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I rolled my eyes, then left the two of them and followed Linos out of the village and toward the shoreline. The dragons had set up a dock along one of the beaches, where a large, sturdy wooden boat bobbed in the water, waiting for us.
“I’m surprised you’re using fishing rods,” I said as we loaded our supplies into the boat. “Can’t you just fly over the ocean and catch fish like the sea birds?” I gestured to a large, grey and white bird with an enormous, bucket-like beak as I spoke. I’d been watching the strange creatures all week, flying over the waves and dipping into the water with their open bills to scoop up prey.
Limos gave me a wry grin. “If I were the size of that bird, it might be effective,” he said, “but the shadows we dragons cast are too big. The fish see us coming and they scatter before we can get close enough to grab them. Also, our mouths might be bigger, but we have way too many gaps. Even if we caught a fish, they’d slip right out.”
“Huh.” I took Limos’s hand, allowing him to help me into the boat. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Dragons aren’t meant to be fishers.”
“No,” he agreed with a laugh. “But there’s not too much else to eat on this island, so we’ve had to make do.”
Picking up the oars, Limos rowed us away from the shoreline, heading for the open ocean. As we moved farther and farther away from the beach, I privately wished I’d completed the ritual and unlocked the rest of my powers. If Cascada were here, she’d probably scorn me for my inability to use my water magic to move the boat or control the current in other ways. I was certain water fae didn’t use fishing rods. They probably dove into the water and caught them with their bare hands, manipulating the currents to bring the fish right to them.
But then again, if I’d completed the ritual, I wouldn’t be on this boat right now.
“All right, this is far enough.” Limos stopped rowing. “Can you drop the anchor?”
“Sure.”
I grabbed the heavy metal object attached to the boat by a chain, and heaved it overboard while Limos prepared the fishing line. He reached into the basket and withdrew a bait fish, then attached it to the hook and lowered it into the ocean.
An hour passed with very little activity aside from the sea birds calling to each other over the spray of the ocean. A cool breeze caressed my skin, taking the edge off the sun blazing overhead, and I had to struggle against the urge to drift off.
I was about to pinch myself for the third time when there was a giant tug on the line, and the boat rocked forward.
“Help me!” Linos cried, seizing the rod. I grabbed hold of it as well, struggling to keep it from flying overboard. But whatever creature had latched onto the other end meant business, tugging ferociously on the other end and forcing us to retreat to the other side of the boat to keep from capsizing.
“We’ve got to cut the line!” Linos said, his tone pitched high with panic. “Or else we’ll go overboard!”
He let go of the rod with one hand to draw a knife from his belt sheath. But just as he was about to cut it, the boat pitched forward, and the blade went spinning into the ocean.
“Hang on tight!” I shouted as Linos spewed curses from his mouth. “I’ll get it!”
Before Linos could protest, I leaped overboard. Linos yelled something, but his words died away as the ocean current rushed around me, muffling the world lurking just above the surface of the waves. This time, my gills opened on either side of my neck without effort, allowing me to breathe. I propelled myself deeper, following the fishing line to see what was caught on the other end.
To my horror, I found a large, orca-like creature tethered to the line, the hook sunk deep into its mouth. Her calves swam around her, crooning anxiously, but they were too young to figure out how to free their mother, and the orca herself seemed unable to bite the line off herself, the hook caught at an odd angle.
Knowing I would never be able to find the knife before she capsized the boat, I seized the line and drew on my ice magic. The line hardened, and I grabbed it with both hands and snapped it in half, severing the connection.
The orca, suddenly freed, flew backwards several feet through the water before she righted herself. I watched as she shook her head, trying to get her bearings while her calves bumped her with their snouts, their fins wiggling with joy.
When the orca didn’t make an immediate move to leave, I cautiously swam toward her, keeping my movements slow and deliberate. She stilled as she saw me coming, and I stopped a few feet away, then pointed to the piece of fishing line still hanging from her mouth.
For a few seconds, I thought she didn’t comprehend what I was trying to say. But then she turned to her calves and made a cooing sound, motioning with one of her fins. The babies retreated behind her, and she turned back to me, opening her mouth and waiting.
A wave of nervous energy prickled across my skin as I approached. Placing one hand atop her head in reassurance, I slowly reached inside her mouth with the other and tried to pretend I wasn’t sticking my hand in between two rows of long, dagger-like teeth that could snap my arm in two. I grasped the fishing line and slid my fingers along it until I located the hook, which was jammed into the roof of her mouth.
“I’m very sorry about this,” I mouthed to her, then yanked it out in one swift motion.
The orca flinched, her mouth snapping shut a millisecond after I’d cleared her mouth. Clouds of blood filled the surrounding water, and the calves darted forward, circling frantically around their mother. I backed a safe distance away, in case her maternal instincts kicked in, but after a moment, she calmed, nuzzling the calves to reassure them.
The mother lifted her head to meet my gaze, and I could have sworn she nodded at me. Then she turned and swam away, her babies following at her sides.
Bubbles clouded the air in front of me as I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Heart racing from the thrill of that encounter, I stared after the creatures, watching as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance until I remembered Linos was still waiting for me on the boat, probably worrying himself to death.
Angling my body toward the ocean floor, I propelled myself downward, searching for the dagger. I found it lodged in a large piece of orange coral, and yanked it free, careful not to touch it in case the aquatic plant was poisonous.
I was halfway back to the surface again when I sensed movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning toward it, my heart leaped in my throat at the sight of a long, wicked looking fish with silver scales hurtling toward me through the water. It had glowing yellow eyes and a diamond-shaped head, and fear shot through me as it opened its mouth to reveal several rows of serrated teeth.
I dodged to the left as it attempted to take a chunk out of my arm, then drove the dagger clutched in my fist into its side. Blood spewed into the water, clouding the air between us as the fish thrashed, and I hissed as one of its sharp fins scraped against my forearm, cutting it open. Rage overtook me, and I struck blindly, landing another lucky hit. The fish stopped moving, and as it sank, dragging me down with it, the blood cleared away to reveal that I’d stabbed it right through its vicious yellow eye.
