Know thy enemy, part 1

Niko was the one to answer.

"Seven out of ten. Never split the party, Tarek."

Tarek huffed. "And we didn't actually WIN. Our ship is gone! And the kraken escaped with our glory, I mean, our bounty! Who will even believe us now that we made it flee?"

Cael let his armor dissolve back into the blood it was made from, which he consumed the next instant. The relief of not having to keep up a taxing spell was immediate, but the loss of the additional strength filled Cael with regret.

"It didn't escape on its own," Cael said. "Someone helped it. Mages, but underwater. I didn't notice anything like Tarek's spectral turtle around them, but they used spells anyway!"

"I've seen them, too," Niko said. "It's too bad that I couldn't warn you while you were out there. Those were merfolk. This kraken seems to obey them."

"Merfolk?" Tarek frowned. He turned towards Cael, and his frown deeper. "That's just one more thing. Who are those merfolk, anyway?"