The light grew and grew until it was nearly taking over the entire sky, at which point Rune stopped.
“This is where it starts,” she said, and a shiver ran down Florian’s spine at the sound of her voice in his head. Neither wolves nor dragons could communicate with him while shifted, at least not like this. No wonder all the legends about krakens were so terrifying. “Ready, boys?”
Koji let out a noise somewhere between a bark and a growl, nodding. First, Florian pulled his own sun goggles from his backpack and affixed them on his face before pressing his hands together and taking in a deep breath to focus his magic.
“Darkness hides us,” Florian recited, feeling the magic suffuse his shadow and spread across him and Koji. “Darkness protects us. The Blight can’t harm us. The Blight can’t touch us.”
He felt the protective magic snap into place and patted Koji’s shoulder again.
“We’re ready,” he called out, wondering how well Rune could hear him from the water, unsure if the communication between them would be as clear from his end as it was from hers. But Rune seemed to hear him; and with a splash, her form disappeared, plunging deeper so she could safely pass into the Blighted waters.
“Let’s go,” he said, nudging Koji, and the dragon pushed forward into the Blight.
The heat and light hit him all at once, making Florian hiss with discomfort as the light reflecting off the water intensified. Koji growled, too, but kept on resolutely. Flying over this would be miserable, and Florian wondered if they would have been better off leaving Koji behind for this, too.
But they were here, and Koji wanted to help, so he pushed the thought away as best he could. Koji would focus on flying, so Florian had to keep a careful watch for any monsters approaching. Despite the blinding light, if Florian kept his gaze angled more upward, then he thought he could see pretty far—but the view was the same in all directions, so he couldn’t really tell. So far they had no discernible landmarks to travel by, only the endless ocean reflecting the intense light of the endless Blight.
“Head a little more this way,” Rune’s voice came in his head. A bit ahead to their right, water swelled up and splashed, as if a geyser were forming beneath. Florian bit back a laugh, imagining her spitting water up at the surface, and obediently Koji veered in that direction.
Over the course of the next few hours, Rune directed them a few more times with splashes of water. Every so often, they passed rock formations rising up out of the deep, but nothing that could be called an island by any means. Luckily, they didn’t encounter anything else of note above the ocean. At one point, Rune said that she had spotted a group of sea monsters in the distance, but told them to keep heading in the same direction, while she’d veer wide and catch up with them shortly. Nervously, Florian had agreed. Ten minutes later Rune’s voice was in his head again, saying that the monsters hadn’t even seemed to notice her, which was a relief. He wasn’t sure how they could possibly help her if Blight monsters attacked them from the water, rather than the sky.
It didn’t take much longer for a larger shape to start solidifying on the horizon. Florian’s eyes watered when he tried to look closer at it; but even with his vision blurring, he was certain it was the cluster of small, rocky islands where the Arrow was hidden.
“Almost there,” Rune said, confirming his thoughts.
“That’s it,” he repeated, though he was pretty sure Rune’s words were audible to both him and Koji. They’d hardly gone any further when Rune’s voice came again, this time sounding alarmed.
“Oh, shit,” she said. “Fuck, they already see me. Monsters incoming!”
“Shit,” Florian hissed, craning his neck to try to peer down into the water—not that it did him any good. “Do you see anything?”
Koji huffed, shaking his head once, as he continued to speed along over the surface of the water.
Florian looked ahead, focusing on the cluster of islands rather than the dark, choppy water below. He couldn’t see any obvious sign of the Arrow or its golden glow—not that he really expected it to be easy.
“Look out!” Rune’s voice came again, snapping Florian’s attention back down. The water suddenly began to churn, and three monsters leapt out at them. They looked sort of like dolphins, but their skin was thick and rough like a shark’s; and rather than a soft bottlenose, the creatures had something more like a beak—almost like a swordfish. They were coming fast, but Koji quickly pivoted, snapping his jaws at the creatures but unable to make purchase.
“Freeze!” Florian exclaimed, flinging his hand out toward the creatures, acting on pure instinct. The three creatures became immediately still and plunged back into the water like stones, but already he could tell more were coming. “Keep flying, Koji!”
The dragon snarled, twisting back toward the cluster of rocky islands.
“Do you see them?” Rune called out. Florian could see the water was churning with activity, but couldn’t make out the shape of Rune or any other creatures.
“Not really,” he called back. “Where are you?”
She didn’t answer.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “Koji, hold on, we can’t leave her behind!”
Koji immediately turned back around, rocketing toward where the water was frothing wildly, as if an entire school of fish had gathered just beneath the surface. Rune had to be there—how could they help her, though? She couldn’t come any closer to the surface, but Florian was certain that if he tried to shift, he’d lose his hold on the shroud over him and Koji.
“The fishing spear,” Florian exclaimed, more to himself than anyone else, and quickly pulled the spear from where it had been secured to his backpack. Rune had given one to each of them—he’d never used a fishing spear before in his life, but with so many creatures swarming, he was sure to hit something.
Sensing what he meant to do, Koji hovered about five feet over the surface of the water, maintaining his position as much as he could so Florian could aim more easily.
“Rune!” he shouted, pulling back the spear. “Watch out!” Then he threw it with all his might, keeping his eyes on it as it plunged into the water. The moment it seemed to strike something, he commanded, “I have the spear in my hand.”
The heavy weight of it dropped back into his open palm, the sharp tip dripping blood. Koji made a surprised chuffing noise, and Florian grinned, relieved.
