Vahly nearly felt the hit herself, her head throbbing and her vision clouding.
The sea kynd faced her.
For a moment, they both paused, the beat before the fight. A strange calm overtook Vahly as the currents tangled the sea kynd’s ruddy beard.
Then he took off, aiming straight at her, his finned, powerful limbs driving through the sea, his eyes coal-hot, and a spear in his murderous hand.
Pulse roaring in her ears, desperate to access the earth and whatever sliver of power she might use against this vicious creature, Vahly shot toward the ground.
Chapter Sixteen
Ryton had been patrolling the city, hiding among its shadowy structures and crumbling roads. He’d avoided the cathedral and its spires. The place reeked of earth magic and set his teeth on edge.
But then he scented her. The Earth Queen.
Raging through the water, he raced along the trail, nostrils and gills flaring. He whispered spellwork into his shell spear. Water magic gurgled and roared all around him, steadying him against the unholy thrum of the creature attached to his spine, the monster that would allow him to hunt the Earth Queen on land. The sickness of the being’s foul power pulled at his energy. It was impossible how it both drove and drained him. He felt like he’d swallowed poison every day he’d risen with that thing on his back.
Blasting through the door, he barreled into the royal-blooded elf and raised his spear, pointing it ahead. All in a matter of seconds, the elf tried to grab Ryton with a powerful twist of air magic thrown into the currents. His magic overpowered the elf’s, and the elf hit the wall. His body drifted, unconscious, as Ryton shot through the water toward the painted face of the Earth Queen. What magic was this that allowed her to breathe under water?
Triumph soaring through his soul, Ryton struck the female across the head with his spear. Blood spooled from the wound, but she did not falter as he would have guessed. She turned to him, eyes blazing with righteous fury, gripped the edge of a table, and shouted into the water.
The table exploded into a thousand pieces and flung themselves at Ryton like arrows.
Shocked, he was slow to react. The first of them pierced his flesh, but he felt no pain. He lifted his spear and shouted his own spell. His magic drove the jagged points of wood away from him and back at her.
Ryton blinked, unsure about what he was seeing. The wooden projectiles did not lance into her body. The wood veered around her as if it knew its mistress well.
But this was Ryton’s world, here in the jeweled depths of the sea. And he knew exactly how to vanquish this queen.
His spear cut through the water, speeding in a blur of pale shell. Water swirled around him and the Earth Queen. The spellwork threw her to the ceiling of the cathedral. Her body hit the sloping, golden reaches and slammed hard, arms and legs going limp.
Grinning, Ryton swam after her, to finish her.
Before he could cast another spell, the Earth Queen’s eyes flashed open.
She smiled, set her hands on the ceiling and spoke. “Break.” Her voice echoed, the dragon language sliding from her lips, a curse, a horror to Ryton’s ears.
The cathedral opened up, cracking along the stone seams of the vaulted ceiling.
The Earth Queen swam up and away, Ryton following and quickly catching up.
Something hit him from behind. He whirled to see the elf, conscious again. Bruise-hued shadows poured from his fingertips like squid ink to surround Ryton, blinding him more thoroughly than any night could. He bellowed and struck into the dark with his spear and spells. The inky clouds drew away and he turned and twisted, searching for her. For him.
But they were gone.
He looked up, rage and frustration crawling up his neck, seething inside the black creature on his back, making him shake.
Across the rippling surface of the water, high above, the shadow of two dragons blocked the sunlight. Ryton swam hard. His mind tripped over what he was seeing. Were the dragons trying to rescue the human and the elf?
He knew the human had been raised by them. But to see the loyalty, the kinship, the risk the dragons took to save her in front of his eyes? Ryton could hardly focus on his mission.
The larger dragon lifted the elf free of the ocean.
Ryton closed the distance. His spear glanced across the Earth Queen’s bare foot, and his spellwork sent a wave clawing up to grab her. The sea clamored around Ryton, lifting him toward the dragon that carried the Earth Queen. The gurgling hands of salt water spilled over the dragon’s legs and drenched the Earth Queen in full.
