Page 28 of Dragons' Bride
With horror, I realize what thepopwas. The great hundred foot mast has a crack in the middle, the top of it starting a slow motion descent. Several sailors have already fallen to the deck, which is slick with their blood.
Hauck appears out of nowhere, rushing toward the falling contraption. Magic pulses around him and the mast, the wood scarring over with tough fibrous vines before it can topple.
The seamen cheer. Captain Dane does not.
"It’s time, Your Highness,” he tells Tavias. “You must take to the skies.”
“The Phoenix has no chance if we do that,” Tavias shoots back.
“The Phoenix will sleep at sea tonight,” Dane’s voice is steady despite his harrowing words. “Whether it happens in a few minutes or a half hour is of no consequence. My duty is your life. So get off my ship, Prince, and take to the sky."
"We – "
"With due respect, we are out of options," Dane snaps, shouting the order at Tavias. "Here on this ship my command outranks yours, sir. And I'm ordering you to – "
I feel a tug of something inside me, at the place where the bond with the pack is anchored. I twist toward it, my breath catching. "Quinton!" I shout, my fingers digging into Tavias's forearms as I watch Quinton who is sprinting across the deck. He reaches the edge and, without hesitation, dives into the roaring seas. The piranha’s sharp teeth flash in my memory.
"What is he doing?" Dane demands.
"Giving you that option that doesn't exist," Tavias says grimly.
15. TAVIAS
Tavias had never felt so useless as he did now, watching Quinton’s lithe body fighting the raging waves as he swam away from the Phoenix. With each stroke Quinton took, he seemed smaller, more fragile against the vast ocean. Cyril was at the rail now, his hands holding on with a white-knuckled grip. The blue green glow pulsing from him came in desperate pants as he tried to keep both the Phoenix and Quinton alive. But no amount of Cyril’s magic would help against the nightmares in those waters.
And nothing Tavias could do with his fire would help at all.
Kit pressed her head back against Tavias’s chest, the touch anchoring him back. He turned to the captain. “Quinton will not shift until he is safely away from the Phoenix. Can you move the ship to help?”
“Aye.” Dane nodded at once, calling out orders to the crew. The captain reminded Tavias of Cyril, who was cool reason against Tavias’s hot temper. The one who truly deserved to one day sit on the Massa’eve throne, by both birth and skill.
“Where is the shadow serpent?” Kit asked, drawing Tavias back once again. He wondered whether the small human had any idea of the kind of power she had over them. Whether she knew that it was for her that Quinton had thrown himself into the water.
Tavias pointed toward the telltale signs of the wicked spikes cresting the water. After the non-stop assault against the frigate, the sudden reprieve they were now enjoying was ominous. Too likely, it had something to do with Quinton offering himself as tribute.
“There is a whole school of piranha there, too,” Kit whispered. “I saw them through the window below decks.”
Tavias’s jaw tightened. In the distance, the serpent dove underwater. If it or the piranhas Kit saw reached Quinton before he shifted, there would be no chance of survival.
Shift,Tavias ordered with his mind.Shift now.
Quinton twisted his head back, as if gauging the distance to the Phoenix. Dane was trying to get the frigate moving, but there was too much damage to do so quickly.
Ignoring Tavias’s order, Quinton turned and swam farther out. The water around Quinton was swelling now, a wave building up strength. Nothing was natural in Faewave Rift. Not on the sea or in the sky.
Shift,Tavias shouted with his mind again, yanking on the pack’s bond to try to force Quinton into obedience.
At the rail, Cyril cursed, his shoulders sagging as he lost the battle with the swell. The wave gathering around Quinton crashed atop his body, shoving him below.
A choking sound came from Kit as Quinton disappeared from view. As the water where he’d been just moments ago suddenly went deathly still.
“No!” With a shout, Kit pulled out of Tavias’s hold and rushed to the rail, calling Quinton’s name. There was no way he could hear her and yet…
Tavias jerked back as the stilled water erupted in a spray of silver light. Quinton's dragon burst forth, his majestic wings unfurling against the sky. His scales shimmered like liquid moonlight – which made the creature in the water that much starker in its hideous darkness.
In Quinton’s wake, a sickly black tendril broke the surface, followed by another, and another, twisting and writhing in a nauseating dance. The serpent's body was a slick, muscular mass of ebony scales. Venomous spikes glistened from the serpent’s spine as it snapped its jaws angrily.
Quinton pulled his tail away just in time to avoid the razor sharp teeth.
