All the Stars and Teeth(60)

“I’m fine,” he grunts. “Find Ferrick and Vataea. Get them back on the shi—”

The Lusca’s no longer looking at us. One at a time it blinks its beady red eyes toward the left, and I run to the bow to see what it’s spotted.

There’s no hiding Ferrick’s red hair in the silver water. He’s a flame in the middle of the sea, and Vataea’s shimmering rose-gold fin isn’t helping.

The mermaid’s head is down, limp. Ferrick has her over his left shoulder. There might not be a whirlpool anymore, but the waves crash angrily against Keel Haul, strong enough to sway the heavy ship. They slow Ferrick. His head bobs in and out of the water as he struggles to swim forward, dragging Vataea with him.

“I dropped the ladder!” I yell. “Hurry!”

But the Lusca’s already seen him. Its throat opens and its teeth wriggle excitedly, each like a dead squid with a pointed tip that drips black poison.

When it lashes its tentacles toward Ferrick, I scream for Bastian. “We need to do something!” Though I’ve no idea what that could be.

Ferrick hugs Vataea close and ducks beneath the water before the tentacles strike. The Lusca roars and draws back for another shot.

Bastian sprints toward the edge of the ship closest to the Lusca. He raises his sword above his head and waves it in the air, trying to draw the beast’s attention.

It works. All ten eyes are drawn to the shiny sword before they sink down to the man holding it. Bastian’s stone-faced and ready to go again.

“I assure you, I taste better than the guppies in the water.” There’s an edge in his voice. “Come and get a taste.”

The monster lurches forward and Bastian stabs at it again. The tentacles are thick and goopy; they catch the blade, but are too thick to slice through. Its inky blood pours from the tentacle and stains Bastian’s cheeks and hands. He rips his sword back with a grunt, dissatisfied he’s done nothing.

Except, he hasn’t done nothing. He’s given me an idea.

I need the Lusca’s blood. Or, better yet, its tentacle.

“What are you doing?” Bastian yells as I throw myself from the bow and run toward the Lusca. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“Distract it!” I grip the rigging and hoist myself onto the slippery ropes, beginning to climb aloft toward the mast. The Lusca’s attention is still fixed on Bastian. It lifts three tentacles into the air and slams them down into Keel Haul.

Bastian’s sent flying, his head smacking against the ship. Keel Haul roars as the Lusca sinks its tentacles into the ship, dragging it forward.

I wrap my wrist in the rope and swing myself so I face the beast. I unsheathe my dagger and hold it close as the ship tilts and the rigging hovers above the Lusca.

This creature is extraordinary; something of legends. If I want to beat it, then I’m going to need to be extraordinary, too.

I ready my dagger, send a quick prayer to the gods, and throw myself from the rigging. I hit the monster’s thick skin with a smack that knocks the air from my lungs. Bastian yells something behind me, but I can no longer make out his words.

The beast is slippery, with skin like a whale. There are notches and grooves in its back from where other creatures have torn chunks from its skin, and I dig my heel into one of those grooves to steady myself. The Lusca roars.

None of its ten eyes can move upward. They’re fixed in a circle around its mouth, unable to see me. Even so, it lashes one of its tentacles at me and roars when it instead strikes its own back.

I dig my heel farther into the beast’s back and fall to all fours as it thrashes. My nails scramble for purchase in any groove they can find, and I struggle to work my way out of my left boot. From the corner of my eye I catch a flash of red. Ferrick’s making his way around the ship, toward the ropes.

Bastian turns to help him, but the Lusca seizes up and throws two of its slimy tentacles in the air. They hammer onto Keel Haul, hooks tearing at the wood. When I squint through the haze of the mist I see Bastian grab at his chest. His strangled choking fills the air.

When the Lusca raises another tentacle, I drive my dagger into its back and finally kick my foot out of its boot. I scramble back to my feet, but without the traction from my soles, the Lusca’s skin is even more slick and slippery as it flails.

I dig my toes into what I can, desperate for what’s inside that boot.

Beneath my stockings and wedged beneath a thin layer of canvas lies the cursed necklace I stole from Mornute. I’ve been careful to keep it from touching my skin, saving it for a time where it might come in handy.

One brush of my skin against the necklace and we’re done for. But if I can slip this onto the Lusca …

One of its tentacles finally finds me. It knocks me off balance; I start to slip off its back, but grind my blade into the flesh on its side and hang on to the hilt. The Lusca’s wails are deafening.

Bastian leans over the opposite side of the ship, helping Ferrick and Vataea up the ladder. His back is turned away from the Lusca, trusting me to handle this beast alone. I can’t let these three down.

I lift my free boot and bite down on the lip of it, clenching the leather between my teeth so I can use both hands to drag myself back up onto the Lusca’s back, thankful for its massive size only this once. I keep on all fours and clench the hilt of my dagger until I catch my balance against the Lusca’s slimy skin. The beast struggles against my movements, tentacles thrashing. One of its hooked barbs finds my back and pierces through my skin. I scream against the searing burn as thousands of black dots fight to steal my vision.