Page 48 of Unbound

I release the spell, and even from twenty feet up, I can see the relief and confusion in Malakai's face.

I wince, eyes closed because I don't want to see the beast eat him. I wait three heartbeats, then I can't keep them closed anymore. I open my eyes and scream.

Two blue eyes, each the size of dinner plates, hover directly in front of me. White steam curls from reptilian nostrils and rows of teeth like blue crystals are slowly revealed as it opens a mouth large enough to swallow me whole.

Behind the dragon-like head, its serpentine body drifts back, so long that the finned tail is shrouded in shadow. Dread creeps into my bones as I see dark wings spreading slowly in the waters. The sheer size of the monster settles on me, making the blood drain from my head until I think I might pass out.

It’s huge.

Ancient.

Fucking impossible.

To lose consciousness would be a mercy. There's no surviving this thing.

It has to be an elemental, but something so huge and powerful defies all explanation.

It twists suddenly, curling in on itself as Malakai stabs it from below. A small burst of blue blood drifts from the wound as it turns to look at its attacker. With a movement I can only describe as dismissive, it slaps its tail through the water, slamming into Malakai so hard his air bubbles explode again and his body goes limp to float in the water.

It turns its attention back to me.

I can't say what the hell I'm thinking, but I know there's no point in attacking it. And it's close enough to touch, so I reach a hand out and place it on the beast's snout, even as my lungs burn for air.

As soon as I touch it, I feel a rush of power, but it's nothing like when I touched Raith or Bastian or anyone else. This power feels… dirty. Messy. Chaotic.

It surges into me almost greedily, filling me like a waterskin until the pressure seems like it might burst me from the inside.

My body becomes a lightning rod in a storm, every nerve ending screaming as the raw, untamed energy floods through me. I think I scream, but I lose all sense of time as the energy floods me. The only thing I remember is a faint, ethereal voice and the sensation of being lifted.

"Thank you, unbound. If you see me during Confluence Day, you must run. I can't keep it from hurting you. So run."

I blink several times, frown in confusion, and then wonder why I'm not dead. I can sense that time has passed. Seconds or minutes, I’m not sure. But I must have lost consciousness.

I cough, spitting up water and wincing at the memory of my shoulder. I was stabbed.

I sit up, and shout in fear.

Malakai is lying beside me on a rectangle of magical water. The rectangle is keeping us above the water and slowly drifting toward shore, where I see students climbing from the water with glowing echoes in hand. I spot some other affinities and first-years waiting on the shore as well.

I touch the place where Malakai stabbed me and feel only smooth skin. When I look at my bare shoulder, I see a magical blue mark like a scar, but oddly beautiful.

What the hell happened?

I try to remember. I saw Malakai's allies being eaten. I let Malakai go so he would have some chance of escape, but then the creature was right in front of me. And then… it spoke to me.

So it was an elemental, then. But gods. It must have been a truly ancient elemental to take a form so large and powerful. And it must have healed me and put us on this water platform.

It… saved us? But why would it save us and then warn me to run if I saw it on Confluence Day?

Malakai coughs and sits up, his muscular body already showing hints of an ugly purple bruise forming from his armpit to his hip. He sees me and his eyes harden.

I hold my palms up, then realize I'm still holding an echo.

His eyes fall to it, too. He doesn't have an echo.

"I could have let you die back there," I say, scooting back on the platform and reaching for water essence. But I find I’m completely exhausted. The power slips through my fingers like sand.

Malakai's features harden. "You should have let me die."

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