As the chimes of the bells resound all together, covering the cries of the alarmed nearby gulls, everyone is stupefied, tensing up.

Peterell is the first to recover, shouting to the cooklady: “Yoli! Take the kids to the dockhouse, now!” He points at a small shed near the docks, that doesn't look like much. “And barricade yourself down in the cellar.” He orders her. He then turns towards Mel to hand her his own knife: “Mel you take care of yourself and your friends. Obey Yoli, stay calm and don't make noises. Daddy will take charge of everything outside.” He gives her a last pat on the head.

“What is going on? Are we under attack ?” I ask in puzzlement as more and more people are running around the docks shouting orders to one another.

“It must be a monster tide.” announces Peterell, “I can't go with you. Telerios, hide with Yoli and your friends, make sure everyone stays quiet. I have to join the militia, Yoli, take them, NOW!” he musters all his authority and urgency in this last command. I can see the fear and anxiety lurking behind his collected facade. Things must be even worse than what he makes it sound like.

He shoves us towards the cooking lady, who grabs Melodi and Gelcaria's hands before rushing towards the unassuming house. While I follow them I can see the sailors gathering on the dock. Most have harpoons in hand and they flock towards the Dockmaster that is yelling at them: “As a free citizen, I'll be the acting blade until one shows up. You are hereby all drafted. Take a shield in the armoury and form a spear wall. Any archer can go stand on the roof of the customs house!”

I can't hear much more as Yoli is pulling us with her, hurrying us to our hiding spot. Before entering the house I cast one last glance behind me. Peterell is already in a makeshift formation with the other fishermen. There are a dozen Mermen tridents on the dock watching to the south.

There, rising above the river, I can see three incredibly massive tentacles waving in the sky. On the river itself there are unnatural waves coming towards the dock, with spiky fins emerging from them...

I can't see anything more as Yoli pulls me in and then downstairs to the cellar before locking the door behind us. She then gather us in the furthest part of the cellar.

Mel is holding her dad's knife, her hands in an uneasy grasp around the ivory handle. The shiny blade is almost as long as her forearm and must feel heavy for her despite her natural strenght. She is terrified, her fur is standing straight atop her making her look three time fatter than she actually is. The sight could be funny if the panic wasn't weighing so much down on us.

Gel is faring better. Her alarmed eyes are actively searching our surroundings. The sight of the familiar purple stars somehow helps me to control my own anxiety.

Balout is whimpering yet still holding it to not cry, the boy has enough pride.

Yoli is fiddling with a flint stone and finally manages to light a lantern's wick that casts a dim light in the cellar.

Our “saferoom” is quite barren. There are a few empty boxes with old nets and bits of ragged sails. Piles of rubbles made of broken planks and rusted nails. I don't see how our thin wooden door is going to shield us much.

“What is happening outside?” Finally asks Gelcaria, breaking the silence.

“Is dad going to be ok?” adds a worried Melodi.

I can see the worry and fear in Yoli's grey-blue eyes yet being the one in charge she manages to keep her voice firm “Don't worry children, we are safe here. It must be a monster tide.” Melodi gasps at that. But Gelcaria, Balout and me don't react. None of us know what she is talking about. “The lordshield and the blades will take care of it soon.” Yoli encourages us. I don't know if she is trying to convince us as much as convincing herself. “Your dad will be fine, he is with the dockmaster and the tridentsa and he is a strong man. They will all protect us. May Husnd guide their arm.” She gestures for a prayer, drawing Husnd's shield sign in the air.

I can hear Balout and Mel mechanically repeat the prayer after her. As for myself I hope Shinpilo hides us, voicing my own prayer in my mind and promising to share my knowledge with him in exchange for shelter from the eyes of the threat.

From afar we can feel the ground tremble and hear a gigantic roar that makes even the walls of our underground cellar shake. Following the roar two massive explosions are heard, causing the five of us to yelp in surprise and angst.

“What exactly is a monster tide?” I'm surprised by the trembling in my own voice.

Yoli takes some time to recover from the outside troubles before answering me in a whisper “Tel, a monster tide is what it sounds like. A wave of monsters led by a bigger, stronger one. Normally it is the duty of the blades to patrol their domain to make sure no monster can grow big enough to generate a tide. But clearly one of the lords in the south failed us. May Jalea's just wrath strike him,” she swears, fist tightly shut. She then puts a finger in front of her mouth, “Now you all stay quiet, not a sound unless you want to attract the attention of the monsters.” she whispers us.

She is hugging Balout who is sobbing in silence. Mel's two hands are gripping Petrell's knife until her knuckles turn white. Her cats eyes are fixated on the cellar's door pupils wide open, her ears focusing on any sound filtering from the outside.

I have my own rusty blade in my right hand, not really knowing what I would be able to do with it if push comes to shove. I've never trained in knife handling, even less for combat purpose.

Feeling my dismay, Gelcaria, takes my left hand in hers, silently nodding at me as if to say “it's gonna be alright.” Her unnatural calmness somehow is even more unsettling: how can I let a kid be more composed than I am?

It's never going to be alright and soon enough we can hear fighting sounds coming from above, probably from the nearby street. Men yelling, monsters shrilling and screaming, bronze weapons clinking on chitin or scales. Occasionally someone roars in pain, it is hard to say if it comes from a human or a river creature. An explosion shakes us again. This time the deflagration was close by, Ballouts and Yoli both emits a small cry. It's my turn to be the one shushing them, Balout puts both his hands in front of his mouth, his eyes still terrified.

