Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
"Oceanus?" I suggest. “And I doubt we’ll need to use the name much beyond today. It’s just for official records to keep who you are hidden.”
Typhon sighs, making steam rush from his dragon-like snout. He turns his face away from me. "Very well. Only because it will ensure your safety."
"Thank you, Typhon."
There's a slight blossoming of warmth through the tether. "The kuratokken is only one of my other forms, you know. I could choose something slightly more impressive. My second tether granted me the ability to keep the wings of the kuratokken and elongate my body to resemble an ancient sea serpent known as a markoth. It is not as grand as my current form, of course, but it's rather impressive."
"The less impressive, the better. Let people underestimate us. If anyone ever tries to come for me, we'll have the element of surprise when you show them what a badass you truly are."
That earns another pulse of appreciation through the tether.
"Very well. Should we consider eliminating the one-eyed water touched and the fire touched girl from the planes? They know my true form, along with their allies. If we're going to such lengths to conceal it, I imagine they represent liabilities in the plan."
"No." I fire the thought back without even giving it real consideration. “They are killers. We’re not.”
“And if we must become killers to survive?”
“We’ll be protectors. If we’re cornered and there’s no other choice… then we’ll go from there. But I still think it matters to draw the line somewhere. To not let this place turn us into something else. Surviving here won’t mean shit if I have to become a monster to do it.”
“Hmm… Noble,” Typhon muses. “But what will we do if they tell others about my form?”
“Who would believe them?” I counter. “Is anyone seriously going to think Nessa Thorn tethered Typhon, first heir to the water throne and ruler of the tides? Ancient, badass water dragon and formerly rogue elemental?”
I sense his pleasure. “You remembered my titles.”
I grin. “You’ve reminded me of them a few times.”
“Your point is taken. I believe the other flesh bags underestimate you. We shall let your enemies live for now to preserve our own morality, as you say. If the time for consuming your enemies comes, I will eat them with joy and righteous justice in my heart.”
“We’ll cross that bridge if it comes.”
“Bridges? Hah! I have wings, angry human. No body of water is an obstacle to me. It is simply an opportunity to crush my—”
“It’s an expression, Typhon. Lighten up.”
He makes a low growling sound and sits a little lower, blue eyes deep and fierce as he watches the ceremony.
The legacies and aspirants—or at least those who were aspirants before Confluence Day—finish presenting. Some of the legacies, like Bastian, present elementals quite a bit larger than the dog-sized that seems standard. Bastian’s horse is the size of a real horse, and one legacy girl with an earth marking has a golem made of stones that’s almost twice her height.
But now the former offerings are approaching, and it won’t be long before it’s my turn.
Beck eventually has his name called. He presents Uther and earns a few impressed noises from the gathered students. After Mireen's turn, I approach the selectors and wait.
"Present your elemental," the selector says. Compared to the way the selectors treated us that first day, I feel a twinge of satisfaction to see a hint of fear on the man's face. We're not helpless offerings anymore, and he knows it.
"Ready?"
Typhon walks beside me in his water dragon form, and then closes his eyes. His body swirls, losing form as the water currents twist and reshape him. A moment later, he's significantly smaller and looks like an ordinary fish, but with butterfly-like wings and a strange formation of whiskers on his head that almost looks like a crown.
I have to try not to smile. Seeing him contained in such an unassuming form makes me picture a great lion in the body of a kitten.
“Are you wearing a crown?”
“I am heir to the water throne. And… this being has a formation of sensory glands that do resemble a crown. yes.”
The selector's eyes narrow slightly. "What is that?"
"Uh," I say.
"Kuratokken," Typhon reminds me. "They were known as king fish by the original humans nearly fifteen hundred years ago. Celebrated for their regal—"
"Some kind of flying fish," I say.
Anger passes through the tether.
"Inconspicuous, remember?"
Typhon floats beside me, his annoyance obvious even in his small fish eyes.
"I see. Age?"
"Old enough to make his eyes water."
"He's thirty."
"Quite young. Hm. Very well. Name?"
I glance over my shoulder and see students whispering and a few smiles behind me. The flying fish is admittedly one of the least impressive forms any elemental has taken. Except, of course, the poor earth affinity who tethered some kind of large mosquito thing.