Page 24 of War Mage

The manacles that we brought with us to make Adara look like a slave look like they are made of iron but are actually made of a silver alloy, which will allow her to still use her powers once she’s in front of Grazrath. They will also cover her mating bite. They are intrinsic to our plan.

“Gods! You are so frustrating!” Adara yells.

“Remember the Mage’s Tower,” I remind her, appealing to her desperation.

“I can’t free them if I’m on the bottom of the ocean!”

“You can’t free them if you don’t get to Barakrin and you won’t get there if we don’t leave now. Besides, we have your magic. It’ll be fine.”

“Argh!Fine! But I’ll curse you in front of the gods if we sink!” she growls, barely audible over the storm.

“I can live with that. Get in the boat.”

Adara grumbles something under her breath that I can't quite make out over the crashing swells, but she finally climbs in the dinghy.

“Go with Theesia’s grace and may Feri have mercy on you,” the captain shouts at me. “I’ll have my crew lower you down.”

I give a nod and climb into the boat. It has a set of oars and a removable sail tied to the bottom of the dinghy. Adara is inside, ducked down low, the manacles on her wrists.

“What are you doing?” I ask as the crew starts to lower us into the ocean.

“We’re about to be tossed around on the waves like a piece of driftwood!” she angrily shouts back at me. “Getting low is our only chance not to get thrown overboard!”

“I won’t let you be thrown overboard,” I promise, pulling out the oars, meaning the promise more than I should. The idea of Adara coming to harm is getting harder and harder to stomach the more days go by. My Mating Instinct is getting harder to ignore as well, as is keeping my feelings of longing and possession out of our mate bond.

“I would worry more about yourself than me! You’re going to get us both killed!”

Then our dinghy touches down on the water and we begin bobbing violently. Water crashes over the side of the boat and for a moment I worry. But, no, we’ll be alright. I will make sure that we are. This was always the plan.

“Make a shield with your flames,” I order Adara. “Keep as much water out as you can.”

Adara sends me a baleful look and I think for a moment she won’t comply, but then a large wave comes at us and the mage lifts up both hands, spraying out a cone of fire, dissipating the wave and sending cold steam into the air, making a thick mist around the dinghy.

“Perfect.” I approve. “Keep doing that and I’ll row us to shore.”

The mage gives me another mutinous look, but blocks another wave as I undo the ropes tying us to the ship. When we are loose, I start rowing. It’s not easy. I didn’t think it would be, but the water seems to have a mind of its own, tearing at the oars and trying to take them from my hands. But I manage to keep my grip, just imagining that they are the haft of my ax slick with blood in the midst of battle. I have never been disarmed before and with the Father God as my witness, it won’t happen now.

I fight the ocean, tossed this way and that, but I make headway, Adara stopping water from getting into our boat. The ship is long out of sight at this point and I can only hope they used the wind stone to control the air and push themselves out of this storm. Lightning crackles in the sky, but our sail is down, so I don't worry about lightning strikes like I would in a taller ship. My arms and shoulders ache with exertion, but I keep my head down and row.

“Urim!” I hear Adara shout, but I ignore her, continuing to pull water with the oars.

“URIM!” she screams.

“What?” I finally shout back.

“LOOK!” Adara points behind me.

I turn to see a monster wave coming at us, tall like a mountain. It breaks at the top, a sign that we are getting close to shore, but that’s no comfort now. The wave hurtles toward us, about to bury us in a watery grave.Fuck. Adara was right. I miscalculated. As an orc, I might be able to survive, having a larger capacity for air and greater strength to fight the water, but our dinghy and Adara will not be so lucky. I will have failed the mission, whether I survive or not.

And my mate will be dead.

“Hold on to me!” shouts Adara. I’m confused by her order, but the mage doesn’t give me time to question her. She grabs my arm in her chained hands and then falls backwards pulling me with her through a tear in space. Everything goes dark and cold as we enter the void, and I float in space, weightless and only anchored down by the mage’s grip.

“Don’t let go,” I hear her voice echo through the infinite space as if from far away, even though she’s right next to me. “If you do, I’ll lose you in here and you’ll be trapped forever.”

I reach out blindly with my hand, finding her arm and close my fist around her bicep, not strong enough that I would injure her, but tight enough that I won’t be letting go. I don’t trust her grip on me as much as I do my own.

“Which way is the shore?” Adara asks.

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