Three months, twelve days, and five hours.

That was how long Cyrene had been on board the Crusader. It had taken a lot less time for her to go completely stir-crazy and second-guess her decision to do this. Blue water and more blue water on all sides of the ship and in every direction. She felt as if she had completely lost her sense of direction and was thankful to have Gwynora leading the team and navigating this vast ocean.

Avoca was still asleep. They had tried linking their powers with hers but to no avail. Even Ahlvie’s good humor had faded over the months.

And worse, the supplies were low. With two weeks left to go, they were down to hardtack and gruel with limited water and wine. Nothing was going as planned, and Cyrene just wanted to get off the seas.

Gwynora nodded at her in an almost friendly manner as she passed on the deck. She hadn’t quite warmed up to them, but she wasn’t openly hostile anymore. Only when they broke one of her rules. But she had taken them this far, and trust had formed between them.

“Cyrene,” Gwynora called.

She shielded her eyes with her hand and looked up at her. “Yes?”

“Come look at this.”

Cyrene’s heart soared. Maybe they were close to the island. Maybe she could finally see it. They were still about two weeks off of the trajectory, but perhaps they had lucked out, and Gwyn’s timing had been wrong. Maybe, just maybe, they could get off this ship.

She walked up the steps to where Gwynora stood proudly behind a large wooden wheel. She had a perfect view from here of everything going on below.

“We have trouble,” Gwynora said softly.

“What trouble?”

Gwynora frowned. “For one, that.” She pointed to the horizon, and Cyrene saw dark clouds in the distance. Storm clouds that they were heading straight toward.

Cyrene carefully eyed her before speaking her mind, “We can handle a storm.”

“It’d be better to go around it.”

“There’s no way. You can see that yourself. I don’t even have to stretch out there to test it.”

Gwynora’s frown deepened. “Yes. We’ll have to go through it.”

“I have a knack for weather,” Cyrene said even softer.

“No.”

Cyrene harshly breathed out through her nose. This was ridiculous. If it would save them a lot of trouble and seasickness, it only made sense.

“It’s a test,” Gwynora said. “They’re sending it out to see if we’re worthy.”

Cyrene wanted to roll her eyes. Gwynora was superstitious. Perhaps not all that surprising, considering her grandmother was a mystic. But Cyrene thought it was just the weather. And a storm she could handle.

“There’s more,” Gwynora said. “Something is following us.”

Cyrene whipped around and looked out on the horizon for a ship. “I see nothing. There’s no ship. Where did you see it?”

Gwynora’s eyes cut to Cyrene’s. “Not a ship. It’s in the water.”

She left the wheel for a minute and pointed to a dark shape behind them. Cyrene squinted to try to visualize what she was seeing. It was…huge. Larger than the ship. And it was definitely following them.

“What is it?” she whispered in fear.

“I do not know,” Gwynora said. Her voice didn’t waver, but Cyrene could see that she was afraid.

“How long has it been following us?”

“I’m uncertain. Maybe a day. I’ve tried to change course slightly to see if it would swim by, but it also changed course. It is definitely following us. I’ve never seen a sea creature of that size. Nor do I know what it could possibly want with us.”

“Creator,” Cyrene whispered. “I’m going to find Matilde and Vera. They might know more than I do.”

Gwynora nodded. “Hurry.”

Cyrene rushed below deck. Matilde and Vera were lounging in a room, laughing about something that had happened to them in the two thousand years they had been together. Mikel was playing a soft melody on a bone flute he had carried with him from the caves. But Cyrene’s haste made them jump up.

“What is it?” Vera asked.

“Something is following us. A large shape in the water. Gwynora doesn’t know what it could possibly be. It is enormous. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”

Matilde and Vera exchanged a look.

“We’ll come see,” Matilde said.

All four of them returned to Gwynora and stared back at the mass. In the span of time it had taken Cyrene to get them, whatever was in the water had gotten closer. It was as if it knew that they were watching now. Its pursuit was no longer a surprise, and it was gaining on them…with considerable ease.

But it was Mikel who was frozen in shock.

“Hoist the sails and get every man on a row,” he snapped at Gwynora.

“You do not command my vessel,” she said defiantly.

“You will have no vessel if you allow that creature to get near us.”

“What is it, my love?” Matilde asked.

Vera was the one who spoke, “Sea dragon.”

“Yes,” Mikel confirmed. “They’re not actually descended from dragons, but they are menacing beasts. Full grown, they can be twice as large as a ship and take them down with one swipe of their spiked tail. You do not want to go up against this. The best we can hope for is to outrun it or show we are more formidable than it believes. And we must do it quickly, as it is gaining on us.”

Gwynora sufficiently heard the panic in his voice and hurried back to her post. She started calling out commands and getting everything in order.

“What do we do?” Cyrene asked.

Mikel looked to Matilde and Vera, but they deferred to him. “I have never faced a sea dragon, nor do I want to. Matilde and Vera, get on the sails. Cyrene, you and I will be in the water. We want to propel this craft as far from the dragon as possible. If that does not work, then I fear for the remainder of this voyage.”

Cyrene nodded.

Gwynora looked at them dubiously as they broke apart and moved into position. “What are you doing?”

“Saving your life,” Cyrene said. “You can thank us later.”

“Are you about to use magic?” she hissed.

“Yes. If your crew has a problem with that, then let them know there is a sea dragon following us, bent on destroying this ship. See if they care after that.”