Bryndis help me.
Panic surged through me, raw and primal. I kicked harder, clawing through the freezing abyss, but I couldn’t see a damn thing. The water churned, rippling echoes of something moving beneath the surface—a presence shifting through the gloom.
Solric, please. Bring me some light.
As if in answer, a flash illuminated the shadows of the bottom.
If I hadn’t been freezing from the water already, goosebumps covering my skin, they would have risen now. Maybe Solric had heard me after all.
Then I saw him.
Limp. Motionless. Several feet below me, his body drifted, his arms weightless, his face slack—too still. My stomach clenched so violently I nearly choked on what little air I had left.
No. No, no, no.
I dove for him. A thick, gnarled vine had coiled around his ankle, its barbed thorns buried deep in his flesh. The sight of it jolted me into action.
I yanked the pin from my braid and stabbed the vine—hard.
Nothing. It was too thick. Desperation roared inside me. I hacked at it again and again, my hands shaking, my lungs screaming for air. Don’t black out. Don’t black out.
The flash came again, and the vine shifted, jerking away slightly from Rykr’s leg as though wounded.
Then—a shimmer in the dark. Another flash of light.
It wasn’t Solric.
It was a sea serpent.
A monstrous form, long as a full-sized ship, its glowing body pulsing with energy as it coiled through the water, its gaping maw parting to reveal rows of gleaming, jagged teeth.
Coming straight for us.
I raked the pin through the vine one last time, felt the sharp snap of it breaking beneath my fingers. Rykr’s body loosened instantly, free. I snatched him into my arms, kicking for the surface.
But the serpent moved faster.
The water around us shifted, a crushing current pulling me backward as the creature surged, its glowing eyes locked on us. I tightened my grip on Rykr, waiting for the exact moment—waiting for it to lunge.
The second its mouth snapped open, I struck.
I jammed the pin straight into the slit of its eye, twisting hard, a gush of blood clouding the water in front of me.
A horrific, high-pitched screech rattled through the water, vibrating through my bones. The serpent thrashed violently, its tail whipping around in a frenzy. Bubbles and current exploded around us, throwing us forward, straight toward the surface.
I kicked harder, my body screaming, Rykr heavy in my arms.
Air.
Behind us, the lifeless body of the serpent rose to the surface of the water, sending a monstrous ripple toward us.
That last cry of the serpent had shaken me in a way I didn’t fully understand. Like Haldron not only wanted to strip me of my life, but my humanity in the process—and I’d played into his hands.
But what choice did I have?
As soon as the water became shallower, I dug my feet into the mud, dragging him onto the bank. Ciaran and Amahle were already there, and they ran into the water, Tara following them, and together, we dragged Rykr’s heavy form out.
His head lolled to the side, and I laid him down, beating my fist against his chest. Desperate, I opened his mouth and set my lips against his. Under the water, he’d given me the very air from his body to keep me alive.
