While Fia paddled fiercely with her heart brimming with hope, Viliant trailed after her more slowly. This isn't going to work, Fia, he warned. The black dragonet clenched his fangs. Viliant should have done more to guide her on a viable path. Because he let a naive, baby dragonette enact a plan from a foolish, human girl, they were going to die in the middle of the ocean.
Food, he grumbled to himself. Water. Rest. Their surroundings supplied none of their needs. If they did not tire and drown first, then the dragonets would succumb to thirst. The briney spray from Fia's kicks dappled Viliant's face. When he flicked his tongue out, he could both smell and taste the salt. Viliant did not belabor his imminent concerns to Fia, not wanting to compound their problems with her tears. The dragonets had nothing left to do but swim until they perished. They needed to make it to shore. Against his expectations, Viliant hoped that Fia really could distinguish the sulfuric aroma of her island on the breeze.
Oblivious to his dour mood, the pink dragonette kicked all four legs giddily. You're gonna live with me and my mama and papa…. We're going to pick flowers and crack coconuts with our claws! Fia's thoughts revolved around everything that she wanted to do with Viliant once they made it to Carlinoa Island. As the sun sank lower against the horizon, so too did her wingtips sag deeper into the water.
Fia and Viliant kept swimming until the waves shimmered orange with the sunset. The sky descended into rich hues of red and purple until the sunlight faded away. Once nighttime fell, the waves lulled as though the ocean bid the dragonets a good night. The time had come to test their ability to float and sleep simultaneously.
To keep from drifting apart, Fia bumped her right side against Viliant's left side. She interlocked her claws with his. Although they each tucked a wing closest to the other's body, Fia and Viliant each used their exterior wing to stabilize them atop the water. The pink dragonette tipped back her head and yawned so big that her eyes closed. When she opened them, the twinkle of stars across the moonless sky filled her eyes. Wait. Is that… a coconut? Fia spotted the circular formation of stars with the three, brightest pinpoints in the middle. And there's the dragonfly! Fia traced the stardust wings of the familiar constellation with excited eyes.
Though she had finished her yawn, her chin hung open. The ship had carried Fia and Viliant far enough south that she could recognize the stars again. You're going to like Carlinoa Island. I promise. Fia nuzzled her cheek against Viliant's neck.
The dragonets rested their heads on top of each other's shoulders. Fia's elevated temperature from her fire magic kept Viliant warm in the chilly, dark water. As the water sloshed against his scales, his heart thrummed with anxiety. We're so close, he thought. A real home…. And yet, Viliant dreaded that he would never live to see Carlinoa Island with Fia. His eyes blinked more rapidly, stunned that he had fallen back into his old habit of despair.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
No matter what, Viliant always survived. His fangs gritted hard enough to prick a taste of his own blood from his gums. Although it still seemed too soon to regard Carlinoa Island as his new home with Fia's family, Viliant would not let anything take that chance away from him. For tonight, the dragonets could trade shifts—one staying awake enough to stay afloat while the other slept. Come morning, Viliant planned to steal an albatross out of the sky like he had done to a vulture in the badlands. Its meat would serve as food and its blood as their drink. Viliant's tail curled into a slight smile as Fia drifted off to sleep first. The worries of his mind quieted as he kept the first watch, adopting a semblance of his best friend's confidence.
***
Dawnbreak arrived with the ceaseless swish of the waves. Not a single cry of a gull broke out. When Viliant realized that he had no flying targets to hunt, he said, We must be far away from land. His attention drifted downward to where the dragonets could still find food. The gradually encroaching sunlight had not chased the shadows too deep into the water yet. Viliant leveraged the darkness to locate a school of fish which circled below. His magic lifted the shadows upward, pressing his intended prey closer to his outstretched claws as he dove down. The majority of the fish rolled belly up as the shadows pulsed through their silver scales. Viliant gained a great sense of satisfaction when he speared the biggest survivor on his claws.
When Viliant came back up, he prickled his back spines and splattered the water off of him. The black dragonet held out the fish to Fia while smaller members of its species drifted up to the surface. This is for you, Viliant said. Instead of looking at Fia, he adjusted his wings atop the water and watched the dead fish bob all around them.
Fia accepted the fish and chomped its side. Thanks, Viliant, Fia thought, her mouth too stuffed to reply aloud. Isn't this a little much, though? the pink dragonette asked, glancing at the sheer number of dead fish which they could not eat.
Maybe for you. It's never enough for me. Viliant drifted through the water from fish to fish. He snapped them up, then gobbled them down one by one.
Some of the floating fish disappeared beneath the water before he could get to them. Large bubbles were left in their wake. Fia tossed her head from side to side, wondering where the fish went. To their right, a ribbed fin from a sizable fish slunk out of the water and dove back under.
"Ah!" Fia shrieked out of fright. "Sea monster!" Viliant's superfluous fishing had allured a massive creature of the deep to come closer to the surface. Its shadow—equal to the size of a full-grown dragon—twisted in a fast rotation around the dragonets. A pair of sharp fins jutted from its slender body like wings. The sea serpent looped around until Fia and Viliant as it squared off against them.
Fia slapped her frantic wings and frenzied foreclaws against the water, trying to back up. Her tail thwacked against Viliant who contorted himself in the water. Though he had limited experience in an aquatic environment, he braced himself to fight. Leave the fish and swim away! Fia urged him. Hopefully the food would distract the sea monster and serve as a peace offering. She did not want to test her fire power against the serpent which might possess water magic.