Edan was having his fingers gnawed on by the bear cubs when Sanik tapped the table and said “Tali is on her way with Marcus. They should be here in a minute.”

  Edan grunted acknowledgment and flipped the male cub onto his back so he could scratch the cub's belly. The female cub copied her brother and looked expectantly at Edan.

  “And just like that, I’ve tamed the wild beasts.” Edan joked.

  “They're here.” Sanik interrupted causing Edan to look up.

  A well-maintained carriage rolled to a stop a few feet from their table. A familiar-looking bald man sat on the high seat, the reigns attached to the two beautiful brown horses held loosely in his hand. Catching Edan’s eye he gave a tip of his head and a wink before hopping off.

  Glancing around covertly, the man opened the carriage door. Edan noticed the crest of the Traders Guild was emblazoned on it in gold paint. The carriage rocked as the rather large form of Marcus stepped out. Sunlight turned his mane of red hair into tongues of fire and his slitted pupils contracted in the light. His nostrils flared before the man stalked forward.

  Sanik stood to meet him, putting himself between the guild head and his son. Marcus pulled up short and regarded Sanik for a moment before sticking out his arm. The two men clasped forearms before Sanik stepped back.

  “Tali in the carriage?” Edan heard him ask.

  “She stands out more than I do,” Marcus answered, his voice a low growl. “She’s safe enough in the carriage. The Watch knows better than to snoop around Guild property.”

  The last part was said with a vicious undertone that made Edan think Marcus would have preferred if they did, if only so it would give him a chance to retaliate.

  Edan heard the cubs whine and pull tighter against his legs as Marcus settled into the seat opposite him. Reaching down absently he fondled their ears to calm them down.

  “How can I help-” Edan began to ask before shouting in the distance distracted him. Looking over Marcus’s shoulder Edan could make out people running down the wharves, waving their hands wildly in the air.

  Sanik stood up to get a better look, his brows coming together as he frowned.

  Even Marcus turned in his seat.

  Edan was about to question it when the ringing of a bell sounded out. Loud and rhythmic it made the people around them freeze in shock. It wasn’t the Season of Storms. There was no reason for the bell to signal a beast tide.

  The surrounding crowd looked confused. And scared.

  “Leviathan!” the shout sounded distant. Thin. Easily misheard.

  “Leviathan!” This time it was closer and clearer.

  That's when people panicked. The crowd surged away from the water, pushing and screaming. A few members of the City Watch tried to calm the throngs but were pushed aside, their levels meaning nothing in the face of a panicked mob.

  Sanik pulled Edan to him as people rushed from the store around them. Marcus stood like a boulder, his size and aura keeping people away from him.

  A few brave souls tried to steal the Guild carriage, even going so far as to climb over the top to get to the driver's seat. The carriage rocked dangerously, the springs groaning, as the massive form of Tali stepped out, the hood covering her face slipping back for a second before she settled it.

  “What is it?” She asked as people buffeted her. They would have had better luck moving a building. Tali just looked over their heads at Marcus, her amber eyes flickering to Edan for a second as if to make sure he was safe.

  “Leviathan,” Marcus replied tersely. He looked at the people trying to steal his wagon and the brave attempt to rebuff them from Vroth. “Leave them be, Vroth!”

  The bald-headed man sighed and stepped away from his carriage. Immediately a young man in the rough clothes of a sailor grabbed the reigns and lashed them.

  The already nervous horses bolted forward. A woman who had grabbed the top of the carriage rolled over, hitting the ground hard. Vroth moved to help her up but she sprung up, blood leaking from a gash on her head, and took off after the carriage.

  “Tis a shame, that!” Vroth growled, stomping over to Edan and his group. “Some of me best etching be in them wheels. She moves like a dream, don't she, tall one?”

  Tali watched the crowd thin around them, sparing Vroth a glance. “Yes, it was a smooth ride.”

  “Shouldn’t we be running?” Edan asked his father.

  “I’m waiting for your mother.”

  “I’m waiting for you,” Marcus added, looking at Edan.

  “I am waiting for you also,” Tali added.

  “I ain't waiting for ya wee’ lad, but I ain't leaving neither,” Vroth added.

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  As if summoned by their conversation, Edan saw Reema darting through the few remaining people still trying to flee the port. A strange couple followed closely behind her. A tall lanky woman with bright orange hair shaved at the sides and styled into a long flowing mohawk, and a short broad man with a bushy beard and strange loose armor that hung from his thick frame.

  “Sanik! Edan!” Reema called, rushing to their side. “We need to leave. A Leviathan was spotted heading this way, it's already past the outer Islets.”

  Her eyes flickered towards Marcus and Vroth for a second but she had been told by Sanik that Tali would be bringing the guild head to meet Edan so she wasn’t caught completely off guard.

  “You may leave. The Titan and animals stay.”

  The voice was soft. It reminded Edan of crumpled paper for some reason. He looked around, trying to locate the source.

  Everyone else was looking up at the figure floating in the sky above them. Edan followed their gaze and squinted as sunlight stabbed his eyes. An old man stood in the air, his arms crossed behind his bag. His tattered robes flapped gently in the breeze. Edan’s heart sank as he noticed the robe's colors.

  Marcus growled, the sound low in his chest. His mane of red hair seemed to puff up, looking larger than it had before.

