But the moment his shadows touched her, something strange happened.
A force ignited between them, splitting the storm above them in half. And as a bolt of lighting struck them both, Grim was plunged into a moment in her mind. Amemory.
A bloodied battlefield. Countless dreks falling through the sky. Then him, on his knees, roaring in agony. Not from a physical pain, though. From her, lying lifeless in his arms.
He jolted away from her, but not quickly enough. They were both sucked through a portal in the tempest, then roughly deposited onto a beach that once must have been glorious but was now just a craggy shore.
In his shock at the memory, he didn’t catch himself before he slid against the rough sand. Isla landed in the water.
She did not surface.
She must have gone unconscious, he thought. Good. The ocean could put an end to this for him.
But that vision flashed in his head again. The pure and utter pain he saw across his face.
There was clearly something more to this than Cronan let on. There had to be a reason for his actions. And if she died...that explanation would die with her. As much as he wanted to claim Infinite for himself, he wanted answers more.
Grim stepped into the shallows. From here, he could see her body floating just beneath the surface. She was in his arms in a moment. Her head lolled to the side as he carried her toward shore. This was the first time he had seen her so still, and she looked almost peaceful.
He brushed a wet strand of hair off her face and portaled them both back to Cronan.
ORO
Oro hadn’t been asleep long when he was thrown out of bed by a violent crash. He had returned home after the creatures had finally stopped coming through the portal, at his friends’ insistence that they could handle anything that broke through while he got some rest. But this felt like something had hit the castle.
Pain lanced through him and as Oro gasped for air, clutching his chest, he realized it felt like something had hit theisland.
Immediately, he was out his balcony doors. Zed joined him in the night sky seconds later. They both turned—
And stared.
Oro had never seen his friend stunned into silence until now. It took several moments before the Skyling was able to utter the words, “What the hell is that?”
The sky was being ripped open by what appeared to be massive teeth, as large and jagged as cliffs tearing through the night. A flash of lightning revealed the body that the teeth belonged to.
“Fuck,” Oro breathed.
It was unlike the other beasts they had battled at the shoreline. This creature was as large as a mountain range, covered in obsidian scales. It blocked the stars, creating what looked like an eternal night.
It flew, but Oro couldn’t make out any wings. Then he felt the pulsing energy that wrapped around it. And when its teeth parted, a scream cleaved the skies in half. Rain fell as if the beast commanded the elements itself.
Oro’s first thought was to be glad that he hadn’t moved the rest of the realms back to the island, though some Nightshades remained on the isles. But that notion died at the realization that it wouldn’t take this creature long to reach the newlands.
He shot toward it. Zed flew past him, moving so quickly, he became a streak of daylight sky in the heart of night.
Crackling wings soon joined Oro—Enya, with fire curling from her back. He felt a surge of guilt, and relief, seeing her. It had taken two days for her to get back to her former energy. After he...he nearly...
“It’s still above the water,” Enya said, bringing his focus back to the beast. “Let’s try to keep it there.”
Oro nodded. He couldn’t succumb to misery. Not now. They soared forward—and were stopped by another sky-splitting roar. This one was accompanied by a ripple of energy that sent Oro hurtling back. Enya’s wings nearly went out completely.
The beast...it could manipulate energy.
Beneath it, the ocean began to churn, forming a wave. And atop it was Calder, his arms moving in smooth, practiced movements as the water broke free, rising into the shape of a massive dagger.
Calder’s seablade was as large as the creature itself. His friend’s arms shook as he managed to turn it, forming dozens of jagged ice spikes along its side.
Calder swung, but the beast pulsed another beam of energy from its entire body that made that blade implode. Calder disappeared beneath the waves, the sea pulling him under.
