Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
"I swear it," I say, the words feeling right on my tongue. They feel like more than words as something deep, deep within me resonates and snaps into place. That resonation extends toward Typhon, and I can… feel it. A tether forming, like a bundle of magical strings connecting us. Binding us.
"I swear it as well," Typhon responds. "I am yours as you are mine, until the stars fade and the waters still."
A current of power flows from Typhon to me. It enters through my palm, racing up my arm to the silver mark on the back of my hand. The mark burns suddenly, painfully, and I gasp as it transforms—the silver spiral now threaded with deep, glowing blue like water caught in moonlight.
The tether settles into place, and suddenly I can feel Typhon's presence in my mind—not invasive, but there, like the awareness of another person in a room.
But there's no time to revel and bask in the awe I feel. Raith is running out of time.
"Now what?" I ask.
His voice comes more clear now, gentle and directly into my thoughts. Before, it was the sound of a beast shouting from several rooms away. Now it’s as if we’re in the same room. "Place your hand on the wound."
I put my hand on the worst wound—the gash across his stomach. His eyes snap open and he sucks in a sharp breath, clutching my wrist.
"Raith," I say carefully. "It's okay. I'm going to try to help you."
I see the reluctance in his face. Trust isn't easy for him, even now. Even here. But finally, slowly, he nods his head and relaxes ever so slightly.
The panther of flames resting on his thigh growls low and fierce at me.
"I'm just trying to help," I say to the panther.
"Trust her, young one," Typhon's voice extends to Raith's elemental.
It lays its head down again, eyes still watching me with distrust.
"What do I do?" I ask Typhon.
"I can channel through you, but it will greatly diminish me for a time. Now that we're tethered, you are the vessel through which my magic flows. But you are a narrow straw through which I am trying to pass oceans through."
I glare. "Okay, I get it. I'm weak, you're strong. Just do it."
I can feel Typhon's annoyance in my mind as he shifts closer. And then there's a rushing sensation passing through the tether. Blue light flashes around my hand, lighting Raith's bloodied skin from within.
Slowly, the wound inches together. Raith's face draws tight, teeth bared as he grimaces.
"Sorry," I whisper.
"Don't apologize to him. You are saving his life," Typhon growls.
"Doesn't mean I can't be sorry it hurts."
I sense a feeling almost like Typhon rolling his eyes. Ancient, probably immortal, immensely powerful... but I think he has a lot of learning to do about humans.
My skin burns as Typhon continues pushing power into me. I can feel his strain. I can even feel how he's running low on energy as the lesser wounds on Raith's body start to heal.
"That's all. Any more, and I won't be able to get us back through the rift when it opens."
"Raith?" I ask, touching his cheek.
His eyes flicker open and he smirks, teeth still stained red with blood. "Saltcrest… tell your fish I owe him.”
"Save your strength, Raith.” I turn my attention to his fire panther. “I’m Nessa and this is Typhon. Do you have a name?”
The fire elemental stands, orange eyes distrustful as its thick tail bats from side to side, leaving a trail of flames and smoke.
"He is called Pyrin," Typhon says.
"Okay, Pyrin. Are you strong enough to carry him?"
But I see the fire still leaking from the creature's side. It's wounded too, though that doesn't stop it from trying to duck its head under Raith and take his weight.
But Pyrin can't lift him. Not wounded as he is.
"Typhon, can I put him on your back?"
Typhon lets out a low, audible growl that's not in my mind. "It would disgrace me to let another human ride me."
"Will you do it for me? Please?" I ask.
"My gratitude is still fresh, human. But you wear it thin."
"Please."
He sighs, steam curling from his nostrils. But then he's using his wing to carefully lift Raith. A thin rope of water wraps around Raith’s waist and pulls him into place on Typhon’s back, where the dragon secures him in place.
Raith groans and his blood slicks Typhon's back, but he hooks one powerful arm around Typhon's neck and holds tight.
"Your human is trying to choke me," Typhon notes.
"He's trying not to fall off."
The sound of crunching branches makes me turn my head. Serena and Malakai are circling back, their elementals drifting behind them. Typhon doesn't need to tell me he's too weak to fight again. Raith is half conscious, Pyrin is wounded, Typhon's down to his last drops of power, and I'm not going to fight off Serena, Malakai, and both their elementals by myself.