Page 14 of I Dream of Dragons

Not anymore.

Surfacing, I swim slowly away from the edge of the arena, gathering my wits. I mean… this is crazy thinking. Come on. I’m on a mission, I barely know Jai, and then there’s the king. My true love.

Besides, of the two of us, Jai is the one at a disadvantage, because he doesn’t know my true nature. He hasn’t seen my gills. Hasn’t realized what I truly am now. I’m pretty sure he isn’t hoping for a cozy cottage full of laughing children, either.

Ha, as if. Not if he crossed here from another world to stop the fae king. Not if Phaethon has anything to say about it, either. And all that assuming we both survive the second trial.

What a mess.

The humans are jumping into the sea around me, some screaming as they plunge in, some doing it in silence. The splashes and sprays of water mark their position—not just for me, but for the predators swimming in the arena.

I doubt the sea monsters and finnfolk were removed after the first trial. If anything, more monsters may have been added. The water level is higher than the last time, I wasn’t wrong in my assessment, and it’s time to get moving.

Kicking my legs, I look around, taking stock of the new, rearranged arena. No more platforms floating at the center. Nothing except for those strange towers bobbing in the water. I count ten of them.

Ten, like us.

Where is the air element in this? What are we supposed to do?

Just swim, I order myself,and don’t look back to check if Jai has surfaced.

I wasn’t going to!

Yeah, right.

I don’t give a damn about him!

The near painful throb going through my body at the thought of Jai is enough to tell me I’m deluding myself. But this is just lust. I can deal with that. It’s the piercing, burning ache in my chest when I think of his arms around me that destroys me.

You’re destroying me, Jai. Ruining me.

And I can’t afford that.

My legs are stronger this time around, less painful, or maybe I became accustomed to the pain and the weakness. It’s now a part of me.

Just like all this new information, all this confusion. Got to shed it like fishscale, like dead skin. Empty my mind.

The water froths to my left, and I change course. It’s a sign of sharks or nokke, or even water draks or serpents. Take your pick. Too many creatures going hungry, waiting for a tasty meal to come their way.

I’m not going to become that snack. Things may be complicated, but I’ll find the end of the thread somehow. I need to make it out alive to ask questions, now that I got my voice back.

Ahead, I see a man climbing a tower. Something flutters at its top. Is that a red flag? What is up there? Something we’re supposed to retrieve, obviously.

One for each contestant.

I swim faster, as fast as I can manage, toward one of the towers bobbing on the water. They obviously aren’t rooted at the bottom. They seem like buoys, only much larger. Their verticalsurface shines, as smooth as the sides of the platforms had been in the first trial, and predictably, the man climbing loses his grip and slides down.

He falls into the sea, and after a moment, red froth bubbles up. A crimson stain spreads on the surface of the water.

Well, damn.

While I study the bobbing towers, a scream draws my attention somewhere behind me, but turning, I don’t see anyone. Not necessarily a good sign. Someone was just dragged underwater and will never be seen again.

Our numbers are rapidly dwindling, and I still don’t have a clue as to what the plan here is.

Don’t linger, Rae. Keep moving.

So I resume swimming, thinking I have to find a way to climb a tower. That’s all I have figured out so far, so I head toward the closest one.