Fury defined her features as she screamed. The dragon shrieked, and his grip loosened. The Earth Queen began to slip below the surface. Keening, the dragon closed his hold on her again and wheeled in wild circles toward the shore.
Temples throbbing, Ryton shouted another spell and raised his spear.
The growing wave crested with him at its peak, water bubbling at his elbows and around his legs. The air washed over his face, harsh and empty.
He could breathe above the water, he realized belatedly. The foul beast he wore was doing its job.
With his magic, he drove the crashing, spelled salt water onto the rocks, where it spilled him out fifty feet from the dragons, elf, and Earth Queen. Stumbling, falling, he sucked a panicked breath before his hands hit the ground. He hadn’t meant to drive himself ashore. He’d been so unsteadied by the feeling of the air filling his lungs, by the bizarre solidity of that which normally felt far too insubstantial to support his weight.
A dragon screeched, tearing the thickened air with a sound that had teeth.
The world spun, and Ryton’s stomach roiled as he worked his way to standing.
The Lapis matriarch lowered her corpse-blue head and flew at him.
A different sort of fire burned under Ryton’s flesh. Oh, how he hated her. This foul beast had killed his sister, Selene. This raging menace had morphed Ryton into a desperate servant to revenge. This monster had shredded the heart of his family.
Dragonfire spouted from the matriarch’s foul snout.
Ryton leapt toward the cliff, just past the rocky breakers, then the sea welcomed him home.
But the dragonfire plunged into the waves, chasing him. Blood red and glaring yellow, smelling of sulfur and death, the flames dragged across his back. Pain exploded over Ryton’s skin, and he jerked, arms flailing. The cursed thing on his spine emitted a horrifying squeal. Ryton forced himself to swim deeper, where the dragonfire could not reach.
At last, the teal sea cocooned him, cooling the burns along his lower back and left arm. The black creature between his shoulder blades blessedly went silent. He didn’t care if it had died.
Flipping, he looked to the surface.
Three dragons soared over the waves before disappearing from sight.
A distant dragon’s groan of pain echoed through the water, and Ryton thrilled to hear the glorious sound.
Chapter Seventeen
Vahly’s lungs burned as hot as earthblood vents as she swam toward the surface.
That thing was right behind them.
Everything was moving too quickly to absorb. Arc broke through the waves, and Amona reached low to snatch him from the ocean. Xabier swooped down to clutch Vahly in his careful talons. They were going to escape. The sea kynd wasn’t going to rip her and Arc to pieces. But she couldn’t catch her breath. Her pulse galloped, uncontrollable, wild.
The water sprayed upward and a wave lifted high. Something viciously cold pricked her bare foot, and a scream erupted from her, fury riding its wake.
Why couldn’t she wake her full powers now? What was the point of being Touched if she couldn’t fight when it truly mattered?
Her face shook as she clenched her jaw and tried to bring whatever magic she might have to the surface even though she had no idea what to do while hanging from a dragon’s talons.
A sudden wave battered her and Xabier.
He shrieked, and she slipped, heart freezing at
the thought of falling. Turning, she tried to see what was happening, where everyone was, including the sea kynd, but it was all water and talons and blurring vision.
Xabier listed hard to the left. Vahly’s stomach dropped, and she yelped, eyes burning, Arc’s air magic and the plant salve’s power waning. As they careened over the shoreline, Xabier’s wing spasmed—the spelled salt water blackened it inch by horrible inch.
The ground rushed up to meet them. Vahly’s head and lungs were on fire. She rolled to a stop and vomited water into the sandy dirt.
Xabier fell onto his side a few feet away. Arc was running to him, Nix landing on the other side of Xabier. Amona took off into the sky again, her enormous sapphire wings spreading wide and her cry of rage filling Vahly’s buzzing ears.
She found her feet. “Mother, no!” The sea folk would take her. This one was powerful. A general perhaps. Only the higher ranked of the sea folk could raise a wave like that.
