Page 43 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 43

Matthias

W ithout hesitation, I took off toward the spot I’d last seen Graham, diving beneath the surface to search for him. There, ahead of me, a beast just as Phillip had described—with a sleek, nearly forty-meter-long black body with a horned and spiked head—glided in a downward spiral. In its jaws it held Graham by the leg, blood trailing behind it as it swam lower and lower. Slipping my dagger from its sheath, I kicked furiously.

I might not have liked Graham, but he was my best chance at learning more about Calla.

I needed him alive, not drowned in this lake or eaten by this creature.

The beast moved lazily through the water, confident and unthreatened by any of us trespassers. But just as with fae and men, confidence could be a detriment. I caught up to its tail and swiped quickly at it with my blade, but it arced out of the way at the last moment. Swimming harder and ignoring the blood that tinted the water around me, I pushed myself forward until I was alongside the back part of its body, just ahead of the slithering tail.

This time I jabbed my blade at it, but the tip simply slid along the thick scales that protected the animal.

Pushing aside my initial frustration and disappointment, I reminded myself of the first lesson I’d learned as a warrior: every enemy has a weakness. I just needed to find and exploit it, hopefully before Graham bled out or drowned. Unfortunately for both of us, my lungs couldn’t hold as long as usual—another gift of the poison, I supposed—and I had to return to the surface quickly to grab more air.

Lifting my face out of the water just enough to suck in another deep breath, I immediately descended to find the beast, still clutching a now-unconscious Graham in its vicious maw, swimming straight for me. At least I wouldn’t have to hunt for it.

I dove straight down, hoping to get beneath its head, but it shifted effortlessly to cut off my descent, swinging its massive skull toward me. It struck me hard in my ribs, and I had to fight not to gasp for air from the blow. I adjusted my grip on the handle and watched the beast circle me.

My lungs ached, burning with the need for another breath, but I persisted, even when the edges of my vision started to fade into darkness. On the creature’s third rotation around me, I threw myself toward it, thrusting my blade up under its jaw, slicing easily into the tender skin beneath its snout. Yanking its head away from me—and wrenching the weapon from my grasp—the beast opened its mouth in a roar of pain, deafening even when muffled under the water. Graham’s body fell from its jaws, drifting slowly toward the lake floor.

Ignoring the agony blazing in my chest, I rushed down to catch him. As I kicked for the surface, I hauled Graham up with one arm locked under his shoulder, his body resting against my back. My vision darkened more with each passing second, and from somewhere far off, a voice called for me to stop and rest, promising me an end to all the pain and discomfort. I had to admit, it was tempting in the moment, and I might have succumbed had the shock of the cold breeze on my face not snapped me back to the present.

Cramps shot through my limbs, protesting the effort it took to keep myself and Graham afloat. The edge of the lake was so far away, I’d never make it by myself, let alone while dragging dead weight. I tried to wave an arm to Isa, but as soon as I lifted my arm, I went under. Maybe it wasn’t worth saving the bastard. For all I knew, he was already dead, but if I concentrated, I could still catch his heartbeat, though faint.

I’d need help getting him back to shore, so I spun in a circle, searching for anyone else, but the surface was clear.

Except for a dark shape swimming toward me.

Fuck.

I should have known I hadn’t killed it.

I tried to propel myself backwards toward the lake’s edge, keeping my eye on the approaching threat. My heart beat wildly against my sternum. My breaths rushed painfully in and out. My mind whirred around the few options I had left.

Releasing Graham seemed the best chance I had if I was going to survive at all. If I died here, we’d never learn the truth and Brennan’s death would never be avenged. Loosening my grip on Graham, I was about to sacrifice him to the beast when Phillip surfaced behind me, heaving and gasping for air. He held up a stone that barely fit in his hand. It glistened in the sunlight, bits of gold shining through the slick green moss that coated it.

“Can you take him with you back to shore?” I asked through gritted teeth, fighting to ignore both the burning in my limbs and the beast that still swam toward us.

Phillip’s eyes widened as he glanced over my shoulder to where the monster was closing in.

