little girl to her before fading before her eyes.

“Orion… that woman and child…,” she gasped.

“They are Elementals,” he replied as if that explained everything.

“Oh,” was the only thing Jenny could think of as a response.

Picking up speed, she ran beside Orion as they passed through the gates. Kelia stood on the front steps with Dolph and Juno. They ran along the road leading to the steps. Jenny glanced over her shoulder when she felt the ground shake. She was half afraid the city was experiencing an earthquake on top of a colossal squid attack!

“Kelia, make sure that Jenny and the boys are in the emergency pod. Get them to the surface,” Orion ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kelia said with a swift nod.

“What are you going to do, Orion?” Jenny asked, drawing in a deep breath.

Orion turned and cupped her face. He ran his thumb against her cheek. His eyes were dark and full of regret. Jenny’s lips parted on a protest, but he bent forward and captured the words before she could voice them. Only when he had kissed her breathless did he release her and take several steps back.

“Keep her safe for me, Kelia,” Orion said before turning and running toward the large red stag galloping toward him.

Jenny watched as he swung up onto the back of the stag as it passed by. Raising his hand in the air, he shouted a loud command. Jenny’s lips parted when she saw a flash of light. When it faded, a trident like the one from the picture books she had read to her students was in his hand. More than a dozen men on sea dragons swept by where Kelia, the boys, and she were standing.

“Where are they going?” Jenny forced out despite the emotion threatening to choke her.

“His Majesty and his warriors will try to drive the creatures back to the depths of the ocean where they belong,” Kelia said, bending to grip the boys' hands.

“What… What happens if they can’t?” Jenny asked, glancing upward.

“Father will fight the creature,” Juno said.

“Do not worry, Jenny. Father is very powerful. No one can defeat him as long as he has the trident,” Dolph added.

“Yes, but…,” Kelia started to say before she shook her head and turned away.

“But, what?” Jenny demanded, reaching a hand out to touch Kelia’s arm.

Kelia looked up at the dome, then back at Jenny. “The trident is not at its full power. Orion and Kapian were able to retrieve one of the Eyes of the Sea Serpent, but the other is still lost. I can only pray to the Goddess that Magna has not found it,” she said with a regretful shake of her head.

“What do the Eyes of the Sea Serpent do?” Jenny asked.

“They give the king the power over the sea and the creatures who live here. Only he can control the power,” Kelia quietly replied.

Jenny was silent as she followed Kelia and the boys into the palace. She glanced up at the crystal dome when they passed through the rotunda. Her breath caught when she saw a flash of red as one of the tentacles rose off the clear ceiling. She stumbled when the squid struck the dome, causing the ground beneath her to tremble.

“Hurry! We must get to one of the escape pods,” Kelia urged.

“I thought Father said that it would be too dangerous to use them until they could draw the creature away,” Dolph said.

Kelia nodded. “Yes, but we will be safer inside one of them if the dome should crack. While we might be able to breath underwater, not everyone can,” she reminded the boy.

“Like Jenny?” Juno asked.

Jenny caught Kelia’s worried glance when the older woman looked over her shoulder. Neither of them said anything. Jenny bit her lip, thinking about Cyan, Boost, and Meir and the hundreds, if not thousands of other people who were like her.

“Coralus and the other warriors have trained for such an event. Most likely, the dome will hold. It has withstood many forces over the last thousand years,” Kelia assured Jenny and the boys.

Jenny remained quiet. She was surprised when Kelia paused on the other side of the great rotunda. Kelia laid her hand on a panel near a golden door.

Glancing around, Jenny saw that there was a similar door in each of the twelve pillars that held up the curved arches of the rotunda. At first glance, the doors looked almost like the elevator doors back home, only these had clear windows in them. She had passed through the rotunda only once since her arrival and had been so fascinated by the openness of it that she hadn’t paid close attention to the pillars.

“In you go,” Kelia said, stepping to the side when the door slid open.

Jenny and Juno stepped into a small, clear, oval-shaped vessel. Juno quickly climbed up onto one of the seats and sat down. Jenny glanced around the escape vessel. The seats were lined up two by two with enough room for ten people.

