Page 26 of I Dream of Dragons

A column of water hits us, destabilizing the drak, sending us tumbling. Phaethon snarls something I can’t make out as he leans forward, against the drak’s neck. I curl my fingers in the soaked fabric of his shirt, a shout caught in my throat.

Then a blue pillar rises from the sea with a rumbling roar and a great splash, reaching for us.

A sea drak.

It leaps out of the waves, maw opening, vestigial wings flapping, arching into the air… It smacks into us, its mouth closing over our drak’s neck.

The impact almost throws me off but I cling to Phaethon. We’re shaken, thrown this way and that, and a moan leaves my lips.

Screeches rend the air as the sea and sky flip over and over. Our drak shrieks and twists, and… we fall.

Both of us lose our saddle, tumbling through the air, and I know Phaethon falls along with me because my arms are still around him. Head over heels, over and over, we spin.

And I finally lose my grip as we fall down and smash into the black water.

CHAPTER NINE

RAE

Out there, in the bright air and light of day, I struggled, suffocating. Too much noise, too much pressure.

Down here, underwater, it’s dark and quiet and my gills open instantly, letting me breathe.

In and out.

Evenly.

Peacefully.

I drift face-up, bubbles escaping my mouth. I’m mesmerized by the broken mirror of the surface above me, flashing with blinding lights like the falling stars in the sky.

What happened? Why?—?

Jai!

Panic returns in a body-jolting blaze. Gathering my limbs, I flip and look down into the depths.

Only for a hand to grab my ankle and drag me deeper.

No!It’s mermaids, I realize as I struggle against that painful grip, a whole pod of them—and I recognize the one holding onto me.

“Alys!” I yell, writhing, trying to free myself. “Let go!”

“Didn’t I say you should come talk to me?” she singsongs, her huge eyes unblinking.

“Sorry, been busy.”

“Have you? Splashing around in the water like a crippled seal.” She gives a disdainful sniff. “We have important topics to discuss.”

I yank harder but her grip is like nightgold. Impossible to break. “I can’t talk right now. I need to find Jai. He’s drowning!”

“Who cares if a human drowns?” One of the mermaids titters, twirling a lock of golden hair around a finger. “They all die, one way or another.”

“Humans are our allies,” I seethe.

“You say that because you were human once.” The blond mermaid gives me a shrewd look. “Your alliance is still with them, isn’t it?”

She’s wrong, and yet… she’s right.