Page 56 of Monster's Melody

Then, when we least expected it, Zowen attacked again.

I’d just stepped into the locker room shower after Extreme Water Sports Ed when shadows burst from the walls on either side of me and yanked me elsewhere.

Zowen’s mistake, though, was in taking me so soon after I’d exited a body of water.

A body of water that had filled me to the brim with power.

Even better, I was still covered in droplets that quivered with the power of the seas.

This time, I didn’t give the shadows a chance to attack.Instead, I immediately opened the gateway to my power and began to sing.

As my voice echoed through the Shadow Realm, something inside me cracked open, just a little, and somethingelsepoured inside.

It was dark and filled with sorrow.

We fight when you fight.

It quivered with purpose.

Fight so we can fight.

It was a beacon.

Fight.

A calling.

Fight.

A raging war.

Fight!

My voice hit a high note that pierced the shadows, a spear of light cracking them open.

A roar filled the Shadow Realm, reverberating all around me, then I was flung from the shadows so hard I should have slammed into the wall of the shower where I’d been, but instead, there was a tower of water waiting for me there.

It caught me in its depths, cushioning me for just an instant, then The Hissies were there, wrapping around me and yanking me into Vorzak’s arms.

He held me close, his snakes wrapping me tight, as we stood there, drenched and shaking, both of us unable to let go of the other.

“What in the name of all the gods happened in here?”Puddlemoan thundered.

Vorzak growled and wrapped me even tighter in his snakes as he stormed across the room to grab several towels to shield me.

“How did you know something was wrong?”I asked him.

“The other women came pouring out of the locker room, told me you’d been taken and raced off to get some help.I could hear you singing, but I couldn’t find you.”

“I was in the Shadow Realm.You heard me?”

“We all heard you.”Headmistress Blackthorn stepped into the locker room and glanced around.“Whatever happened in here?Why is it so wet?”

“Because half the water from the pool’s in here, that’s why,” Puddlemoan snarled, whirling on me.“How did you do it?”

Oops.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.There must have been some droplets from the pool still on my skin.I guess they liked my song.”Or they’d been angry I’d been taken.