But then Vahly saw what Amona did. The sea kynd was on shore, standing like he belonged there just as they did.
Amona blew fire at him, and he dove off the sea cliff, cleverly avoiding the rocks.
Xabier’s shrieks dissolved into a garbled moan, and Vahly hurried as best she could toward him. Arc had his hands on the dragon’s side, pouring healing light and dark into his damaged wing. But Xabier’s left leg was what drew Vahly’s attention. She swallowed, nearly vomiting again. The spelled salt water had eaten the flesh to the bone. Pale white glistened above the blackened, gnarled remains of Xabier’s foot and talons.
Vahly’s hands fisted and she fought a sob of frustration and grief and fear.
She reached down, slammed both palms onto the earth, and willed the ground to rise at the drop that led to the rocks in the shallow water. The earth obeyed and heaped upon itself, rolling and rising until it formed a wall to protect Xabier, Arc, and Nix from further attacks. It wouldn’t shield them from a major wave, but it was all Vahly could manage.
Her knees buckled, and she dropped, vision going dark.
Nix’s voice leaked into the strange dreams that held Vahly in the darkness. “I’m not too proud. I’ll sit on the egg if you think it might help us burn them all down.” Her words were unusually clipped, anger slicing through her normally sultry tone.
Vahly sat up, and the world went sideways. She was in their cave. The vines across the entrance blocked the bloody red of a sunset. Or maybe a sunrise?
Arc put a hand behind her back. His hair fell over one of his eyes, and he brushed it behind one pointed ear. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been stepped on by someone who eats more than Nix.”
“Impossible.” Nix winked. But then her eyes grew serious. “If you need to go back to sleep, we can keep watch. Everything is quiet for now. We have your little friend here, safe and sound.” She lifted the egg and patted it.
Vahly’s heart thudded against her ribs, and she reached for the egg. It fit snugly in her lap. She took a deep breath and looked up, ready to hear the bad news. “How is Xabier?”
Arc’s face fell. He glanced at Nix, who winced at Vahly’s question. “Matriarch Amona and Lord Maur brought him home to the Lapis healer. I couldn’t heal him. The wounds were substantial.”
“He won’t make it, Vahly.” Nix swallowed and turned her gaze toward the ground.
Vahly’s chest tightened. She shut her eyes against the knowledge. Good Xabier. Sacrificed for her. By the Blackwater, she would do every single thing she could to be worthy of it.
“I’m sorry,” Nix said. “I know you liked that young male. He seemed like a good one. Another loss. Another day. I can’t wait to burn them all down.” She touched her necklace and whispered something to herself.
“Maybe Xabier will struggle through. We don’t know for certain. How long have I been out?” Vahly asked, feeling lost.
“Just the day. It’s nearly nightfall,” Nix said.
Nix offered Vahly a length of the plant that tasted like bacon, but Vahly shook her head. She was too nauseated too eat. Arc brought her some water, and she forced down two swallows, knowing her body needed it. Her skin felt like a sand flat at high summer. She touched her face. Instead of feeling the leftovers from the vision plant and the blood magic, her fingers found her forehead and cheeks smooth.
“Arcturus wiped your face clean,” Nix said.
Vahly smiled at him in thanks.
Nix stood and shook out her wings, knocking debris from the cave wall. “I’m going to hunt, so if you’d like to give her a proper all-over wash, Arcturus, you’ll have the time.”
A sly grin tipped Arc’s lips up at one end. “I’d like nothing more, but I don’t believe our queen is in the mood for such attentions.”
Vahly barely heard them. Her mind was on Xabier. They hadn’t been close, but still. She’d worked with him, lived near him, gone to his ceremony so recently. A breath shuddered out of her, and she set both palms on the gryphon egg.
“I’ll go outside,” Arc said, gathering his bow and quiver. “You need some time alone if I’m not mistaken.”
“Thank you. For everything. You were amazing down there under the water. I would have died if it weren’t for you and the clever use of your air magic.”
He bowed gracefully, then looked up at her through thick, black lashes. “I live to serve you, my queen.”
