Take a deep breath.
Recover a little ...
I swim and swim andswim, getting pushed back with every wave, feeling like I’m making no progress. But then the ocean calms, and I’m cutting through with ease.
Realizing I’ve made it through the breakers, I stop and spin, wiping at my stinging eyes and battling for breath, shoulders burning and body numb from the cold.
Euphoria blooms when I see I’ve swum further than Ieverhave on my own—almost half-way to my Safety Line.
The current begins to pull me backward, and a thundering roar flays me with a blade of fear.
I whirl.
My mouth drops open, eyes going wide ...
“Fuck.”
I didn’t make it past the breakers at all.
Not even close.
I’m smack in the middle, being charged by a wave taller than the ancient trees in Vateshram Forest.
I arc my neck to see the peak peeling down like a mammoth sea monster eyeing me up for a killing strike ...
I’m going to die.
I’m drawing a breath that’ll likely be my last, when a powerful force of silky brawn and glinting scales surges through the face of the wave and wraps me in a firm embrace—one hand cradling my head and urging me into the crook of his neck.
My breath pushes out in the form of a whimper, and I wrap my legs around Kai’s trim hips.
A split-second later, the wave crashes down on us like a rockslide, and we’re ripped into by its frothing maw. Clinging to each other, we tumble over and over and over until I have no idea which way is up.
Which way is down.
We’re jerked and jerked, as if we’re caught in the hand of a violent fist testing how much our bones can yield withoutsnapping.
My head feels like it might pop, and my ears burst in an explosion of pain.
I fight the urge to open my mouth andscream—resist the temptation to draw an ill-fated breath. But then we’re surging forward, Kai’s powerful tail propelling us through the darkness and into the light.
Thud-ump.
Thud-ump.
Thud-ump.
My lungs burn, muscles bunching ...
We break the surface and I draw a gasping breath, reviving myself with big gulps of Kai’s scent. He bangs my back, forcing me to cough and splutter and heave against his chest until I’m certain I’m going to cough up a lung.
“Treasure?Are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” I rasp, and he cradles me closer, keeping us afloat with the gentle back and forth of his hips.
Glancing around, I realize we’re well past the breakers, though the surface is still choppy enough to splash. The wind out this far is biting cold, and I shiver, teeth chattering, mind still whirling from the wave’s twisting might.
I nuzzle Kai’s neck again, letting my spent body wilt. Partially because I want to leech off his warmth ...mainlybecause I’m worried what he’ll see if he looks at me.
