I choked on swallowed water and kicked for the surface. I came up coughing and looked around for Benedict. He was standing on a pillar of water above the waves. It moved in accordance with his will. He was like some water mage. No, a storm summoner. Or something… The storm was growing in intensity. Just looking at the black clouds sent a shudder down my spine. Worse, with the sun blocked by the clouds, I couldn’t see the dark shape of the monster in the water.

“I’ll kill you, ya big bastard!” Benedict shouted at the top of his lungs.

As thrilling as this all was, I knew I was out of my depth. The water was too deep. Literally. I need to get to shore. I glanced over at Benedict. Yeah, he can take care of himself. No sooner had I thought that than the entire ocean seemed to explode, revealing the monster in all its terrifying glory. Time seemed to slow as sheets of water parted and spread into beads of water. The monster was every bit as big as I feared. At least a dozen appendages, each plenty big enough to level a house. The tentacles whipped every which way.

The main body of the monster had shimmering rainbow-colored scales all across its underside and black scales on the top. Like camouflage, to blend in with the sky or the depths of the sea. My brain was running at max speed but like always its eccentric nature was at the forefront. What the heck does it have to hide from? That thought nearly derailed my mind entirely but there was a pair of appendages swinging toward Benedict. He was focused on one, but the other was whipping around from behind. I knew without a doubt it was going to hit him.

I dug deep, reaching for every last bit of strength I could find, and drew it all into a force ball. Stupid name! And then I pushed.

The purple ball of energy shot out and collided with one of the appendages just before another brilliant flash detonated over the second one. The world rumbled as the thunder vaporized the air. My force ball deflected the appendage coming from behind Benedict while his lightning tore the other one apart.

I nearly went under as my strength seemed to go out of me, but my enhanced body, even drained of energy, was still stronger than a normal human.

Benedict’s hair was blown to the side as the deflected appendage swept over his head. As the tentacle's momentum fell, I realized the extent of the damage I had caused. It dangled uselessly where I’d hit it—the internal structure mangled.

His head turned toward me. “Ginny!”

His milky white eyes widened and then his pillar of water moved. He was next to me in just a few seconds. “You’re alive!”

“Yeah, for the moment anyhow!” I said, trying not to gasp for air. That force ball was no joke.

His pillar of water flowed into the sea and then he grabbed me. “Don’t let go!”

He hoisted me up on his back and then the water lifted us and we rocketed toward the shore. I held on tight. It was way faster than the boat. Waves of water soaked us as the monster's appendages slapped into the sea all around us. Benedict expertly weaved between them and then we were out of reach. Benedict slowed and turned around. We could see most of the monster, its legs were underwater, but I could almost see it in my mind, some forty feet under the water, huge claws gripping the rock shelf. It had angry eyes and it glared at us. It whipped at the water, in rage, throwing a fit as we stared back at it.

Despite its size, it was a monster of the deep and it couldn’t reach us here in the shallows, no matter how much it wanted to.

“It’s even bigger than I thought,” Benedict muttered.

He then lifted his hands toward the sky again and the storm's intensity grew once again. I stared in awe for a minute as the seconds ticked by. Finally, he was ready. I could feel it in the air. My hair was standing on end. Every strand of hair stood straight up. It didn’t matter how long my hair was, the air was that charged.

The monster seemed to sense the danger. It roared one final time and pushed off to dive, but lightning was nearly instant at this range. I screwed my eyes shut. And the world went white.

The flash still blinded me but my body repaired the damage in just moments. My ears were still ringing but I could see. I caught a glimpse of a gaping wound the size of a house before it disappeared into the water. Chunks of monsters and scales showered the area and the smell of ozone hit my nose.

Benedict looked like he was about to collapse. The pillar of water we’d been riding fell into the water and landed with a splash. I held onto Benedict as we went under and kicked for the surface. I came up and gulped down some air. Benedict wasn’t responding. We were still a quarter mile from the shore and from where I’d been on his back, I was already in position to keep his head out of the water. I slowly started for shore. I’d never swam a lot, but even enhanced, a quarter mile had never felt so far.

It was all I could do to pull him from the water before I collapsed. We survived. I had a strong suspicion the monster did too. A house-sized wound would kill most things, but that was probably like a dog bite to a monster that size. I sucked in the air trying to regulate my breathing.

I heard people shouting for us but didn’t feel like screaming. Raising my arm, I waved, it was all I had energy for at the moment. By the time I was catching my breath, Jason, Martin, Allison, Liam, and a few others I recognized from around town were rushing up to us.

“What happened?” Liam asked as soon as he reached me. “Is he alright?”

“Pass out,” I managed. “Used too much…” Energy? Magic? I didn’t know. “...and collapsed.”

“That was a huge storm!” Jason said. “Where the heck did it come from?”

Liam looked out to see and then muttered, “I’ve never seen him summon one so powerful before.”

“Why did he do it?” Allison asked.

“Huh?” Jason and Martin asked in unison.