The first two seats had controls, one that looked like the steering for an airplane and the other the toggle switches. The clear globe sat on two long tubes with propellers. Jenny was about to ask where she should sit when she heard Karin call out to Kelia.

“Grandmother!”

“Karin,” Kelia said, her face tightening with concern when she saw her granddaughter struggling to carry one of her younger sisters. She hurried forward to help them. “What happened?”

“Mina fell down the stairs when the ground shook,” Karin said.

“I sprained my ankle,” Mina groaned.

“Dolph…,” Kelia’s voice died when the ground shook violently again.

Jenny had started forward to help Kelia and Karin when the dome shuddered again and a loud shriek rang throughout the underwater city. Jenny fell back against one of the seats and pressed her hands to her ears. Juno released a whimper and pulled his legs up in the seat with him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dolph start to fall. He shot his hand out to steady himself and inadvertently touched the control panel. They all watched in horror as the door closed, sealing Jenny and Juno in the escape pod and Dolph and the others outside.

“No,” Jenny gasped, throwing her hands out and pushing off the seat.

The loud screeching noise had stopped and a different sound surrounded them—this time of water gurgling. Jenny glanced out the front window of the escape pod and saw water pouring in around it. The moment the level reached the top of the two cylinders supporting it, a low hum started.

“Dolph! Open the door,” Jenny cried out, trying to figure out a way to stop what was happening.

“Jenny!” Dolph yelled.

Jenny stumbled back when the escape pod began to float. She couldn’t hear what Dolph and Kelia were saying. She frantically ran her hands over the panels next to the door but nothing happened. She reached out to steady herself when the locks holding the escape pod disengaged.

“Jenny, what do we do?” Juno asked, peeking up at her over his knees.

Turning, Jenny bit her lip and looked around. The console was beginning to flicker and light up. Weaving her way around the seats, she slid in front of the steering column.

The console looked pretty basic. There was a gauge that showed how much power the escape pod had, another gauge that gave depth, and one that showed the speed. There was also a separate screen that operated the lights and showed the oxygen levels.

Jenny pulled back on the steering wheel and released a soft, startled gasp when the escape pod tilted. She glanced at the floor where a single pedal stuck out. Looking at the depth gauge, she saw that the escape pod was beginning to rise.

“Juno, come up here and strap in,” Jenny ordered, glancing over her shoulder at the little boy.

Juno nodded and slid out of his seat. He hurried to the molded seat next to her and climbed onto it. He grabbed the straps of the harness and quickly pulled them across his chest and waist, clicking them in place.

“I’m ready,” Juno said.

“I wish I was,” she muttered under her breath.

She gave Juno a wobbly smile before inhaling and releasing a long, calming breath. This couldn’t be that much different than some of the boats she had driven. Heck, the controls looked more like a golf cart, and she had plenty of experience driving one of those after three summers working at the county golf course as a teenager.

The water pouring in was almost over the top of the escape pod by now. At the last minute, Jenny remembered she wasn’t wearing a seat belt and fumbled for the straps on her seat. She clicked the last one into place less than a second before the escape pod shot upward at a stomach-dropping speed.

Swirls of water and bubbles surrounded them, making her feel like they were caught in a waterspout. Her stomach dropped back down to her feet when the jet of water pushing them up suddenly released them. A sense of disorientation swept through her and she blinked several times trying to see through the bubbles that were slowly spreading out.

“Jenny, watch out!” Juno cried.

Jenny reacted out of instinct, pressing her foot down on the pedal as far as it would go and pulled back on the steering wheel. The escape pod instantly responded, reversing with enough force that the two of them would have been thrown from their seats if not for the seat belts. She turned the steering wheel, and the escape pod veered to the left.

The dark tentacle that Juno had seen heading for them missed the escape pod by a mere foot. Seeing it up close and personal made Jenny realize how enormous the creature really was, and the fact that it wasn’t alone. Nearly a dozen smaller versions of itself, if you could call creatures the size of a blue whale smaller, were battling with Orion’s men.

Her eyes widened when she saw a flash of red swerve under a thick tentacle. From this distance, she could see the sharp, ivory mouth of the creature snapping. Horror filled her when she saw the struggling figure of one of the warriors and a blue sea dragon wrapped in the long, sludge gray tentacle. The squid was pulling both of them toward its mouth.

