Up.
Serenna kicked again. Arms and wings strained together, the sky just beyond reach.
Then the sea relented.
She broke through the surf with a gasp so sharp it tasted of blood. Sun struck her eyes and she coughed, salted air scraping her throat. She dragged a forearm across her lashes and beat her wings harder. Water clung, her tendons screaming beneath the weight, but she wrenched free from the sea and rose.
For a heartbeat, she caught her breath and scanned the surface. Nothing broke the waves.
The Maelstrom had collapsed, but motion caught her eye across the horizon. Terror pressed in as a line of white sails sliced the haze, close enough now that she could see figures pointing from the decks.
Find them first.
Serenna locked the command in place and skimmed low above the chop, refusing to look at the approaching ships. Her wings sheared spray as she searched the churn until a shape split the waves.
Jassyn burst free from the foam, water cascading down his wings as he fought for sky. Behind him, Cinderax flailed to the surface, scrambling in ragged flaps before heaving himself into the air with a snarl.
Serenna breathed reprieve.
Until Fenn didn’t follow.
A pulse of Essence hauled her gaze back to the ships. The armada had sailed closer, a score of decks alive with shouts and motion as magic streaked along the hulls. The earth answered too—currents bending, the ocean parting beneath the command of shamans driving the fleet forward.
She and Jassyn were silhouetted against the cloudless sky, the vessels’ bows angling toward them. Serenna’s wingbeats faltered. If those on the ships struck now…
Refusing to finish the thought, she forced her attention back to the water, frantically scanning the waves until it hurt to breathe.
“Here!” Jassyn’s voice cracked as he pointed toward a fading trail of froth, Cinderax circling his shoulder.
A shape drifted beneath the surface, limp and unmoving.
Fenn.
Twisting in the air, Serenna tucked her wings tight and dove, Jassyn racing beside her. She hauled in one desperate breath before plunging back into the sea.
The water struck like a wall. It lashed her down, pressure stripping every movement to necessity.
Serenna flung her arms forward and hit something solid—armor—fingers skidding before they caught. She seized Fenn’s shoulder, his wrist, clamping hard as she turned, heels kicking against the undertow.
A blur shot past—Jassyn slicing through the dark. He hooked an arm around Fenn’s other side, and together they hauled him to the surface.
They shattered into daylight in a violent spray of sea and foam, Fenn sagging between them. Cinderax screeched overhead as he wheeled low, but before Serenna could fill her lungs, another wave hammered them back under.
Her grip tore loose, then found purchase again. She locked an arm over Fenn’s chest, refusing to let go. Legs and wings lashing in the churn, she and Jassyn dragged him upward again until at last they broke the waterline, barely clear of the sea.
Fenn’s head fell against her shoulder, water spilling from his mouth, his body gone frighteningly still.
The horizon offered no refuge—no shore in sight, only the oncoming fleet adjusting its course as it advanced, and the beast waiting in the depths below.
Another swell yanked them under and released them again. Jassyn hauled Fenn higher and drove his palm into his chest. Power burst from him in an elemental pulse, brutal enough that Serenna felt it rip through the water and slam into her own ribs.
The sea tore from Fenn’s throat in a torrent as Jassyn swept his hand outward, channeling the release. Water geysered skyward and Cinderax banked aside to avoid the spray.
Jassyn struck again, snatching a current of wind. Air coiled and surged, driven into Fenn’s chest.
Fenn convulsed between them—limbs jerking, ribs bowing—then gasped, eyes flying open. He choked, claws scrabbling at the waves, wings flailing beneath the surface, talon tips grasping for sky.
“We have you,” Serenna said, the words breaking loose on a sob.