“Benedict,” Liam clarified. “Is a storm summoner.”

“What?” Jason demanded.

“No way!” Marin said.

“I don’t know why he’d reveal his powers so openly, but I’m sure he had a good reason,” Liam said.

“Wish I could do something like that,” Jason said.

“Maybe he was showing off for Ginny,” Jason quipped. “I would if I was out on a boat alone with her!”

Allison and Liam both glared at him.

“He’s not an idiot!” Allison snapped. Jason slapped him on the back of the head for good measure.

I was too confused to say anything. The monster was as big as the entire town, or bigger! Or so it seemed. How did they not see it? Then I looked around. There were trees between the town and the coastal area where we were.

“The sea monster attacked us,” I said.

“What?” Jason asked. “Be more specific.”

Liam nodded. “What kind of sea monster?”

“The ‘Sea Monster’!” I snapped. “There is only one that size!” That we know of…

“No way,” Jason breathed.

Liam frowned. “If it attacked, then how come you aren’t dead? Benedict has told me about it before. There is no way you two should have survived. Benedict? Maybe, if he ran immediately, but he couldn’t, not without leaving you behind. Doesn’t make any sense.”

I threw my hands up and flopped back on the sand. “Whatever, it was bigger than the town, but what do I know!?”

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“It’s just hard to believe you survived.”

“She didn’t just survive,” Allison chipped in. “She saved Benedict too.”

“Unbelievable,” someone else muttered.

I felt a swell of pride at Allison’s words but it quickly faded. Caution filled the space it occupied. How would they react if they learned I had powers of my own? I didn’t like the looks I was getting. My distrust of people was making my insides squirm and with my body exhausted and Bob tied up hiding from the Triv, I didn’t have a handy backup plan at the moment.

“He’s breathing, but I can’t rouse him,” one of the older women I didn’t know said.

“Alright! Calm down, everyone. Let's get back to town. They are both exhausted,” Liam said.

He eyed me for a moment and I fought the urge to swallow. Would they turn on me now? My breathing had calmed almost to normal but my heart started pounding again.

“Ginny needs some food, get her some of the good stuff. Let's go. Martin, Jason, help carry Benedict.”

Allison and Liam both offered me a hand up and I drew in a breath and did my best not to let my fear show. I tramped down on it, hoping I wasn’t going to be betrayed again. I wanted to hope. To believe that these people weren’t awful, but I couldn’t help it. I’d been betrayed so many times. Experience told me they would be the same.

We got back to town and Liam personally made sure I got a heaping plate of food and some beer. It was my favorite kind. I’d tried all the ones they had and this one was the best. How did he know? Where are they keeping tabs on everything about me? What are they plotting? I ground my teeth. Shut up brain! They are nice people…

I could feel the other watching me. I thanked Liam with a smile and glanced over. The young men saw me look over and grinned. One held up his beer in salute. I flashed a quick smile and then focused on my food. They weren’t spying, they were just attracted to me. Nice people. I repeated the words in my head over and over, trying to stem my fears.

Even after finishing my meal, I was hungry so I asked for more. Another plate quickly appeared. The food was good. It was monster meat. I could feel the invigorating energy seeping into my pores as my body digested it. Making me stronger.

“Benedict is upstairs. Magdalene says he’s fine, just overtaxed his magic,” Liam said.

I swallowed the last scraps of my second plate full. My stomach was packed now. I leaned back to take some pressure off my gut. The food had finally distracted me from my fears and Liam’s words further eased my tension. No doubt, those worries would come back later, but for the moment I felt at ease.

“Magic?”

Liam grinned sheepishly. It was odd to see the sheepish grin on the old man, but with a chuckle, he responded. “Yeah, he’s been eating exclusively seafood and one of the fish he catches has a water affinity. From there he developed a lightning aspect from an electric eel. The two are really powerful together.”

“Yeah. I saw.” I nodded along. “So what about the clams? Any chance I could get some of that?” I asked.

Liam laughed. “The clams are a distraction. Not everyone knows, or they didn’t. The town council isn’t sure everyone is responsible enough to handle that much power. The eels aren’t too rare, but the other fish are difficult to catch. He’s working on getting his nephew both water and lightning magics but it takes a lot of meals to make it worthwhile.”

“I figured it had to be something like that or you’d all be shooting lightning bolts.” With that, I stood and yawned. “I think I’m going to go lay down for a bit.”

Liam took my plates for me and I drained the last of my beer. One of the young men started toward me.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked.

I met his gaze. “Not today, I’m beat. You’ll have first dibs tomorrow… um, what’s your name again?”

He grinned at first and then blushed a little at my question. He quickly introduced himself and then I made my escape. I repeated his name in my head a few times but when I reached the second floor, Magdalene intercepted me and I promptly forgot.

“He’s awake,” the old woman said. “He asked to speak with you.”

“Of course,” I said. I wanted to thank him for taking me out, and keeping me alive.

