Alika stared into the ocean, her eyes wide as she tried to find her brother, expecting to see his body slowly dropping beneath the waves. Her talons tensed, trying to keep her from jumping in after him to her own watery grave.

Before she could leap in as well, Tarka’s striped snout poked up from the darkness, holding the tail of a silver haddock within his jaws. He looked up innocently at Alika while the unfortunate fish shook itself back and forth, trying to free itself from the dragon.

Snow walked over to the edge, rolling on her back and clutching her ribcage with her tails as she laughed.

“Tarka, get back in the boat right now!” Alika ordered, taking a few steps back from the edge of the boat. “It’s dangerous! What if you drowned, or froze?”

Tarka paddled with ease, the outline of his tail twisting back and forth under the waves. He cocked his head.

“There’s no need to fret, Alika,” Yarik chuckled. “Dragons are natural swimmers, and with all the blubber he’s put on him recently, I don’t think he’ll be freezing. I’ve met many packs who’ve made sea-fishing a way of life.”

Alika twisted her ears back. She watched Tarka, paddling almost effortlessly, and glanced over the edge again.

“It’s so far down though, and he’s so small,” she murmured. “What if he fell? We could never get him back."

“It’s no different than flying,” Yarik confidently replied. “In the Summerlands, cubs far younger than him fish on their own.”

Alika let out a small sigh. Yarik was probably right. As terrifying as the ocean was, there wasn’t anything to worry about.

The haddock stopped moving, and Tarka swallowed it down.

“You should try!” Tarka exclaimed to Alika. “They’re even better when you’ve caught them yourself.”

Alika slowly dipped a claw into the water. The ocean was all that was that was beneath them now. “I think I’m good.”

Tarka suddenly strutted out a wing, slapping Alika with a snoutful of seawater. “It’s not even that cold! See? C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

Water dripped from the unamused Alika’s now wet fur. “Tarka, there’s nothing but the boat out here. What if we get lost?”

Yarik spoke up. “Well, I’m sure that the ‘Great Demon Fox Snow’ could find a way to signal them!”

Snow got back on her paws and glared at Yarik, her tails looming over her back almost threateningly. “Never call me that again.”

Yarik shook his head and chuckled. In Alika’s moment of distraction, Tarka suddenly lifted his forepaws out of the water, grabbing the end of Alika’s forelegs and knocking them off the side of the boat. Alika squealed as Tarka tried to pull her into the depths, digging her hindclaws into the wooden hull, half bent over the side.

“Tarka, let go!” she squealed, barely able to avoid getting dragged under. “This isn’t funny! There could be monsters down there!”

“Hey, better you get over your fear now than if the boat capsizes,” Snow commented. She strutted behind Alika, with a smug look on her snout. “Sorry for this.”

“What?” Alika asked before Snow nipped at one of her hindpaws. In her surprise, she lifted it up, knocking her off balance. Her other hindpaw came loose, and she fell over the edge with a huge splash.

As the cold water consumed her, Alika shut her eyes tight, holding in her wings as she tried not to breathe. Her heart raced as she felt herself momentarily chilled, but the outward heat from her chest kept her warm. She sunk down, water invading her ears and trying to lift up her wings, as if she were weightless.

Alika’s tail curled around herself as she tried to make herself smaller, her heart pounding. She was too terrified to open her eyes. What was beneath her? How far had she sunk? Could she ever get back up? How much longer before she drowned?

As she realized that nothing terrible had happened to her, the wave of terror passed, turning to fury. How could Tarka and Snow do this to her?

Alika opened her eyes, and her transparent third eyelid closed on instinct, keeping out the seawater. She started to paddle upward, already thinking of how she could scold Tarka and Snow when she got back on the boat but cast a glance downward first.

The ocean beneath her sparkled in the light of the Twins, glittering with ringfall dust. In every direction but up, all around her was water, cerulean blues near the surface giving way to midnight indigos and blacks as her gaze descended. Downwards, the sea seemed as infinite as the sky, as if she could fall through it forever. Part of her was in awe, while part of her was terrified. Had this really been what she’d been living on? Had the boat just a thin layer of wood this whole time, all that had been keeping her from falling into the endless depths?

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A cloud of small silver fish swam past her wing, and though each one was small, the swarm’s movements pushed her to the side. Tarka tossed her a toothy grin as he swam after them, his tail swishing from left to right and helping to propel him forward. The fish danced with his movements, evading and scattering from his strikes in unison, unwilling to let another one of their kind get taken.

They weren’t the only marine creatures in the area. Alika noticed a shark almost as large as Tarka not too far from them, its sharp teeth visible as it chased another school. There was a moment when it approached them, and Alika was momentarily worried it would attack, but a quick flash of Tarka’s claws as he zoomed past made it reconsider. It calmly fled, looking elsewhere for prey.

A bubble floated up from Alika’s nose, popping as it hit the surface. She knew that dragons were meant to be swimmers, and could hold their breaths for quite some time, but how long, she wondered? She and Tarka had been fine digging out of the avalanche, but she’d sensed she could go further than that. Underwater, neither she nor Tarka were showing any signs of needing more air.

