Aya sat on the edge of the second tier and watched. The army finally realized the danger of two hungry zeppelins flying over them.

The third hovered over the Life Tree.

It did not bode well.

“The final stage is broken.” Ciran floated beside her. His hands were greasy and his eyes darkened with recrimination. “Balim is examining it but his conclusion is final. It will never rise.”

So, even if the megalodons were scared by the noise of the rising city, they couldn’t make any. She had wasted all this time coming here for nothing.

Soren and the others were battling. They gave everything. She failed them.

Aya had to think.

Plan B was to raise the city, frightening off the megalodons. That had failed, clearly. Plan C was to misdirect the army so they could smuggle out Lucy and everyone undetected. Plan D was to awaken Octopus Kong for this purpose. But it would be impossible to smuggle out Lucy with a megalodon hovering over the Life Tree.

Aya had made a tactical error.

All plans hinged on raising the final stage. Which was impossible.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can you pry something out the rubble?”

“The beams connecting the final stage have shattered. We would have to carve new beams and counterbalance the load.”

“How big are the beams?”

“The thickness of the castle anchors.”

So, about five people’s arm spans, if they all hugged the beam together, fingertip-to-fingertip. She pinched the bridge of her nose again. “I thought we had one more stage to raise.”

“I am sorry, Queen Aya.”

The ruin was her secret weapon. It was her nuclear sub, her depth charges. It was the thing she relied upon to drive the megalodons away.

“I am so sorry.”

She wasn’t going to say it was okay. She was going to think.

There had to be something she was missing.

Because they had exhausted all of their other resources. Right now, a megalodon was eying the Life Tree. She was out of time.

She needed to send an underwater SWAT team. She needed to send a bomb-laden drone. She needed to send a superhero.

But there was only Aya.

And she was going to have to be enough.

“It is over.” Ciran was white as he stared at the destruction. “You must escape.”

“It is not over.” She stood up. Power pulsed in her chest. He was wrong and she would prove herself right. “And I’m not going anywhere. Come on.”

She dropped down the hole in the ruined city and flew for the ocean floor.

“Queen Aya!” Ciran struggled to keep up with her. She used her power to add propulsion, and he kicked all-out but was falling behind. “First Lieutenant Soren made me vow to take you to the surface if we could not win!”

“Great, I’ll take you up on that if we hit that point.” She poured on the speed, leaving Ciran far behind. The cave of Octopus Kong loomed below. She would fly in and —

The gigantic octopus was already out. It rested on a rock ledge, watching the megalodons attack the army and the city, and warbled mournfully, harmonious as a symphony of bees puking on a drum machine.

Plan D it was.

Octopus Kong turned one eye on her. The other remained focused on the megalodons.

She fluttered to a stop in front of him. “I understand that octopi are the natural enemies of sharks. What are you doing just sitting here?”

He twisted his mammoth tentacles as though making excuses.

The megalodons were over there. He was over here. He’d jump in if they threatened his city, his cave. The mermen had led the prehistoric sharks here themselves. Octopus Kong had no patience for whippersnappers and their pranks. They should conduct themselves more intelligently, like octopi.

“That’s all fine, but that is your city.”

His song shifted to increase the buzz. No one had asked him to intervene.

“I’m asking you.”

He trained both eyes on her.

“Yes, really. I told you, I only hug in a professional capacity.” She raised her arms. “If we are going to work together, go ahead.”

One tentacle reached out and curled around her. It squeezed gently. The massive stub at the end of the tentacle brushed her cheek. Tasting. Getting to know her.

Feeling her determination.

Ciran kicked from a huge distance. His voice just reached her. “Queen Aya!”

“Alright.” She pointed at the megalodon hovering over the Life Tree. “Let’s go save the day.”

Octopus Kong raised his tentacles and changed colors from gray to white to streaked green. His song changed from off-tune gargling to a strangled seagull thrown into a blender. Clearly, the war cry of the battle octopus.

“To war!” she shouted.

Octopus Kong jetted across the ocean.

Behind them, Ciran’s shocked, slack-jaw awe was all the tingling, feel-good reward she needed.

Octopus Kong flew across the distance like a watery dragon of olde. Aya rode in front, coiled in one tentacle. He reached the outer edge of the fleeing army. The fleeing warriors gaped and pointed in shock.

What? Had they never seen a woman riding a giant octopus into battle before?

Before her, the two megalodons loomed like horrifying vacuum cleaners of death, suctioning mermen off the carpet of the ocean bottom. The army of her enemies fled in horror from the beasts they had unleashed.

Octopus Kong aimed for the closest megalodon. It shied away, leaving the warriors to face the giant octopus.

“No! The Life Tree.”

Octopus Kong shifted direction with a huff. His battle urges must be pumping. His war cry increased in volume.

The second megalodon turned warily to follow their progress across the battlefield. The giant sharks respected the giant octopus as an adversary.

Excellent. She chose her partners well.

At the Life Tree, Elyssa rose. She held her arms wide and her head was thrown back like an angel experiencing the rapture. A white energy barrier shielded her.

The third megalodon focused on Elyssa. It lowered its mouth.

Aya knew that monster. She raised her fist. It was not going to destroy another part of the Life Tree.

Kadir flew into the barrier. Elyssa grabbed his hand, holding him safely.

Wait. Were the other warriors nearby? How—

Soren flew past the barrier, purposely missing it. He lofted his trident. Rage filled his war scream.

He was attacking the megalodon? He was crazy!

The megalodon would eat him. Just like in the trench, when there was nothing she could do but scream in horror.

He flew into the mouth.

The jaws closed.

Soren disappeared.