Dragon versus Chaos

      Fluffy dragoness Beylet inhales more air, holds his breath and dives out of the rented ship board to the sea depth. Paddling with her flippers and arms, waving her tail, tucking her wings, Beylet goes deeper to the seabed, and the water gently strokes her hard-working body.       Observing the sea bottom through diving goggles, she sees nine calcified spires corkscrew up from the seabed. They twist and bend in defiance of gravity and the flow of water as they reach toward the surface, none of them achieving the same height as any other. When viewed directly from above, they form a symbol dignifying a powerful alien being. That reminded Beylet of rumors about a treasure so rare it’s contained in underwater caves filled with volcanoes, sea monsters and traps of any kind. That was a kraken egg! One who finds it first can release the beast and, theoretically, become its master. Or one can destroy the egg to harmonise the world, guaranteeing the kraken will never be born.       Finally, Beylet finds an initial destination of her dive: a sunken ship overgrown with algae. Dragoness swims into the hole of the old damaged wooden side.       Entering the ship, Beylet discovers it was designed to transfer passengers and creatures. While all cages were open and no animal was around, all doors to passenger cabins are locked, ensuring they drowned when the ship sank. Two crew corpses lie in a heap outside the cabin door.       Suddenly, a violet tentacle full of suckers darted from the hull. Beylet startles, whipping her head around to face the sudden movement, and bubbles involuntary. Her heart pounds in her chest as that long, undulating tentacle coils through the murky water, its suckered surface glistening obscenely. She backs away slowly, green eyes narrowed in caution.       “By the gods, it’s a kraken’s egg… and it’s already hatched!” The realization sends a shiver down her spine, despite the warmth of the tropical waters. She knows the tales — a kraken born from such an egg would be a beast of unimaginable power and fury — and doesn’t want to get involved in this dangerous case.       So Beylet concentrates on invisibility spell, hiding herself behind light-distorting spherical shield. Now that creature won’t attack me unless I stumble directly into it, not if I’m quick and silent.       With renewed determination, Beylet swims deeper into the ship’s bowels, her clawed hands grasping at the rotting wood. She reaches the locked door, the two bloated corpses floating lazily in the current. With a snarl of disgust, she pushes past them.       “Just a lock, nothing I can’t handle.”       She examines the lock, her sharp eyes picking out the mechanism. Her deft, elegant fingers work at it, prying and twisting until she hears the satisfying click of the lock disengaging.       “There, not so hard.” She slips inside the cabin, the treasure chest immediately catching her eye. It’s old and ornate, covered in strange symbols that seem to writhe in the dim light filtering through the porthole.       “I wonder what secrets this holds?”       She reaches for the chest, her heart racing with anticipation. But as her claws close around the latch, she hears a sinister sound behind her — the unmistakable slither of more tentacles, and the groaning of straining wood.       “It blocks my way back!”       She was probably trapped here — with a chest that only waited for lock breaking and latch opening to reveal unexpected treasures, but with little, but anyway dangerous newly hatched kraken strolling on deck. Heartbeat made oxygen burn fast. Beylet felt a need for air and stuffiness in her lungs, some bubbles escaped her nostrils and maw, belly swollen, and she moaned, breath stopped in her throat, panic rising as the realization of her predicament sinks in.       The chest’s latch creaks open, revealing glimpses of glittering treasures, but the allure is tainted by the looming danger.       “I’m trapped… with a newly hatched kraken.”       Her heart hammers against her ribs, oxygen burning through her lungs at an alarming rate. She can feel the stuffiness building up in her long, serpentine tongue and nostrils, bubbles escaping in a panicked stream.       “I need air… I need to breathe.”       A desperate moan escapes her maw as she turns to face the looming threat, her tail thrashing behind her. The kraken, still small but already terrifying, undulates through the water, its eyes fixed on the intruder, no matter her spell.       “It’s drawn to the movement, to the sound…”       Beylet forces herself to still, her breath coming in and out her cheeks in short, sharp bursts. She knows she can hold her breath for several minutes, but the rising panic threatens to overwhelm her.       “Think, damn it. Think!”       She looks around the cabin, her eyes falling on a small, circular window. It’s a risk, but it might be her only chance.       “If I can squeeze out, I can surface and catch my breath. Then I can decide what to do about this… this abomination.”       Slowly, carefully, she starts to move towards the window, her eyes never leaving tentacles ravaging in the corridor. She can feel the pressure building in her lungs, the desperate need for air.       “Almost there… almost…”       Her claws grasp the window frame, and with a burst of strength, she pulls herself out and darts up, her body soon breaking the surface of the water with a splash.       "Air… sweet, glorious air!"       She gulps it down greedily, her lungs burning as they expand. But even as she fills her lungs, she can hear the sinister sound of the kraken’s tentacles slithering through the water behind her, the groaning of the ship as it’s pulled apart.       “I’ve bought myself some time, but I’m still trapped… trapped with a monster that will grow stronger by the minute.”       She looks out at the horizon, the setting sun painting the sky in hues of orange and red. The beauty is lost on her, her mind consumed by the grim reality of her situation.       The frigate that brought that meddling dragoness to the dangerous spot was near, led by the captain who told Beylet about treasures and the egg. But now, she has disturbed undersea monster’s slumber, and its wrath knows no bounds.       Beylet’s heart pounds wildly in her chest as she hears the sinister sounds of the kraken’s wrath, the tentacles rising from the depths like a nightmarish forest. She can feel the heat of the setting sun on her fur, a cruel contrast to the icy dread gripping her heart.       “The captain… he brought me here, knowing the danger. He used me, and now… now I’m the one in peril.”       She takes a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm her racing thoughts. The tentacles are getting closer, their hungry movements unmistakable. She knows she can’t outswim the beast, not in her exhausted state. But she still had the energy to fight!       A wicked grin spreads across her muzzle as a plan takes shape. She sends a blast of burning magic energy to the knot of flesh tentacles originated from. Burning death engulfed the withering beast from within, ordering it to retreat.       Joyfully puffing, Beylet returned to her cabin in quarterdeck, calmed and going to relax — and think what to do next.