Page 255 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Tauria faltered for moment, but it was enough for a strong current to rush in, building to their knees. They were rapidly running out of time.

“I’m scared, Nik,” he overhead Tauria say.

Tarly refused to give up. After all the shit they’d been through, this couldn’t be how they all died.

The force of water was winning against Tauria’s reserves of wind magick. The ice climbed to his chest. Nerida was on the tips of her toes, her chin pointing to the roof as she took terrified, calculated breaths.

Tarly growled, searching the unforgiving, merciless walls more frantically.

His hand sliced against a sharp piece of stone, and he hissed, pulling away, but he became distracted by the color of his blood that changed from crimson to silver.

Even more perplexing was when the trace of his bloodmoved.

He followed the snaking line as it traveled across the wall before dipping under the water that had reached his shoulders now. Tarly took a deep breath, diving under, needing to ignore the shouts of his name.

The silver line drew an arch, and Tarly swam for it, pushing as hard as he could, but all it needed was more blood from his cut palm and the small stone doordisappeared,suctioning the water down a passage that was just big enough for them to swim through.

He pushed up for air, finding the water had risen too far for Tauria to keep using her magick, and their heads had to angle against the roof for the last fraction of air.

“There’s a passage just big enough to swim through. I don’t know if it’ll lead us out, but either way, we’ll drown if we stay,” Tarly rushed out, making it over to Nerida and pulling her toward it.

“There was no passage,” she said, terrified.

“There is now—trust me. I’m right behind you.”

He stared into her hazel eyes rimmed red with tears. He loved her. With all his heart, he loved her until the end of the stars.

Tarly had to kiss her. Desperate and short.

“Deep breath for me,” he said calmly.

Nerida sucked in deeply then dove under, and he followed in the same beat.

Squeezing into a passage of the unknown, with his last breath held in his lungs, invoked an acute terror the likes of which he’d never felt before. Swimming was also difficult with one arm, but his will to survive almost kept pace with Nerida, who pushed through brilliantly. The suction helped pull them, and Tarly couldn’t be sure if it was his desperation or real that the current had gotten stronger, drawing them through the passage faster and faster, until…

Tarly flailed when his body was projected hard, fast, and without method to catch himself. As if the tunnel had spat them out. He plunged back into water, and instinct had him franticly kicking for the surface.

His lungs burned with the first breath he drew too fast and sharp. He choked, becoming weaker, but he had to make it. Hepromisedto live for her.

He bobbed back underwater a couple of times, catching a steadier breath each time, until he managed to tread on the surface.

“Nerida!” he called, searching desperately.

“Tarly!” Her echo back to him was the greatest blessing. When he spied her silver hair, they swam to meet each other, and Nerida clamped around him when they did. Their heartbeats slammed against each other.

“I knew how special you are before anyone else saw it,” she said quietly to him.

Tarly’s chest could burst with how much that meant to him.

He saw flickers of movement across the lower waterfall they’d been thrown through, and by the Gods, was he overjoyed to see Nik and Tauria had made it.

They all began swimming for shore, which became an immense test of his strength with the distance. He wasn’t the only one, as when they reached it, they all crawled over the rocky bank, breathless and utterly spent.

The silence that hung while they caught enough breath became dark and desolate.

“We need to dress your wound,” Tarly said, assessing where Edith had stabbed Nerida’s shoulder.

Nerida sat so still as he peeled back the material at her shoulder. She stared vacantly into the lake with her head bowed, the strands of her white hair turned gray and dripping into her lap.

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