“Hang on,” Jenny said, twisting the steering column hard to the right and flooring the escape pod.

“Watch out, there’s a tentacle coming toward us from above,” Juno warned.

“What do these levers do?” Jenny asked.

She nodded to the twin toggle levers. Juno leaned forward and grabbed them. He pulled them down and two arms shot out. A smile curved her lips when Juno emitted a short laugh of delight.

“We have arms too! If I push the button on top, they open and close like fingers,” Juno laughed.

“Well, I say we kick some butt and save a merman and his sea dragon,” Jenny said.

“I like that,” Juno replied, grinning at Jenny.

Jenny glanced at him before refocusing on where she was going—which was away from those long, ugly, and dangerous tentacles. Spying a gap between the wiggling limbs, she pressed the steering wheel forward.

Jenny saw the warrior slice through the tentacle that had imprisoned him and finally break free. Architeuthis still held the sea dragon.

“The warrior is free, but the sea dragon isn’t. You have to hurry, Jenny!” Juno said in an urgent voice.

Jenny’s heart thundered in her chest as she weaved the small craft through the mass of tentacles that were larger and longer than some of the redwood trees back home.

“I’m going to come up under the tentacle. I want you to pick the crap out of it with those hands. Hopefully, it will release the sea dragon,” Jenny instructed.

“I hope so, too,” Juno agreed.

Jenny ignored the snapping claws of the mechanical arms. Kids were a natural when it came to video games. She would just have to trust that Juno would be able to clamp down and they could hold on long enough for the tentacle to uncoil and the sea dragon to get away.

Pressing the escape pod to go as fast as she could, Jenny swerved in an arc and came up from underneath. She maneuvered the escape pod so that it was between the sea dragon and the mouth of Architeuthis. Once she was close enough, Juno stretched the arms out and clamped both of the clawed hands around the feeding tentacle of the squid.

“Press the lever forward to put as much pressure on it as you can. I’m going to try to pull the arm back,” she instructed.

“It’s hard to hold on, Jenny,” Juno complained.

“You have to, honey. We can do this,” she said.

Personally, she wasn’t so sure. The engines of the small pod were straining against the strength of the squid. She could hear the groaning of the metal arms. A flashing light, followed by an alarm sounded, but Jenny didn’t have time to check what it was for.

Through the glass, she could see the tentacle starting to uncoil. The sea dragon that had stopped fighting a few minutes before must have felt the change as well because it began snapping its tail and pushing with its front legs again. Out of the darkness created by the ink, Jenny saw the warrior appear with a glowing sword. The man repeatedly struck at the squid’s tentacle imprisoning the sea dragon. Bright red blood rose in a cloud and Jenny saw the tentacle unfurl like a rug rolling across the floor. The sea dragon kicked out and the warrior swung onto its back.

Jenny was about to tell Juno to release the clamps when the little boy squealed in terror. Out of the darkness, a smaller squid emerged. The creature struck the escape pod, ripping the arms from the vessel and sending it spiraling out of control.

A cry of dismay was ripped from Jenny as they spun around. Before their dizzy ride was finished, dark tentacles wrapped around them from behind and they were jerked down and away from where the main battle was going on. Jenny looked out through the front. In the growing distance, she could see Orion swinging the trident in his hand. A powerful funnel of water pushed back a line of squids trying to encircle him.

“There are too many of them,” Jenny whispered.

“Father needs the full power of the trident. Dolph said that is the only way Father can control the creatures,” Juno whimpered.

Jenny’s lips parted as flashes of images suddenly merged together. She dropped her right hand to her side and rubbed the outside of her pocket. She felt the telltale lump of stone picked up on a beach far away in what felt like a lifetime ago.

“Juno, do you know what The Eye of the Sea Serpent looks like?” Jenny asked, reaching into her pocket and wrapping her fingers around the stone.

“Yes, it looks… It looks just like that,” Juno replied. “How did you get the eye, Jenny?”

“Never mind that, we need to get it to your father,” she said in a grim voice.