“Rune,” Florian coughed, spitting out seawater as he stumbled to his feet. He was glowing again, he realized, the way he had been last time. But it barely registered as he scrambled toward the kraken shifter. “Rune, are you okay?”
She was facedown in the sand, water lapping up to her waist and coming away tinged red with blood. After a beat, though, she groaned and pushed herself up, arms quivering. Koji came stumbling up out of the water beside her, kneeling to help her up, as Florian scrambled over to them.
“Holy shit,” Rune choked out, then let out a gurgling laugh. Her face was covered in blood, but a manic grin split her features. “We did it. Are you glowing?”
Florian laughed weakly, half in shock and half in relief, as he reached down to pull both of them up.
“It’s from the Arrow. It’ll go away,” he said. “Let me help you up.” Koji rose smoothly, but Rune stumbled and groaned, unable to stand upright.
“Hold on, hold on,” she panted. Now that he was closer, Florian could see just how injured she was—cuts and gashes covered her body, every inch of her covered in blood.
“Let me help,” Florian blurted, grabbing her arm with his free hand. In the other, the Arrow glowed and pulsed with magic; it was an endless reservoir when he held it, like the power within it would never run out. “Heal,” he murmured softly, letting it flow through him into Rune. She hissed, but he could see some of her wounds starting to close. After a moment, she sagged with relief.
“That’s good,” she laughed, struggling to her feet. “You guys did great. Good job finding it that quickly.”
“Thanks for handling all the monsters,” Florian replied, grimacing. “Sorry we couldn’t help more.”
Rune opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a thunderous voice in their heads.
“Who’s hurt?” the voice demanded, and Florian realized it was Torsten. In the water, coming around the curve of the cliff that blocked off the secluded beach from the underwater village, he could see the swell of at least one kraken swimming toward them.
“It’s me,” Rune called back, though her voice was hoarse. “We just got back. I’m okay.”
Dark, red-orange tentacles surfaced as the kraken swam closer to them, dragging itself up onto the sand, before glowing a pale blue and shrinking down. Torsten materialized waist-deep in the water, wading up to them with his face red with anger. Three other krakens had followed him, but they remained behind in the sea, rising at an angle so a single massive eye could peer over at the scene on the beach.
“What happened?” Torsten snarled, grabbing Rune’s shoulder. He did a double-take, though, his gaze snagging on the Arrow clutched in Florian’s glowing fist. His brows furrowed,mouth working wordlessly for a moment, before he turned back to Rune. “You’re injured.”
“Florian healed me,” Rune snapped back, pulling her arm away from Torsten’s grip. “I told you we could do it. And we did. We’re fine.”
Florian tensed, ready to defend themselves; but to his surprise, Torsten seemed speechless. His lips pressed in a tight line, his face still splotchy red; but his pale eyes flickered frantically between Florian, Rune, and Koji. Whatever he was thinking, Florian had no idea.
Finally, Torsten pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose, as if to stave off a headache. “Rune,” he said, his voice soft and hoarse now. “Please don’t do this to me.”
Rune’s shoulders sagged again, and she looked uncertainly at Florian and Koji, before turning back to Torsten. “I’m fine. Really. Back in one piece, see?”
Torsten gave her a long look, as if there were more he wanted to say, but he only sighed, folding his arms across his chest.
“I can’t believe you,” he finally said, though there was far less vitriol in his voice than Florian would have expected. Then he pushed past them and started walking up the beach. Florian looked back at the krakens waiting in the water—they watched Torsten until he disappeared up the dirt path, then they slipped back into the ocean out of sight.
“What was that about?” Koji asked softly, peering at Rune with obvious concern. She sighed, glancing away.
“It’s a long story,” she said, as she trudged up the rocky beach. “C’mon. I’m still sore all over. Let’s go to my place so I can sit down and we can eat something warm.”
Koji glanced at Florian as she walked past them. Florian held his gaze for a moment, unsure, until finally he shrugged and followed her.
“Alright, then,” Koji sighed, then followed Florian off the beach and back toward the village.
