The crew looked absolutely terrified as they attempted to row away from the sea dragon. Cyrene knew that it was only going to get worse before it got better.

Matilde and Vera moved as one, positioning themselves in front of the two largest masts. Their hands moved in time. Their feet slid apart, and they began swaying back and forth, back and forth, drawing deeper on their energy and then pushing it up into the heavy sails. Cyrene watched them whip into a perfectly arced shape, pushing them faster across the water.

Mikel gestured for her to follow him. Now that they had the sails moving, it was their turn.

“Mati said you are most proficient in water,” Mikel said. “That is good. We’re going to need you to dig deep within your core and find your center.”

Cyrene did as instructed, praying to the Creator that she could do this level of magic without linking with Avoca and using her to steady her powers. She delved down into that deep well. It felt endless, but she knew where the bottom was. It was a long, long way down. Even further down if she used blood magic. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about that. Doma magic would do. It was enough.

“Good,” Mikel said when she finally opened her eyes again and felt one with her powers. “Now, feel the water all around us. Every speck on the ship, every drop crashing from the waves, and every ounce of water in this endless ocean. Feel it all, Cyrene.”

She breathed in and then concentrated. Water was natural. More like breathing than any of the other elements. It had been her first and easiest, just like Serafina. She centered on her core and then let the magic flow as she blocked out the rest of the world and focused on one thing—water.

It was everywhere. In everyone. Surrounding them and in them and on them. It was magnificent. And then…the blood. Her magic had responded in kind. Looking for water, finding all the water. It had made her go too far. She could sense the amount of water in each droplet of blood rushing through Mikel’s veins. She could practically taste the power there. He was brimming with it. Leif magic.

“Not that far!” Mikel commanded. His voice was crisp and stern.

It was enough to snap her out of it. To release the addictive pull that power still held on her.

“I have it,” she said.

“Good. Don’t go any further,” he said. “Now, I want you to mirror my movements.”

Cyrene watched as he moved his feet into a defensive stance. She released the Biencan shawl from her shoulders and let it slip to the ground. Then, she settled into the same position. He swept his arms forward to knee-level and then backward and up, as if he were making a big scoop. Then, round in a circle, as if he were holding the water in a sphere in his hands, and back down to repeat. Then, he stepped forward before the second circle and started on the other side. It was mesmerizing. So fluid and simple. Yet she could see the control and strength behind every movement. It wasn’t just a dance, a wave.

Cyrene practiced until her motions met Mikel’s standard. Letting her body move with the natural pull of the waves. It was freeing and incredible.

“Good enough. We can work on technique at a less trying time,” he said carefully. “Now, take the motions and use your magic to flow the water on your side of the boat through the steps. Gently at first.”

Cyrene concentrated and held her breath. She could do this. She could make this happen. She didn’t need Avoca to work her water magic. And, with Mikel’s steady and determined gaze beside her, she got to work.

It wasn’t as easy as it looked. Controlling the amount of water she needed to actually propel the vessel forward was…insane. It was immediately draining and taxing. Sweat beaded on her temple, and she looked to Mikel to make sure she was doing it correctly.

“Yes. That’s it. I am going to go to the other side, and we will be mirrors. Let’s move together.” He gently put his hand on Cyrene’s shoulder. “You can do this. I have faith in you, Doma.”

She nodded and smiled faintly at him. He sprinted across the ship, which was starting to rock with the amount of speed they had already gained.

Mikel looked at her, and he nodded once. Now.

Their movements were synchronized. The pull of the water, the circle of the swell, the rush as they propelled the ship forward. Cyrene’s heart was racing from the sheer force of what they were doing. She could hear the crew pulling their rows back in, frantic and scared that the ship was moving without them. That it was moving faster than they could possibly row. But joy filled her heart at the use of her magic like this. Alone. She was doing this, and she was doing it all by herself. She hadn’t faltered or anything. This was what it felt like to succeed.

“Faster!” Gwynora cried from the deck. “It’s still gaining.”

Cyrene had no chance to look back to see where the beast was now. She just continued to follow Mikel, even as he picked up the speed of his movements and threw them forward.

Her legs trembled as the ship shook under her feet. Despite their control of the water, the seas were getting choppy. She glanced up once and saw what she hadn’t realized from the waves. They were heading straight for the storm.

Gwynora was trying to change the direction of the ship, but they were moving too fast. If she turned too quickly, the boat would tilt, and then the beast would surely catch them.

“Stay straight, Gwynora!” Cyrene cried.