Gel leaves my side to go pick up a broken plank, an improvised staff is better than nothing.

We all stand on alert when we hear some skittering sounds coming from the floor above us.

Everyone is holding their breath up.

I sigh in relief as the crawling sound goes away only to get tensed up again when it comes from the wooden staircase this time. Something heavy is making the steps creak and is coming towards our barred door.

We are all statued not daring to even breath but our thumping hearts are making so much sound that we can't be discreet, at least mine is bursting through my ears and I can feel Gel's fleeting pulse in her thin wrist.

Then something starts banging at the door.

Yoli, Balout and Mel end up whimpering. The thing outside heard them and redoubles the banging and slashing at our door, planks creaking and trembling in their hinges.

Soon enough, one of the planks explodes in splinters and a bluish pincer the size of an adult's arm appears through it. Yoli shrieks yet finds the courage to stand in front of us in a protective stance. Just like Gel, she grabs whatever makeshift weapon she can and steels herself for what's to come.

The creature's efforts grows frantic as it smells us, the breach growing bigger until the hinges break and the whole door falls.

In front of us is standing a lobster-crab thing, as big as a lion, with 4 pincers on top of it waving and clasping around and walking on four legs. Its four beady dark eyes are locked on us and it shrills in frenzy, charging towards us.

Yoli hits it with her plank, that is deviated by one of the pincers. The thing then clasp one pincer around the cook lady's left thigh and another pinches her thorax, before holding the screaming woman above its monstrous head like in a victory pose.

The flickering light of our lantern reflects on the oily shell of the monster making it look on fire with its every move. The eldritch creature starts to tear the cook apart, the woman wails in pain, her shout getting more and more in the trebles as her body gets forcefully stretched, sending both shivers and drills through my spine and eardrums. We are all petrified by the horrific sight.

Her wailing stops as cracking sounds are heard coming from her back and she goes limp in the grasp of the beastly claws.

The sudden silence breaks me out of my stupor but Gelcaria is the first to react: with her stick in hand she rushes toward the thing, calling for assistance: “Telerios, strike it, now or never!”

I can't help but follow after her as she strikes at the arthropod. Her makeshift weapon gets caught by one of the remaining pincers. She dances around the inhuman limb to end up kicking the mouth of the beast. This is the most reckless thing I've ever seen.

On my side I manage to avoid the last pincer, the distraction provided by Gel allowing me to shove my blade through the biggest eye in front of me.

The thing roars in pain and anger, one sweep of its arm throws Gel flying in a pile of wooden crates while the last pincer clasps itself around the right side of my upper waist, trying to crush my liver and cutting my breath by forcefully emptying my lungs.

I'm lifted in the air, the pressure of the pincer growing, the pain is barely bearable. I can almost feel some ribs cracking. I know a child's bones are somewhat flexible but there must still be a limit.

In the corner of my eyes I see a flurry of grey fur as Melodi passes on the left side of the beast and manages to pierce another eye with her own blade before getting sent flying away.

I catch one of the beast's antennas atop its head and pull on it with the energy of despair. The lobster thing roars in pain and vigorously shakes me, pulling on its own appendix even more.

When I believe the thing is going to finally pop me like one of those bubbles in bubbles wrap, holding me high in the air and increasing the pressure, Gel grabs one of my feet and uses it to swing herself toward the head of beast, using her heel to hammer my knife deeper inside.

This is the literal last nail on the coffin for the beast, it crumbles and dies before us in a last gurgle.

I fall to the ground yet am still clasped tightly in the irremovable pincer. Purple ichor and black brain matter ooze out of the wound of the beast, bringing out a coppery smell to permeate our cramped cellar.

I can hear someone vomiting in the back, probably Balout's lunch coming out.

As we all catch our breath thinking things are now over, a growl attracts our attention. In the gaping doorframe of our cellar stands another beast: smaller but meaner looking. A green blue dog sized hyena covered in seaweeds and shells like some degenerate seal.

It starts rushing towards me while bellowing.

I'm shackled in the pincer and unable to avoid it. The thing's maw opens to reveal two rows of triangular shaped teeth, reminding me of sharks.

As I feel my last moments are upon me, a tempest of claws and hissing rage intercepts the sea monster, sending it astray and leaving clear cuts on its belly.

But it was able to strike back with it's own claws at Mel too: there is a gash bloodying the fur of the angry kitten's left arm.

The thing grunts and almost barks before a thumping Balout falls on it, pounding it's head with a wooden hammer he found Arteus knows where. The boy is red in anger, not emitting a sound yet clearly enraged. In a few strikes the skull of the beast cracks and breaks. The blond berserker keeps pummelling until he tires out, leaving only a pulpy mush behind him of the same purple and black consistency as the lobster's ichor.

Now we are all out of breath and more or less lightly hurt. I'm still stuck in the unwavering hold of the pincer, Gel is bruised but trying to pry it open to free me. Mel is checking her wound and Balout is still stunned by his own furor, not realising what happened. When I raise the head I can cross the dead stare of Yoli forever fixed in absolute terror. Her corpse is still grotesquely hold up in the air atop the monster's head.

Melodi tries to calm down Balout, dragging him away from the door. But as she does so a chanting shrills resound in the staircase, like a dolphin's whistles and cackling. We all freeze in fear.

Something else is coming.