Vahly let her tears for yet another friend lost fall onto the gryphon egg. “I pray I don’t have to lose you too.”
Her hands shook, and she blinked, shocked at the battle, at the outcome of her venture into the sunken ruins. Yes, she’d seen four scenes that might somehow help her gain more power, but it was cased in riddles and had no clear meaning. And the sea kynd had come onto land! That…thing on his back had been a monstrosity. A bitter taste touched the back of her tongue. If he could come ashore, they would have to keep an even closer watch on their surroundings.
Her teeth ground together. Stones, how she hated the sea folk.
Poor Xabier. She couldn’t even imagine how horrible it would be to lose more dragons to the ocean. To watch Amona’s flesh blacken. To see Nix’s wings dissolve into a mess of gore and bone. She’d have to see all the horror if her magic didn’t wake in full. Her stomach clenched, and she gripped the egg more tightly, taking comfort from its presence.
Vahly’s teardrops slid down the sides of the speckled egg and gathered in the space between the shell and Vahly’s fingers, which were dirty from raising the earthen wall in her attempt to protect Xabier from further harm.
The salty moisture began to warm.
Vahly cocked her head, wondering if she was imagining the heat.
But the tears at the base of the egg, near her fingers, grew hotter. Too hot to hold, in fact. Sucking a breath, she set the egg on her pack, then blew on her reddened fingertips. She stared at the ivory, speckled oval, the treasure she’d been carrying for days on end.
The egg trembled.
Her breath caught.
A jagged crack split one side of the shell.
Chapter Eighteen
Queen Astraea and her entire army—a whirling mass of scarlet coral spears and finned bodies—swam down deep to the blackest region of the sea, near the bedrock. The island’s base appeared, a bone-white wall in the darkness. The arched entrance to Ryton’s tunnel opened like the mouth of a whale, and Astraea charged inside, her warriors at her back.
She glanced at General Grystark, who rushed ahead to catch up to her. His ashen eyebrows furrowed, and his armless shoulder twitched as he swam. With his remaining hand, he raised his spear to salute her, then called up a spell to illuminate his weapon. The magicked spear cast enough light for the advance units to see inside the tunnel’s black maw.
General Venu kicked his legs in a burst of speed and came up beside them. “My queen,” he said, water bubbling at the ends of his eel-dark hair and around his mouth, “you’re certain the tunnel is clear? The most recent engineers’ report stated the last third of th
e passage remained unstable, and I humbly urge you to—”
“Do not question our queen, General Venu.” Grystark stared straight ahead. A muscle at his jaw tensed.
Astraea smiled. Attacking Grystark’s wife Lilia had been such a wise decision. Now, the general was truly at her beck and call. “Venu, do you not believe in risking all for the good of our kynd?”
Venu paled and dipped his chin respectfully. “Of course I do, my queen.”
The tunnel veered southeast, then sank deeper. Venu illuminated his spear to join Grystark’s, and soon the advance units followed suit. The army coursed through the tunnel that snaked beneath the island, water rushing along their steely faces and powerful limbs.
A plume of dust rained from above, and Astraea dodged a sinking rock that had fallen from the ceiling. Venu’s gaze touched her for a moment, but her glare put him back on task.
Yes, there was risk here, and well Astraea knew it. But annihilating the elves who had turned on her, the elves who were now supporting the new Earth Queen, was key to accomplishing her ultimate goal of swaddling the entire world in water. Today, they would take out those arrogant, betraying, loathsome elves, and the Earth Queen would have one less army at her back. Then the Earth Queen would only have one army to support her—the dragons.
If Ryton failed to assassinate her, the war would continue on more even ground. Astraea with her one force and the Earth Queen with her scaly allies. The elves were a wildcard, unpredictable with that magic of theirs. She’d discounted their place as enemies for a long while, thinking them weak and unfit for fighting sea folk, but the Earth Queen had bothered to treat with them. There must have been a reason for her efforts, some power that Astraea had yet to see in the elves. They had to be eliminated.
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