He stared at me for three seconds. Then sat up too fast and hissed in pain. "WHY DID YOU NOT WAKE ME UP!?" he roared. "I AM THE VICE CAPTAIN!"
"You fainted twice," I said. "The second time out of sheer awe."
"That is NOT AN EXCUSE."
I didn't bother responding. Because the sky darkened again. A massive shadow descended through the rain, wings cutting the air with a powerful WHUMP. The wind nearly knocked us all over as Raya landed near the shoreline, water exploding outward around her claws.
She looked… enormous. Majestic. Terrifying. And smug. In one massive claw, she held a severed kraken tentacle, still faintly glowing with residual mana, seawater dripping from it like rain from a banner. Lady Seraphine sat astride her back, soaked head to toe, hair a complete disaster, cloak half-burned, face streaked with grime and exhaustion.