“We’ll never make it through the storm.”

“Better the storm than the dragon!”

Gwynora shook her head, as if she could hardly believe her choices. Then, she angled back toward the storm brewing before them. It was a horrifying sight—cloudy black sky and rain blanketing the skyline.

But, before they could get there, Cyrene felt a thud. The force of the hit knocked her off of her feet, and she landed hard on her knees. She gasped as her magic dropped. Now that her side of the boat no longer had her powers propelling it forward, the boat veered off course.

“Cyrene!” Mikel yelled.

“I’m okay.” She hastened back to her feet. And started up the motion again to try to right what had happened.

Then, as they started moving again, she saw what had hit them—the sea dragon.

A gasp caught in her throat as the huge mass appeared beneath her waves. She trembled in fear. They had tried to outrun the beast, and they had failed. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. It had caught them.

“It’s here!” she shrieked.

As if it had heard her cry, the sea dragon vaulted out of the water and soared up into the air. It was as long as their highest mast with webbed wings that spread twice as wide as the ship. It roared, and water spewed out of its mouth, raining down all around them. The sickly blue-green color of its scales sparkled and shone in the dying rays. But it was the three massive tails that Cyrene worried about. Each was a long tentacle, like an octopus but with a massive barb at the ends. And still, despite how terrifying it was, it managed to be beautiful as it spread its wings and came fully out of the water.

Then, with a crunch, the beast lashed out with one of its barbed tails and sliced through the middle mast.

Everyone on deck screamed and raced for cover. Matilde, who had been in control of that mast, just barely rolled out of the way as it was severed and came crashing down toward her. Mikel caught her out of the roll. She was breathing heavy and had a long scratch down her cheek, but otherwise, she seemed okay. She nodded her head at him and then rushed toward the stairs and the third mast.

The beast dived back into the sea, sending a tidal wave toward them. Cyrene held on to the railing with all her might as it threatened to sweep her off of the deck. But Mikel was there, steadying the wave and easing her back up.

“Cyrene, we have to keep going!” Mikel yelled to her.

She moved back into position on shaky feet. She had come so close to being thrown overboard, and she needed to get her bearings about her. Mikel was moving his arms faster than ever. There was nothing left but to do as he did while Vera and Matilde fought to push as much air as possible into their sails.

But Cyrene’s mind was reeling. There was no way for them to outpace this thing. They wouldn’t survive another attack. If it crashed its entire body on their ship, they would go down with no trouble, and she would never reach the island. That couldn’t be possible. She wouldn’t let that happen.

They were moving at such speed that, finally, they crashed right into the storm. Rain pelted the deck and soaked through their clothing. Cyrene was drowning in the rain and could barely see, except to know that the dragon was circling them again, even in the storm. She had hoped that it wouldn’t want to chance it, but it didn’t even seem to faze the dragon.

The boat rocked side to side, and then she felt the sea dragon ram into the vessel. She heard screams down below as the hull was breached, and water sloshed into cabins. She had one fleeting thought for Avoca before the creature reared its ugly head again. This time, it angled for Vera’s mast. She shot ice daggers at the beast’s hide, but they hit the scales and bounced harmlessly off. She tried to pull fire to her but to no avail and then changed direction by throwing the force of the current in the beast’s face. It hit with unparalleled ferocity, pushing the dragon back underwater. But it still had enough momentum to thrash its tail out and bring down the second mast. Vera held the mast in place long enough to dart out from under it, but then it went down with a crash.

The third mast stood like a beacon, the only thing keeping them going other than the water magic she and Mikel were still attempting to use to propel them forward. But the storm was tossing them about like a toy.

Cyrene’s lungs were burning, and she didn’t know what they were going to do when the dragon came back. And it would come back; she was sure of it. Vera had only angered it. Not killed it.

“We need to do something!” Cyrene yelled over the roar of the storm.

But Mikel must not have heard her, and her words were carried off with the wind. She cursed under her breath. Running wasn’t working. Hitting the dragon with water only irritated it more. There had to be something else.

She swiped her soaked hair out of her face and stopped moving. They were stuck, rocking in this endless ocean in the middle of a storm with nowhere to go and a sea dragon trying to murder them all. She cursed and released the flow of the water.

She looked around, trying to figure out how to stop this thing. They were not helpless. They had four functioning magical users on board and Gwynora, who had some sort of magical affinity. Between them, they could make this work.

Then, a thought occurred to her. A very dangerous and wicked thought.