“I’ll lure it away,” I assured him. “You just get him to safety.”

Phillip bobbed his head a few times, and as quickly as I could with arms shaking from the exertion, I transferred Graham onto Phillip’s back and turned back in time to see the darkness stop a few meters away and vanish.

Quickly I ducked my head under the water.

The monster had shifted direction at the last moment and was now slowly swimming toward Korben and Beck, who were back in the middle of the lake hauling up their stones, each one the size of their heads. They didn’t seem to notice the beast swimming toward them, their focus solely on the surface.

If I was smart, I’d grab the smallest stone I could find and swim back to shore—leave these two to fend for themselves. It was what Korben deserved after what he’d done to Asher—and to me—but Beck’s only fault was choosing to follow the bastard. He shouldn’t die for that.

Growling and cursing myself, I urged my tired muscles into action, swimming toward them.

Why did I have to fucking care so much? Was Connor’s damned savior complex contagious?

Finally spotting the predator, Korben and Beck ceased kicking and seemed to freeze halfway to the surface. Korben shoved Beck out in front of him like a fucking coward. Beck still held onto his stone, tucking it precariously under one arm as he fumbled to pull his dagger free from his belt.

If only I could shout at Beck to drop the stone. Whether that would actually help or not, I didn’t know; it was a wild guess based on what I knew of dragons and their affinity for gold.

But he didn’t. He held it in the crook of his arm even when his dagger slipped through his fingers and drifted down to the lake’s bottom. The monster was still taking its time, swimming leisurely and occasionally snapping its teeth, as if it enjoyed stoking its prey’s fear.

Pushing myself to swim faster, I chased after the falling dagger, but Korben had the same thought, flipping himself over to dive for it. A muffled scream pulled my attention up to where the beast had finally lunged for Beck, clamping its rows of jagged teeth down on Beck’s free arm. With a sudden jerk, the monster released the fae, blood streaming from where his arm had once been.

Bile rushed up my throat, but I swallowed it back down as I swam harder upwards to help Beck. He could still survive without an arm, but only if I got to him in time—and if I convinced him to give up the stars-damned stone. Being disqualified from the tournament was better than dying.

I had nearly reached Beck when something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me down.

Then searing pain shot through my calf.

Kicking my other foot backwards, I slammed my heel into Korben’s face just as he yanked Beck’s dagger free from my leg. The once-clear water was now twinged with blood, both mine and Beck’s. As I moved to continue helping the smaller fae, a stone drifted past me, and I looked up to see Beck’s body floating by. What was left of it anyway. The beast had bitten clean through his torso from hip to opposite shoulder.

The monstrous spiked head spun toward me, its nostrils flaring, but its gold eyes snapped to my left where Korben—still holding his stone in one arm and Beck’s dagger in his good hand—swam away from me toward the surface and the beach. The monster’s muscles twitched in its neck as it snarled, baring teeth that appeared to have bits of cloth and flesh stuck in them.

Before it could dart after Korben, though, I used what little energy I had left to launch myself at its head. When those gold eyes shifted back onto me, I braced myself for its attack, but it never came. It immediately returned its attention to the retreating Korben, and that’s when I made my move. Angling myself under its jaw, I gripped the handle of my dagger still lodged in its chin with both hands and thrust it away from me, slicing through its throat and neck.

It bellowed, thrashing its head around. I yanked my blade free and, by sheer luck alone, in its flailing it drove its eye straight onto my dagger. Marveling at my good fortune, I didn’t hesitate to pull the dagger free once more and swipe it along the underside of its jaw, slicing through its major artery that ran along its neck. The sea around me darkened with black-red blood and its jaw opened and closed as it fell away from me, the life slowly fading from its good eye.

My lungs started to cave in on themselves, as if they were trying to use every last bit of air in them. I needed to get to the surface. I needed a breath. But my body had given the last of its energy in the final attack on the beast, and it refused to respond to my desperate efforts to pull myself to the surface. My vision darkened as it had before, and this time when the voice called for me to rest, I listened.