Page 79 of Light and Shadow
“Well, that’s step one.” Harper eases down until she’s sitting on the slanted deck.
Below us, Dorian is on his feet with one leg braced against the rail now at a forty-five-degree angle. He smiles at his wife, and she lets go, then slides down the deck on her bottom. He catches her, and they climb over the rail together and splash into the water.
Nearly every elf is off the ship before I take Harper’s hand. “Together?”
She nods and we let go of the mast. If not for the half-burned rail at the end, it would be like a child’s slide. I grip the edge with my boots against the rail.
Harper tumbles over the edge ass-over-head and lands with a hard splash.
My heart stops and doesn’t beat again until she surfaces.
Sputtering to the surface, she laughs and grins up at me as she gains her feet. “I’m fine.” She wipes water from her eyes.
I join her in the hip-deep water.
Bert is the last to leave behind the ship that saved us and was nearly our doom. He lifts one of the Aracan boys and Nainsi takes another as the couple leads our group toward dry land.
Tal slips one hand into Harper’s and the other into mine. We walk together as if we were a family. Visions of my parents taking me for walks before Venora upturned our world flit through my memories.
This is what I’m fighting for. This is worth dying for. We cannot fail, or there will be no more parents to hold their children’s hands in Domhan.
“The witch queen.” Harper stops and lets go of Tal. Her hands glow rainbow colors. “Run.” She draws her sword and faces the darkening sea.
Tal runs toward the shore until an elf lifts her and runs, carrying her. As if of one mind, the former slaves all run to the beach.
Standing with Harper, I hold my sword ready. Jax and his soldiers turn back, as does Fancor. Seven against whatever horrors are churning up the deep. “Let’s back away. Try not to stir the water.
Harper grips her head. “She’s angry about the elves we took.”
Grabbing her around the waist, I pull her back with us as we slowly retreat. “Block your mind,mo chroi. Don’t let her in.” I send magic to her to help her close the door to her thoughts.
The shallow water roils. A terrible cackle rents the air. A black tentacle slithers toward us, and before I can get away, it wraps around Harper’s leg and pulls her out of my arms. Another tentacle springs out of the water and slams between me and Harper.
Jax slices his sword through the air, but the tentacle pulls back. He leaps on top of the one holding Harper and stabs through it and into the soft sand.
Another rises from the dark waters and smashes my ribs, throwing me backward, then presses me under the water.
Sword lost in the water, I grapple for the dagger in my boot.
The creature releases me, and black blood pours into the water.
Sputtering to the surface, I gasp for air and cough out the water burning my throat and lungs.
Sword raised, Fancor runs after the tentacle pulling Jax and Harper out to the darkening sea.
More tentacles attack the soldiers. I can’t tell if it’s one monster or five. The one that attacked me lies inert under the sea, its blood mingling with the water.
Getting to my feet, I chase after Harper. My vision narrows on her, and I’m fixed on getting close enough to haul her back.
Jax lifts his sword and plunges it into the beast again and again.
I run past Fancor as he slices another tentacle with his broadsword. What remains, smacks him and sends him flying ten feet in the air.
Calling on my magic, I leap forward and land within inches of Harper. I wrap my arms around her and dig my feet into the sand. Slowing our progress to the deep, but not stopping, I think about a rope. In my mind, in my soul, my magic responds, and the thick strands bite into the skin of my fingers. “Fancor!” I wrap one end around my forearm and cast the rest to the dwarf.
His eyes widen, recognizing what I’m doing. He wraps it around himself, and holds, digging his sturdy feet into the sand.
“Jax, get ready.”
