Page 100

Jade looked directly at me. "Everyone has to leave the island. Now."

I reached for the familiar pressure of Nykos's link and sent the order before asking anything else.

"Full evacuation. Get everyone into the eastern boats and clear the island. Leave anything that slows you."

His answer came immediately.

"Threat?"

"Water Zrake nesting colony. Multiple adults. They arrived during the night and are claiming the island."

"Understood."

I looked at Jade. "Tell me everything else while we move."

The ridge trembled as something struck the bank behind us.

"Move," I said.

We ran.

The Zrake hit the place where we had been crouching. Stone split beneath the impact, sending fragments through the ferns. I formed a shield behind us as the creature forced its way out of the basin. Its body dragged low between four powerful limbs while its half-open wings struck trunks on either side. That should have slowed it. Instead, it tore the smaller trees from the ground.

Jade ran ahead, choosing the route without needing direction. "It isn't hunting for food."

"That distinction isn't improving the situation."

"It's clearing the island. If we keep moving away from the nest, it may drive us out instead of trying to kill us."

The Zrake struck my shield hard enough to drive my boots through the mud. "And if it decides we aren't leaving quickly enough?"

"Then it stops warning us."

Its jaw opened behind the fading shield, answering the question with a call that shook water from the leaves.

"Left," Jade called.

I followed her around a fallen trunk. The Zrake drove through the rotting wood and scattered it across the channel. The jungle ahead rose sharply, the water thinning as the ground climbed toward camp. Jade caught a branch and pulled herself onto the first ledge. I followed, placing another shield behind us as the creature drove one shoulder into it.

Light fractured across the surface. I braced both feet and forced the shield to hold long enough for Jade to clear the next rise.

"Corian."

"I'm moving."

The saturated ground beneath my boot gave way.

I released the shield as the bank collapsed, but there was nothing left to catch. Mud, roots and stone carried me down the far side of the ridge. My shoulder struck first. I rolled, reached for a root and missed.

My left boot lodged between two stones while the rest of my body continued moving.

Something broke.

Pain drove through my lower leg. I hit a thick root hard enough to stop, my back against the mud and my foot twisted at an angle. I tried to rise and felt the broken ends shift beneath me.

Jade appeared above the drop. "Corian."

"Stay back from the edge."