Father says the wave will reach the cliff tops of Kashran. It will wash the land clean of air-breathers. Nothing will survive.The dragon’s voice breaks entirely.I couldn’t let them. Not after you saved me.
“Sound the evacuation,” Rhianelle commands firmly.
Horns begin to sound, their urgent calls spreading through the harbor and into the city beyond.
Kiiska remains, floating in the shallow water.I’m sorry. I tried telling mother and father that not all land-dwellers are cruel...
“You did more than anyone could ask,” Rhianelle says gently. She reaches out, placing her hand on the dragon’s snout. “You risked everything to warn us. That means more than you know.”
“Everyone to high ground. Now!” Rainer orders.
Before anyone can move, the water beside us erupts.
A massive seadragon surfaces, ten times Kiiska’s size, scales gleaming with a sapphire metallic sheen. This is ancient power made flesh, a creature that’s seen empires rise and fall.
Ksatka.
Seven other dragons surface with her. Most are nearly as large as Ksatka herself except for one young male. He is slightly bigger than Kiiska but still bearing the lighter coloring of youth.
The mother dragon’s presence makes the air itself feel heavy and oppressive. Her eyes are depthless pools that hold centuries of wisdom.
Kiiska makes a mournful sound, something between a whimper and a plea.Mother, please.
I came for my daughter.The great sea dragon inclines her head slightly toward Kiiska.She speaks of debts owed. I think she forgets that your kind and mine are natural enemies.
Everyone on deck staggers as the voice fills their heads. Some sailors drop to their knees.My mate has taken a faction of our kind to move the earth beneath the waves. The water willdrown all of you land-dwellers. Your walls will crumble like sand.
Gasps and cries of shock ripple through the crowd. People on shore begin to murmur in fear.
“How do we stop it?” Rhianelle demands.
Stop it?The seadragon laughs.You cannot stop the ocean, little queen.
“There has to be something,” Rhianelle says desperately, stepping forward into deeper water.
Ksatka is silent for a long moment, her great head swaying slightly with the motion of the waves.
The wave is not the worst of what comes.Ksatka’s voice grows heavier.My mate does not merely seek to drown your cities. He seeks to ensure nothing ever grows here again.
“What do you mean?” Rainer asks sharply.
He will poison the water with our venom,one of the silver-scaled female seadragons speaks, her voice gentler than Ksatka’s but no less terrible.When the wave recedes, the poison will remain. In the soil, the groundwater, and everything it touches.
Nothing will grow for seven generations,Ksatka adds.Your people will starve even if they survive the wave. Kashran, Völundr, and all the coastal lands will be dead for centuries.
“It can’t be…” Rhianelle’s face goes pale. “We are enemies. Why are you telling me this?”
Because my daughter thinks you worth saving, little queen. And perhaps... she is right,Ksatka says softly.
Rhianelle stares at the ancient dragon, barely daring to breathe.
The songs cannot be unsung, but the poison... that can be countered.Ksatka says quietly.Only a seadragon’s venom can neutralize and purify what my mate has begun.
“You’ll help us?” Rhianelle asks, hope flaring in her eyes.
I am old, queen of elves. I have lived long enough to see empires rise and fall. I have watched your kind and mine war for thousands of years.The dragon’s gaze shifts to Kiiska, who floats beside her mother.I have no love for your kind. But neither do I wish to see younglings swept away or peoples starved for the ambitions of kings.
“What must we do?” Rainer asks, stepping into the shallow water.
