Chapter 19
“Run!” I scream.
Their wings beat, drumming the air and rattling the surface of the ocean.
My boots slip over the wood, but I lunge toward Julian—Kressa and Nicole busy watching the wyverns close in on us. The perfect distraction. I slide beside him, unhook the keyring, and before Kressa has a moment to register what I’ve done, I throw them at Thea.
She catches them between her palms and turns to Celia, unlocking her cuffs. Then Elayne’s, and finally, her own.
“Go into the captain’s quarters!” I scream at them.
Their eyes widen, and they share an uncertain glance. They’re my crew, after all. They’ll want to fight—want to stand by my side should we live or die. But as long as I know they aren’t in danger on the deck, I’ll be able to focus on taking down the wyvern.
Thea nods, taking each of their hands. In the next beat of my heart, they’ve disappeared.
Kressa fists my collar and jerks me to my feet. “I said—”
Leading the charge, the crimson wyvern shrieks, piercing my eardrums. Kressa winces and drops her hand.
“Just don’t—don’t take off your gloves,” she grits out. “I’ll protect you.”
My breathing stutters, and I step back from her. “I won’t need it.”
The group of wyverns splits in half, one banking to the port side, the other starboard.
Kressa twists to Nicole. “Do you have anything left?”
She swallows, the blood nearly drained from her face. There’s a heaviness to her shoulders—the invisible weight of burnout. “I can try.”
“Let me,” I say, shifting between them. “We’re in the middle of the ocean. If anyone can stop the wyverns, it’s me.”
“No,” Kressa barks, shoving me out of the way.
My lip curls. “You’re being unreasonable. I know I don’t have complete control over my power, but—”
“She said no, Briar,” Nicole says, rolling back her shoulders. “We don’t have time for this, and the last thing we need is to be worried about you. If you want to be helpful, take care of Julian.”
I clench my hands into fists, narrowing my eyes at her. Before I have a chance to say anything, Kressa shifts between us.
“I’ll take the port side,” she says to Nicole. “You get the starboard.”
Nicole nods, sparing a glance at me over Kressa’s shoulder. I bite into the flesh of my cheek until I taste blood, but there’s no time to do anything else. I turn my face to the sky. The wyvern have cleared the lowest bellies of the clouds, and all that awaits between them and the ocean, is us.
Julian groans, and I drop to my knees before him. “Can you walk?”
He winces, but nods. I weave my arm under his and hoist him to his feet. Supporting his weight, we stumble toward the captain’s quarters as Nicole and Kressa take their places across the deck from each other. My stomach twists as the wyvern plummet toward us.
The sips of air entering my lungs grow shallower with every step. The captain’s door inches open, and Thea’s face peers out.
Her gaze flicks up, eyes shooting wide. “Briar, hurry!”
I glance over my shoulder, where the two groups of wyverns twist over themselves, spearing straight for the ship. The crimson one lets out a deafening roar that the others return—so loud my legs threaten to buckle.
Thea throws herself out the door and wraps her arm around Julian’s other side. We share a wide-eyed glance, and the words between us go unsaid.
Even if Kressa and Nicole manage to hold them off, we aren’t walking off this ship alive. There are too many wyvern, and Nicole is on the brink of burnout. Kressa can’t do it alone.
A gust of air tosses my hair around my head, and shadows crest overhead—the beasts close enough for their wings to brush the masts.
“Now!” Kressa screams.
She throws out her hands, and a sheet of earth shoots from the water, slamming into a row of wyverns. A keening wail comes from them, and they fall into the ocean, their wings bent at unnatural angles.
My attention whips to Nicole, but she’s pale, her hands held in front of her.
Fire sputters from her, then snuffs out.
A chasm opens in my stomach, and I drop my hold from Julian.
Thea grunts, taking his weight as I whip around and tear the rhodium gloves off.
Heat floods my veins, and I sprint toward Nicole as the beating of wyvern wings whips her hair around.
She stumbles back a step, her balance unsteady, and I sprint past her.
“Briar, no!” she screams.
The wyverns open their jaws and shoot a wave of fire over the deck, flames licking toward the fabric of the sails. I toss up my hand, and a shield of water crests overhead, tossing the creatures into the water.
Kressa looks over her shoulder, and her lips part, eyes widening as she sees me. Another wyvern slams onto the deck and blasts a stream of fire toward her. My breath catches, but she jumps out of the way and pulls a blade from her waist.
The wyvern advances, cornering her as it raises its head. A deep crackling comes from its throat, and heat distorts the air as she lifts her dagger.
A wyvern scrambles over the railing and thrashes its tail, knocking the blade from her grip. It slides across the wooden planks and falls from the ship, plummeting into the water.
I lift my palm, calling my power to the surface, and throw a wave over the edge of the ship. It crashes into both wyvern, throttling them against the deck as if they were hit by a wall. Steam wafts into the air as the water drenches the flames brewing in their throats.
Kressa—hair plastered to her cheeks and neck, glares at me, her chest heaving.
I smirk. What was that about not having control?
