I went to the quarterdeck, standing to the side and out of Phaelan's way as he sailed us northward along the coast until we spotted an opening between two towering cliffs that marked our safe harbor, or as safe a harbor as we were likely to find. At least it was hidden from the sea; however, all an attacker would have to do would be to wait for us to come out. We'd be bottled in. The grim set to Phaelan's face told me he liked it about as well as I did.

A shout from above signaled shallows on either side of the entrance to the harbor. Our final approach would be through a narrow and treacherous channel.

Phaelan gripped the wheel and began a litany of murmured endearments and entreaties to his ship, and curses directed at the continent of Aquas and every rock on it.

Then we saw it.

Dark clouds poured over the edge of the cliffs and surrounding escarpment like a waterfall. They quickly leveled and spread toward our ships.

"That's not natural," Phaelan said through gritted teeth.

"No, it's not," I readily agreed.

"That Sandrina woman?"

"Or a pack of Khrynsani weather wizards acting under her orders."

I had another suspect in mind. Perhaps Bricarda had escaped the Nebian ship only to teleport here to try to kill us again.

The clouds picked up speed as if recognizing us as their targets and eager to get here.

Phaelan ordered the sails trimmed, and I could hear the same orders being bellowed from the other ships. I couldn't imagine either Gwyn or Gavyn thinking the oncoming storm was natural, but I made my way quickly to the ship's telepath to spread the word to the Raven and Sea Wolf that things were going to get worse before they got any better.

If it got any better. If Sandrina was behind this, she had never been one for doing anything halfway-especially vengeance. This storm probably wouldn't stop until every ship was under the water. I was no weather wizard, but I could lend my strength to the one we had.

Calik ran up to me. "Tam, if we're swamped, the dragons won't stand a chance."

"Take Saffie and the drakes and get out of here, above those clouds. Can you signal the other pilots to do the same?"

"Done."

Talon darted below with Calik to help release the firedrakes to safety-or to a safer place than we were about to be.

There were two seats on Sapphira's saddle.

"Take Talon with you!" I yelled to Calik's back.

Releasing the dragons and drakes would not only save them from drowning, they could save us in a recovery effort.

If there were any of us left to save.

We were all about to find out the veracity of the Caesolians' reputations as the finest ship makers in the Seven Kingdoms.

There were rocks in those shallows and cliffs looming beyond that. If we were pushed too far in the direction of the harbor, we'd be ground into kindling. I had no intention of being ground into anything, especially not within sight of our goal-or at least the first one.

Phaelan was shouting commands and encouragement. The crew was the best of his elves, and the finest of goblin intelligence agents. Yes, they were all seasoned and battle-hardened, but what was coming straight at us wasn't anything that could be defeated with muscle, steel, or the iron of cannonballs-or probably even countered with our magic. They knew it. We all did. This was the blackest of magic, Phaelan hated and feared it, but you would never know it to see him now.

Captain Phaelan Benares was a figure of strength and confidence, who by the sheer force of his personality was willing his crew to remain calm, stay at their stations, and do their jobs. The crew, elf and goblin alike, fed off of his words, gaining strength and resolve while bracing themselves for what was to come.

The Kraken's weather wizard had already lashed herself to the mainmast, the crew scrambling around her getting the ship ready for the storm rushing toward us. A bank of black clouds had already blocked out the sun and obscured what minutes before had been a clear, blue sky.

Falitta Rondel had sailed with Phaelan's father, Ryn Benares. Ryn had made sure his son had the best weather wizard available. I'd spoken with Falitta many times during our weeks at sea. She was gifted, powerful, and experienced. Lashing herself to the mainmast told me and everyone on the Kraken that what was coming was as bad as it could get.

"Lash yourself to something," Phaelan told me. He jerked his head to the right. "There's a stack of harnesses in that bench. Toss me one and take one for yourself."

Phaelan kept his hands on the wheel as I quickly helped him into his harness, which he latched to a steel ring embedded in the deck at the base of the ship's wheel.

"There's another ring by the bench." Phaelan now had to shout to be heard over the wind. "Use it!"

The doors to the hold were flung open and Sapphira dived over the side of the Kraken and with a few wingbeats was above the ship, fighting for altitude to get above the storm. The firedrakes followed in her wake.

The seat behind Calik was empty.

I swore and frantically scanned the deck for any sign of Talon. He must still be below. I'd have to believe that he could fend for himself. There was nothing I could do here with Phaelan, but I might be able to help Falitta. There was another ring in the deck by the mainmast.

I unhooked my line from the ring.

Phaelan saw. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Falitta." I ran down the stairs.

The weather wizard's eyes were fixed on the black bank of clouds racing toward us, her lips moving in silent incantation. I stopped just inside her peripheral vision. She wasn't in a trance, at least not yet. She could still see me, or at least perceive my presence. If there was any help I could give her, she would tell me.

"This is beyond me," Falitta said calmly, her eyes locked on the clouds that were only a hundred yards off our bow.

She couldn't stop or even divert that storm.

We were screwed-and dead.

Like hell.

"Take my strength," I told her. "I can add my-"

The weather wizard finally looked at me. "Power cannot help us now. This is a form of magic I have never encountered. It is not of this world."

Sythsaurian black magic.

"Can we deflect it?"

Falitta shook her head. "It defies my every attempt, sensing my efforts before I make them. My spells evaporate before it. Unless we can somehow ride this out, Tamnais, we're dead."

Suddenly the Kraken's deck shuddered beneath my feet.

