Ross saw the wave from the submerging monster heading toward them. He drew in a deep breath, pulled his arms in, and stilled the motion of his feet. When he stopped treading water, the weight of his soaked clothing pulled him down. He rotated when he felt a ripple of movement. His eyes grew larger when he saw the Kraken reach out and wrap a tentacle around Orion’s foot.
Orion twisted around and aimed his trident at the creature. Before he could fire the glowing staff, one of its other arms came up behind Orion and struck him on the head. Ross watched in horror as the merman went limp, the trident slipping from his relaxed hand and falling end over end downward to the bottom of the lake.
Ross swam back up to the surface and took in another gulp of air before he dove down. He kicked his fe
