Dindi
Dindi paddled the bark canoe with the others, trying to keep her strokes strong and even. At the front of the canoe, the Envoy of Peace tapped a small hand-drum to help everyone keep the same rhythm.
Her arms burned with effort. Sweat ran down her back and itched. She was so thirsty she wanted to stop rowing and scoop a drink from the river. But this close to the sea, the river water tasted like salt. It would not help.
So she kept her focus on rowing. She told herself it was just another dance. And she imagined that she was dancing with him.
With Kavio.
That was the hardest part of the journey. Not the tired muscles, not the thirst, not even the danger of passing through enemy land. Dindi could handle all that. Her true challenge was keeping her eyes off Kavio.
But no matter how hard she tried, her gaze kept drifting back to him, as if he were the dawn star and she were a lodestone.
He looked especially tempting today. His chest was bare, and the leather ties on his leggings were loose. He rode in a small kayak, surfing the river beside their larger canoe. Rthan, as the experienced Blue Zavaedi, was teaching Kavio advanced kayaking. It was not just about balance or skill. It used Blue magic too.
Kavio hadn't been born into the Blue Waters Tribe—like Dindi, he came from Rainbow Labyrinth. But Kavio danced all Six Chromas. So he could learn Blue magic just as well as anyone.
Better than most.
Water sprayed across his chest, and the sunlight made his muscles shine as they moved.
Dindi looked away quickly.
They had to keep their connection secret. Not that they had that kind of relationship—though she wished they did. He was her teacher. A secret romance would have been less forbidden. But Dindi had no magic. Kavio was a Zavaedi, a master of magic dance. For him to teach her the sacred dances was to break the greatest taboo of all.
The river narrowed between two giant boulders. The water turned white and wild.
Kavio tried to leap his kayak over a foaming curl of current—but instead, he vanished beneath the surface.
Rthan, who had gone ahead, didn't see him go under.
"Kavio!" Dindi shouted and jumped to her feet.
The canoe rocked hard.
"Fa! Sit down and mind your oar, girl!" snapped Brena, the woman behind her.
Kavio's kayak popped back up.
Dindi dropped into her seat, but the boat kept rocking in the wild current. Gwenika, the girl beside her, squealed and dropped her oar.
The canoe pushed past the white water and settled again.
"That was close," Gwenika said.
"You almost flipped us, you goose-headed girl!" Brena scolded Dindi.
"Sorry," Dindi said softly.
"Fa, just keep your hands on your oar," Brena said. "Gwenika, you too."
Gwenika picked up her oar. Luckily, it had fallen inside the canoe, not into the river.
"We're past the white water now," Gwenika said. "We're safe."
The river ahead was smooth and black, like glass. But Dindi wasn't so sure they were safe.
Something felt wrong.
Usually, the river was full of sound. Little fae made the water splash and chatter—mostly Blue fae, but also Green ones, dancing in the trees along the shore. Now, the river had fallen silent.
All the water nixies—tiny mermaids no longer than a finger—the pixies of the sea—had vanished under the water. They didn't come back up. Dragonfly-winged green pixies darted behind tree branches and hid.
Even the trees thinned out. The riverbanks were now sandy, with only a few rocks.
A group of seals rested on the shore.
Rthan frowned at them. Kavio noticed and grinned.
"Are you afraid some of them might be Selkies?" he teased. "Shape-changers?"
Rthan growled, not amused. "You had better hope they aren't. The Bearling was bad enough."
Kavio smiled. "Have you met a Selkie before?"
"My War Chief has many enemies," Rthan said. "And I am the one who… deals with them."
His voice was calm, but something in his tone made Dindi's skin crawl. There was a threat hidden in his words, aimed at Kavio.
Rthan was a strong Blue Waters warrior and superior Blue Morvae. Though he was supposed to be Brena's slave, here, deep in his own lands, only his honor kept him loyal to the peace mission.
Kavio didn't look afraid.
He pointed. "Wait! That seal right there—is that a Selkie?"
Rthan jumped, nearly flipping his kayak.
Kavio laughed.
"You slippery son of an eel," Rthan snapped.
"Of a faery, not an eel," Kavio said with a wink.
"Not much difference," Rthan muttered.
Dindi looked at the seals, half hoping they really were Selkies. But she felt no magic from them. Whatever had scared the fae into silence, it wasn't the seals.
A huge shadow moved in the river.
The seals barked in alarm.
Rthan, far ahead, shouted, "Beach! Beach the boats!"
The shadow came faster than it should. It wasn't just swimming upriver. It was rising from the deep.
A fin broke the water.
It was enormous.
"Shark!" Svego, the Envoy of Peace, waved his hands and screamed from the front of the canoe. "Shaaaark!"
"Beach the boats!" Kavio yelled.
He and Rthan turned their kayaks to protect the larger canoe.
The shadow rose. It was too fast for Dindi to see clearly. She only saw the flash of something sharp—like a thousand knives.
Then the world turned upside down.
Screams. Barking seals. Water exploding around her.
The canoe flipped.
Dark water swallowed them whole.