Thump…
Thump…
A gap between beats that lasted too long.
No.
Her Song reached out, wrapping around that failing heartbeat like a prayer. She could feel Lilani’s terror—the girl had been conscious when the water took her, and had fought with the ferocity of a child who’d been raised by a Vultor warrior. But her lungs were small, human and fragile. They weren’t designed for this.
Hold on, little one. Please hold on.
She found her at the edge of the debris field.
Lilani floated in a pocket of relative calm, her small body caught against a section of hull plating that had formed a temporary shelter from the worst of the undertow. Her wild hair drifted around her face like dark seaweed. Her golden eyes—her father’s eyes—were open but unseeing, staring at nothing.
Her chest was still.
Ariella’s heart stopped.
No. No, no, no?—
She grabbed the girl and pulled her close, her bio-sonar pressing desperately against that small chest, searching for any sign of life.
Thump.
One beat. Barely there. But there.
She’s still alive.
She pulled Lilani against her chest, cradling the girl’s limp body in her arms. Her bioluminescent patches were blazing now—a brilliant indigo light that cut through the darkness like a beacon. She could feel the cold seeping into Lilani’s skin, could feel the moment stretching into eternity.
Not like this. Please, not like this.
She thought of Valrek—his golden eyes, his scarred hands, the way he looked at his daughter like she was the only good thing left in a broken universe. She thought of the sea cave at dawn, of laughter and warmth and the first real home she’d ever known.
She thought of all the reasons she had to survive. And she moved.
Her legs kicked with desperate power, propelling them upwards through the darkness. Lilani was a fragile weight against her chest, and she held her tighter, her arms forming a cage of protection around the small body.
I won’t let you go. I won’t let the sea take you.
The surface was above them, impossibly far. The storm still raged, lightning flickering through the water in brief flashes of white. Debris swirled around them—broken pieces of Merrick’s gilded cage, remnants of a world that no longer mattered.
Her lungs burned, not from lack of oxygen, but from the effort of pushing her body beyond its limits. Every muscle screamed in protest. Her wounded shoulder throbbed where the debris had struck her, blood trailing behind them in dark ribbons.
Doesn’t matter. None of it matters.
Just swim.
She broke the surface with a gasp that had nothing to do with breath and everything to do with relief.
The storm was still howling around them, but through the chaos, she could see the shore. Rocky cliffs illuminated by lightning, spray crashing against ancient stone.
And there, standing at the water’s edge, a figure was pacing back and forth with the restless fury of a caged beast.
Valrek.
Her skin blazed brighter—a beacon in the darkness, a signal fire burning against the night.
