“Right along with you,” I panted.
Fire flashed along the blade and illuminated the inside of the creature’s mouth for a brief moment. I’d already been inside a wyrm, and I knew the inside of its mouth was armored, so I thrust upward a few times to break the tough plating. The wyrm continued to screech, and I could hear its stomach brewing a torrent of water to throw at me. I hurried my attacks until I broke through and thrust the Sundered Heart up toward its brain.
The wyrm screamed and filled every sinew in my body with the hellish sound. The roar from inside its stomach was almost deafening, and I needed some way to plug its gullet so that I wouldn’t get hit with a blast of water. I also needed to place the second lure somewhere, and the first was on the end of the giant harpoon. I removed the lure from my belt and tossed it down the monster’s throat.
I held myself in place by the handle of my sword, raised my other hand, and launched a broad Plank Pillar to close off its throat. For good measure, I thickened the pillar by infusing a large quantity of Vigor into it.
The wyrm thrashed around, and salt water streamed into its gaping maw. I looked through its sword-like teeth and saw the ocean. In little more than a few minutes, the wyrm had managed to race back to its home. With the lure inside its mouth, it must have seen no reason to remain in the city. It swayed from side to side as it slithered along the water’s surface, like a drunk trying to walk in a straight line.
The presence of the harpoon meant that it couldn’t close its mouth, and the massive barrier I’d put in its throat wouldn’t permanently stop its water attack from blasting out. I pulled the Sundered Heart free and kicked my way toward the front of the wyrm’s mouth.
Water lapped around my waist as I balanced on its tongue, carefully avoiding its teeth. The ocean closed in around my neck as I heard an all too familiar shriek from outside.
“Its friend approaches,” Nydarth whispered, her tone urgent.
“That was the idea,” I said.
I sheathed my sword and swam free of the wyrm’s maw entirely.
A mass of rippling bubbles surrounded me as the other wyrm slammed into the injured one. It buried its teeth in its companion’s throat and filled the water around me with black blood as it tried to rip out the lures I’d left in there.
The lack of air burned my lungs as I frantically tried to pull away from the underwater battle of the titanic serpents. My Frozen Armor melted away while I tried to get my bearings. I dragged myself up to the surface. My head burst out into the air, and I took a deep breath, then another. In the darkness and the storm-tossed waves, it was impossible to work out which way was land. Pelting rain stung my face as I fought to stay above the waves.
Then an unexpected current seemed to spiral through the water. It was strong and seemed to move with a life of its own. I swam toward it, and the current took hold of me, firm and insistent. It yanked me back and away from the surrounding chaos. I let myself be dragged along by it, and a minute later, I saw the docks.
I reached out a hand to grab hold of a wooden post as the magical current washed me up to it. A huge, gray, clawed hand found mine.
“You absolute lunatic!” Kegohr exclaimed as the half-ogre hauled me bodily out of the water.
Water streamed off me as I sat on the dock. Vesma, Faryn, and Kumi stared at me in a mix of anger, amazement, and absolute shock. King Beqai and a cluster of guards gathered behind them. The old ruler lowered his hands, and I spotted the current move back to the whims of the storm.
“So, I have you to thank for saving me out there?” I asked the king.
His tentacles twitched as he smiled. “Mmhmm.” The king was still tight-lipped, but, at least, he now showed emotion. He’d given over his lure, so he was partly responsible for saving Qihin City.
“That’s one way to kill a dragon,” I said to my friends.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kegohr said. “It’s good to see you in one piece, mate.”
“You too, buddy.”
The half-ogre pointed out to the sea. “You might want to watch.”
The storm had broken at last, and a beam of moonlight shone through a gap in the clouds. The two tidal wyrms fought in a mass of scaled muscle, silhouetted in the white light. The one that I’d hit with the harpoon made desperate efforts to break free or defend itself. The second tidal wyrm ripped at its companion’s throat while its every instinct urged it to find the lure.
The strong wyrm leaped upon the injured one’s body and tore at it with jagged teeth in an attempt to find the blue orbs within their cages. It shredded the other wyrm’s body and sent chunks of flesh and scaled skin flying. But amid the mess of ruined flesh and lapping waves, it couldn’t find what it was after. The surviving wyrm flung its head back, let out a disappointed screech, and disappeared beneath the waves.
“Anyone want to help me find its core?” I half-joked.
King Beqai turned to two of his guards. “Follow his instructions, my brothers. He has earned the spoils of his labor.”
I almost choked after hearing the king give an order. It seemed so out-of-character, but maybe I truly had woken him up.
The guards were equally surprised, and they paused for a moment, as though unsure whether they’d heard correctly.
“Did you hear me?” King Beqai asked them.
The guards all seemed to swallow at the same
