Page 99 of Once the Skies Fade

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. Anglingmyself 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.

Chapter 44

Matthias

I’d nearly surrendered completely to the sweet lull, when it shifted into a panicked growl urging me to breathe. My world remained dark, but my face warmed as if I were lying in the grass back in Emeryn instead of drowning in a lake far from home.

My chest ached as air filled my lungs, expanding them as far as they would go before rushing out again.

“Breathe!” The growl echoed in my head, reminding me a bit of King Durand when he was angry. Or Connor, for that matter. My friend’s temper could rival his father’s, under the right circumstances.

More air rushed into my lungs, more refreshing than painful this time.

“Breathe.” The command came again, softer now, bordering on desperate even.

I must have been dead and imagining it. No one in a deadly tournament would go to the trouble of saving me; they weren’t all fools like me, trying to help my competition when I should be trying to win the damned thing and finish the mission.

Air came again and with it came the sound of water lapping against my ears and somewhere far off the calls of birds flyingoverhead. Then something hit me in the face, like the one time my sister had slapped my cheek for making a crude joke at her expense.

Water bubbled out between my lips, and my eyes flew open only to slam shut against the sudden brightness.

I received a couple more light taps on the cheek. “Wake up, general. It’s over.”

“What happened? What’s over?” I whispered, trying again to open my eyes and see who had saved me—assuming I was indeed still alive. Phillip’s face came into focus.

“You nearly died,” he said.

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