I shot a quick glance back at Phaelan.

His face was utterly white.

It was an earthquake, in the floor of the sea beneath us.

I snarled a curse-at Sandrina, Bricarda, the Sythsaurians, but mostly at my own inability to do anything to save our lives-as a wave rose in the distance at our backs, growing taller and wider, until it was a wall of water racing toward and dwarfing our small fleet.

A wave taller than the tallest mast.

A monster wave spawned by an earthquake.

The stone in my ring blazed to life.

An earthquake sent from the Heart of Nidaar.

Chapter 39.

I dimly heard Phaelan's voice cut through the chaos and howling wind. "Brace yourselves!"

I secured myself as best as I could and braced my feet, knowing that it was a pitiful effort against a monster wave, but it was all I could do.

The water rose behind us, obscuring the very sky.

Falitta was right. There was nothing natural about what rose above us. This was malice made water. This wave had been conjured from the depths with only one purpose-utter obliteration. Sandrina wanted to pound our ships to splinters against the cliffs and our bodies into food for whatever lived in these waters. She knew we would be rendered helpless, and if there was any way that she was watching, she would be reveling in our destruction.

With Phaelan standing solidly at the wheel, the Kraken lifted herself into the wave, seemingly trying against all odds to preserve herself, to save her crew.

She nearly succeeded.

The ship crested the wave, impossibly high. We were in the sky, the realm of sentry dragons, not ships of the sea. But as quickly as we had climbed and crested, the sea that had carried us up abandoned us, and our world pitched backward.

Screams rent the air as the wind tore hands and bodies from the ropes and rails that were their sole link to this life. The sea, mercilessly manipulated to be the Khrynsani's instrument of death, turned against those it had gently carried only minutes before. This wasn't fate, it wasn't bad luck. This was murder-premeditated, calculated, pure evil murder. As the wind and water tried to wrench my arms from their sockets, I swore that if I somehow survived, I would not stop until I had those responsible dead at my feet.

The Kraken had been left hanging in the air for an impossibly long moment before plunging down the back side, her stern pointed straight down, falling backward into the sea.

This was it. This was how I would die, how we would all die. I'd taken what would be my final breath before the sea would close over us.

The Kraken's stern plunged underwater, immediately followed by the rest of her. I instinctively closed my eyes and held my breath, not knowing how we could possibly make it back to the surface, and an instant later knowing with absolute certainly that we were doomed.

Just as my lungs burned white hot and I couldn't hold my breath any longer, the deck was again beneath my feet, as the ship shot back to the surface.

I swallowed lungfuls of air, seconds before expecting nothing but water, greedily gulping with ragged breaths. I quickly looked around the deck. Some had been lost. Many had survived. And against all odds, Phaelan was still at the wheel, and gave a whoop of pure joy at being alive.

I hoped Sandrina was watching.

These goblins and elves die hard, you bitch.

Then I saw it, a wave even taller than the last. Impossibly tall. The sea was shallow here, the volume of water it took to create that monster had stolen the water from the backside of that wave, so that as we crested, I could see the rocks beneath the surface.

The water was too shallow. We would never survive the impact. The Kraken would be dashed to bits and us along with her.

I heard a voice cutting through the wind.

Imperious and commanding, ordering the earth beneath that wave to do her will.

Agata Azul.

At the bow.

Soaked, bleeding, defiant.

And at her side was Talon, with Indigo, the little firedrake that had befriended him clinging to his shoulder.

Agata's hands had a death grip on the railing just behind the Kraken's figurehead. Talon had one arm around her waist, helping her remain upright, his other hand clutching the same section of railing.

It was earth magic-raw, primal, and unbelievably strong, even for a mage of Agata's ability.

It was Talon. He was the source of that additional power. His voice carried to me on the wind, a song of strength and resilience, of an undaunted spirit and will. He was sharing his power with Agata. Together they were attempting to counter the wild magic and calm the earth that had been awakened by the Heart of Nidaar itself.

And they were winning. The power rolling from them rivaled the strength of those trying to destroy us.

Agata Azul and my son were doing the impossible.

So instead of diving bow first and being dashed to pieces on the rocks waiting below, the Kraken was dropping, the seas spreading out beneath us.

As the seas calmed, the skies inexplicably began to clear.

And as the water fell, so did Agata and Talon. Her hands lost their grip on the rail. Talon attempted to catch her, but his strength was failing, too. They both fell to their knees and slumped to the deck.

The ship was still tossing, but I let go of the lines and unhooked the harness that had saved my life and ran to the bow, to my son and the gem mage who had saved all of our lives. Backwash from the wave broke across the bow as the ship lurched to one side, partially submerging the bow and taking Agata's unconscious body with it.

I ran as fast as I could across the still-tossing deck, jumping and dodging broken spars and debris to reach her and Talon before he was washed overboard as well. I was almost there when the deck pitched and Agata was swept over the side. Heavy lines were wrapped around one of Talon's legs. He wasn't going anywhere and was safe for now. I threw myself across the tangle of downed lines, trying to grab Agata's boot.

I grabbed and missed.

I kicked clear of the lines that'd tangled around my boot to dive in after her.

Agata popped to the surface, coughing.

I lunged for her, but a wave swept Agata up and away from my outstretched arms.

Talon's drake flew shrieking over the spot where Agata had gone down.

Then Jash was there, tossing me a line. I tied it off to the harness I still wore.

"Anchor me," I yelled over the wind, trusting Jash to hold on.