  “Vraga!” he spat. “I thought they didn’t let you go out in public?”

  “Master of an obsolete guild,” Vraga retorted, his wrinkled face folding in on itself as he frowned. “I didn’t expect you to be seen with a wanted criminal. This won't look good for the Traders Guild.”

  The old man laughed. Even that was dry and weak. Vraga looked between the group, dismissing the youngest, and the man who had driven the carriage. His eyes stopped as he looked at Reema and Sanik and then at the two that had followed her.

  “Perhaps these are also wanted criminals? I heard you were not alone when you stole into the academy dungeon.” Vraga’s face turned red and a vein on his head throbbed. He hissed. “And killed my precious pet!”

  The bear cubs at Edan's feet whined and pawed at his shins. Distracted for a second he looked down at them. They weren’t looking up at the man in the sky, they were looking out to sea and slowly shifting back. Edan looked out and gulped. The waves had grown in size, each now big enough that they made the moored boats rock violently against their ropes.

  “The viper?” Tali joined the conversation. “Your pet was diseased. I did you a favor in killing it.”

  “Diseased!” Vraga shrieked, true anger made his eyes glow. “It was close to perfection! Like my wolf! And you killed them! You will replace them!”

  He pointed at Tali, his withered handshaking with repressed violence. “Give me the Titan and the animals that cower behind that small man and the rest of you may leave.”

  “Lem, Gem, you may want to get out of here.” Edan heard Reema whisper to the couple she had come with.

  “And miss the fun?” The woman with the orange hair, Gem, said with a wide smile. “I dunno Weaver, it's been a while since we got into some trouble together.”

  “That's a Four Star Heavenly Sect Elder,” Lem reminded her. “There is no upside to joining this fight. My apologies Weaver, but the favor owed would not cover this.”

  Reema gave a thin smile to them both. “I don’t expect it to.”

  Marcus ignored the conversation, his slitted pupils remained focused on Vraga. “Vraga, do you expect me to stand by and do nothing? I’ve heard the rumors about you and your…interests. So vile the other Sects want you to stay hidden.”

  Edan saw something move in the sky behind Vraga. A dark streak that slipped between clouds.

  The anger of the old man's face suddenly changed to a triumphant smile.

  “The offer is no longer valid,” he said. “I will simply take what I want and the rest of you can die.”

  There was a roar of misplaced water as something truly massive surged from the depths of the bay. Edan’s eyes turned wide as that something breached the surface of the sea next to the wharves. Waves crashed over the port, flooding the ground and smashing into the line of old buildings.

  Edan scooped up the cubs before they could get wet and they clawed their way higher up his body, almost standing on his head. Water surged around his ankles, reaching halfway up his shins.

  Sanik cursed, pulling Reema closer to him.

  There was a low bellowing call as tentacles emerged next and slammed into the wharf. The few ships unlucky enough to be caught near the creature turned into broken, splintered wrecks. One of the larger vessels with its enchanted hull took a glancing blow and rocked precariously. Edan could hear shouts from within and guessed that some of the crew had refused to abandon the vessel.

  The head of the creature finally emerged fully into the light of day. As large as the largest ship in the port, it was shaped like a spearhead, with thick bone armor covering most of the surface. Seaweed and coral studded the armor, making it look splotchy and green. Two large circular eyes with empty black pupils focused on the man in the sky from beneath a ridge of bony armor.

  More tentacles slid from beneath the surface and crept along the port. They curled around anything that looked stable enough to act as an anchor as the creature pulled itself further out of the water.

  It let loose the same low bellow and those dark eyes turned to fixate on Edan and his group.

  [Corrupted Leviathan of the Deep - lvl ???]

  “Oh fuck.” Sanik said, his rapier appearing in his hand.

  A shriek made Edan look up and a bird darted around Vraga. It looked like a Sunsprite, but much much larger. Its golden plume was charred, like ash, and burning embers drifted from the creature as it streaked through the air. Vraga held out a hand and it dove past, his aged fingers running along its back.

  [Corrupted Sunsprite - lvl??]

  Vraga basked in their despair. The worried looks on their faces feed his ego and pride in his pets. He felt the rest, so close.

  They were his latest attempt at subservience. The parasites he’d implanted in them hadn’t matured enough to alter them, but they were old enough that he could control them.

  Vraga tugged on those strings, forcing them to come around the side of the buildings.

  Edan followed Vraga’s gaze as he looked off to the side.

  For a second Edan didn't know what he was looking at and he froze. Walking towards him, their weapons out, were his old classmates. Lorien led the way, her trident resting on her shoulder. Yaw followed at her left and opposite him on her right was Kumi, his staff held in his hand.

  Edan felt hope. They had come to help. Edan took a step forward to call out to them but he froze. Something was wrong. It took him a second to notice what his unconscious mind had already picked out.

  Lorien wasn’t walking with her usual bounce. She didn’t have the same bubbly smile on her face. She was cold, emotionless, flat.

  Hope turned to dread as conversations with Cassie flashed through Edans mind unbidden. He remembered how Cassie had said she had changed. How they had fought and Lorien had pushed her away. It had happened after the party. The party that had been held at Star Castle. A castle owned by the Four Star Heavenly Sect.

  Edan felt cold as he looked up at the robes Vraga wore and the colors Edan had grown to hate. Vraga met his gaze and the corner of his thin lips turned up in a cold smile.