GDAAR! A violent impact. The ship lurches and reels as the Leviathan's tail smashes into it.
GMRRRMMRRRR—Its roar echoes from beneath the sea, vibrating through the water and the ship's boards.
Rose, the captain, the crew, the passengers—everyone slips and falls from the force of the blow.
GMRRRMMRRR—Another roar, just before it surges back up from the depths.
SKRAAATH—Lightning splits the sky again and again.
The Leviathan leaps into the air once more. This is my chance. I tear the sword free and try to land on its body.
"AAAAARG!" I wrench the blade out, swing it, run along its back—
"NO!" The Leviathan dives, and I am left hanging in the air.
I fall, sword already swung, trying to drive it into its back beneath me.
"AAAAARGHT!" Its body—its body—
But then its head is suddenly in front of me. I glimpse it as my vision snaps upward. Its mouth is open, about to roar again.
WRAAAAATHH—The roar explodes, its breath and shockwave blasting straight at me.
SWISHHH—The sound of an arrow landing rings out near its head. It strikes its gills—finally.
AAAAAAORM—Its cry turns into pain. Its head jerks away from me and toward the ship—toward Rose.
"DAMN IT!" Its body is no longer beneath me. Below me is only the sea.
BLAAM—I crash into the water.
The Leviathan, now fully fixing its gaze on the ship—more precisely, on Rose, who has just wounded it—whips its head forward in an instant, jaws wide, aimed at the vessel, at the mast.
"THE MAST!" the captain cries, frozen and tense, unable to move.
The Leviathan clamps its mouth over the ship, the mast caught between its jaws.
"No, no, NO!" The captain collapses, unable to stand, as he watches the mast bend and crack beneath the Leviathan's bite. Then—BLAAAM—the mast snaps completely and sinks with the Leviathan, which is already beginning to rise again.
"The anchor—the anchor, the boy!" the captain crawls, struggling to rise. "EVERYONE, PULL THE ANCHOR!" he shouts into the stunned silence.
"THE BOY—COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" the crew rushes to the winch, pushing together to haul the chain.
"FASTER! PUSH WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH!" the captain shouts amid the roar of the storm.
On the slanted deck, dozens of crew members and passengers surge forward, gripping the capstan bars with trembling hands.
CLICK—CLICK—CLICK—The locking metal clashes against the sound of the waves as they run in a circle, hauling on the taut anchor line.
I am running out of breath. The storm makes it nearly impossible for me to surface, and the Leviathan churns the sea into chaos. The anchor chain is my only hold now.
I cling to the chain and move.
The captain joins in, pushing with them.
"ONE! TWO! THREE!" On the third count, everyone at the winch heaves.
"ONE! TWO! THREE!" They push again.
The chain shifts further, but will it break free? I can see the Leviathan about to rise once more.