Page 27 of Sapphire Seas

Bingo! Caro, Odem, Kes, aim for the left wing. They bear Daigle’s mark.

Trident don’t fail me now.

I took aim and released it, praying to the ancestors with all my might that it struck as precisely as I desired. I swear, this all played out in slow motion. No gurgling as bubbles wobbled past. No swish of the water as the weapon flew through it. Only the sound of my heart beating. When the trident connected with the underside of his wing, I released a breath, unsure what would happen next as I hadn’t considered anything aside from getting that thing off him.

Success.

I think…

Being in Dragon City for such a short time, I wasn’t aware of the repercussions the wearer suffered once it was removed. As he fell to the depths, there wasn’t time for a rescue. I was thrown right into a fight with the next assailant.

Good job, Caspian, Mattias, called out. Everyone, do your best to remove the leeches but do not risk your own safety.

A mixture of ayes and yeses rang out through our connection.

Our mate connection linked, giving us shared strength, our hearts alight, glowing in the water as we bested our attackers. Even Caro’s chest lit up. Good to know that even when apart we can still share gifts with our mates. The importance of Quint’s mating weighed heavily on us all. There was a reason for the Goddess sending us to them at this chosen time, which I’m sure would be better explained, one way or another, once Quint’s mating bond was complete.

Kes is holding them off while I go in. Talons crossed that my mate is impervious to my venom.

We all wished that for Quint and in my heart I knew there was no way the Goddess would bless him with a mate his venom would be deadly for.

Would she?

Not all of them bear the mark, Caro called out.

Ah, so they did send a few loyalists, Mattias added. Can’t rehabilitate them, but if one or two can be spared for questioning...

Understood.

No reason to reply, we all knew what that meant.

I felt a shift in the water, the temperature rising as we continued to fight.

Caro, check on Kes then join Quint. Caspian and I can hold the rest of them off.

Aye, Mattias.

Caro swam toward the surface with an assailant on his tail. I lost track of them as they broke through, though it wasn’t long after that the same dragon plummeted toward the ocean bottom, minus his head.

With one left, Mattias and I surrounded him. He was a fighter, I’ll give him that, but up against a protector, he was nothing.

I’d rather die than join your cause, he spat.

So be it, then, Mattias replied.

He lunged forward at the same time as we did, each shearing a wing, leaving him unable to flee.

Do as you will, protector, but this battle is long from over.

In a final brazen move, he swung his spiked tail at me. Mattias’ claws ripped clean through his throat, severing his head. It went in one direction and his body in another.

We’ll go after the bodies later. Now, it’s time to help our mate and my brothers.

Unsure what we’d enter into, we swam with all our might, shooting straight through the surface and didn’t slow until we were well above the others.

Huddled up next to a rock formation were two dragons. Left wings clipped, half shifted into their human forms. At least now I knew what happened after the mark was removed, Kes stood guard nearby in dragon form.

Caro is with Quint, holding off the lampreys, Kes told us.