Rowing against the wind slowed his progress through the lighthouse cove. It was going to take him forever to reach the rocky isles.
Finally, Bunter made it to the location described by the reports. It was difficult to see anything but grey sky and water. He sat and listened, but couldn't hear anything over the roar of wind and the crash of thunder.
He might have been the only living creature for miles, but he knew that wasn't true. The waters teamed with unseen life. But even the lightning flashes revealed nothing.
And then he felt it. A rumbling beneath him that had nothing to do with waves or wind. It was a pulsing inside. Bunter knew instinctively ...something was coming.
He stilled himself. Waited. And just for a moment, he wondered if he'd made a very wrong decision tonight.
That was when Bunter saw it. The thing he'd heard about all his life. Now he knew.
The Kraken was real.
And the beast was just as frightening as he'd been led to believe.
Its tentacles rose out of the water and surrounded the boat. He could hardly breath from sheer dread of the sight.
The beast had dark midnight skin. Slimy leather. The tentacles were covered with red suction nodules. The bulbous body streaked with blue and yellow markings. But the eyes! Those evil, unblinking yellow, red-rimmed eyes!
Time seemed to stand still, but Bunter knew everything was happening in seconds. The world was suddenly shut away from him.
Before he could even think how to act, he was engulfed by beast and waves. The dank stench of rotting sea life burned his nostrils.
Then, Bunter roared as the Kraken took him and his boat under. He felt water rushing past him as the creature plunged down into the depths.
But just as he'd given up hope of ever seeing the sky again, the Kraken stopped and heaved itself forward in one muscled thrust, spewing man and boat upwards.
Bunter tried to dodge the broken boards from the boat, but they crashed into him again and again as all were blown to the water's surface.
With a gasping intake of breath, Bunter shot through the surface of the swirling waves.
He inhaled moist air rapidly, heart pounding. He searched the area for the Kraken, afraid it would return for him. But he saw no signs of life.
Time passed, and Bunter's panic turned to anger. The beast had attacked him for no reason but to terrorize.
Well, Bunter was above terror now. He had faced the Kraken and survived. He knew his enemy! Bunter would track down the creature again, and this time, they'd meet on djinn terms!
