Tal stared down into the dark waters, knowing they'd only been a few inches deep when they'd landed, but now there was no sign of the flowers and the ripples slapping the bottom of the Peregrine meant that it had risen several feet. He shivered, fingers gripping the rail white-knuckled as the bottom of the ship vanished beneath the water as he watched, swallowed by darkness. Uneasiness churned in his stomach, fermenting slowly into a low, insidious terror that bubbled up through his throat, demanding release. "Fuckfuckfuck," he moaned under his breath before raising his voice again, this time risking a shout. "Alys? Boreal? Answer me!"
Silence.
And then--
He could feel it in the companion bond. Boreal's uneasiness growing into fear, the dragon nearby but unseen, unheard. Fear and anger and helplessness that wrapped around Tal's heart and squeezed until he couldn't breathe. And from Alys-- nothing.
There was only one place they could have gone if they weren't on the ship, and Tal swallowed hard as he looked down into the rising waters. They weren't that deep yet... he could touch the bottom and still keep his chin above water if he jumped down now...
He tried to master his fear as he made an abortive attempt to leap the rail and then stopped. Two shaking breaths were all he allowed himself before forcing a second attempt and this time he managed to get over, dropping into the water--
He sank like a stone, looking about wildly with his Goggles, and there below him were Boreal, Alys, and Sascha. In the nightmare he inhabited the flowers had grown vines that twined around them and pinned them to the salten earth beneath the shallow sea.
They weren't moving.
He scrambled towards them, reaching out to tear away the vines, but something jerked him to a halt just out of reach. He struggled, but with each shift the grip in his ankles tightened and then a vine twisted up to grip his wrist, pulling him down, down to join his friends beneath the cold, black waters.
Drowning in the desert.
Silence.
And then--
He could feel it in the companion bond. Boreal's uneasiness growing into fear, the dragon nearby but unseen, unheard. Fear and anger and helplessness that wrapped around Tal's heart and squeezed until he couldn't breathe. And from Alys-- nothing.
There was only one place they could have gone if they weren't on the ship, and Tal swallowed hard as he looked down into the rising waters. They weren't that deep yet... he could touch the bottom and still keep his chin above water if he jumped down now...
He tried to master his fear as he made an abortive attempt to leap the rail and then stopped. Two shaking breaths were all he allowed himself before forcing a second attempt and this time he managed to get over, dropping into the water--
He sank like a stone, looking about wildly with his Goggles, and there below him were Boreal, Alys, and Sascha. In the nightmare he inhabited the flowers had grown vines that twined around them and pinned them to the salten earth beneath the shallow sea.
They weren't moving.
He scrambled towards them, reaching out to tear away the vines, but something jerked him to a halt just out of reach. He struggled, but with each shift the grip in his ankles tightened and then a vine twisted up to grip his wrist, pulling him down, down to join his friends beneath the cold, black waters.
Drowning in the desert.
