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E very muscle in Vahly’s body bunched as she dove into the water. Kyril, cutting the water with his beak and his wings tucked tightly at his sides, flashed images of them flying.

Yes, that would be far nicer. But we must focus on our job here, love. I know this fully reeks of the worst nightmares, but we must soldier on. Now, watch for other beasts like the ones Ryton mentioned.

A fine grit clouded the water, and Vahly could only see a few feet in front of them as they swam toward the center of the civilization.

A cluster of buildings made of stacked stone circled a cleared area where three large boulders stood.

The structures were missing some walls and all of their roofs.

The boulders brought the Source’s Blackwater spring to mind.

Imagined memories surfaced inside Vahly’s mind, the daydreams she’d crafted for herself as a child.

Her mother cradling her and singing a lilting tune, the skin on her arms like Vahly’s, unscaled and soft to the touch.

A game between older children that involved kicking a ball of rags down a road, plenty of playful shoving required.

And the crackling of a fire in a small hearth, one sized for humans, not dragons.

Vahly’s magicked breath hitched, and she swallowed her sadness like a tonic. It would help her feel her way to her home.

Magic tugged on the invisible link below Vahly’s heart, urging her to go quickly. Was the magic simply impatient to see Vahly endowed with more power, or was there another immediate reason for haste? Did the magic know something that Vahly did not?

Pushing panic away with thoughts of Arc on shore, ready to give help, and Nix soaring above, watching out for them, Vahly swam on.

Beside her, Kyril swam, eyes narrowed and furred paws dashing through the foggy salt water in an almost desperate fashion. His tail flicked behind him, drawing the occasional small and curious fish.

They passed another circle of stacked stone houses as well as a rockfall, originating from a sea shelf that had collapsed during the flooding.

The pile of bruise-dark rock reached from this second collection of structures to another that was difficult to see in the murky water.

Shapes flitted in and out of the rockfall, their bodies catching the light.

Vahly gripped Kyril’s pelt. Stay clear of the fall there. See the fish?

The shapes swimming around the spot were just as Ryton had described, sleek and striped like hornets.

They swam on, her magic pulling her in what felt like two different directions.

She took up the path to the northeast, heading for a larger building surrounded by deep holes.

What was the point of the holes? She swam over one, its depths black and still, before heading into the large structure.

Clutching the one wall that remained undamaged, she twisted to watch Kyril thrust through the water, catching up.

He must’ve been curious about those fish and had fallen behind.

She’d have to keep a closer watch on him.

Though he was as big as the largest dragon, he was still young and unexperienced.

With Arc’s blood painted across his eyes and beak, he looked the part of a warrior.

Vahly smiled grimly. And warrior he would be.

Pride lifted a fraction of the weight off her shoulders.

Kyril treaded water outside the doorway, or what was left of the doorway, as Vahly swam deeper into the large building.

Smooth rectangles of a reddish stone marked three places inside the walls.

Vahly wiped leafy growth off the first of them and bent, squinting as she tried to read.

Sunlight streamed through the water, lighting the etched words with undulating threads of gold.

Vahly couldn’t fluently speak her own kynd’s language, but she could read most of it.

The tongue wasn’t too different from dragon.

The first inscription was a name. Basajaun.

The name meant Old Man of the Woods and was tied to a folktale, the details of which Vahly couldn’t recall.

Tally marks showed a large number. Ah. It was the year and season.

A long while back. And there was another word.

What did hil mean? A chill slithered down her back.

Death.

This was a record of the dates this Basajaun had lived.

So was this large structure a burial place?

That didn’t seem right. Humans buried their dead, did they not?

Perhaps he was buried under this place? Vahly knelt and placed a hand against the packed ground, bubbles gathering around her fingers.

She tried to feel the death in the earth beneath her palm, but the magic was dulled by the water.

Kyril, I need you.

Kyril ducked his head into the structure, the three remaining walls too tight for his entire body. Vahly touched his head and felt their bond zip through her arm and into her heart where her magic rose up, awakened by Kyril’s presence.

The earth here was blessed; it sang through Vahly’s bones, a song she could hear perfectly inside her head. The drumming of earth magic echoed the tune, matching it, strengthening it.

Vahly looked at Kyril. This is a place of birth, not death. She touched the marker on the wall again, her toes brushing the sandy ground as she swam closer. They marked their birthplaces. I must find mine.

She began to clean off the other markers in the structure, but Kyril nudged her, and her magic pounded through her blood. The pull to leave was unmistakable.

Why did you nudge me? she asked as they swam away from the building. Can you feel the earth too? Can you feel a tug, an urging in your chest?

Kyril jerked his head, kicking his feet to swim faster. He sent images of the rising sea into Vahly’s mind. The water level at the Lapis coastline was higher than it had been reported just last night.

How do you have that image? she asked.

Then Kyril shared a blink of color that Vahly belatedly realized was Arc’s face, seen through the water just after they’d entered the Lost Valley.

Vahly put a hand on Kyril as they swam, hoping the touch would help her communicate with Arc and Nix. Arc? Can you hear me? Nix?

I’m here, Queenie, Nix said. The ocean is lurching like Aitor after he’s had too many. You had best hurry up what you’re doing down there.

