But as its crystal-blue eyes locked on me, the fear that caught me by the throat evaporated instantly, replaced by a sense of recognition.
Prentis.
The orca barreling past me, and I whipped around to see him dive for the kraken. I expected the sea monster to drop Einar, but he merely held his prize out of reach as he avoided the orca’s first strike. Purple ink oozed out of the kraken’s tentacles, but an invisible force whipped the fluid away before it could coalesce around us. Prentis turned around and attacked again, this time closing its maw around one of the tentacles. The kraken let out a warbling shriek of pain, its cries muffled by the ocean as its appendage was severed, and golden blood clouded the water, creating a shimmering haze.
Furious, the kraken lashed out with two of its tentacles, slapping the side of the orca’s face. Huge angry welts bubbled on the side of Prentis’s face, and I winced, wondering if there was some kind of poison in them. But I also noticed that the kraken had finally dropped Einar… and that my dragon protector was unconscious, and slowly sinking toward the ocean floor.
Panic flooded my veins, and I began swimming frantically toward him, trying to reach Einar before the sea could claim him. As I dove deeper, the darkness seemed to rise around me, threatening to swallow us whole. Only a hint of light remained, illuminating Einar’s normally swarthy complexion with a pale, bluish tint. His golden eyes were hazy as they met mine, the life fading away from them, his wings fluttering uselessly behind him.
“Damn you!” I shouted, a froth of livid bubbles escaping my mouth along with the words. “You’re stronger than this, Einar. For Radiant’s sake,fight!”
Something in my words must have reached him, because his legs twitched a little, and his eyes flashed open. His wings, which had been hanging limp, flared wide, and they flapped hard against the water, propelling him upward toward me.
Yes, I crowed silently as he finally came within reach. Above me, the battle between the orca and the kraken continued to rage, but I only had eyes for Einar. Hope flared in my chest as I finally closed my hand around his wrist, heedless of the scales scraping against my palm. But it dimmed when I noticed the life was fading away from him, strength leaving his limbs as the water in his lungs choked off his remaining oxygen.
No. I won’t lose him like this.
Power surged in me, and searing pain sliced through the side of my neck. On pure instinct, I placed my hand against his chest, pushing my power into him as I demanded that the water vacate his lungs.
His mouth opened wide, and a torrent of bubbles rushed out as the water spewed from his body, clearing his lungs and esophagus. Before he could suck in more, I yanked him into me and pressed my mouth against his, breathing oxygen from my body into his.
His body stiffened, and then he gripped me tight, his claws tearing through my clothing and into my flesh as he sucked more air from me. At first I thought there was no air left to give, but as he flapped his wings, propelling us toward the surface, I felt something ripple through the sides of my neck. My eyes opened wide as my lungs expanded, and my hands flew to my neck to feel fresh, ragged slices rippling along the skin.
Gills. Giant’s teeth, those are gills!
Einar pulled his mouth away from mine, some of the life returning to his eyes, his lungs clear of water and filled with oxygen once more. But he was still weak, his brain still water-logged from the near-drowning, so I grabbed him by the underarms and kicked upward, fighting against the ocean pressure to push us to the surface.
Above us, the battle continued to rage, Prentis snapping at the kraken’s tentacles while doing his best to avoid the sea monster’s poisonous blows. I tried to angle us away from the kraken, but the beast chose that moment to swivel one bulbous yellow eye toward us. Rage flashed in the depths of its iris, and it speared a massive tentacle toward us, so fast I knew there was no way my leaden legs could clear it in time.
The danger finally snapped Einar out of his fugue state, and he yanked me against him, arms banding tight as his wings flapped mightily, shoving us upward through the water and away from the kraken. A mighty force swelled beneath us, and we shot to the surface so fast, I was instantly light-headed. Dizziness swamped me, and I leaned away from Einar and vomited my breakfast out into the open air.
“I’ve got you,” Einar said roughly, refusing to let go of me even though I’d probably splattered kippers and porridge all over his trousers. He flapped his wings hard again, shaking the water off them, then glided down to the deck of the ship waiting just a few yards off. My head was still spinning as we collapsed on the deck of the ship, Einar angling his body to shield me from the impact. As the cacophony of rushing footsteps echoed in my ears, I realized why I was still dizzy, why the edges of my vision were blackening, why I couldn’t focus.
“She’s not breathing!” Einar shouted, his voice stretched taut with panic. He gripped my shoulders hard as he pulled me up into a sitting position, his panic-stricken face moving in and out of focus. “Adara, you need to breathe!Please!”
I opened my mouth, trying to suck in air, but I couldn’t get my throat to open. My gills flapped uselessly against the sides of my neck, trying to pull air in through the water, but of course there was no water, just air, and why couldn’t I breathe in the air—
“Adara. Look at me.”
I blinked at the sight of Prentis crouching in front of me, not sure how he got there. Icy fingers gripped my chin gently, forcing me to meet his crystal-blue gaze, and my vision narrowed until he was all I could see.
“Relax,” he said, his voice low and hypnotic. “You’re safe now. Einar is safe now, and he doesn’t need your oxygen anymore. You can let go of your power now.”
I blinked, realizing that I was still using my magic, that it was pulsing in my veins, sizzling along my skin. There was a strange sensation between my fingers and toes, and I lifted one hand to see webbing and formed between my digits, and patches of blue scales shimmered along the back of my hand.
Somehow, I’d forced some kind of transformation with my magic, a transformation that had allowed me to breathe oxygen from the water and give it to Einar, and swim faster to get him to the surface.
But we were safe now. I didn’t need these gills, this webbing anymore. It was okay. I could let go.
“That’s it,” Prentis murmured as I released the vise grip on my magic. It slowly receded from my veins, the gills and webbing along with it, and I sucked in a gulp of air as my throat finally relaxed. “You’re okay, Adara. You’re okay.”
“Thank you,” I gasped, still trying to get my bearings. I was a little woozy, but my head was clearing with each breath, my surroundings coming into focus. I realized that most of the crew had gathered around us, gawking openly. Self-consciousness prickled across my skin, but I tried to ignore it, instead turning to Einar, who was kneeling two feet to my right, his golden gaze fixed on mine. I reached for him, and he gripped my hand with his clawed one, chains clanking with the movement.
“That,” he said in a rasping voice, his throat likely raw from all the water he’d inhaled, “was the most foolish thing you’ve ever done.”
I snatched my hand back, the tips of my ears burning. “Just what is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
“It means thatIam supposed to protectyou, not the other way around!” Einar snapped, his golden eyes sparking with ire. “You barely know how to use your water magic, and yet you dove after me and that Shadows-damnedkrakeninstead of letting Prentis or any of the other water fae handle it!”
