It is my body reshaping itself at last to match what my spirit chose sols ago.
The bond slams into place at the same moment I feel her fading.
The same moment I feel her silence.
No!
The roar that tears from my throat is not human and not Drakav. It is older. Wilder. It shakes my own bones.
The water smashes into me like a wall.
It is hot, slick with the rot, choking and heavy.
I do not care.
I am burning hotter. The wildfire inside me consumes the heat of the spring.
I kick hard, driving down. My vision is nothing but gold and shadow, my glow turning the storm of bubbles into a boiling halo.
The water roars in my ears, blending with the pain.
My body is still changing as I swim. I feel skin split further, stretching, making room. The new shaft forcing its way clear, swelling heavy and thick, pulsing against the warm water. Ridges rise and harden along its length.
It hurts. Dust above, it hurts.
But the pain is just another noise.
My mind is fixed on one thing.
There.
A darker shadow in the turmoil. Spinning slowly, being pulled toward that black mouth.
Her.
She is limp. No kicking. No struggle.
Mih-kay-lahhh…
I scream her name into the mindspace, pouring it down the bond like a rope.
I kick harder, muscles tearing and protesting. My claws carve at the water.
I am a son of the Dust. My body was built for rock and sand, not this. I am heavy. Dense.
I do not care.
I will not let her go.
By some mercy, my claw closes around her arm.
I grab tight.
The current tries to steal her from me, but I snarl in the dark and yank her in, wrenching her out of its grip.
She is deadweight. Her head hangs back, her eyes closed.
I wrap my arm around her waist, hauling her flush against me.
