He glanced at me, breathless, still paddling. “Never be sorry for that.”
He bumped his shoulder lightly against mine. “We’re both okay. That’s all that matters.”
Fighting the current was exhausting. My arms ached.
“Slade and Caelen are almost to the shore,” Leo said, panting, pointing ahead.
I followed his gesture, catching sight of Slade's broad frame and Caelen's tattered cloak cutting through the waves.
“It won’t take long for those ships to catch up,” I muttered, turning.
The horizon was choked with sails—red and blue banners creeping closer like the slow tightening of a noose. Already, they were too close.
“We need to move,” Leo said. “Now.”
We reached the shallows just as another cannon roared behind us.
The water surged at our backs—churned by the impact—and Leo half-dragged me through the final stretch, arms shaking. My boots hit sand. I stumbled. Gasped.
Slade reached us first.
He was soaked, bleeding from a shallow cut above his brow, but solid—immovable. He caught my elbow before I could fall and pulled me into him, arms locking around me like a shield closing. But his hands trembled. Just slightly.
They moved over my hair, my shoulders, my waist—checking, cataloguing, reassuring himself I was still here.
His jaw was tight. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
“I should’ve—” he started, but the words caught in his throat. He swallowed hard.
“You’re alright,” he said instead, voice low.
“I’m okay.” I touched his chest. “I’m fine.”
He pulled me closer—just for a second. A silent, splintered embrace.
Caelen appeared next, limping slightly, his cloak torn and jaw clenched. “We need to move. Now. They're gaining.”
Behind us, the ships were pouring soldiers into smaller boats—dozens of them. Too many. The cliffs to our right funnelled them toward the shore like a trap.
“We can’t fight them here,” Maddie gasped, staggering out of the surf behind Leo, her hair plastered to her cheeks.
“No,” Phoenix said, already pulling his pack over one shoulder. “But we can slow them.”
He turned to Maddie. “Can you buy us time to get higher?” He asked
Maddie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, eyeing the area. “Abso-fucken-lutely.”
“Do it.” He said.
Maddie took a step in front of us and I felt her magic furl. It was like she was summoning the trees themselves.
The ground shivered under our feet.
Maddie raised her hands, fingers splayed, and the air around her thickened—violet light curling at her fingertips like breath made visible.
The trees answered.
Roots cracked through the soil, ripping up sand and stone. Vines lashed out like whips, slamming into the ground where enemy boots would land moments later. Branches groaned and twisted, forming a snarling barricade between us and the advancing soldiers.