Do you need me at your side? I can lash Ryton down and dive in. Arc’s words sounded stronger than they ever had.

Before Vahly could answer, a current shoved her and Kyril, breaking their contact.

Kyril rolled, water foaming around the tips of his wings and claws.

His legs churned, his eyes shut as he tried to use his wings to move back to Vahly.

But it wasn’t working. His wings wouldn’t grab the water like they did the air and proved to be a big problem.

Vahly rushed to help him, swam over a cluster of homes, and reached for him.

He was nearly to the rockfall where those venomous fish had been earlier.

She had his back paw for a moment, fingers curling into his thick fur and her lungs burning with the effort, but then another crash of water gushed through the calmer area and broke them apart.

Kyril thrashed, panicking. He sent her images of them flying, of the two of them talking by the earthblood vent in the great hall beside Zori, and one simply of Vahly’s face.

Vahly pushed through the churning water and at last grabbed hold of his pelt fully. The current eased, and they were able to swim normally.

Metallic yellow winked from the rockfall directly below their kicking feet.

And then more yellow. More.

The venomous fish gathered, hundreds of them, their beady eyes trained on Kyril and Vahly. Their black and yellow stripes shot fear through Vahly’s chest.

Hold still, Kyril. Just breathe slowly. Very slowly.

The first fish she’d seen twitched its small, flat tail and swam closer. Vahly’s heart was coming out of her throat. The fish bumped her bare ankle and she had to fight herself not to move her head and peer down to see if its teeth were about to end this effort far sooner than planned.

What a way to go. Death by wee fishie. Not exactly the queenly sort of exit she’d thought she’d have.

Vahly and Kyril floated, kept from rising to the surface by Arc’s air magic blood spell.

Vahly’s heart knocked one side of her chest and then the other.

Kyril wasn’t blinking and his chest was still.

He wasn’t even breathing. The tips of his great wings shivered slightly, his fear apparent.

Vahly wanted to attack the fish and scare them off.

But Ryton’s warning about the venomous fish rang through her head, and he’d saved her once…

The other fish joined the one bumping her ankle. They drifted under her body and Kyril’s, scales darkening in the shadows.

At last, the striped fish swam away, into the hazy depths, and Vahly sagged with relief.

Kyril shook his head, and his feathers drew bubbling arcs in the water.

Focusing on the tug, tug, tug of the earth magic in her chest and the drumming of the power in her blood, she swam down to the rockfall. It sat in a depression in the bedrock and extended three times the length of the cider house.

Stomach sinking, Vahly knew.

Her birthplace lay beneath the immense slabs of dark stone.

This isn’t going to be easy , she said to Kyril, reaching for him, swimming a few feet above the rock debris.

He swam closer and let her set a hand on him. Then she summoned her power, trying hard to smell the earth beyond the reach of Arc’s spell and the salt water. A thrum of strength pulsed from the bedrock.

“Move,” she commanded, spreading her fingers wide and directing her palm and intention toward the rockfall.

The tumble of stone trembled. One large slab slipped from its perch and crashed to the sea floor under Vahly and Kyril. Plumes of sand rose into the water, blinding them.

Panicking, Vahly tried to wave the sand away. They had to keep a watch for more dangerous creatures and sea kynd as well.

When the sand cleared, Vahly tried again. Her lungs began to burn.

Kyril kicked his feet, and his beak parted like he might have been having trouble breathing.

Vahly’s body shook in time with the ground, but only a few more rocks fell away from the homes that lay underneath. And the magic was dying. She couldn’t take a full breath.

This isn’t going to cut it. Gripping Kyril’s pelt, she swam over him and took hold of his ruff. Take us to the surface if you can.

Kyril lurched through the water, wings and legs struggling against another strong current.

They broke the surface, gasping, to see Nix landing beside Ryton and Arc.

Ryton looked murderous. Nix looked the same way she had the night they’d accidentally dropped ten bags of coin into the Silver River on their way back from a smuggling trade.

Arc stood calmly, his kingly power practically oozing from his pores.

The breeze kicked up, and Arc’s mint and resin scent rode the wind.

“We need another plan!” Vahly shouted over the waves as she rubbed Arc’s blood from her eyes, dashing away the last of the spell.

Nix put a hand on her ample hip. “How about dice and cider until the end comes? Go down in a fire of pleasant entertainment and all that. I bet Arcturus has some idea on how to keep your mind off the brevity of our lifespan. Hmm?”

Arc looked at the ground, a grin rucking up one cheek.

Warmth traveled the length of Vahly’s body as she remembered their kiss.

“I might be shirking my duties if I let the land be swamped while I’m betting on seven and nine,” Vahly said.

“How about if you put your gold on three? I’ve always thought that was the true lucky number.” Nix stepped back from the shoreline as Vahly and Kyril approached.

Arc helped Vahly off Kyril’s back, and soon they were on land and dried by air magic.

Feet on firm ground, Vahly had to restrain herself. She truly wanted to get on her knees and kiss the earth, but she looked to Ryton.

“It’s time for you to show me you deserve to live, General Ryton. And let me tell you, I’m not in the best of moods, so you’d better work to impress.”