“If only we had our mental link secured,” I muttered. “Would make it a hell of a lot easier.”
We hadn’t figured it out yet though, so we’d just have to wing it and hope for the best. Maybe Asher had learned to speak dolphin in the last few months. Weirder things had happened.
A shark, its teeth alarmingly close to my face, brushed against me. I decided to think of it as solidarity and not him sizing me up to eat. Not that gods could really be eaten by a shark, especially not Atlantean gods. I was mostly god, so that had to count for something, right? Right!
“If youcaneat gods, I have a few for you ready and waiting,” I said, to cover my unease. I both loved and respected all the creatures under here, and that respect meant acknowledging the apex predator that was the shark. Emphasis on the predator part.
The shark brushed against me again, its sandpaper-like skin turning the bare flesh of my arm red, before it healed. It did it again, and I was starting to get the idea that it was trying to tell me something.
“Can you break my binds?”
It stopped rubbing against me and I sensed that meant no.
“Are you rubbing against me for a reason?”
This time it nudged me.
Okay, a nudge was a yes, and no movement was a no. I hoped.
“How do I get free?”
It bumped me for the fifth time and I was at a loss. It didn’t move back as fast this time, lingering close, continually scraping my skin. Each time it did, there was a strong tingle when our skin touched, and after a few minutes of that my skin no longer turned red. If anything, the shark’s sandpapery touch was almost … soft.
Sea creatures didn’t have power like gods, but every living thing held energy, some stronger than others, and this shark had quite a lot actually. Energy it was sharing with me … strengthening my own…
Clarity hit me. And with it came horror. “Stop! No more. You’re giving me your energy. Your life force.”
Nudge.
I tried to shake my head, but my limited range of movement was not really conducive to that. “No. Please. It will kill you.”
Nudge. Nudge.
“No!” I shouted, and the bindings holding me shifted just a little. Rage swelled again, swirling the water around me. Everything was tinted in shades of red and burnt orange, like fire had ripped across the ocean floor. Only it wasn’t fire.
It was me.
In an instant I was upright, still bound but no longer prone. The creatures surrounded me in a large circle, moving with the water that churned from my energy. Sonaris appeared in my line of sight, and he tried to blast through my animals, but they didn't shift, held in place by me. Something dark and foreign broke through the normal heat of my power and words spilled out.
“You made a mistake, Sonaris.”
My voice was amplified, blasting through the water.
The god didn’t look upset. If anything, there was something akin to satisfaction on his face.
“You. Are. Magnificent.” He uttered each word slowly, pausing between.
“If you say that to me one more time…” I seethed. I couldn’t seem to control my emotions, and the sea animals around me reacted, turning as one and … attacking Sonaris.
“No! Stop!” I screamed, but they didn’t listen. He was going to destroy them all. He was going to tear them into a million pieces of meat, turning the water red with death and destruction. Panic ripped through me. It almost overshadowed my fury. I couldn’t let innocent animals die, especially ones trying to help me.
I lost sight of the god, buried beneath hundreds of fish. I pushed forward, aiming for the general direction he’d been last. I zipped from one place to the next, and as I approached the largest mass of animals, it finally hit me that I was actually moving. My arms and legs, and all body parts.
Had Sonaris released me? Or did I break free on my own?
No time to worry about it. I had animals to save.
Using my power, I scattered the ones in front of me, moving them—gently—out of the way. Unlike when Sonaris tried, they moved for me. When I finally reached the epicenter, I expected to see death and destruction. This was where the god had been ... but there was nothing. No carcasses or blood.
