Chapter Four

Kathena did not sleep well that night; the words from her Mother and Mika replayed in her head, but finally she fell asleep. 

She started dreaming about two little girls running around in the woods, someone calling names she couldn't quite hear. All of a sudden the girls run in opposite directions, fear suddenly in their eyes, the voices calling to them becoming more panicked. One of the girls was hiding behind a tree, a figure walking up behind her, hands reaching around the tree when suddenly, a strong hand grabs her and she wakes up to see Mika standing over her.

"We are heading into a storm, the Dead Sea is fast approaching." she nodded and waited for him to leave before sitting up. 

" That dream...those girls...why did they look so familiar?" Kathena thought to herself. She decided to push it aside for now, getting ready before heading on deck. She looked around seeing that many of the crewmates were tying stuff down and closing the sails. Looking ahead she saw storm clouds and raging waves...and they were going right into it. Suddenly, Kathena was thrown as the ship was pushed by a strong wave. 

"MEN TO YOUR STATIONS!" the captain yelled over the thunder that echoed around the ship.

Kathena ran to a post and quickly tied herself to it, just in time as the ship began to move around more and more violently. The rope dug into her skin as it struggled to keep her in place, the storm still raging above them. Even in the darkness from the storm she saw a large tentacle rise from the water. 

" THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER! I THINK IT'S-" Kathena was cut short as the tentacle slammed down, scattering wood all over. Panicking, she started untying herself as another tentacle slammed down. Just as she finished untying the rope two more started wrapping around the ship, and she finally saw the creature fully emerge.

" It's...a...Kraken..." Kathena managed to say, still in shock about what happened. Then she remembered the dragon.

" WAIT!" she yelled, looking right at the Kraken, trying to push her fear to the side. It's tentacles stopped moving and it looked right at her.

"Please... we are just trying to get to the kingdom across the sea... I just want to find my family."

" That's not possible..." the Kraken replied 

"What isn't?" 

"You can understand me?"

"Yes, and I need to get across the sea...please."

the Kraken looked at her, slowly releasing its grip on the ship.

" You must belong to that kingdom to have such powers... please continue. Be careful on the rest of your journey." 

"Thank you." Kathena said, watching as the Kraken returned back into the sea.

"What just happened?" The captain said as he raced over to make sure she was okay, " I can understand him, and he can understand me. He gave us safe passage, but we still need to be careful." 

the captain nodded and went to help his men.

***

Hours went by before the storm finally stopped.

Even better... there was land in sight. Kathena rejoiced with the crewmates and quickly it turned to panic when she realized this just meant she was one step closer to putting the kingdom at risk. It was then she decided she would protect this kingdom...no matter what.