Page 131

V ahly gripped Kyril’s ruff and breathed deeply as he sent her images of them soaring over the renewed Forest of Illumahrah.

She patted his side and smiled. “If we live through this, we’ll fly every day, my friend.

Every single day.” The gryphon keened as if begging for her to hurry it up and win the day. “I’m trying, love. I am trying.”

She wore only her shirt and trousers. Her boots would only be ruined in the sea, and once she was changed, if this plan worked, she would have fins that didn’t allow for her usual vest, socks, and shoes.

Arc was on Nix’s back, and Amona flew above them, watching the sea for a possible attack.

The wind whipped Arc’s black hair, and the moon made his crown blink silver now and then.

He appeared fine at the moment, thank the Source.

Maybe he was strong enough to fight the curse and live despite what Haldus had said about the ancient elf Tam.

“The rift is just there, if I remember correctly.” Arc pointed to a spot that looked no different from the rest of this part of the ocean.

“Elves. Such showoffs,” she muttered, trying to act normal for Kyril even though her heart beat frantically. The oaken sword might already be in pieces. They might already be as good as dead, the land swallowed again by Astraea’s hand, and all the dragons, elves, and animals drowned.

Kyril shook gently, like he wanted her to stop pretending and joking, as if he knew the truth and didn’t want her to treat him like a youngling. She hugged his neck, tucking into his musky scent and out of the cold wind for a moment.

“Fine. It is all terrible, and you know it. But it doesn’t do any good to bemoan our situation. We just have to find another hand of cards to play and keep raising our bet. This isn’t a game we can quit, is it?”

He squawked and tipped sideways slightly as Arc gestured for them to fly lower.

“I’ll dive in,” Arc said over the wind and the sea, “and attempt to get Lilia’s attention.”

“I still don’t like this part of the plan. Just let me jump in. I’m going in anyway. What is the use in stalling the inevitable?”

Because he can light up the water, Daughter. Now, put your heart away for a time and use your mind, Amona said.

She was right, but that didn’t mean Vahly had to like it.

Nix’s bright eyes flashed in the starlight. Besides, males love to be a hero. Let the handsome fellow show his worth, and you can reward him later. She winked.

Arc leapt from Nix’s back, a graceful slip into the great stretch of silvery black. Vahly’s heart hung limp in her chest as she watched the foam and bubble of his dive disappear.

Stop holding your breath , Amona ordered.

And even though so many other connections and experiences had muffled the Bond she had with Amona, the demand had Vahly exhaling roughly as Kyril circled the area.

Light bloomed beneath the waves, inconsistent but bright—one of Arc’s illuminated spheres of air magic. The blurred, golden light moved westward in a straight line, and she was reminded of what great swimmers elves were.

Nix flew beside Kyril. He’ll be fine. If you keep making that face, you’re going to age yourself ten years.

Vahly glared.

He is a fantastic swimmer.

I was just thinking that. It’s sometimes pretty annoying that elves are good at everything.

Nix wiggled her eyebrows. Everything?

Enough, dragon.

Nix snickered, and her sharp, full-dragon-form teeth showed at the side of her snout, ivory daggers all in a line. You’re going to be fine too, Queenie.

You think so, hmm? I have my doubts.

Not me. You are the Earth Queen.

I lost the sword, Nix.

Because my silly tail was in the way.

Don’t blame yourself.

I do. A bit. But don’t look like that at me. I’ll live through the ample dose of humility it gives me. I have plenty of arrogance to balance the error.

Vahly laughed. That you do. She sighed and ran a hand over the soft feathers on Kyril’s neck. He dipped below Nix, then rose, bumping Nix gently, playfully.

Nix gave him a snarl but tapped him with a wing to show she wasn’t truly angry. Lilia will know that spell. This is a solid strategy, Vahl. It is.

It feels reckless.

Isn’t that your middle name?

A chuckle bubbled from Vahly. Perhaps.

Well, then. Only you would come up with this plan, because of who you are and what you’ve suffered. That means it’s the way to go. It’s fate. I was meant to have a bevy of devoted males trailing my every move. You were meant to save us.

Care to swap fates?

Nix snorted and blew a burst of dragonfire, her eyes twinkling with humor. No, thank you, dear. No, thank you.

Arc’s light was faint now, and what she thought was him could’ve only been the moon on the water.

I still see him, Nix said. He’s going deeper.

