Page 314 of House Ignis

5...

Asher pulled back just enough to press his forehead against mine, his breath coming in jagged hitches. "You were magnificent, my flame," he rasped, his thumb smeared a streak of dark wolf blood across my cheekbone.

4...

The air around us began to hum, the familiar, nauseating pressure of transport magic starting to warp the edges of the Fire Realm.

3...

"Hold on to me," he commanded, his grip tightening until we were a single silhouette against the red horizon. "Don't let go, darling."

2...

"Never," I whispered, digging my fingers into his shoulders, bracing for the inevitable pull.

1.

"Let's go, darling," he murmured.

The world shattered. The heat of the volcanic plains vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by the violent, bone-deep ache of the warp.

I held on tight, my eyes squeezed shut, as we were dragged through the void toward the next trial.

•••

The transition was a violent, bone-deep shock. The scorching sulfur of the Fire Realm was ripped away, replaced instantly by a humid, salt-heavy gale that stole the breath from my lungs.

Impact.

My boots hit soft, shifting sand. I stumbled, my arms windmilling as I fought for balance.

We weren’t on a volcanic wasteland anymore; we were standing on a tiny, tropical spit of land—a miniature island of white sand and leaning coconut trees, surrounded by a churning, midnight-blue sea.

All around us, similar island clusters dotted the water like emeralds dropped onto a sapphire sheet.

Above, the sky was a bruised purple, lightning arching through clouds that looked heavy with blood. The Ocean Passage.

"Aether!" I screamed, but the roar of a crashing wave swallowed my voice.

A massive swell hit our little shore, the water surging up to our knees. Aether, whose onyx fur was still singed from the fire wolves, scrambled for purchase on the wet sand.

But the tide was too strong. With a panicked yelp, my protector was swept off his feet and plummeted into the freezing, dark surf.

"No!" I lunged for the water's edge, but a hand caught the back of my jacket, yanking me back just as another wave detonated against a nearby palm tree, snapping it like a toothpick.

"Look!" Asher roared over the storm.

Zya was already a blur of midnight shadow. She didn't hesitate, diving into the white foam after her partner.

For a heart-stopping second, both panthers vanished beneath the waves. Then, Zya breached the surface, her jaws clamped firmly onto Aether’s scruff. With a strength that defied her size, she swam through the riptide, dragging his shivering, sodden bulk back toward our small beach.

“Stop thrashing, you overgrown hearth-rug,” Zya’s voice hissed through the bond, sharp and commanding even over the roar of the ocean. “The water won’t kill you, but your panic might.”

She hauled him forward until his paws finally found purchase on the gritty sand.

Aether coughed, spitting out a mouthful of brine, his golden eyes wide and blown with a rare flash of vulnerability.

“I had it under control,” Aether growled back, though his legs were shaking.