They landed on an isle in the middle of the ocean. Before Oro could even blink, he was almost swept away by a massive surge. With his Moonling power, he split the water in half so that it missed him. It would have hit Grim right in the center of his chest, if the demon hadn’t made himself formless to avoid it.
Oro turned to see Cleo frowning at his stance. “You never were best in your class,” she murmured, as if she really couldn’t help herself.
The clump of rock they were standing on was almost too small to fit the three of them. Waves churned on all sides, sweeping over their feet and legs.
This was the place his father had spent years trying to find. The reason countless of his men had perished. Oro imagined even with the compass, they could never reach this place without an incredibly powerful Moonling.
The advantage of Grim’s flair was clearer than ever.
Still...there was no lost king here, that was certain. But Oro looked to Grim to find he was gazingdowninto the water.
“Somehow...” The Nightshade scowled. “Somehow, it’s—”
“Underwater,” Cleo finished.
All Oro could see was dark blue swirling in massive waves. The lost king must have been deep below. “How—”
Cleo took a deep breath. She sunk into her stance, her feet sliding against the rock, and yes...Oro’s paled in comparison to hers. Her white dress and its overly long sleeves whipped wildly in the wind. Her hair, its shade identical, was tied back into an elaborate single braid. She closed her eyes. Exhaled.
And the raging water before them went deathly still. The waves smoothed under her command. The sea was hers, pliant, ready.
Oro’s throat went dry, shocked at this control. At the scale of it. Cleo was a famed wielder. Powerful. Skilled. But even this was beyond expectation.
She dug deeper into her stance, lifted her trembling arms—
And cleaved the sea in half.
The ocean roared as it parted down the center, creating two endless waterfalls on either side. The space grew and grew until it reached the horizon and rippled down beyond his view.
Oro craned his neck to look, but the drop was so long, he couldn’t see the bottom. Only darkness. Still, he could feel it. A strange power slithering up from the gap that Cleo had made. Something—or someone—was down there. Waiting.
“Go,” Cleo ground out, her eyes still closed. “I will hold.”
Her arms were already shaking. The amount of power needed...
“We don’t know how hard it will be to find him,” Oro said. “It could take hours.Days.”
Her eyes snapped open. “I will hold,” Cleo said, her gaze fierce with determination. Oro could hear the words she didn’t say.
I will hold for him. For her son.
Cleo. Ruler of Moonling. His former instructor, his subject, hisenemyin the war against Nightshade, who had taken Grim’s side.
Now...she might be their only hope at getting Isla back. Finding this lost king might be a fool’s errand. But they each had a reason to try.
Oro turned toward Grim, who was considering the endless drop. There was no hint of hesitance in his expression before he jumped.
Oro followed.
He flew downward using his Skyling powers. Grim didn’t have anything but his shadows, but they flared around him like smoke, slowing his descent.
They had to have traveled for miles until, finally, Oro saw a glimmer of the ocean floor.
All at once, he felt something in his blood be ripped away—like veins being torn from skin. The wind vanished. His powers guttered out. His eyes widened as the ground rushed up to meet him. He barely had time to get his hands in front of his face before he roughly crashed, Grim right behind him.
Fuck. Everything hurt. Slowly, he felt around to see if anything was broken. He breathed—and winced. A couple of ribs. Nothing else, at least, he thought, as he slowly got to his feet.
Oro swallowed as he looked up at a sky that had nearly been blotted out. Yes...they weremilesbelow the surface. How were they possibly going to make it back without their powers?
