Chapter 22

For all his faults as a fighter, Morgan was a fast swimmer. He caught up to his clanmates in less than a minute, darting through the dark water with ease. They were all of them getting close to the ship, which loomed in the sea like an enormous whale, unmoving and bloated. Its oars wavered in the surf, sending out little susurrations that were familiar—the thing Morgan had felt in the water yesterday, that he’d thought was a giant squid! It had been this ship, far away but coming closer all the time. If only he’d pursued the sensation, if only he’d discovered them earlier …

Then Auban would probably be dead. It was a fate that didn’t bear thinking about, so he moved on.

Morgan tried to remember his lessons. How did one fight humans who were already on a ship? How did they get up there? Something about climbing, creating a chain to get onto the ship itself—oh, he could be the bottom of a chain, that was no problem, but—

Swish!Something heavy and sleek entered the water, coming so close to Morgan’s face that he felt the bubbles of its wake against his scales. He twisted to watch it go, but then more of the missiles began to strike—swish, swish, thunk! One of them, a harpoon Morgan could now see, went into the body of the Agnarra nearest him … one of Drenikel’s cronies, in fact. Morgan shrank in on himself as he watched this person he had no reason to like writhe in utter agony, blood spilling out into the water around them as he tied himself in a knot before his eyes glazed, and he began to sink.

Personal dislike seemed to count for very little all of a sudden. This was one of his people, and he had done nothing to these humans! Why were they—

A sharp nip on his tail turned him suddenly, and Morgan darted down and away just in time to avoid another barrage of harpoons from above. He followed the nipper—Garen, of course it was Garen—back out into the waters between the boat and the island. The strongest warriors were massing under the ship, readying themselves to make the climbing chain. Morgan recognized Brevaer in there. He ought to go and help his brother. He turned to swim back, but Garen nipped him again.

What?Morgan thought angrily, but then he saw Garen swim up so fast and hard that his body erupted from the water. He came down with a great splash moments later, and even over the cacophony of their fire weapons and harpoon launchers, Morgan could hear the humans begin to shout over sighting one of them.

Ah. He wants us to be a distraction.

That was honestly probably the best thing for Morgan to do. He could be a distraction; he would get all their eyes on him, dance through the waves and evade all their terrible missiles, and then his brother would board their ship and make them pay for their actions.

Morgan gathered himself and followed suit, propelling himself out of the water and through the air in a perfect arc. He was more visible in the darkness than Garen, whose midnight coloration was largely lost against the water, and he smiled grimly to himself as more of those long, thin harpoons began to fly at him specifically.

I can do this. He would keep his people safe no matter what.

He and Garen danced in the shallows, darting this way and that and raising their heads and bodies just enough to tempt the humans into watching them. Whenever the missiles slowed, one or both of them would make a big, showy leap to grab their attention again. He was grazed once across the tail, and Garen was hit twice, more seriously, but while they were still able to move, they would. Morgan sensed the chain of Agnarra growing up the side of the boat—they would be able to board soon. As long as they weren’t discovered …

New shouts sounded, and suddenly the attack stopped. A few seconds after that, the scent of the water changed, turning oily and foul. Morgan knew this smell. He knew what it meant.

They have to dive!

He could tell some of them were climbing fast, snarling and gnashing and finally making it over the edge of the ship, ready to wreak havoc—

And then the humans set the oil they’d thrown overboard on fire.

The Agnarra scattered from the pool of flames, screaming their fresh pain into the depths of the water. Morgan gave up on dancing and searched desperately for his brother among the wounded, but none of them was Brevaer. Of course, he’d gone on board—did that mean he was burning there right now?

Morgan lifted his head from the waves in an effort to look for his brother. He could see that there was a tumult going on aboard the ship, but he couldn’t make out any of the specifics. Where was Brevaer? Was he all right, did he need help, should Morgan—

Thunk!

It took a moment for Morgan to realize he’d just been shot. The second he did, he cried out and curled around the spot where the harpoon pierced his long abdomen. He had never hurt so badly in his entire life. His blood joined the blood of his people in the water, and in that moment, Morgan knew he was probably going to die from this.

They were all probably going to die.

Garen was beside him, tugging at him, trying to pull him back to land, but Morgan couldn’t help. He was losing all his energy so fast; the world was beginning to blur. All he could muster the focus for was reaching into the spot inside himself, deep within his heart, where his love for his mate resided. His human mate, his wounded mate, his beautiful mate.

I’m sorry,he thought to him and felt a stab of agony from Auban. I love you, I’m sorry. I don’t want to die.

I’ll miss you.

The agony grew more intense, morphing into a frenzied fury that physically pained Morgan. He was about to beg Auban to have pity on him when—

FOOM!

There was an eruption … but not on the ship. It came from the island. It didn’t feel like the thud of a fire weapon either; this was the crackle of pure heat exploding into being. More than that, though, the shape of Auban had suddenly changed in Morgan’s mind. He felt him more clearly than ever, like he was right there beside him … only he wasn’t, he was … flying?

How was that possible?

Morgan weakly swam toward the surface, and with Garen’s anxious help, he made it there, just in time to see a bright-red dragon, flames erupting from its mouth, pass by overhead. It roared a warning, and the Agnarra on board the ship threw themselves off just before the dragon soared down and razed the deck with its fire.

A second passed, full of fearful screams. Then another second, and another, and then—

The boat exploded.

The shockwave rolled through Garen and Morgan, stunning both of them. They began to sink, and Morgan felt his mate’s vengeful satisfaction turn to fear as he realized what had happened.

The last thing Morgan saw was the dark shadow of another Agnarra swimming toward him.