Page 100 of Fearless

Paedyn’s gasp is quickly covered by her shaking hands when the man is tossed into the ocean with a flick of the beast’s tail. I don’t waste another moment before ripping open the door beside her. “In. Please!” I shout the word into the night, willing her to hear the desperate plea within it.

“I can’t leave you!” she yells back, bending to pick up a forgotten spear. “I won’t!”

I’m about to argue further when the ground is suddenly stolen from beneath my feet. I hear Paedyn scream when my body hits the deck. Then again when the bony tail connects with my spine.

Pain explodes down my body.

I’m suddenly being dragged across the wood, wrapped in slimy scales as my trailing body knocks sailors from their feet. Panting, I bite my tongue against the pain and slip a dagger from my boot. Grabbing hold of the massive tail hugging my leg, I plunge my blade into one of the beast’s many scars.

A screech tears from its throat before the tail lifts sharply, me in tow. I cling to it, fingers slipping on the slick scales. Then I’m yelling as it flings me into the open air.

The starry sky blurs around me.

I’m falling.

Paedyn screams my name.

Falling.

The churning sea suddenly appears beneath me.

Falling. Falling. Fa—

Desperately, I claw at a nearby Tele’s power, urging it into my palms and bending it to my mind’s will.

My stomach drops as I plummet toward the water.

Throwing a strand of power toward one of the many ropes wrapped around the mast, I summon it to me. Obeying, it shoots toward my outstretched arm.

Paedyn’s silver hair glints over the ship’s railing. And that is the last I see before my body collides with the sea.

Biting water swallows me whole, numbing every limb with its frigid fangs. I tumble in the sea, mind sluggish. Salt bombards my senses, filling my mouth and nose. I kick furiously toward what I hope is the surface, though I can see nothing but darkness.

My lungs burn.

I fumble for the Tele’s power, reach for that rope.

I’m dizzy, floating in a dark abyss.

I strain for salvation. Beg for life. Beg to live it with her.

The rope plunges into the water.

I grab hold of it, pulling my body upward with weak arms. Moonlight streams above, beckoning me. And when my head breaks through the surface, I’m spewing water.

I cling to the wet rope, choking down air before lifting myself from the sea. A hysterical sigh of relief sounds from above me, and I look up through sea-soaked hair to find Paedyn leaning over the railing above, tears streaming down her cheeks.

For her, I pull myself up that rope. My arms burn, as do my lungs, but I push the pain aside. With raw palms, I set my feet against the ship’s belly and scale it.

By the time my arms hook over the railing, Paedyn is practically pulling me over the edge. I let her, unable to muster the strength. My arms are draped over her shoulders, and she grunts beneath my weight.

Pain shoots down my body with every tug. And when my boots hit the deck, I crumple to my knees. Paedyn’s body eases my fall, her arms wrapped tightly around me even after we hit the deck.

We stare at each other for a long moment, content to ignore the beast raging behind us. I fear it would take much more than that to pull my gaze from her.

With a choked sob, she presses her face into my neck, wiping tears across my skin. “I thought I lost you,” she whispers, half laughing.

I lift a numb hand to her soaking hair, running fingers I can’t feel through it. With chattering teeth, I manage, “You c-can’t get rid of me that easily, Gray.”

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