Page 22 of The Stone Initiation
“We’ll have to shift once we hit the surface,” Touron said to Sharniza.
“I know.”
Touron reached for me, but Sharniza beat him to it. “I’ve got her.”
I looked up at the female. “Don’t drop me on a rock, okay?”
She gave me a crooked grin. “If I thought you were serious competition I’d be tempted.”
“Um…thanks?”
She wrapped her hands around my torso. “Hold on until I tell you to let go.”
“Got it.”
My feet left the ground as she carried me to the edge. The wind howled and battered my frame, but she tucked me against her body, shielding me with her powerful bulk.
I glanced across at Touron, but his attention was on the waves below. “On the count of three,” he said. “One, tw—”
Sharniza dove, taking me with her.
My stomach dipped hard as we fell like a boulder, hurtling toward the water.
Fuuuuck
Her wings unfurled with a whoosh catching air and slowing our descent. “Now!”
I let go of her and forced my body into a dive formation as I fell toward the dark waters.
Cold spray hit me a moment before I crashed into the river. Ice engulfed me, shocking the breath from my body.
I sank like a stone, legs kicking, arms reaching desperately for air. By the time my head broke the surface, heat was racing through my veins, and my body was in protection mode.
The rush and crash of water was so loud it was impossible to focus on anything else but this mighty element. I defaulted to the front crawl, swimmingwiththe current not against it. It would take me a little longer to get across, but I’d save energy. Waves of ice water battered me, trying to break my momentum, trying to force me to fight back, but I succumbed to nature, riding each wave, and following the current.
The world above seemed far away, and a bubble of self-awareness formed around me. It was just me and the water. Just me and the other side of the ravine.
Long minutes passed, my limbs ached, the shield around me was failing. Needles of chill pricked my skin.
Come on.
Don’t fail me now.
The other side was so close and wait…there was someone there. A figure waited on the other side. Another one joined it a moment later.
Had Sharniza or Touron made it across already?
I went under briefly, coming up sputtering and choking. Shit. Something brushed my hip and a chill, unrelated to the icy temperature shot through me.
There was something in the water with me.
CHAPTER10
SERATH
“Look at them,” Orix says. “Eager. Hungry.”
“Are we talking about the gargoyles or the terror hawks?”