Kyril’s body rumbled in a comforting purr, and Vahly pressed her hand against his side, taking his energy and warmth in.

Amona swooped low, startling Kyril a bit. King Arcturus comes, and he brings two sea folk with him.

And sure enough, his light approached beneath the wind-cut surface, two trails of foaming water beside him. Then his head appeared above the waves.

“They are in agreement, my queen.”

“Good. Ask them if they’re willing to travel closer to the shoreline so I can transform back to my human form once the plan either succeeds or crashes miserably.”

He disappeared for a moment then broke through the water. “I will show you the place safest for your drop into the sea. Follow my light.”

Arc went below, his light moving immediately and the two sea kynd with him. A chill ripped across Vahly’s back. She had to try this. There was no choice.

When General Lilia whispered the spell under the water, it sounded nearly the same as when Ryton had—three words that Vahly refused to memorize.

This was the only time she would use this magic.

Never again. Gills erupted on the sides of her neck.

Magic sizzled down her limbs. An invisible weight lay across her shoulders and in her back as she grew as dense as the sea folk, able to walk the sea floor instead of floating.

Webbing emerged between her fingers as she flexed them, then blue-green fins sprang from the backs of her hands.

Sea magic rushed through her, a sound she now recognized.

She looked into Lilia’s scarred face. “It sounds…” Her throat pinched with pain, then the transformation settled. “Your magic sounds like waves crashing on the coast.”

Lilia shook her head. “It makes the sound of the currents.”

“They sound the same to me.”

Lilia cocked an eyebrow, and her mouth twitched. “Ignorant land kynd.”

Vahly cracked a smile. “Vicious sea folk.”

They gripped one another’s forearms, Vahly being careful with the issue of fins, and a strange feeling rose inside her. She moved back a step and studied Lilia’s features.

“Thank you for all you’re risking,” Vahly said. “I won’t betray you.”

Lilia pulled her into a hug. “I can see why Ryton chose to follow you. I can truly see it now.”

Vahly was pretty sure she would’ve been tearing up if she hadn’t been in the ocean. “Can you teach me the spell you use to retrieve your spear? Does it have the word spear in it? I wonder if I’ll need to tweak the phrasing?”

“The spell uses the word you would call weapon, so I believe it might work. Give it a try without your will behind it,” Lilia said, bubbles lining her mouth and eyebrows. “Epistrépste mou, óplo.”

Repeating the words, Vahly glanced toward the surface where moonlight filtered through the water.

Arc was up there with Amona and Nix. His unhappiness at leaving her down here was clear in his bunched lips and the way he’d given her hand an incredibly hard squeeze before swimming away.

Suddenly, her gills spasmed, and she choked.

Lilia grabbed her shoulder. “Breathe with gills.”

Nodding, Vahly tried to calm down. Blinking, the water cold on her eyes, she tried out the words again with Lilia’s instructions on pronunciation.

“Yes, you have it now,” Lilia said, looking pleased and glancing at the other sea kynd with her, a blue-haired female who resembled Astraea a bit. “Now use the magic in your words. We will give you space.”

They swam off a distance, and she was alone on the shelf of coral, the island’s rocky base just a few strokes away.

She imagined the oaken sword far away, dragged by a hand of spelled water. She could see the blade’s carvings in her mind’s eye, the slope and jut of the oak, the sharp edge and piercing tip. “Epistrépste mou, óplo.”

Water rushed in her ears, but the dark water beyond mocked her efforts. She repeated the spell.

Still, nothing.

Lilia swam to her side. “You are not close enough to the weapon. To the sword.”

“Proximity is an issue?”

“It is. I would assume Astraea brought the weapon back to álikos Castle to show it off before attempting to destroy it. Perhaps if we swim toward the castle at night…”

Vahly nodded. “I can try the spell as we approach. I don’t need to get too close, do I? Why didn’t you bring this up earlier, the proximity needs of the magic?”

“You are the Earth Queen.” She said it with eyebrows lifted like that was explanation enough.

So Lilia believed Vahly could do great things under the water as well as on land. Well, it turned out she had limitations galore.

“I wish your guess had been right,” Vahly said. “I’ll speak to my team in the air, then we’ll move. Immediately.”

“Of course,” Lilia said before swimming toward the other sea kynd.

Vahly kicked her feet and rose easily to the surface. The water skimmed the top of her head as she began speaking telepathically with Arc and the rest, telling them the next step in their tangled plans.