When I thought about my state, it was pitiful. I had no combat training worth the name — Kassie hadn't begun teaching me anything in particular. All I could do was wield a sword without cutting myself.
Strangely enough, that felt like more than enough. I had an unreasonably violent fire, I also had chains that could pass judgment.
Before now, I'd only used those chains to grab onto things and fly around, but that wasn't their real function, you know?
The creature tore a scream from its throat as it raised that macabre snout toward the sky, water streaming off scales the color of deep-sea darkness. Rows of vicious teeth ground through the storm, visible even through the rain and spray, each fang longer than my forearm.
On the ship, even Tristan, Derry, and Nisha had frozen.
Derry gripped the rail hard. "Holy Tyrant! That's a… a Maelstrom Serpent!" His voice cracked on the name. "Tristan, that thing is too dangerous to let that kid handle alone."
