Toomaaek closed quickly, the trident aimed directly at Iakhovas's heart. In motion almost too fast to be seen, Iakhovas shoved his feet against the water. He shot up, curling gracefully over his attacker as the trident tines missed him by inches. Continuing the roll through the water, Iakhovas flipped behind Toomaaek as the sahuagin prince passed. Cruelly, Iakhovas dug his claws lightly across his opponent's neck, leaving bloody scratches. The claws also sliced through the anterior fins, freeing them from the dorsal fin.
Blood streamed out into the water from the superficial cuts.
Toomaaek threw out his free arm and kicked hard, finning himself into a roll of his own. He tucked forward and under, coming up with the trident again as he faced Iakhovas. The move was designed to catch an enemy from underneath, driving the trident deep into the stomach or crotch.
Either would have been a debilitating wound.
Turned as he was from his own flip through the water, Iakhovas had his back to Toomaaek. Though he didn't see the sahuagin warrior's move, Laaqueel knew Iakhovas must have sensed it in some fashion. As the trident sped toward his back, Iakhovas swept out a hand and pushed himself sideways in the water.
The trident tines missed him again by inches. As Toomaaek swam by, already aware he'd missed his opponent, Iakhovas raked claws across the back of the sahuagin prince's lower leg. The sharp edges cleaved flesh easily, drawing blood in a gust.
Laaqueel watched Toomaaek as he tried to turn. His leg was obviously hamstrung, the foot flopping loosely as the current pushed it. Stubbornly, the sahuagin prince turned in the water again. He appeared surprised to see that Iakhovas hadn't pursued him.
"You're wounded," Iakhovas said, still floating in nearly the same spot he had been since the fight had begun. "Stop now and live to help me set your people free."
"No." Toomaaek shook his head. "I'm going to kill you to show them the lies you've promised them."
Laaqueel watched the sahuagin prince. She felt certain it was obvious to the crowd that Iakhovas had deliberately stopped short of tearing Toomaaek's head from his shoulders on the first pass. She watched Iakhovas, marveling at the strength and skill he displayed. When he'd killed Huaanton, Iakhovas had struggled in that fight. Toomaaek was even bigger than Huaanton had been, and Iakhovas was handling him easily.
"They're not lies," Iakhovas told him. "There is greatness coming to We Who Eat. A rebirth. You can be part of it."
"No one can do what you say." Toomaaek finned toward him again, more slowly this time because of the injured leg.
"You have time to reconsider." Iakhovas stood his ground, finning down a couple feet to stand in the silt. "You can heal and still fight the battle that should be yours."
Toomaaek adjusted his approach and sped at his opponent.
Iakhovas ran out of time to move, standing loosely before the sahuagin prince.
Cheers and shouts of anger battered Laaqueel as she watched. She couldn't believe Iakhovas was doing nothing to defend himself. He couldn't use his magic, not without turning away the sahuagin crowd he'd won over.
At the last moment, Iakhovas raised his hands and grabbed the approaching trident. He hooked his fingers over the tines and rocked back slightly as the impact pushed against him. He dug his feet into the ocean bed and shoved as hard as he could.
The trident stopped no more than a finger's width from Iakhovas's chest, but the haft knifed through Toomaaek's heart, spearing him. Blood clouded the water. Triumphantly, Iakhovas lifted the quivering corpse on the end of the trident above his head. He gazed at the princes' table in open challenge. "Is there anyone else who wishes to dispute my words?"
None of the princes answered.
"Then, by the power of blood and combat," Iakhovas said, "I declare myself Deliverer of We Who Eat of Seros."
Sporadic cheering came from the crowd at first, then grew in intensity until it filled the area. Laaqueel was surprised when Iakhovas simply didn't declare himself king. The malenti knew he could have and also knew that no one there would have challenged him for that right after seeing what he'd done to Toomaaek. The decision seemed to shock the four remaining princes as well.
When the cheering died down a little, Iakhovas swam up, pushing the corpse at the end of the trident above him. "I will deliver you from this captivity," he shouted. "I will find you allies to fight your most hated enemies. I will teach you and mold you into the fiercest army Seros has ever seen."
The cheering started again, but somehow Iakhovas was able to speak loud enough to be heard.
"I also promise you glory." Iakhovas held steady in the currents, high enough in the water to be seen by everyone. "I will give you the chance to live and die as true sahuagin warriors. Blood will demand blood, but we will drink our fill of it from the skulls of our enemies."
Laaqueel watched Iakhovas, feeling as mesmerized as the Serosian crowd. He'd won them over and made them his, just as he'd done with her own people. He truly was a gift from Sekolah. The Shark God had answered all her prayers from the time she'd been a little girl to this very day. She was something important to her god and her people.
"I will break the abomination that is the Snarksbane Wall!" Iakhovas shouted. "You will be free, forever free, to run the course of Seros."
Laaqueel noticed even Maartaaugh was shouting his support, caught up in the tide of what was happening to the crowd. However, T'Kalah stood in the shadows of the rubble, a dark scowl on his face. Still, she didn't let the royal guard's presence touch her celebratory mood. Iakhovas had triumphed, and she was part of it.
"Born free!" Iakhovas yelled.
The crowd took up the chant. "Born free!"
"Die free!" Iakhovas followed.
"Die free!"
"I will take you from this prison that is the Alamber Sea," Iakhovas shouted. "Together we will descend upon the sea elves and destroy them where we find them. I will see Myth Nantar, the sea elves' most sacred city, razed and driven deep into the ocean floor before we are done!"
"Destroy the sea elves!" someone yelled. The crowd took up the chant. "Destroy the sea elves! Raze Myth Nantar!"
"We are born free!" Iakhovas screamed to the crowd, using both hands to wave Toomaaek's corpse at the end of the trident haft like a banner.
"We will die free!" the crowd screamed back at him.
"Born free!"
"Die free!"
Laaqueel felt Iakhovas's voice inside her mind. What do you think, Most Sacred One? Do we have an army?
Yes. Laaqueel looked around at the thousands of sahuagin standing around them cheering.
I will break Serds, Iakhovas declared, and I will forever change the lands of the surface dwellers. No one will avoid my touch or the carnage I will have wrought. I am their destiny!
Laaqueel knew with certainty that his statements were true. Iakhovas reached up and used his claws to shear Toomaaek into bloody gobbets. He flung the flesh chunks outward, drawing up the closest sahuagin sitting around him.
"Come and eat, warriors. Let us take Toomaaek into battle with us. He stood for what he believed, though he believed wrongly. He can still nourish us. Meat is meat!"
"Meat is meat!" the crowd roared back. "Born free! Die free!"
As Laaqueel watched Iakhovas stripping the flesh from the dead sahuagin, then swimming out to feed the crowd, she knew there was no turning back. Iakhovas had raised his army.
And the Sea of Fallen Stars would fill with blood to pay the butcher's bill.