Alaric was already in the water, but Poppy skidded to a stop by the shoreline and shot me a confused glance.
“What are you doing, Muzo?” he asked. “Hurry!”
“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” I said.
When the cartoonish cloud of sand settled, I trotted towards the ocean, but when my fur suddenly prickled, I paused.
Cobalt’s gaze was on me. He was as still as a statue, but I recognized the tenderness in his expression. My tail swooped happily from side to side.
It felt like he was trying to tell me something, but what?
“Muzo!” Poppy cried.
Letting out a whimper of dismay, Poppy circled behind me, pressing his weight into my butt, and pushed me towards the water.
“Whoa, hey, I appreciate the boost, but I can do it myself, Pops,” I said.
“You have to go faster,” Poppy urged. “Look, all the other omegas are halfway through a lap, and you’re not even in the water yet.”
I wrinkled my nose. Everyone else was paddling hard, rushing in circles, but was that really what the challenge was about? Had they watched season one of the Games, when we’d done a similar race challenge for Crimson, and assumed this was the same?
My gut told me otherwise. Cobalt wasn’t Crimson. He was his own alpha dragon, and the challenge reflected that.
“You go on ahead,” I told Poppy. “I’ll catch up.”
Poppy looked torn. I could tell he wanted to stay and help me, like Taylor helped both of us, but he also wanted to believe my reassurance.
“Okay,” he finally murmured. “But please try to do well, all right?”
What a weird thing to say. “’Course I will. Go on, ya big white furball, I’m right behind you.”
Poppy frowned, then took off, doggy-paddling in circles like everyone else.
I stepped forward. The flowing tide caressed my two front paws. It was a hot day, and the cool water felt nice.
I closed my eyes. The chaos of the beach and the challenge disappeared. For a moment, it was just me and the water.
As if awakened by the ocean’s touch, an old memory suddenly came back to me. I inhaled. The smell of salt, the sun on my skin, and the cool breeze that danced along the water were brightly nostalgic.
But it wasn’t nostalgia for the previous two Games. It was older than that. Something I’d all but forgotten about in the years since it happened.
A shiver ran along my pelt. With my eyes still shut, I treaded deeper into the water until the waves lapped against my chest. I didn’t struggle against them. I let them support me. My weight dissolved into nothing as I floated in the ocean’s arms.
Oh, yeah. This was definitely familiar...
As I bobbed along, I realized that this reminded me of another feeling, too. It was just like when I’d rested my weight against Cobalt in the shower. I’d handed over my trust to him, and he’d returned it. I imagined it was Cobalt’s strong arms holding me afloat instead of the ocean waves. Or maybe they were one and the same.
I was so relaxed I might as well have been in another world. I didn’t hear the voices, or the splashing, or notice the incoming horde of shifters—or that I was directly in their path.
A second later, my body pitched underwater.
The calm spell was shattered. My eyes snapped open and my legs flailed as I spun out of control, caught in the undertow of all the racing animals. I tried to reach the surface, but there were too many bodies in the way.
The more I struggled, the less air remained in my lungs.
So I stopped.
The havoc of splashing bodies rushed overhead, blocking the sun. It was dark anyway, so I closed my eyes. Waiting.
