She felt the battle raging around her—or, rather, the many dozens of battles. It made her blood boil to hear, to feel, the injuries of her fighters, and to sense when their presence disappeared entirely from her consciousness. She did not sense each of them as individuals but as a collective of people, humans and dragons, all tied to her through their connections with the magic that fueled her.

The only specific people she was tied to closely enough to identify, though, were her mates.

As she harassed her enemy, she saw one of her mates on the uppermost deck of the ship, alive but still in danger. She had to get her enemy off the ship at all costs, so she quickly spun around and headed for him, knowing that he would not back down from a direct challenge, even as injured as he still was.

His attack was sloppy and she kicked him easily to her king, who had become powerful enough to take on the dragon who had hurt him so badly before. Now, Rodgardae was bolstered by her power, healed with her own magic. There were few he could not beat, and together they were quickly destroying their enemy. Sharks circled in the waters, waiting for their catch, drawn by the blood spilling out of all the injured dragons and humans thrown into the sea.

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Her enemy was trying to claw at her face when she felt a spike of panic so sharp it made her stumble. Her mate felt it as well, and they both threw their enemy as far from themselves as possible as they spun towards their guardian. The ship he was on had capsized and Mani was in the water, under the ship as it bobbed on the waves…she felt his desperation, his fear of drowning in the dark, freezing cold waters.

Without a thought she slammed into the water, roaring with all her might to scare off the sharks, and pushing aside all the ship’s detritus with her claws. Water was not air, though, and hard to move through and impossible to breathe. She heard the muted call of her king screaming at her, desperate and terrified. She knew from their bond that he had lost sight of her and they both knew that Mani was drowning.

I have him! She sent the sensation of grabbing Mani’s body with her hand, pulling him to her and spinning as fast as she could in the thick, churning, debris-filled water to get out from under the ship and back to the surface.

Then everything went black.