Page 144 of A Forgery of Fate

I punched him.

Turds of Tamra, I was aiming for his remaining eye but hit the missing one instead. The dragon scales around it were steel tough, and I withdrew my fist, biting back a cry of pain.

I might as well have punched a mountain. Not a muscle on the Dragon King’s face moved; he didn’t even blink in surprise. Yet as I cradled my fist, blood humming with dread, his human face shimmered for the briefest instant, revealing the dragon beneath. Then it was gone.

“I admire your viciousness, Bride of the Westerly Seas,” he said with a sardonic clap. “Your talents are wasted on a human.”

“Turn me into one of your monsters, then. You’ll see how vicious I can be.”

“In your next life, perhaps.” He closed his fan with a snap, lightning brewing in his eye. “This one ends tonight.”

I pivoted, my heart cannoning in my ears as I ran for the rails. I clenched the crystal beam, looking down. It’d be madness to jump. The water was dark, impenetrable. It was impossible to confirm any presence, friendly or not, beneath the surface. Yet I felt something.Someone.

Nazayun fired, a flare of sizzling white light.

To the Hells with it all. I swigged my sangi and threw myself overboard, entrusting my fate to the sea.

Chapter Forty-Three

Of course there were sharks.

I could barely see them—couldn’t even see my own arms flailing against the waves—but I could feel the vibrations they made, tiny currents pulsing against my skin in sharp zings.

Even dosed with sangi, trying to outswim a school of sharks was a fool’s errand. Ironically, the darkness helped. I wasn’t keen on knowing how many sharks pursued me, or how close they were to gnashing my flesh into bloody ribbons.

As fast as I could, I kicked toward the stripe of sunlight glittering at the surface. The light seeping into the bay was faint, fading, as the sun sank lower.

The sharks circled closer. Light fanned over their mirrored eyes and white mouths, and my stomach churned with fear. They looked very hungry.

“Help!” I cried. “Someone, help!”

In the terror of the ensuing silence, the sharks charged.

Their maws were wide and gaping, coming toward me. I could count three rows of pointed teeth and glimpse thefleshy tunnel of a gullet. Punching would do me no good, but still I curled my fists, ready to fight to the end. Suddenly there came a cold and slippery lash against my ankle.

With a yank, my world went spinning. Next I knew, I landed on a hard tortoise shell.

“You have a harrowing sense of timing, General,” I rasped, catching my breath.

“It could not be helped, Lady Saigas,” Caisan replied, wrapping his kelp whip back around his spear. “Your Scroll appears to attract all manner of ruffians.”

The Scroll of Oblivion was tied in a careful knot around his neck. I took it from him, took one of the small knives strapped to his back too. I wasn’t going back to Nazayun without something sharp.

“Now hold on.”

He rocketed upward, nearly to the surface, when a sudden quake rattled the seas. The force of it pushed Caisan’s head back into his shell. He twisted to protect me from the brunt of the waves.

The sharks took advantage. They came rushing from all sides, intent on murder. Caisan shouted, “Jump, Lady Saigas!”

I let go of his back.

It was as though I’d been pulled into a rip tide. I flew back, caught in the waves dragging me down. The harder I kicked, the faster I sank. Down, down, away from the light.

I thought it was a shark at first, that vibration in the water. But it was warm, and familiar.

A faint yellow glow lit the water, and a dragon’s arms locked around my waist, gliding me out of the current. He had claws, curled with pointed tips, but they were tender with me and took care not to pierce my skin. I leaned against hischest and slid my fingers across cool, pebbled skin, making out the shapes of teardrops.

“Elang,” I whispered, twisting to face him. “You’re alive!”

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