“Go help Kressa,” I say to Nicole, wrapping my hand around a rope tethering the mast to the rail. I heave myself onto the narrow wooden beam, balancing on the rail, and another wave of wyvern crest closer.
I press my weight against the rope, gauging the distance I have until they’re close enough to attack. The taloned tips of their wings skim the water, and the ship bobs on the waves.
For Kressa and Nicole, this is an unfamiliar battle ground. But for me, this is home.
Inhaling a deep breath of salty sea air, I dive into my power. Heat bubbles under my skin, but folded inside the warmth is the sea—my power.
I grab hold of it and weave it through my fingertips, letting a puddle pool in my palm. A smile pulls at my lips, even as the crimson wyvern leading the charge lets out a roar that shakes the earth.
Don’t. Kressa’s voice breaks through, hoarse as she shoves a chunk of earth at a wyvern banking toward the stern.
But I push her voice away, letting my power build and billow—past the heat raging through my veins.
I watch one group of wyvern out of the corner of my eye as they fly toward the bow, while the second dip their heads, shooting close enough that I can count the individual scales peppering their bodies.
I lift my palm, and a wave lifts, higher and higher—chasing them. I clench my hand into a fist, and it crests, swallowing them into the depths.
The ship jerks, and I grip the rope, leaping onto the deck as the crimson wyvern lands at the bow. A handful of wyverns circle overhead, and Nicole brandishes a sword, watching Kressa’s back as she holds the line on the starboard side.
Others hover farther back, tucked into the clouds.
Even if she slows them down, there are too many.
We have to outrace them, I say through the bond.
Are you mad? Even if you manage to harness your power, they’ll catch us the moment you burn out.
The crimson wyvern cranes its neck, slitted eyes studying me. I shut the door on Kressa and step toward the creature, tilting my chin high. Serinos rules over them, and she’s the reason why so many people lost their homes and lives back in Ignata.
My teeth grind together, stoking the flames churning in my core. The water weaving through me bubbles—boiling—and steam wafts through my thoughts.
The wyvern drops its front talons to the wood, carving lines into the planks. It lowers its head until we’re eye level, and steam escapes from the corners of its mouth.
Its leathery wings blot out the sun.
My heart races, pulse sputtering as it slinks toward me. It walks on all fours, and it peels open its maw, a growl rumbling from the back of its throat.
It rears back its head and I throw out my hands, wielding the sea.
Nothing happens.
A ball of fire blasts toward me, and I roll out of the way as it crashes into the wood at my feet, singeing the deck. The wyvern lurches toward me and lets out a roar that hollows my stomach. I leap to my feet and sprint toward the helm, my heart slamming against my ribs.
Wood splinters behind me, and I spare a glance over my shoulder. A scream bursts from me.
Like a serpent, it weaves past crates, its barbed tail dragging across the deck as it gains on me.
I throw myself up the stairs of the helm and swing around the wooden post, the spoked wheel coming into view. Blowing out a deep breath, I harness my power and force it into my grasp—bending it under my will.
The roars of the wyvern dull to a hum in my ears, overcome by the racing of my pulse. My legs are weak, but I lean over the railing and shoot my palms toward the creature.
Fire spews out, scorching the wood before me—fanning out in all directions. A rogue blast shoots toward the wyvern and pierces a hole through its right wing. It shrieks, clambering back as embers eat at its leathery flesh. It throws itself into the ocean, and a splash follows in its wake.
My breathing grows ragged, and heat blurs the edges of my vision, flames pouring from my hands in waves. Across the deck, Kressa’s eyes widen, and the wyvern in front of her rears back on its hind legs, swiping out a claw.
I swallow a scream and close my hands into fists. Fire crawls up my arms, and flames shoot from each hand, tumbling across the deck.
They don’t stop.
My eyes widen, and I shake out my hands, letting go of the hold on my power, but it’s no use. A blast of fire tumbles toward the mast and blows a hole through the sail. I stumble back as another slams into the bow, knocking the head of the statue from the ship.
The wyvern in front of Kressa leaps into the air, and the blast meant for it slams into Kressa. My heart stops as she tumbles over the railing and falls into the sea.
“Briar!” Julian shouts from the doorway of the captain’s quarters.
My flames disappear—sucked from the air by his power.
But I hardly hear his call. Hoisting myself over the railing, I drop to the main deck. Ashes shoot up over my feet, and I sprint toward the starboard side.
“Kressa!” I scream, smoke blurring my vision.
A whistle fills the air, and the wyverns stiffen, their heads twisting toward something in the distance.
At once, they burst into the sky and disappear into the clouds.
The crimson one joins them, beating its wings twice as hard, lolling sideways.
It dips, and a blue one joins its side, supporting it.
I throw myself toward the rail and brace my hands on the wood, leaning over.
Kressa clings to the rope ladder, and as she lifts her head, a boulder shoots through the water and slices my cheekbone.
I press my fingertips to the cut, and blood drips into the water. She heaves herself over the side, the front of her shirt flame-eaten as her chest heaves.
She pushes herself to a seat. “We need to speak, now.”