I stepped into the room. His eyes were back to normal, a stormy gray color. “Ginny,” he called, he was looking a lot better but sounded a bit weak still.

“Hey, Ben.” I smiled. “Thanks for taking me out. I had a lot of fun.”

He laughed. “Aside from the monster, I did too.”

I grinned. “That was exciting. Fishing will never do it for me now after that. I’ll have to give it up. You see, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie.” We both laughed.

His humor quickly faded though. He looked overly serious and stared right into my eyes. “Thank you. I would have died without you.”

My heart started beating faster. “It was nothing. I didn’t do much. Just a rescue carry.” I tried to maintain eye contact, but couldn’t quite manage it while I tried to lie.

He wasn’t buying it. I could tell by the look in his eye. “I don’t know what you hit it with, but it would have crushed me and I never would have even known what hit me. I didn’t see much, just a purple flash of something and the aftermath. I don’t know what you did, but you diverted the path of that appendage just in the nick of time. Whatever you hit it with was powerful enough to shatter its scales and break its internal structure.”

I swallowed hard. If not for everyone else here having weirdly enhanced abilities or magic, I’d have felt like a freak. “Don’t tell anyone. Please!”

“You have nothing to fear from us, but if that’s what you want, you got it. It’s the least I can do for you after you saved my life.”

Some of the tension faded and I smiled. “You saved mine too, so I think we are even.”

“I’ll have to tell Liam what happened, but I’ll leave your part out of it. You should tell him, but I won’t press you on that.”

“Thanks.” That’s a disaster avoided… of course if Liam comes pestering me, I’ll know he lied. Sometimes I hated how suspicious my brain was. I reached out and squeezed his hand. “You better make a full recovery. I want lightning powers and you’re the only guy I know who can get them for me.”

He let out a laugh and the last of the tension evaporated. “Anything for you, lovely lady.”

“Please, you’ll make me blush!” I batted my eyelashes as I pretended to fan myself. I gave him a coy smile and then laughed.

“If I was thirty years younger, no way those other lads would stand a chance, I’d woo you properly!”

I rolled my eyes. “Naw, you wouldn’t stand a chance either. They are all too desperate.”

Benedict let out a deep laugh. “Ain’t that the truth.”

With a casual farewell, I headed to my room. I showered to clean off the salt water and in a fresh set of clothes, I collapsed on the bed. Bob! Oh no! I completely forgot. A huge sea monster had a way of stealing all of your attention. Go figure.

I reached out and linked to my wrist computer and used it to contact my ship. From there I used the quantum link to link with the Shadow Hunter.

“Bob, are you there?” I asked my AI friend.

“Ginny! Are you safe? I’ve been so worried!”

“Yeah, we escaped from the monster. That thing was insane. How are things on your end?” I asked.

Bob didn’t sound optimistic. “The Triv are still here. It’s the Star Hammer. It’s heading into the system. It’s got probes out and is scanning the area along its approach. This isn’t good. If they get readings on the planets, I believe they will take an unhealthy interest in the anomalies here.”

“How long before they are in range to start getting good readings on the planet?” I asked.

“Less than an hour. I had to move Shadow Hunter to the far side of the sun.”

I groaned. Why now? Why are they even here? I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. I forced myself to sit up. If I remained lying on the nice bed, I was going to doze off.

“What are our options?” I asked Bob.

“Shadow Hunter is hidden, if you were to launch from the surface, we could rendezvous and hightail it out of here before they could intercept us. It’s unlikely that they will be able to identify your scavenging ship. They would have no reason to pursue us. Shadow Hunter is fully operational and awaiting your orders.”

“Wait. What about the planet?” I asked. “If they scan it…”

“It's not really your problem, Ginny.”

“What do you mean? They are here because of me.”

“Maybe. We don’t know that for sure.”

I clenched my hands. “Bob. What are the odds they are here for us?”

“That’s not relevant.”

“Bob!”

“79%.”

I cursed. Do I really owe these people anything? I didn’t spill their secrets… but they will get out all the same because of me. Bob was right. I didn’t owe these people anything. I could just blast out of there and run. I was a loner. This place was nice, but it wasn't my responsibility. They are tough and enhanced, they would be fine.

A hollow pit opened in my stomach. I closed my eyes. Just go. They would have betrayed me eventually… I flopped over and buried my head in the nice soft bed, then proceeded to bang my head against the soft mattress.

“Garr!” I growled in frustration. “This is so stupid!” My nostrils flared in frustration as I focused on my mental link with Bob again. “Plot an intercept course that will swing you by the planet to pick me up.”

“Captain, the Triv will see us.”

I closed my eyes. “That’s the point. Target their probes on the way in. I’ll fly up to meet you, then we’ll run.” I remembered the tracking signal from the other prisoner. “We’ll head into the unknown regions.”

“Ginny, are you sure? You’ll be putting yourself at risk.”

“I’m sure, dammit!” I conveyed all my frustration through the link. I didn’t realize I was talking out loud until a knock sounded on the door.