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This isn’t happening.

They sank deeper in the water, but she couldn’t believe her eyes. How could Aurora be gone? Heat burned at the back of her eyes and the tears she shed were swallowed by the sea. Wren hugged her dragon’s face and closed her eyes. And for one horrible moment, she thought about simply sinking to the bottom of the sea with her dragon. It would be so easy. It was quiet here.

Think of Britta.

Even if she wanted to sink into oblivion, her sister needed protection. If anything, Wren had to survive for the heir of Lorne. The enemy could never get their hands on her.

She forced her eyes open and pressed a kiss between Aurora’s eyes.

I love you.

It took all her strength to unwrap her arms from her dragon. Wren’s lungs began to burn as Aurora sank deeper and deeper below.

Goodbye, my friend. You will always be in my heart.

Wren kicked her legs and started to focus on the waters around her. It was a bloody mess of ship debris, bodies, blood, and sharks. She slowed her ascent so as not to attract the attention of the predators feasting around her. The waves fought against Wren as she tried to make it to the surface unscathed.

If Rowen were here, he’d have made it to the surface already.

He always swam like a fish. The stormy sea would have been no problem for him.

Her body ached as she neared the surface. She caught movement from the corner of her eye and faced it. A sleek shark darted toward her, and she pulled back her fist and rammed it in the nose just before it took a bite of her arm.

The beastie shot away like a wounded pup.

Wren mustered some more energy from her tired body and broke through the surface. She wheezed a desperate, life-saving breath of air into her lungs. Her chest heaved as she treaded water, frantically looking left and right to try and get to grips with her surroundings. A wave temporarily knocked her back beneath the surface, and, for a moment, Wren panicked. But then she remembered her training, forced herself to calm down, and resurfaced once more.

Just work out where you are. You can do that.

The trajectory of Wren and Aurora’s descent into the water had been diagonal, which meant Wren now found herself out of the sphere of the battle. It was to her left, still deafening in her ears, but with the way the current was pulling her, all she had to do was let the sea continue to carry her farther away to remain safe.

To her right, through the fog, Wren thought some of the gray mass seemed more solid than the rest.

Move, this is what your father trained you for. Work though the fatigue.

She inhaled deep and swam toward the solidness with slow firm strokes. The fins slicing through the water made her want to speed up, but she kept her pace measured so she wouldn’t drown, nor draw the sharks attention. It took her far longer than it usually would have to reach an outcrop of black, polished, volcanic rocks. She heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of them. She’d made it.

Clawing her way out of the water just enough that the current could not so easily carry her away, she felt around until she was reasonably sure she had good purchase on the rock to keep her above the waves.

She held on and stared at the massacre in the bay.

All at once, Wren broke.

She began to wail.

The storm answered, screaming right back at her. Lorne—and by extension, the entire Dragon Isles—had suffered a heavy loss. Wren had no doubt she was not the only one crying right now. But there was no comfort to be had in this collective sadness, so she merely sobbed harder.

She was in so much pain. Mental, psychological, and emotional, yes, from the insurmountable losses she had amassed today, but also physical. Her muscles ached from having carried Britta for so long and clinging to her dragon. She was bleeding. Every inch of her felt bruised.

Her eyelids lowered and her teeth began to chatter.

Her body was shutting down.

She’d experienced it twice in her life before when she’d pushed herself too hard.

She hauled herself higher out of the water and rested her cheek against the stone. Her body had nothing more to offer. Wren had used every ounce of energy up and now she’d pay for it. A low chuckle escaped her at the thought of falling asleep and drowning after everything she’d survived. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Wren closed her eyes.