“Mikel, come with me!” she screamed as she fought her way up the stairs to where Gwynora was trying to hold the boat steady and Matilde and Vera were now both working with the last mast. Mikel appeared at the top of the stairs behind her.

“I have an idea,” she yelled over the howling of the wind. “We need to link our powers. I need as much energy as I can get. Gwynora, that includes you.”

“I don’t have that kind of magic!” she spat.

“Yes, you do!” Cyrene yelled back at her. “Just because you don’t want to have magic doesn’t make it true. Your grandmother has magic. Your father had magic.”

Gwynora glared at her for saying that.

“Your ability to sense us is magic. Now, you need to accept who you are really fast, or we’re all going to die.”

Gwynora sputtered but didn’t have a comeback to that. Cyrene took that as a yes.

“Wait for the beast to appear and then link,” Cyrene yelled. “We have one shot at this.”

“What are you even going to do?” Matilde asked.

“Something insane.”

Vera shook her head. “Don’t burn out!”

“Trust me!”

They all looked at her as if they couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth, but they didn’t argue. They did trust her. Implicitly. It was what held them together after all they had gone through. Cyrene could do this. She knew she could.

The sea dragon reared its ugly head. But Cyrene was ready. She held on to her magic. Then, she felt the link between Matilde and Vera so easily, a light around them. Mikel joined next. Different than the twins but more like Avoca’s link. Cyrene glared at Gwynora as the beast rose higher and higher into the dark sky.

“Now, Gwynora!”

“I don’t have magic!” she screamed.

“Now! Right now!”

Gwynora released a sob, and then Cyrene felt it. The link. A soft, gentle touch, so contrary to who Gwynora was as a person. But it felt right. Good and right.

With all five energies linked, Cyrene opened her arms wide and held her palms up. She turned her face to the sky, letting the rain hit her freely. No barriers, just sweet energy and this one moment.

When the dragon hit the crest, right before she knew it was about to fall toward the ship, Cyrene unleashed everything that she had. She harnessed the very storm that they were brewing in, fought against the power of a storm of this magnitude, and then reached out and commanded it. She held her hand aloft before her, opened her eyes to look at her enemy, and then closed her fist.

A series of lightning bolts collided with the sea dragon’s body. It sizzled and burned, scorching through the creature’s scales. The electricity rattled its bones in one sharp blast, momentarily blinding all who watched.

Near silence followed. Only the pitter-patter of rain as the storm let up.

Then, there was the enormous splash as the beast fell backward into the water. The boat rocked, but they all watched as the dragon sank deep into the ocean below.

Cyrene released the link, and all the magic dropped.

She dropped to her knees on the rain-slicked floor. Her breath was ragged, and her chest ached. She leaned forward until her forehead hit the wooden deck as she tried to steady herself. Her stomach heaved, and she thought she might be sick at any moment.

“You did it,” Matilde said with pride and admiration in her voice.

Mikel patted her back. “Good job.”

When Cyrene dragged her eyes back up to them, Vera smiled affectionately. “You have come so far.”

But it was Gwynora who looked positively livid.

“Just don’t,” Cyrene muttered. “Save it for another time.”

“How do you expect us to get to the island now?”

“Magic,” she whispered.

“How dare you—”

“Not now,” Vera said.

She touched Gwynora’s shoulder and gestured for her to move aside and give Cyrene room. She was grateful for it. She really needed to breathe.

She leaned back against the railing and closed her eyes. To her surprise, she felt the sun warm her face. She had harnessed so much of the storm, it had dissipated. Just like that day she had halted the hurricane in Eleysia to save Dean. At least this time, she hadn’t passed out. Though she suspected she would have if they hadn’t linked like that.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and Ahlvie and Orden stared at her in shock.

“Did you do that?” Ahlvie asked, gaping at her.

“Do what?” she whispered.

“The lightning show.”

She nodded. “That was me.”

“You’re incredible,” he said with a big grin on his face. “You saved our lives.”

“Just another day on the job,” she joked.

“Don’t try modesty, Cyrene. It doesn’t suit you.”

She laughed, and once she started, she couldn’t stop. They had won. They had fought this creature and actually won. She hadn’t even been sure it was possible. She’d had one shot, and she’d taken it.

“Creator,” Orden whispered from his place on the bridge.

“What is it?” Cyrene asked. She couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice as she scrambled back to her feet. “Did it come back? Is it still after us?”

Orden just pointed straight out to sea.

She shaded her eyes with her hand. And then she saw it on the horizon.

“Alandria,” she whispered.