The fish took a turn downward, and Tarka descended after them. Alika felt a pang of nervousness, but she pushed it away. She wasn’t drowning, freezing, or sinking — she was in full control here.

Alika swam down, paddling with her paws and twisting her tail. The water grew cold and dark, but she wasn’t afraid.

Tarka stopped, holding his wings out and hovering in the water as if floating weightlessly. The fish swam away, finally free of his harassment.

Alika swam up next to him, cocking her head. Why had he stopped?

Tarka extended a talon, and in the darkness of the sparkling ocean, Alika saw something move. Huge dark spots gracefully lumbered across the water. Strange noises touched her, rocking through her body: odd, low calls, haunting and sorrowful.

The humongous animals came closer, oblong gray bodies with two fins on either side. The pod of whales moved slowly and peacefully, so great that even one of their fins was larger than an adult dragon. They rolled through the water, almost as if it were carrying them to wherever they were going.

Alika and Tarka stared at the giants. How could something so big be alive?

As the whales approached, they opened their mouths, revealing columns of baleen. Alika pulled on Tarka’s tail and began to swim upward in fear, but the whales made no motion toward them. Instead, they began to suck in seawater.

And then, something miraculous began to happen. With each gulp of water they took in, their dark eyes began to change color. Flashes of greens, violets, and reds pulsed within the whales’ eyes, and faint lights began to dance across their skin.

The ringfall! Alika realized. They’re eating ringfall! She watched in wonder as figures of light appeared on the whales, gradually moving from their heads to tail fins. They transformed as they danced, the images of tiny whales growing as they became old and died. The whales sang their songs, some mirthful, some somber, but Alika wasn’t sure how to make sense of it all.

A small whale, about a quarter of the size of the rest, looked up at Alika, sparks of light in its eyes. Alika wasn’t sure how she could tell, but it seemed almost curious. A low noise extended out toward her, and suddenly, she felt herself moving.

Alika flapped her wings, trying to escape, but the water current wouldn’t let her. It pulled her down into the depths, the whales coming closer. She extended her claws in terror, though she knew there was nothing she could do against something so vast.

The whale calf's eyes glowed, and the currents gently placed Alika directly in front of its head. Her claws shuddered — even though it was only a calf, the giant still dwarfed her. Yet, it didn’t attack.

The whale opened its mouth, and wisps of purple light extended from its baleen, twisting through the water and wrapping around Alika. It tickled as it touched her fur, but it didn’t hurt. Another song came from the whale, a low changing tone that shook the dragon to her core: and strangely enough, Alika found she could understand it.

Don’t be scared! I was just wondering what brings a dragon so far from the shore. the whale calf said, its tone playful and mirthful. It reminded her of Tarka, and she felt almost like a hare he’d picked up to have a chat with. Still, Alika instantly knew she was in no danger unless the whale suddenly forgot how large it was and tried to play too rough with her.

Alika opened her jaws to reply, but bubbles came out.

You can’t watersing? it asked. It moved a tad closer, its huge face looming over Alika, and she felt a sense of pity and loss in its voice, so powerful that it felt like it would knock her over. That’s really sad. I’m sorry.

Alika pointed a claw at herself, then in the direction she thought was north.

Oh, you’re migrating to the hunting grounds? That’s a long way for a dragon to go. The whale cast its eyes upward for a moment as if it were feeling something Alika couldn’t. You had better hurry back to the surface then. You need to get prepared for the coming storm.

Storm? Alika wanted to ask, but couldn’t say a word. The whale’s eyes glowed again, and she felt the ocean currents move, pushing her upwards. She held in her wings and allowed it to take her back toward the light. The whales dwindled away as she left them behind, lost in the sea far beneath.

When she approached the surface of the water from below, Tarka was there as well, floating and chasing fish. He waved a wing excitedly, but the whale’s warning was stuck in Alika’s mind. A storm? Yarik had said that this wasn’t the season for storms.

Finally, Alika pushed her head up through the waves. Unlike the peaceful sea below, the surface was now rocky, shoving her from side to side as she struggled to stay afloat. She gasped for breath, accidentally swallowing down some sea spray as she did so. Raindrops pattered down from the sky, and her fur stood on end. The air smelled of metal and ozone. Something felt off, but she wasn’t sure what. There was something unnatural in the air, something powerful. Something dangerous.

Tarka came up after her, knocked by the waves as he tried to swim toward her. Alika looked around, trying to find the Windrider. Fortunately, the boat was only a short swim, and she could see Yarik on the deck, waving his hand as he saw them.

“Get aboard!” Yarik yelled, Alika barely able to hear his voice over the sound of crashing waves. “The wind has picked up, so we’re taking this chance to sail east while we can!”

They were planning to sail? Had Alika heard him right? As she paddled toward the boat, Tarka behind her, she looked to the east.

Dark clouds had gathered in the distance, swallowing the sky whole. A flash of green light shot across them, and Alika’s fur stood on end as she felt it.

Whatever this storm was, it wasn’t good news.